Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-07-24
REFORM and the Rerormers.


ss- History does not present an instance OF any
State, the public affairs Of which were In a
condition completely satisfactory 10 the peo-
rle There has ever been room Tor improve
saant. fancied or real, and always advocates
of reform. This is especially true of repub-
Hcs and hence ceaseless political agitation
and nartizan strife have constantly marked
the continuance of all democratic and repre-
sentative governments Change is a condi-
tion of the human mind, and is impressed on
all its efforts and productions. Human al
fairs are therefore never stationary-individ-
uais. society, in its most limited sense, States
and the family of states must all move-in
one direction or another, and in counter
directions 1t is the statute Of nature against
stagnation. 1t is neither to be wondered at
nor deprecated, in its legitimate and whole
some operation. But it is as much liable to
abuse as any other law of our being. and it
often becomes source of evil as well as good.
Abused. it brings burning fever to the State,
popular blood grows fiery and the passions
run high. The in1amed masses are spell
bound by the appeals Of the vicious-the
violent demagogue fills the State with the
wild echoes of his senseless and vile jargon
and rides in triumph at the head of the peo-
pie. The rout and the mob may usurp the
places of the assemblies, and tumult and riot
ordain law and dispense justice. Thus is bred
the turbulence which disgraces the name of
Revolution, and thus anarchy is elevated
above right rule and the authority of govern
ment. In our country this great element is
at work, perhaps fearfully so. The tendencies
are strong towards that radical extremism.
which borders the whirlpool of anarchy. 1t
is seen in the fanaticism, which is driving the
gospel from pulpits; is entering the
charmed circle of the hearthstone and making
free-love the idolatry of our houses; is inter
fering with the domestic institutions of the
States; is denouncing the constitution and
laws of our blessed country as a covenant
with hell league with the devil; is pro
claiming the higher law; is hushing the voice
of reason and intelligence, and sitting the
utterances of the ballot-box with the bowie
knife and slung-sbot; is setting the law of
might above right; is banishing the statesmen
from the Senate chambers and council halls,
clans in the seats of power; is making the
national capitol the arena for vulgarity and
bloody physical strife; and is riding the Gil
pin race of Reform. Reform and Progress
are the watchwords- conservatism is secuted
the cardinal virtues of forbearaace and
compromise are held to be the WORKOUT fan
cies of old, widowed, tongued-and- grooved
ha,
of gray hairs-the rotten sleepers of the
political fabric.
And who are our Reformers? Are they
those keen-sighted statesmen who have pro-
foundry studied the philosophy of govern
ment in all its vast and difficult branches of
heory and practice; whose wisdom is based
upon "a thorough and enlarged comprehension
of the nature and principles of government,
and whose acts are dictated by correct I'M
derstanding of the political necessities of a
great, growing and prosperous people, and
shaped and guided by high and honest re-
gard for the public welfare? Who, believe
that the true progress OF the nation will al
ways consist in gradUa safe, consistent,
conservative advancement in the paths of in
y,
cess of increase and development and expan-
sion? Or, do we find them mo t boisterous,
most assiduous, most clamorous in the ranks
of that other class, about equally made up of
acute and unprincipled party tricksters and
brawling dcmagogues, whose political knowl-
edge is hemmed in by the boundaries Of
private interest, whose pathway is that to
personal prefcrment, and whose goal is pub
lie station and public plumber? How far
shall we progress in the lead of these Re
formers. and what shall bc the character of
our progress? May we not hope that in
these days of reform and progression the in
telligence and reason of the people may be
brought to reflect upon these inquiries, and
to consider whether the schemes of reform,
which are much paradrd will result in
substantial progress. As we'll, may they not
be brought to inquire whether the proclaimers
of reform are really honest or whether they
are not governed, in great degree, by selfish
and corrupt motives-whether it is not
Syren that sings song that may lure us to
political destruction. s.
uUaasg.v w SIaVehnIIers