Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1857-10-29

that thirsty wretch, give me that frightened
fugitive: am the law Yes, and God is
knocking at your heart: "..Whosever doeth
it unto the least Of these my brethren doeth
, it unto me p" H. .,..
With the workings of man S conscience,
or the play Of his mind, as long as they do
not manifest themselves in open resistance
to the law, we have nothing to do. But
when an individual picks his neighbor's
pocket, Or cuts his neighbours throat, or
raises defiant hand against lawful author
ity, and then tells us that his conscience
told him to do so, and that he obeyed a
sAigher law" we have right to show him
that, while he may spurn the obligation, he
must yet feel the power of the lo,0er law /;
that though he may think, and moralize,
and theorize as much as he pleases in def
ance of its commands, his s'daily walk and
conversation" must be shaped by it's pre-
cepts and bow to its majesty.
We have chosen to touch at this length
upon the leading idea of Mr.. Curtis's ora
tion-to which all the rest Of bis statements
are but accessory-not because we regard
his individual Importance as giving any
weight to what he says, but because he is
the exponent Of a sect, not numerous in our
midst, but numbering in New England a
vast body Of the people. It is somewhat
| singular, and very suggestive fact, that the
course by which, in Mr.. C.'s view, patriot
ism is to be best exemplifed, consists in a
resistance to the law of the land, which in
any other country would amount to treason
To that large liberty of speech which the
despised constitution Of the country guaran-
ties, Mr.. G.. is indebted for the safety with
which he utters his traitorous counsels.-
We might, five chose, expose still further
the fallacies on which he rests these coun-
sells, and the miserable sophistries in which
the. whole address abounds. We might
give at length his eloquent comparison be-
tween the dissolute cavaliers who settled the
southern State of the Union, and the godly
pilgrims who were driven by persecution,
or lured by the codfsheries- history can't
exactly decide which-to the shores of Mas
|sachusetts bay. The historic portions of
the oration are, indeed, the only portions Of
lit which have much claim to originality, and
Iisax-ass Us raj her ffaHerabl must adj
NIT, with Mr.. Curtis powers of invention.
We had supposed that the Kansas panic
had faded out of memory long ago, but Mr..
Curtis gives us one more shrek which our
readers shall hear:
''During the last year we allowed our
brothers and friends and fellow citizens to
be cruelty murdered for doing precisely the
same thing that we this year build statues
on Bunker Hill to men for doing eighty
years ago. -. ,.--'' -
We should like to see any authority for
this bold assertion to be found outside the
columns Of the New York Tribune, which
honest people very generally agree is just
no authority at ALL. In some of his state
ments, however, Mr.. Curtis is more correct,
giving them the sanction Of his own word.
"The theory of our institutions is our
pride. But it is pitiful truth that our pub
lie life has become Synonymous with knave-
ry. If a politician is introduced you feel Of
your pockets. It is shameful that it is uni
versally conceded that the best men-the
men Of intelligence and probity-g generally
avoid politics, and that the word itself has
come to mean something not to be touched
without deflement. Consequently, what
good men will not touch bad men will. It
is understood that bribery carries the election,
and the presidency is the result of an adroit
process Of financial engineering. I have
myself been shown handful Of bank-notes,
publicly displayed in the ante-room Of the
Legislature, and sagaciously ly told, THAT is
the logic for legislators. ......,
We may as well add little circumstance
which the orator. in the hurry of compost
ton, doubtless, forgot to mention-tha the
four black sheep who were scourged out of
Congress for bribery and corruption were all
apostles of that pure and sublime theory of
politics which Mr.. Curtis delights to preach,
and which he hopes to make universal. We
we're not aware, however, until this startl
ing confession of Mr.. e., that he himself
was in the ante-room, and an actual witness
Of these corrupt transactions. What pre-
cious evidence the "Ho,oadji" could have
given before the corruption committee, if he
had only told them all he knew! ~ .'''s
The last quotation we shall make from
Mr.. Curtis is fearfully ominous ::
"Gentlemen, you will not be surprised
when you discover, as you soon will, that,
notwithstanding the commercial prosperity
of our country, there are wise men who shake
their heads already, and good men who de-
spair." ,'''5- - 5''~, ..s.4 2s'i
We hope the young gentlemen of Dart
mouth and the other colleges before whom
Mr.. Curtis has delivered and means to de-
liver this address, will keep heart. For our
part, instead of feeling alarmed that these
..good men" among whom We presume Mr..
G. of course includes Brother Kalloch, are
'shaAsmg their heads" We feelquite delight
ed that they are SO harmlessly employed,
and amt doing anything avorse.
And now we must close. We might say