Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1862-11-22
From the y. y. Independent.
DAY AT THE POLLS.
by HORACE GREELEY,

THE proper study Of mankind is Man
yet the rarest opportunities for this as for
other studies are apt to pass wholly uuim
proved. All men would be wise ;yet what
golden moments do nest Of Us trlile heed
lessly away Here are men Of forty, Gry,
sixty years, who have tagged through semi.
nariel and what pass for universities, aud
wandered over strange lands in quest OF
know ledge, yet never spent one election
day in earnest, hard work at the polls
where their townsmen and neighhors an
neatly convene 10 give formal authentic,
commanding expression TO their cOnvic.
tions respecting public afI'urs and inter
Csts If the phenomenon Of Popular
Election were only to be witnessed in Swift.
ze,land or Greece fancy that some Of these
would be journcying thither to observe them
and report thereon for the ed hcatiou and
entertainment Of their countrymcn it is
only the homelncss tie commences Of these
civic battles, that blind any TO their intrin-
sic grandeur and Importance. NcsuviuS in
eruption would strongly attract all eyes
within the radius of human perception !;
yet how gross, material, uninteIigent, pur.
poseless, incOnsequent, is volcano, when
compared with the eruption Of great
People
1t is not light matter to sit beside .he
well.springs Of History, and note how the
collisions Of races, crecdS, traditions, in.
terests, sharp themselves into memorable
events, by whose light we read the varying
characters and purposes of those whom the
world calls great, or at least remarkable
men. Yet it is more than this-mOre and
wor.hier-to have borne patriots part in
one or more Of those great pcrturbations
which have made ler mark indelibly and
hent fcCnlly on the general condition Of a
people Just think Of an old mana cen.
leuaran-silting TO day in his chimney.
nook, looking out on the whirring progress
Of affairs, aud recalling incidents of his early
manhood thus Il recOllcct the time when
we chose delegates 10 state convention
called to ratify or reject the Federal Con.
slitution, then just framed | meant 10
have voted but some young friends came
along and urged me to go hunting with them
and | went SO ! missed my opportunity"
The octogenarun who can truly say, II
was voter in the State of New York
throughout the public career Of Dewitt
Clinton, and steadily sustained his Canal
policy, in the face OF vehement denunca,
tions of its prodigulity aud madness-of
predictions that the Erie Canal would ncv.
er be completed, and that the debt iucurr-
ed in its construction would never be paid"
may justly feel n special property, prculcr
interest, in the prosperity aud greatncs Of
the Empire State nay he may take hon,
est pride in it as emnhHr cci;11iiiy his work and
tat Of his compatriots. The honorcd
names Of Jay, Hamilton, Tompkins Rufus
King, need no patents Of heredtay nobility
TO render them iIlustrious even in the per.
sons of the descendants Of those who gave
them to History aud be who can say with
those heirs Of noble renOwn, My ances-
tor bore a leading part in braving odinm
and Misrepresentation in order TO bani SD
for ever the scourge and blight of Slavery
from the soil of our State" has a heritage
Of honor anu true glory which he would be
uuwise TO barter for fortune.
The Election Poll is Christian Civiza-
| tion's Improvement on and substitute Tor
the encIimsoned Battlefield Alas that,
in this latter half of the XlXth Century,
the insane ambition of wicked men should
have forced us temporarily back into rc
sort to the weapons of Barbarism, the
methods of the Dark Ages! BloodeSs as
| our civic contests are Judge that they
are no wit less important in their issues,
less momeutous in their consequences, than
those wherein cannon and musketry ap'
peal TO The fear of death or Of agony rather
than to the love OF Truth and Justice
wherein the stump orator is replaced by a
General, aud the adjuraton to stand firmly
for the Right gives place to the command
10 advance upon and overwhelm the ene'
my Can il be doubted that the election
of Jeffernson in 1900, The reelection OF
Madison in 1912. the election of Jackson
in '2S, of Harrison in 40, of Polk IA, OF
Lincoln in go, were events as pregnant
with good or evil TO mankind as the results
of almost any modern battles For one
note the narrowing incidents OF the great
tragedy whereof our country is now the
arena, and say, Thank God that / was per
mitted to do my very utmost, in resisting
the Annexation of Texas in 1874. the Wa
ION Mexico in 1916, and the passage Of tn