Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1861-11-15
Reasoning 1T every step they tread,
Men yet mistake their way;
While meauer things, by instiact led,
Ara Sehfa,n Lroyp tn afroyn

While meauer things, by instiact led,
! : Are selsfom known to stray" =
/ We are inclined to think that there is
more poetry than truth in the above
Hines. In fact we doubt the truth OF
pretty. much, all the poet gays, In the
first place, we think he erred in assum.
F! ing that men do treason at every ster
they tread" A good many men don't
reason at all! In the next place, men
don't always "mistake the way and
when they do, it is not because they e1
ercise 'sreasou" In the third place
we dnnt admit that there are any
s.sMepuer things than some men. In
the fourth place, We can't admit the as.
sumption that men are not sometimes
led by 'instinct' as we'll as animals
Aud lastly, we affirm that those who are
SO "'si'' are peculiarly liable to &C
''aslras.' In all which particulars the
"truth Of history" has been sacrificed
ltn the ''rythm of the poetry"
Let H. illustrate. Two Of Kentucky y s
immortal sons-James B. Clay, and
John G. Breckinridge--played the trai
tor until their personal safety made il
necessary TO fy from their native State
To escape the vengeance of their out
ragged eouutrymen and find their way to
the camps of the rebels, was the object
at which they both aimed. And their
methods of accomplishing their object
show that the one acted from the
promptings of ''instinct," and the other
from the deductions of reason And
the result shows the falsity Of the poets
theory.
| The immortal Clay, acting from mere
.'instinct" loaded himself and carriage
with deadly weapons, impelled by his
|''instinct" to fight his way through
But, alas! for the poets philosophy
He was captured BY Union boy and is
held in "durance vile as a traitor to
his country, and all in consequence of
being ''led by instinct
But the ''immortal' Breckenridge,
discarding instict entirely, and betaking
himself to the. disparaged reasoning" +"
argued in this way: "By all the acts
and precedents of this Government, the
only thing it holds sacred is slavery.
If I should obtain pass it would
not probably be respected. If should
put myself under the protection of a
military escort, l would no doubt he
captured. Ia short, there is but one
possible way of escape. l must make
this sacred thing be my protection!--
The Egyptians worshiped monkeys and
held them sacred. An enemy, with a
monkey, could march through the land
at will, for an attack upon him might
hurt their sacred Deity! But the negro
in this country occupies the position ef
the monkey in Egypt. must, there
fore, make the sacred negro my pass
port.
Thus argued the subtle treason" Of
the great Breckenridge And be had
no sooner solved the problem, than, fll-
ing his coach with "little niggers,' he
drove in safety and in state, through all
our lines, and is now receiving the
homage Of the Kingdom of Cotton"
at its great Capitol, Richmond
Let no man, hereafter, trust to Gin
stinct." IF Clay had traded his imple-
ments Of war for a little :'nigger" he
need not now have been a prisoner
And if he had exercised one grain of
treason" he might have known that,
without this protecting divinity" he
would be liable to the hazards of othe r
men,.
There is abundant material for an es-
say suggested by our subject. But our
readers must make their own applica-
ton.