The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1859-06-09
For the Ottumwa Courier.
An Old Maxim.


"Honorum ascensus arduous, static IT,
brica, regressus prgceps," was a familiar max
i'm of the venerable Bacon and is as worthy
of remembrance by us as by him. That it
is true in all its parts, without exception,
perhaps no one will maintain; but that it is
true, without exception, in some of its parts,
no one will dispute. As far as human affairs
are concerned, "honorum static lubrica'
expresses an idea as fixed and Interchangeable
as Deity itself.
Laying aside the history of other times
and other countries, and bringing the spirit
of this maxim within the history of our own
experience, we find some curious instances
of its exemplification. There arc instances
in our own State, where the ascent to fame
has been arduous, where the station, when
once gained, was slippery, and where the
downfall was precipitous. These instances
may Justly claim our attention. Duly stud
led and duly observed, they will seem as a
check upon many improper indulgcnces.
BY comparing instances IN different indi-
vidual cases, we find the several members of
this maxim to sustain, to each other, a curl
Gus relation. As, for instance, if man. in
establishing a reputation, has been stimiula-
ted in his efforts by dishonorable motives,
his fame will necessarily be sliort-lved; the
summit of the monument erected by his I'M
scrupulous ambition, he will find slippery
and unstable. On the other hand if the
acts of great man have been characterized
with honesty and integrity, he will find his
reputation, in a manner, stable. Even then,
however, the heights, thus gained, must be
carefully guarded,-they are slippery, and
a single misstep may prove disastrous.
1t is contended by some, in practice, if
by precept, that, provided one can attain Il
responsible position in society and have atfix-
ed to his name high-sounding title, it mat
ters not by what process the object of his
selfish ambition has been obtained. TO be
able to pronounce such position erroneous,
requires but moments reflection. The
mind would reason in this wise: In this
country, man, to be great, need not be
"born great" he may have sprung from a
parentage the most ignorant and impover-
ished; he may, when young, have been a
splitter Of rails, and grubber of the har-
dy soil. If, nevertheless, he has within him
the germ of greatness, or Gin this country
its equivalent, the tacultycfpushing himself
for,oard, he can be ranked among the great
men of his age, and have affixed to his name
becoming title. But whether he can long
retain the position and the influence he
has acquired, is for the enlightened public to
say. If by his integrity and his virtue, he
has acquired the confidence of his fellow
citizens, and h,s been by them raised to high
honors, he has only to guard well his steps,
and his position is secure. IT, on the other
hand he has pursued dshonorable course,
if he has shown himself selfshly reckless of
all matters that have been intrusted to his
care, if in fine, his advancement was more
attributable to chance than to merit, then,
static lubrica, the place on which he stands
is slippery, and he may look for sudden down.
fall. Nor, in this latter case, will it appease
a defrnude1 public, to hear him relate the
details of his checkcred life, how that, by his
own untiring energy, he rose from mere
splitter Of rails to high State honors. He
will be hurled from his exalted station even
while he is graspins for higher honors, and
perchance, for want of something better
will console himself with the chief magstra-
cy Of a one-horse town. To any one, such a
fall must be both perilous and v'xatious; il
would be hard to endure, but the lesson il
would teach to others, ought to be an ample
remuneration to ''the poor unfortunate.
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