The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-12-10
rAs Easar aaa NE Mss.

:
Il ls aQuestion whether great men are cfeatxd y
for every important crisis, or whether the force
Of circumstances awAkens the faculties hitherto
dormant. Ii the latter etatement Is not correct
its converse - certainly true. Many person-
age who. in an eventiul period, passes for :
sage, is shown q the first appearances Of tron
bic 20 be no better than his fellows, Is far ~
valor and good Judgment are concerned. 10
proportion - he has before assumed calm
dignity and maeisterial authority, be now blus :
ters, brags and fumes, yet accompiishes notss-
ing. n
The march Of events has afforded us such !
spectacle in neighbofiue State. Henry A.
Wise, the owner OF numerous slaves in the
county Of Accomac, the inheritor Of not little
family pride, and the possessor Of unbounied
assurance, the pride Of the Virginian populace,
and the pest Of newspaper conductors who have
anything beside interminable letters with which
to 6ll their columns, has just discovered that IL
is very different affair 10 govern State Stun.
bering in dotage, from protecting that dotaee
against the disorders that precede dissolution
and decay. His constituents, also, are begin
ming 70 end ont thar ruler. mighty with his
tongue, and furious with his pen, is not nee
essarily solomon, Washington, or even .
good tactician.
About sir weeks ago, small band Of fanat-
les awoke the sleepy old town Of Harpers Fer
~, and the still sleepicr Commonwealth 10
which it belongs, from their slumber Of quar-
Ter OF century, aid during dozen hours or
so seemed to mediate terrible hostities. At
the expiration Of that f,rief space, however, all
OF the aforesaid fanatics were either killed. cap
tured or dispersed, and nothing, IL would seem.
remained but 10 hang the survivors o. a sasH-
ing 70 those who might be tempted 10 follox
their rash example.
II conHagration breaks out, il is much
easier TO cry Fire ~ than 70 extinguish the
flames, yet il il safer 70 adopt the last named
course. Virginia, or the man who claims 10
direct what energies she has left, differ in this
respect from all the world. since the seven
teenth Of October last, her gubernatorial pro
clamations. her newspapers, have done nothing
but lament over the mischief that il now irfs
mediable, and 70 increase the excitement already
too intense for endurance.
lfJohn Brown deserves hanging for arousing
discomfort among the negroes, the Richmond
papers tell US he has not succeeded,- bis raid
has given thetn material for thoughts which
they have no right to entertain, wha: should be
said OF those who have ever since been forcing
these unhappy Africans to mediate upon their
inieriority continually; who have virtually ins
formed them that ii they choose they can win
their freedom ~ rebelliong Ii Brown aud
Cook merit the gallows for showing that fifteen
or twenty white men can scare ell Virginia out
OF its wits, are the rack and the stake any too
severe for Wise ana his wiseacres who have
contributed in every way TO make the slaves
aware of their own strength?
Ifmadness Is the precursor OF destruction, the
Governor Of the Old Dominion is not far from
the verge Of the precipice. Our sins are often
made our execnsioners; such fate appears now
TO impend overa community that ranks among
the Oldest Of the confederation Of States
Those who should most manfally defend her,
by their folly and presumption are fast alena-
ting the sympathy that her humiliation has in
spired. A chip with madman for . pilot is
doomed &c a more speedy destruction than the
vessel which glides on wherever the breeze
may bear it. But this IL not all the truth
Wise, however much he may belle his name, il
not the prime cause OF trouble. The evil is of
more remote origin, Of longer continuance
foolish administration msy have drawn the
chronic poison to the surface, and increased
its virulence: fanaticism may disturb Virginia :
quiet, but her people well know that their per>
sistence in the violation of moral iaw, and their
attempted perpetuation Of the barbarism of the
past have sown for them the bitter
crop OF which they are now reaping the
first fruits.