Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet., 1865-07-13
"Liye and Let Live.

that time is emphatically the present.
The golden rule--that handspring
and basis of natural justice and true
religion-of "doing unto others as
YOU would be done by"--appeals
with more than ordinary force, in
times like these, to the passions, the
preiudices and the selishness Of men,
The demoraIizing effects OF the late
war have done much to close the
avenues of the soul against that
genial flow of sympathetic feeling
for our fellow-creatures which the
God of Nature intended should ever
bs manifested and cultivated as be-
tween man and man, in social and
civilized state of being
Assuredly, there are responsible
ties and obligations deyolving upon
| every true citizen earnestly to secure
and perpetuate those harmonious and
friendly relations 50 essential to per-
sonal happiness and the public good.
To do less than this is to do little
less than crime, because 1t is O
violation of duty, stultifying OF the
plainest dictates of humanity. Act
ing on perverted principles is sure to
lend to the most fatal errors in policy
and to inhict the grossest wrongs
upon society; and he who persists
in such action, will SOONER or later
meet his just reward at the bar OF ar
honest public opinion and in the self
retaliatory inhictions OF an outraged
conscience.
Conspicuous among the evils Incl
dent to this perversion of principle
is the disposition manifested by some
of intense selfshness, prompting tt
acts of downright oppression. "I'
live" and to live for self alone, is th'
ruling motive, the cankering passion
o! these creatures bearing the sem
blance Of men; but "to let live" is
: doctrine to which they seem totally
estranged. Regardless Of the condl
t;on and circumstances which tn
overruling exigencies OF the time
have brought about in the fortune
: of others, those harpies, following
closely in the track of war and reveI
ing in their Joys Of monled specula
/ tions, stand ready even amid the III
a cipient smiles Of peace, to annoy an
oppress, and to despoil the homes
, citizen of the little left him amid tn
: wrecks OF long protracted wa
Every advantage is seized upon t
grind out, by "due process OF fa~'
! If needs be, the remnants OF the hant
: earned fortunes Of their fellow-mel
$ Justice and decent regard ton til
unavoidable reverses Of others--ev'
!; rythius is made to give way to tf
unhallowed spirit Of a graspIng sPec'
!. lntion. This thing should be stot
! ped. 1t is warning against persor
e now helpless, but who, If time wei
!, given them to gain their vantae
d ground, would be enabled to satisf
> the demands of their rapacious pc
i secutors without ruin to themselv'
IT and their families. In Heaven
: name, do away with so much sweeI
! ing and indiscriminate selfishnes
d For decency's sake, at least, let tt
II people have ga breathing spell
u after the turmoils and horrors of Il
- -. bloody war from which they ha'
n but just emerged. Let the lessor
l. of "peace and good will to man.
e the precepts and principles whi'
4 teach us to "bear and forbear,"
olive and let live'-shine forth aga
h. in their true light and glory, impa
er ing joy and hope and courage to
OF in their endeavors to build up ant
m nj the prosperity of the community a
er of the country at large.
aay- Nobody "is on the track
the Republican candidate for the 81