The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1860-05-12

Sciences, for the purpose Of hearing an address
BY DR.. Hayes, upoa the suh3ec q hh Peoposet
) expedition to the Arctic Seas. The speaker
! were Hon. Edward Everett and Professor Agassix
n The former, who preaided. on taking the chair
addressed the meeting at considerable length, il
the course Of his remarks paying the following
oloqusnt tribute 70 the spirit OF adventure tina,
! Aas led % many gallant men to risk their live,
among the ice6elds Of the Northern seas
ii II win no doubt seem TO many Who hear me
that this 10 very dangerous expedition. DR.
Hays does not 20 regard it, and he speaks from
the experience oftwo Arctic wintera But there
Y no doubt hardships to be encountered and risk
% be Incurred DR.. Hayes lie not asking us TO bear
, those hardships and brave those dangers. He
10 NOT calling W 70 leave our comfortable homes
our temperate ATTITUDES, our warm houses, and
anthracite fires. He asks NJ only, while we are
enjoying these Injuries, to assist him in his at.
tempt to 60 and struggle with rolling glaciers and
the icy blasts Of the pole. The danger, however,
} Is probably less than We suppose
VI twenty-e.ght or thirty expeditions to the
polar regions one only has proved wholly disas.
tgous. Most Of them contributed to the discovery
OF northwest passage, which was finally accom-
pl'shed by Mcclure. One or two vessels have
been crushed, five or six abandoned, most of them
UNNECESSARILY the
exception Of the gallant Franklin and his unfor-
tunate company, few have persisted in the cause;
and men may perish anywhere, in any cause -
The first time crossedthe little branch on which
Bladensburg stands, in the neighborhood of
Washington, was told that sailor, Just return.
| ed from whaling voyage, was drowned the week
before, while fortiing it in the stage-coach. The
French Admiral Du Petit Thouars, came home
from three years cruise in 1912, and was
4 f3aliv c<bo
cars between Paris and Versailles, in open day-
greater number, probably, than have ever per-
ished in all the Arctic expeditions. OF all the
1 persons engaged in those expeditions, those who
since their return have died quietly in their beds,
no doubt exceed in number, hundredfold those
who persisted on the voyage.
1t may be asked what good the expedition will
do, even if successful, and the answers will de.
| pend upon our ideas Of good 1t will not proba-
biy De productive OF any commercial or political
advantage. If DR.. Hayes should reach the Pole,
It will ereats no new market for our staple pro,
ducts or manufactures. We shall not trade with
| It; we shall not annex it--thOugh won't answer
for that. But the only "good" which deserves
the name, is the enjoyment of virtuous happiness
by rational human beings, and among the purest
sources of their enjoymentis the investigation and
discovery Of truth. TO such investigation and
discovery an Arctic voyage opens a wide field
The question itself, of an open Polar Sea, has
been pronounced by Professor Bache, "the great
geographical question of the day" The physical
geography Of land and water in this region-the
Arctic fauna-the tides, the oceanic currents,
| the glaciers, the magnetic and auroral phenome-
ma, the chronological relations y these are
all fields of inquiry, in which a rich harvest
OF facts is yet to be reaped: and whenever we
have reached a fact in the boundless domain of
inquiry, We have grasped link in that chain Of
" hiudS all M tn tho throu ne he
Supreme No power of map can break it-no
foresight predict how far, how high it may guide
us. 1t may be q fact established on Alpine sum-
mits or in the depths of cherries mines--the
telescope may bring it down from the highest
heavens-the sounding lead may draw it from the
bottom of the seattle thoutful spirit may en-
vove it from the inmost chambers of its own con-
science; in whatsoever region, from the Equator
to the Pole, it may be revealed to the observing
eye or the reasoning mind, it is page in that
'Elder Scripture writ by GODS own hand
CAUTIOUS MEN.-Some men use words as rifle
men do bullets. They say little. The few words
used 60 right to the mark. They let you talk,
and guide with their eye and face, on and on, till
what you say can be answered in word or two,
and then they lance out sentence, pierce the
matter to the quick, and are done. You never
know where you stand with them. YoEr con-
versation falls into their mind, as rivers fall In
to deep chasns and are lost from sight by its
depth and darkness. They will sometimes sur
prise you with a few words that 90 right to the
mark like gun-shot, and then they are silent
again, as if they were re-loadins.
ONE Brick WRo.G.-W orknen were recently
building large brick tower, which was 10 be
carried up very high. The architect and fore
man both charged the masons to lay each brick
with the greatest exactness, especially the first
courses, which were to sustain all the rest How
ever in laying a corner, by accident careless
ness one brick was set very little out of line
The work went OF without its being noticed, but
as each course Of bricks was kept in line with
those already laid, the tower was not put up ex-
actly straight, and the higher they built the more
insecure it became. One day, when the tower
had been carried up about fifty feet, there was
heard tremendous crash The building had
fallen, burying tine me,i in the ruins. All the
previous work was lost, the materials Tasted
and worse still, valuable lives were sacrificed,
and all from 6rick. laid acyoag at the start
The workman at fault in this matter little thot
how much mischief he was making for the future.
Do you ever think what ruin may come of one
bad habit-one brick laid wrpns-while You are
now building character for life Remember
in youth the foundation is laid. See to it that all
is kept straight
TIE NORTHERN AND NATIONAL VICTORY AT
CuARLEsroN.-At length there is "a North
This new phenomenon not only exists this side |
of Mason Il Dix0n's line, but in Democratic |
National Convention, held at the very seat and |
center of Southern notification and disunon.-
That the ultra slavery propagandists shouldhavc |
been beaten in Democratic Convention is the |
great wonder Of the age. No matter If the point |
Of division be of no practical Importance in
ITSELF 1t is important as an issue raised by the
ultra slavery party. And the defeat of that
party in the Convention on that issue Is North |
ern and national triumph over the sectionalism
that has hitherto ruled the Democratic party, and
through that the country. In this at least the
friends of freedom and political reform may re-
joicc. 1t is the great political event of the time
and involves great results.
The Northern Democracy have declared their
adherence to the Cincinnati platform. This is
not in itself alone a specially important or cred
table act The Cincinnati platform is nose of
wax, capable of being moulded into any form to
suit the popular market. The Buchanan and
Douglas party have both professed to swear by
it. But, AS against the demand of the Southern
masters of the party,-that long step should
be taken in advance of the Cincinnati platform,
for the protection Of slavery in the Territories
by Congressional legislation-the adherence of
the Northern Democracy to the Cincinnati plat
form is bold and manly act. 1t is an act of
open defiance and resistance to the slave-drvers,
such az they have not encountered before. 1t is
sheer rebellion. 1t is successful insurrection
of the plantation hands against the oycrseer-
Such being the nature OF the transaction, it mat
tiers very little whether the declared cause of
rebellion was important or trivial The rebel
lion ia important whatever its cause. The North
was driven to the wall, it is true, and was forced
to an issue in the most insulting manner To
have yielded would have been disgraceful cow
ardce and servility. But, nevertheless, resist
ance in those SO long habituated to submission,
and against such motives Of interest and fear,
deserves all honor. Without stopping to calcu-
late the consequences. therefore, or to inquire
whether the Northern Democracy will prove ca
| pable Of logical fidelity to the idea which has
made them rebels to the slave power, we glory in
their present spunk, and halloo them on.
[Springfeld Republican
THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONFERENCE.-THE
| Democratic National Convention adjourned about