Daily national Democrat., 1860-07-10
why Nations Fan.

Volney, the great French writer, sitting
among the ruins of Palmyra, in the midst of
the great Syrian Desert, and musng on the
departed glory of the once proud Nations Of
the East, wondered ifin the course of a few
ages, some wandering traveller, Ike himself,
would not pouse and mediate among the
crumbled pillars and the fallen domes Of the
great cities of modern civilization. And
why should he not ? The Nations that built
Thebes, and Ninevah, and Babylon, and Pal
myra, and Tyre and Sidon and who Graded
civilization and the arts, have gone down into
barbarism, or degenerated even into worse
condition. A few thousand years ago they
were the leaders Of mankind, the pride of the
human race, the favored of Heaven. They
past civilization are strewing the banks of
their majestic rivers and the sandy borders
Of their widespread deserts If such en-
pres can lie oyerthrown, such transcendant
glory pass away, may we not well tremble
for the durability of the present kingdoms
governments and nations of the earth? How
tell Egypt and Assyria and the rest? Bre
is the answer They fell 10y luxury, effymi.
macy and corruption 10y the degeneracy o
public and private virtue, and Ivy the self
| aggrandzing spirit of those in power, VIII,
pampered their Incidence and fed their AFRO
gance 10y robbing the treasures Of the nation
and plundering the people Official corrup-
tion, msdirection of all the powers of Gov
ernment, and sacrifice OF all its most noble
ends to the selfish purposes Of the few, could
not but produce upon The masses most fear
(ul effect. Where government is perverted
and the people behold in it n mere machine
for their oppression, they become Opathetic
to the public good and lose all love of coun
try. Worn down with tyranny, impoverish
ed by taxation, they have no interest in the
perpetuity Of the government and will not
raise hand to prevent its fall.
As the corruption of the private virtues in
these decayed peoples began with the cor
rupion of public integrity and honor, so i;
there danger to the proudest governments
now existing, from the same fruitful source
of national degeneracy and decline. Already
in our own country, is corruption becoming
the rule and not the exception. In the high
Offices of the government, legislators are
bribed grave Senators and Members of Con-
gress are interested in schemes for their own
nggrandlzement without regard to the public
veal. Even the powers Of the highest execu-
tive Office in the nation have been prostitu-
ted and the public monies directed to the
furtherance of partisan or personal ends-
The body polite is in these respects becoming
| diseased to the core, and if it is not speedily
attended to by the people, it will soon be
beyond their reach or control. All the best
principles of the government will be per-
verted. Corrupt partisans, controlling the
machinery of parties, will fasten themselves
to all the offices of trust or emolument in the
land aud work for their own Interests to the
inevitable detriment of the country. Faction
will be fed upon the hope Of Office and, fail
ing to obtain it, will stimulate the ignorant
the avaricious and the weak to a severance
of the bonds of the Union, in order that that
may be gained which could not otherwise
be acquired. thousand other evils readily
occurring to the imagination would thus bc
originated by official corruption, and it woulC
not be long before the same tale would b,
told Of us that is now told of the nations
whose mouldering monuments have suggested
The theme of this brief article. Let every
patriot look well to his c, nduct. Especially
let him look well to his vote. Let no sus
pected traitor or would-be plundercr of the
people,-no man with the taint of corruption
about him-eyer receive, for any place or
office, the suffrage of any true lover Of his
country.