Weekly hawk-eye and telegraph. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1855-1857, 1855-12-12

a & SObh~SRUn0GuCe ~ TIC 1n0WAeEySs
MEssRs. EDlroRs Since my last communica
tisr the election contest has been decided and
quiet again restored to political circles. The
Americans we're the winning party, re-electing
Gardner BY quite plurality over the republican
tcandidate, who was second in the contest
| They now "enjoy the peace their numbers
won,' yet SO hopeful and resolute are the tsre.
pablicansn that the very evening the result be.
came known, many Of their clubs met and or
lganized for the campaign Of next year Al.
though the result was hailed BY the democracy
| as partial defeat of fusionism vet the triumph
ant party isthe same one that passed the pre-
sent liquor Law, on the supposed odium Of which
they had based their hopes. And what sets
them still further in the background, is the fact
that, at the recent American State Convention,
resolutions we're passed of as ultra an anti-s,aye-
ry character as words ara well able to convey.
Longellows new poem, THawatha, has just
been issued and has gone through the ordeal to
which most new poems are subjected Some
have praised it, some have sported over it;
while Others again criticised it with no little Sc
verify. Perhaps no poem has been so extensive
| ly parodied in SO short time after its appear.
ance This is owing to its peculiar style. These,
Of course, are designed mostly for amusement.
Yet there have appeared some very severe crit
| ieisms. The Boston Traveller, in which paper
| the publishers of the work extensively adyer-
| tised, came down upon it in the strongest terms
Of criticism At this the publishers took Of.
fence and sent denouncing letter to the edi.
tors Of the paper, at the same time Withdrawing
their advertisements and requesting the, paper
discontinued.
Thursday nextis Thanksgiving in this and sev-
| eral other States. Here the usual preparations
are being made to celebrate the day in true Yam
kee style. Then shall many thousands of innocent
turkerys, which have been kept in close con6nc-
men in their pens, and weighed down by
The only charge alledged against them is that
of being turkeys. Butwhy indulge in this COM
msseraton ? For on Thursday. next, between
the hours of one and three P. NJ, your humble
servant, together with all the citizens of Massa
chusetts, will be utterly cblivious to any such
feelings of sympathy. More likely the thanks
giving Of the great majority will depend upon the
consideration that at least one day of turkey
feasting occurs in the course Of the year.
By the perusal of your paper l observe that
you arc agitating the subject of procuring a
course of lectures to be delivered in Burlington
during the winter. Why can this not be done?
Why may not a city containing population of
ten Or twelve thousand intelligent, thinking peo
pie, have regular course of intellectual enter
tainments once week, at least, during the win
ter months? We answer it may and should be
so. There is no necessity Of starving the mind
or relying upon transient, and perhaps bogus
lecturers who may chance to visit the place and
who often take more from the pockets of the
people than they supply to their brains. Why |
cannot your Library Association be got sufficient
lv under way to take the matter into their hands
and reduce it to certainty? There is such all |
organization in almost every town and village in
New England. They invite number Of the
best lecturers and assume the expense of their
remuneration. This outlay they replace from
the proceeds of the sale of tickets to the course
and often have a handsome surplus left. 1t seems
to mc there might be found in your city from
three to FIVE hundred persons who would be will
ing to give a dollar each fora season ticket TO
course of ten OR dozen lectures by the best pro-
fessionai lecturers. This, you viii perceive, is,
in the long run, far cheaper than giving 25 or so
cents to listen to performance Of wandering
or looking upon scnselcss feats of
legerdemain Besides it is far more 5cicvatng
in character and worthy Of intellectual beings.
An effort should be made at ell events, and if
rightly made will not fail of success.
Yours Truly, a,5sr HAWK-EYE.
BosroS, Nov. &c, SO. ag-ss 'sla