Litchfield enquirer., 1867-12-26

Litehfeld, Ct. Thursday, Dec. s6,'67
 GEO. A. HICKOX, EDITOR.
 Christmas.
 The Christmas of 1867 is, We fear, not quite as merry Christmas as some. As Uncle Samuel glanoes around his table, sees the many empty chairs and thinks of the heavy mortgages on his estate, his nar- rowing income and bis outrageously expen- sive family, he looks gloomier than we ever saw him before. On the 25th of December 1860 the old gentleman was perplexed and troubled beyond measure; on the same day two years later, he was extremely cross and disagreable. He has never, however, seen so glum Christmas as to day since that poverty stricken season of his youth in 17S3 when nobody could trust him for dinner, and he was like to starve before he could earn the specie to pay for the first meal of his acknowledged independence.
 sI In fact the sorest known trial of human patience is retrenchment There have been men who could go into battle merrily. There are those who can borrow no end of money and spend it merrily. But after no end of money has been borrowed and noth- ing is left but to meet tho interest, and cut down the family expenses mercilessly till the interest can be met, the place where the fun comes in is harder to find than the Northwest Passage. Yet such is the condi- ton in which the United States of America, and good many of the individuals resid- ing within the limits there of, find them selves just at this present m oment.
 Low as it is in spirits the country IS by no means low in condition. The third of the decisive battles between Anglo-Saxon Aristocracy, and Anglo-Saxon Democracy, which have occurred at intervals of about century, has just closed with far more fa- vorable results than either of the preced- ing. The first of these contests was the great English civil war of 1642, to decide whether Anglo-Saxondom, American as we'll as English, was to have despotic or rep resentative government. The immediate result of that war was unpromising enough The people of England exchanged Charles I. for Oliver Cromwell-a king of wood for aking of iron. Like the children of Israel they were forty years in reaching their in .heritance. and uvsn then they were weigh ed down bya debt that bore harder on their poverty than our enormous load bears on our wealth. They were, furthermore, distracted by party divisions whose animos- ity far exceeded anything we have ever seen. Then came the great sectional war of 1775, ip which an Aristocracy control ling the regular government, more than tiaree quarters of the population, and more n1ne renJns ot the wealth of the old ma. tion, undertook to reduce refractory De-
 aoeraey to obey the Constitution as il then stupidly was. Democracy again tri umphed, but the miserable governmental machine that had been extemporized du- ring the war immediately stopped running to any useful purpose; while the entire failure of their paper currency left the peo- pie of the United States scarcely any prop erty but their land. Tn the second great sectional contest in 1861, Aristocracy and Democracy in America changed weapons and fought over the old battle. All will remember how loudly the English aristoc- racy cried out against the useless repatition of the old experiment.. Nevertheless De- mocracy succeeded, and the immediate eff feet of their success is seen in the late pop ularizing of the institutions of England, while at home we are proceeding to another last settlement of what remains of the ''ir- repressible conflict"
 When patriotism has reached the last and least glorious of its sacrifices, that of counting the cost of great enterprise and paying the same, there always arises more or less discussion regarding the items of the bill Furthermore, discussion of the old question, invariably comes up, whether, after all, honesty is the best policy? This issue is not pleasant sub- ject of argument, and many a Christmas may go over our heads before it is finally settled, but we have no fears of the result. Even if the Celtic and African elements among us should prove unreliable, there is enough of the old Teutonic stock north of Mason and Dixon, to see that every nation al obligation is honestly paid.
 Ben Butler and the Democracy are for 6 moderate measure of repudiation. Enquirer.
 Wouldn't it look as well, neighbor, if you should teH the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth" You know that the Democrats as a party have not advocated repudiation; and you also know that Thaddeus Stevens, your party leader in the House has done 80 as well as Ben. Butler-Senti- ns1.
 Our article from which the Sentinel