Daily national Democrat., 1859-07-08
Refinement not Degcneracy.

A cotemporary, not long ago, gave utter
anee to the somewhat startling assertion that
human progression was nothing more than
degeneracy-that is to say, that the advance
mcnt of men in the arts and sciences and in
the rcfnements Of civilized life was conducive
to etfemipacy and a deterioration Of The men
tai, moral and physical character A more
monstrously untrue proposition was never
laid down. Eifeminacy is an incident to Ger
tain conditions of society. butts never to be
attributed to any true advancement in the
arts and sciences, On the contrary, no man
is fitted TO determine what is best for himself,
as a maa. until he becomes very wen ac.
/ quainted with the laws of nature, of his own
being and with what surrounds him general
! ly. While We admit that there are many
men of cultivated tastes and refined manners,
who indulge in designations which undermine
I their constitutions and render them miserable,
! VIC insist that it is in nine cases out Of ten
owing either to n profound ignorance of the
laws of nature or to SO partial I'm Oppreeia-
tion Of them as TO render the sufferers un-
conscious of the magnitude of the dangers to
which they are exposed. Where number
Of such persons are congregated in a commu.
nifty, the society thus formed may be what
is called "refned and elegant" but at the
same time, is very liable to be tending TO
effeminaey and licentiousness Where n
whole nation is either thus ignorant of the
great laws which should govern the moral and
physical man, or so partially impressed with
their Importance as TO treat them with neg
lect, We have an effeminate and most proba-
bly, licentious nation, at any rate nation di
rectly tending to such a condition. But such
a nation has not reached this pass, because of
an advancement in knowledge, but because
of the exact contrary. .e
If the progress Of mankind in the arts and
sciences. is to result in making them weak
or wicked, the sooner the world lapses back
into barbarism the better; the whole vast
system Of civilization and Christianity is a
failure, and we should wish to restore the
were in the primitive condition, and
"Wild in woods the noble savage ran"
But, the proposition is not in the least degree
tenablc The more ignorant a man is, the
more miserable he is liable to be. for lie is
continually committing some act which mill
tates against some law of his being The Gre.
ator gave him intelligence and reason, in or.
der that he might by experience and obser
walton, attain TO a knowledge OF himself
and Of all nature around him. He, therefore,
lacks that unerring instinct by which the
brute creation are governed and which keeps
them in the straight path of nature He pos
sesses that far higher faculty which enables
him to know what is his proper course and to
pursue it.
We shall conclude this very brief answer
to the assertion of our cotemporary, above
alluded to, by the following extract from
what we conceive to have been we'll digest
ed and just article. 1t matters not who is
the author, provided it be the truth which is
uttered:
The first great law of happiness is that men
must do right the primary object OF all govern |
ment is that men must be made to do right: and |
that they can be made to do 30 to II greater or |
less extent is evidenced in the fact that govern
meuts hive been and are maintained. That gov
ernmeut is best adapted to the great end of all
government, Which affJrds the amplest Opportu-
nifty for the general education and improvement
If the people. That education and improvement
must not be exclusively mental, or moral, or
physical, but all combined and happy consid-
Grafton TO the trne philosopher and phllanthropst
it is, that the systems Of education, now prevail.
ing in the different civilized nations of the earth,
are all more or less tending in that direction. The
cheapness with which all kinds of knowledge is
now disseminated among the masses is having
the effect to fsmiliarize the minds Of the people
with those great and important truths Of science,
which were once so fully seaied up TO the COM
mon eye. Physiology and phrenUlogy are work
ing wonders in the moral world. fhe former is
not only taught in the schools and colleges OF all
the leading nations of the present day, but physi-
cally illustrated and enforced in the practice OF
those engaged in its study. The incalculable
benefit TO individuals and to nations to be de-
rived from this practical acquaintance with the
great science Of physiology, 10 a subject OF deep
and heartfelt congratuaton. When the great
idea is fully impressed upon the minds OF men,
that the law Of right is the rule of happiness, the
world will be far wiser and better thar 1t is now.
In regard to phrenoogy, although 1t is a science
not generally taught in the schools, it is one much
talked Of, and discussed among the masses. lts
tendency is Of IA mora purely eevating character
than that of any other science now known to
mankind. 1t teaches the great law OF develop
ment in all of its vast meaning, as connected
with the complicated interests Of society ana gov
ernment. 1t teaches that no man is worthy to be
called man. in the true sense Of that term, who
is destitute of the moral sentiments. No matter
how well constructed or cultivated the mind
may be in other respects, it teaches that, II the
moral faculties be wanting. the man is mon
strosity; that the perfection Of mental power
| lies in the equal development of all tho faculties
! that pure reason never dawns upon the morally
| benighted man that mind, i'll which the divIneT
! faculties, designated as the moral, are wanting
is utterly incapable offorming a just conception
Of anything, unfit to reason upon the wants OF
/ necessities of mankind unable TO be ofany benc
fit to the race, and, consequently, positively aJe
ri0r in the intellectual scale Of being. To cal
such u man great would be as wise as 60 call 8
blind man physically perfect. BY thus establish
ing the true standard Of mental perfection, anC
positively demonstrating II 10 be true, 1t appeals
directly To one of the first great motive powers il
man n desire TO excel 1t stimulates ambition
IN the proper directon-it does away with th'
false spendor that belongs To the mere monsters
ot wickedness and crime, and teaches the young
: nsplrant rather to emulate a Cincinnatus or
Washington than those who conferred no sub
stantial benefit upon mankind
| II is believed that Major Dodge is elected
Delegate to Congress from Nevada Terrific
ry.
Hos DAVID c. BRoDER1cK will speak a
Placervile tomorrow evening.