The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1865-07-11
ssTruth is Mighty, and will Pre-
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We quote this common maxim, transferred
from the proverbs and language of the an
clients and made to figure amongst the tru-
isms of modern society, for the purpose of
tacking a few remarks to it. 1t is very
high sounding phrase, and has very naturally
commanded the sympathy and received the
assent o. the devotees of truth in all ages, as
a self-evident or indisputable maxim. 1t has
held a. high place for two thousand years in
the grand galaxy Of moral lights which have
shown upon the pathway of those who have
waged moral and intellectual warfare in "a
vor of the right and in behalf of human pro-
gress. And the unquestioning faith in this
star of hope and promise, whose steady rays.
have beamed on the minds and hearts of
those who have toiled and struggled in the
cause of truth, has been stimulus and en-
couragement to their efforts amidst the disap-
pointments and the gloom which surrounded
them. But in the light of reason, history and
experience, we link it may we'll be doubted
whether any other practical benefit has re-
suited from belief in the soundness of this
maxim, and we are disposed to place it in
the list of those hopes and antieipations
which buoy us up and stimulate US to effort
through youth and manhood, and whose an
substantial character we only realize in dis
appointment and vexation of spirit in old age.
| Is there any thing in the constitution of
| nature, or in the character of man and the
organization of society, which guarantees the
triumph of truth over error2 If so, We fail to
| discover it; nor do we find the evidence of it
in the history Of the past. The apostle Paul
in his epistle to the Romans portrays the
character of mankind in colors so dark that
| even hope sinks into despair before the
gloomy picture Of race, created originally
/, in the image of God and enjoying communion
with him, who changed the truth of God
into lie, and became intellectually and
morally ayerse to truth and hostile to its
teachings. The ignorance, the Incidence,
| the selhshness of men enlist them against the
truth; the long established customs the In
herited habits, the fundamental beliefs, the
pride of party, the pride of profession and in
diyidual selfconeeit and prejudice. arc all pr
| rayed against the truth. Old things, of whatev-
cr character. to which all are more or less at
tached, stand in the way of the progress of
| truth. And if there be that boasted vital
power in truth which inevitably secures the
victory over error by its own inherent virtue,
the mystic talismanic spell has not been re-
vealed to common mortals tE8844
But historically, what has been the relative
success of truth or right in the conflict with
error and wrong in the ages of strife and
blood which constitute the record of the past?
The first man born into the world, battling
on the side Of error, and stimulated by envy
and malice. killed tho second, wiiu thus be-
came the first martyr to truth and righteous
ness, and whose footsteps many of the best
men Of earth have followed to like bloody
graves, in consequence of their devotion to
| truth. SOCRATES, the brightest name on the
pages of profane history in ancient times,
whose doctrines came down to us as second
only in importance and verify to the revealed
word of God, also suffered as martyr by the
hands of his fellow-citizens. the devotees Of
error. JESUS CHRIST and his apostles, a
handful of earnest propagators of truth
against world lying in error and wickedness
having, through the direct interposition of
Heaven converted few souls. expiased with
their lives their devotion to truth; and myri-
ads who have since embraced their faith have
perished bv the hands of their fellow men,
the partisans of error. And to-day Christi
anity, with its truths more or less perverted,
mingled with errors and toned down to the
tastes and habits of mankind, occupies but
small portion of the earth, and has prevailed
over only 1.-THE of the earth's inhabitants
While such is the state of the world in rel.
erence to spiritual truth. it is stllsworse as
regards moral and political truth. as any in
telligent person must admit on little refec-
ton. Take, for instance, as a patent llustra-
ton, the grand truths lying at the foundation
of our own free institutions and essential to
the best interests of mankind. These truths
are ignored in Asia and Africa, are secuted
in Europe, resisted on the Western Conti-
nent. outside the limits of the United States,
and have not their full realization in practice
even under the flag of the Stars and Stripes.
poet, who saw the difficulty in the fail
ure of the actual realization of the maxim at
the head of our columns, having financial
turn of mind, concluded it best not to hold
out inducements for realizing at once, but
proposed n long and sure investment:
Truth crushed 10 earth vii rise again;
The cternai years Of God are hers" .as
Trutheha = wonderfnl power of resurrection;
but has not not error . like astonishing resus-
citant energy9 And while truth is one and
eyet the same, and so must rize IN the same
1ss1y aud shape in which she. Was buried.
xrcr Is maltiforn, and msy s1sinnate itself
y thousand varied shapes "a. the favor and
ttzonaee of race ever hld. Of vanity
Oniy then, j. Asa good tsne sening, i du
rins the ''etcrpA year. g God.u When the
Spiris Of God In ~ sh1lf 1irectly assume
thes eadsu1lip, aAd - hosts on the
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