The Democratic press. (Eaton, Preble County, Ohio) 1860-1865, 1860-12-27
Eaton, Ohio.
The Present Crisis.

1Clll CENTURY WY Iluly S"lu, LllStN
is no great share Of probity neces-
sary to support n monarchical OF
despotic Government" The force
of law in one, and the princes arm
in the other, are sufficient to main.
tain the whole. But in u popular
state one spring more is necessary
rirtuc. To cntrust a people with
s~clf-control prcsupposes them yir-
tuous and christian enough to per-
form the mighty cndcavor, we say
mighty, for 'he that rulcth his own
spirit is better than he that takcth
a city" The founders Of free gov
ernmcnt have never found q people
without vice, and hence we find in
every government Of the kind, no
matter how happy the auspices un-
der which it was called into being,
traces of the evils with which they
had in the beginning to contcnd.-
The imperfcctions and weakness of
humanity as well as its graccs are
the materials Of which the state
must be composed, but trusting to
future development, such Govern
mcnts have been founded in hope
and protected with patriotism and
valor, and by CHANGING at history
we find that is only when virtue,
patriotism and vnlor have failed
that Governments have gone down.
1t is not a want Of population that
ruins 4 people, indeed it often hap
pens that the number involved in
the ruins Of a sinking power, is
greater than the rumber which
built it up. Athens had as great a
population whom she was cnslavcd
in infamy, as in the hour of her
most glorious triumph. Before the
conflict at Chearonea she had stuff
cred defeats, but from the ashes of
her ruin she rose with new strength
and lustre for her people were true,
to themselves and her, but the
Athcnean of Chaeronea was not
the hero patriot of earlier days,
and over that fatal field was writ
ten "no resurrection" Victorious
Philip to be sure sent home the
Athenian prisoners without ran
som, why should he not, they were
no longer the virtuous and valiant,
but ctfcminatcd by vice were slaves,
not heroes. Let nations but lose
their virtues, and there is q Philip
for every Athens, Scipio for every
Carthage.
Our nation at the present time
presents a melancholy spectacle
Torn by internal dissentions and
one of the States which went thro'
the baptism Of fire and blood, in
the Revolution, has declared her
self independent Of the sisterhood.
Men begin to foretcll the horrors of
civil war, and the best men of our
nation trcmble for its safety. The
fauaticism Of the North and the
fanaticism of the South, have at
last, by mutual effort, rupturcd the
Union. We have no sympathy
with either, for we cannot believe
the motives by which they are ac-
tlated, advance either humanity,
religion, freedom or virtue. We
think the fanatics of the North
have done the North no good, and
we think the same true of the
South.
The pulpit, the press, and politi-
ticians of the North have been bu-
~ in their attacks upon the South,
on this side of the Union, and in
the South the f~rc-eatcrs have not
hesitatcd to return anathemas, for
those sent, until at last we find our
selves in o crisis, from which the
most patriotic efforts Of the solid
conservative men Of tho Union,
may be unable to cXtncatc us. In
our saloons, men with noses tipped
with brandy blossoms, may be
heard discussing on the evils of
slavery, While their own children
and wives, arc struggling to secure
even the most common comforts Of.
life. Men come out from the affairs
Of christianity, protesting to be fol-
b. ..