The mountain Democrat., 1864-06-25
THE MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT.
The ReveI Of Ruin.


prest vividness and power, entitled The
Reign Of Shoddy-American Society un-
der the Wharf.-The Revil OF RUM" recent
ly appeared in the New York Round Ia
ble, an abolition publication. We give
the following extract:
II has been said, not once, but hun
dred times, that stranger landing IN
New York, would never dreaHo shsI
great war was desolating the land. lie
would see the streets alive with brilliant
euuipages. the shops filled with the cost.
iiest and most luxurious goods, the thea.
tres nightly crowded with gay and well
dressed audiences he would see cafes RI
Haling the most splendid establishments
of Paris, ablsze with light; from . hun.
dred houses the sweet clamor" Of music
poured upon the air, thrilling in tune to
the movement Of "dancers dancing in
tune" All this he would see, and II he
we're q stranger, content to judge things
by their superficial aspect only. he might
20 away amazed to find the fearful events
which for three years have been thunder.
ing upon our devoted country, so lover
come US like a summers cloud, without
our special wonder"
But If the enquiring stranger will only
look little more deeply into the state of
things about him, and il he BE- but ever
so slightly familiar with the story Of the
past, he will see abundant occasion to re.
cognize the working Of ancient and ire
siStible laws upon the social order in
which We live. He will see the bands Of
social justice, equity, dccency, every where
relaxed; he will s-e men less respectful
OF their social rights he will see the ap'
petite Of wealth and enjoyment madden.
ing in the eyes, and making eager the
faces that be meets; he will see, as it
were, overcaSting the whole gay and gor-
geouS panorama about him, the far flung
shadow of those awful wings of death
which are winnowing the land from east
to west, over SO many thousand square
miles Of what but brief three years ago
was the rich and prosperous home Of a
happy and high spirited peOple-a shad.
cw which those who do not See, feel; a
shadow which breeds that burning reck.
lessncsS Of The ol1cr time, "let Us eat
and drink, for tomorrow We die"
Felt in our highways and hyways, this
awful shadow reveals itself in the increase
Of violent and horrible crimes. The sane.
tity Of life and prop:ity dies out Of the
popular heart As tie pressure Of want
grows daily heavier, aS the rcAard Of ia
Dor becomes daily more uncertain, rs It's
value becomes daily more capliciou&
Felt in the higher circles Of life, where
property exists. but the wings OF proper.
~ are seen daily expanding. where the
call Of the dragon of tattie Tor human
lives is heard only afar ot, and only dis
turhS the rcpoSe without threatening the
safety of men; this shadow gives 4 kccatr
zeSt to the immediate satisfaction Of the
moment, and urges not tG crimes vt viD.
lencc, but to crimes which MAY be called
crimes Of desire. t0 the " last Of the ey eS
and the pride of Itr.' All things are tax
ins tli.ht-why not principles, hopes,
purpose, old religious traditional dectn.
cieS, the transmitted morals uf another
age?
In the most fearful crises Of the past.
these Saine phenurnena with To the SEE
ing eye make our life of to-day, swept
over the great cities Of mon. Florenrc
SAW them Wh,n tn singers nt the DtcaN'
eron strung their iu'rs AMI laughed the
summer hours away upon the sunny Vlme-
clad heights Of Fie>ole, while far brlow
the pe>tilencc RACED, turning men into de.
mUA< of despair and SriiShnc>S. G-rnl
nv saw them when out Of the bloody and
tramplcd fields of the Thirty Years War
tt1in ,I Ter
and madness. Of sen>u1 fury and sensual
license. France saw thrm when Fcsu
lence and ruin >takel hhudin hand over
the fair kingdom, John Law and the
plague dividing the hndieS and estates Of
= million Of men in 4 general bankruptcy
OF health aud wealth.
Never was the Paris Of the Regency so
gay as upon the eve "f the explosion u(
the Mississippi scheme, and the morrow
Of the triumph Of the plague. Men and
women hurried from festival to festival,
from ball to lIalk Masked balls above all
abounded human hearts broken or mad-
dened. lonSed for mystery as well as mad
ness, fung themselves desperately upon
the lottery Of life and death, the worthless
remnant Of their fortune and their years.
against fegv moments more of Illusion
and folly. We have not yet quite reached
the point Of Paris in 1920, but we arc
drifting hravely on to it.
Then" the historian tells, -four masks
came to a bali, bringing fifth, who seem
ed mimic of death. The thing VAS
beautifully done; every one laughed. -
Suddenly the four disappeared; the fifth
remained. The tifth.in truth, was simply
dead"
This, you may say, was the sublime Of
moral disease. But like causes engender
like results all the world over and in all
times. Out Of the sweeping annihilation
Of a gigantic vision Of wealth this hideou,
extravaganza Of misery rose. Apparently
the schemes Of Law hal enriched the
whole active population Of France. The
shares Of his company and his treasury
notes were in all hands. When the set
tling day came, all their wealth had melt
ed away in the hands of million of fam
lilies. All France had thought its hand,
full, opened them, and found-nothins.
In the recol Of this fearful shock, rea
son. sense, public morals. private conf
dence alike went down. twas no l0nge
. race after pleasure. it was race for dis
traction, for oblivion, for suicide. Mer
seemed mad to sweep away at one blow
everything that was left to them, deter
mined to disappear themselves in tn,
whirlpool which had swallowed up thci
fortunes, their hopes, their peace, anC
their plans.
We laugh and are merry to day, bu
under the sun there is nothing new Tn
thing has becn, shall be. and that for
eVerDlorc.