The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1853-07-14
A Coed Word on Politics,

on the 2oth ult., from which we take the
following extract with regard to the pur-
suit of politics. 1t is true and timely
counsel, and we hope sunk deep into the
minds of his young listeners
The time was in the early history OF
the country when great men were wanted
In public places to establish our institu-
tions--good men are needed now in the
walks quiet life to strengthen them. All
the world over, the trade of politician
is the occupation of gamester; it is the
business of man whose time is spent in
envy and strife. Public stations can con-
fer no rank and bring no distinction to
men who run after them. All great pub
Iic occasions command the men best fitted
for the necessities of the times The en-
crgencies that excite great men to action
having passed by, tranquility having been
restored, order having been established,
new mcn-interior men-men of doubt
ful parts-succeed to their masters, and
manage with ease, if not with skill, the
vast machine which wisdom created and
industry set in motion. All history has
afforded constant examples of this-our
history may yet do so.
Sir Robert Walpole in these latter
times, with masterly resolution, with a
power mightier than the storm, the power
that binds the storm-the calm-plucked
up the crown of England from the hedge
where contending factions had flung it,
established the Hanoverian succession,
suppressed conspiracy, quieted religious
discord, and secured that stability and
dignity to public affairs, and that repose
to private life, which nurtured the strength
of England, and gave her the power to
resist a world in arms. With infexible
purpose he suppressed all attempts to
embroil his country in war, and for
twenty long years, as the first Minister
of the Crown, governed his country with
heroic-will. He was succeeded by in
ferior men, but when the exigencies OF
public life again required a mantle
Pelhams gave way for Pitt-as pOliti
clans and placemen in this country must
hereafter give way for patriots and state
men.
The highest public distinctions in this
country can have no attraction for right
minded men, unless they are the un-
sought rewards of personal worth, digni-
ty Of character, mental ability, and a.
blameless life. Obtained in any other
way, they disgrace those who hold them.
They were intended to he great honors,
not rich sinecures. The compensation
attached to them, will not equal the in
come that any man can earn, who is fit
to hold them and discharge their duties.
IF men crawl to high places by craft
and low contrivance-if they hold them
at the cost Of all love Of truth and prac-
tice Of heroic virtuc-if they accept sta
tons which they are unequal to, from
want Of proper taining-from want ofin-
formation and want Of mental capacity,
and which they hold like impostors and
usurpers, pufed up with vanity, and
meanly greedy for the pay Of the place
they are in pillory. SuOh adventurous
and serving men in their masters clothes,
will be laughed at and expelled with scorn
by the misguided people who exalted
them to power to establish an equally of
ostentation and wickedness.-I
Let not this be your fate.
Thus far the great men Of this land
have with reluctance and humility re-
ccived the dignities their countrymen
have bestowed upon them.
Washington and Jefferson, and Jack
son; never stopped to solicit place, or &C
ocpted i as the result Of secret contri-
vance.
Let me warn you against the tempta-
tons that beset you to embark in this
business of politics. j life well spent, in
the steady pursuit of any calling, will
yield you better income, will give you
an independence of position, and manly
dignity Of character, that no Office can
ever secure for you. The small Offices Of
a country are always small places-and |
the high ones must be filed by men of
mark, for little men grow less in them,
and dwindle into pigmies. Before you
viii consent TO step out Of the respectable |
privacy Of your own calling to take Office,
be sure that you are rot unworthy Of the
place, or impelled by selfish motives
for to the most worthy and upright these
stations bring with them trials and griefsi
that torture men to death 0ftcntimes
persons of merit are swept to ruin il these
high foods of vulgar excitement, or are
stained for life and their usefulness hurt
by STOPPING to waive their rank, and be
associated in those enterprises with mean,
men. The shores of politi-
cal life, in every country, are strewn
with wrecks ike these, and many of them
were rich argosies.
fyou wish to know what public fame
is, remember that the long line of Roman
consuls and Grecian magistrates is now
while Esop, slave, Socrates,
mechanic, and Horace the son of a
are immortal