Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1863-02-12

effect as we may well imagine when were
member the wonderful lntrcacies oil the plot
i,s exquisite turnings, its thrilling suspense
and It's heNrt.rCndiug finale. but this won
drriul product Of genius offers something
more than material for the drAmn; 1t Is tot
august, too lofty, too comprehensive fO
the stage. We pause before it, and ar,
oyer.awcd by its THstntss. 1t is grea
psnOrama-it is sublime compound. /
is the song Of songs" sung for the mis-
crable, and it rises iRtO :he grandeur o
an epic, whose great fact is misery j
has, as VIC see, its hero, warrior, fighting
upon the plains of life; Ajax struggling
with blindness, praying for light or Chris
tiAn fighting ApoIIyor, down in the valley
The moral needs no summing up. We
get il as we 70 along, in such lives as the
Bishops Jenn Val Jeans, and FNnIinc's.
There is nothing more moving, more sOr.
rowrul, than the cOntrasted lives Of EPo.
nine and CoscttC. The fulnCss and beauty
Of the one through love and Kindness the
lesCrtiOn-thc starvation. body and soul
in the other for want Of ii,
Victor Hugo loves the people he com.
prchends md compASsOnNtes them; and
he is the great champion for their rights !
the great expounder Of tbOir wants, social,
moral, and political, And the ameIiOrH.
tious he proposes Are no! UGOpiau or ST.
Simonian. He Is not dreamer; he un.
derstands the age, the Diseases and the
remedies it contains. lie speaks like
Louis Blanc for the people and their rights,
but without the bitterness Of rNdiralism j
ind he wishes to rcvolutionize only by
pulling down the thrones OF ignorance,
pride, and superstition.
In such spirit of love is all this Supe.
rior wisdom and boundless knowledge
dedicated to humanity, that to begin to
point out the faults or weaknesses this
book may have, would indeed be au unen.
viable task, and one which we willingly
leave to the professional critics.
We conclude with one Of his philOsOPhic
views Of the age, in which noble faith in
the humanity he pleads for is nobly e1'
pressed:
eve shall never grow weary Of repeat.
iug, that to think before ali Of the diSin-
hcrited and sOrrOwlul classes, 10 relieve,
yeutilate, enIighten, and love them and
lavish upon .hem education iu every
shape. to OlTer them the example Of labor,
aud never that OF Incidence ; TO lessen the
weight Of the individual burden By in-
Crrasing the notion Of the universal object;
to limit poverty without limiting wealth
to create vast fields Of public and popular
activity, 10 have, like Briaseus, u hundrcd
hands TO stretch out on all sides to the
crushed and the weak; 10 employ the
collective power in opening workshops
for every arm, schools for every Apu.
tude, and laboratories for every intel.
lCct, 10 increase wages, diminish the toll,
and balance the debit and credit, that Is to
Say, proportion the enjOymCn. to the effort,
md the satisfaction to the wants; in word,
to evolve from the social machine, on be-
half Of those who suffer and those who are
ignorant, more lightaud moro cOniort-iS,
aud sympathetic souls must not forget it,
the first Of brOIhcrly obligations and, let
egOlislic hearts Learn the fact, the first ol
politicnl necessities. And all this, We are
bound to add, is only n beginning, and the
true question is this: labor cannot be law
without bJng II right, II nature is called
providence, society ought 10 call
itself foresight. Intellectual and moral
growth Is no less Indispensable than natu.
Fal nmeiOntioni knowledge is viAtcum;
thinking Is IL primary necessity, and truth
is uOurshmcnI, like wheat. \ reason last.
ing Tor knowledge aud wisdom grows thin,
and VIC must nurse minds that TO not cat
quite rs much rs sIOmachs. II there be
anything more poignant than body piu'
ing away for want OI bread, ii is n
mind that dies OF hunger for Cnlight.
meut: The whole OF our progress
tends towards the solution, and some day
people will be Stupiiicd. AS tho humNn
race nsCGuds, tho deepest strata will nAtnr
ally emerge from the zone OF Distress and
the cIIArcment Ut wretchGdnOsS will be
effected hy n simple elevation Of the level,
| People would do wrong to doubt this
blessed solution. The past, We grant, is
very powerful at the present hour, md is
beginning again, lie appears aviclor, and
in II CUnquerOr be arrives with his legion,
supcrstillOus; with his sword desrotism :
with his barrier Ignorance; and during some
past he hNs gained the battles. But we
have no reason to despair let Us sell the
field on which Hannibal cncAmped, tor
whit can We, who believe, fear! Our civ
| ilixaliOn, the work Of twenty centuries, is
at once the monster nnd the prodigy, md Is
worth saving it will ho saved. To retain
it is much anil 10 CnligbIen it i'somcIhing.
Aud yet some Of those who follow tho social
clinics shake their heads at times,
aud tho strongest, tho most tender, and
tho most logical, have their hours
Of despOndenCy, win the future arrive!
| It seems us Il Wc may almost nsk this queS.
ton on seeing SO much terrible sh0doW.-
There isM sOmbre, ince.to.iacc meeting Of
the cyclists and the wretched. In the ego
list VIZ trace prrjudicCJ, the ClOudincss OF
II caste education, appetite growing with
o1icAtiou, aud prosperity that Stuns, "
tear OF suffering which In SOme goes 80 far
,s nm nyrrsinn 10 tho sufferers, an implnCR.