The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1867-03-28
THE SITUATION.

THE SITUATION. yt
: As seen through the light of His
tOry-Or, History Repeating
Itself.
' W. are in the midst of o revolution
1t is true the battles roar is no longer
heard in the land. Brothers blood by
, brothers hands shed, no longer stain
0 the fields Of carnage; but the party in
y power is proceeding straight forward
in the work of changing the whole fab.
! rio of our Government. They have al.
ready made such alterations in the Con
%stitution of the country that the Faith
: ers who framed it would not recognize
it il they were to rise from the dead.
In defence Of their rights, or at least,
of what they thoughtto be their rights,
the people ofthc South accepted the ar
bitrament Of the sword and although
the decision was against them they sub
+ mitted to it as though it were the voice
+ ofGod.
To-day the whole South is as quiet
as an infant sleeping at its mothers
breast-no thought Of resisting au-
thority or cvading any of their duties
as loyal citizens. But our opprcssors
are afraid Of losing power if the voice
of the people should be heard, and they
are calling into existence a large army
to keep even every aspiration of liberty
silenced.
1t is said History repeats itsclf-if
so it might not be an Improbable cx-
erclse Tor us now to study its lessons,
the people Of the North no less than
we of the South, for if it should suit the
purposes of the "powers that be- to
place New York or Ohio under martial
law they could do SO with just as much
show Of legality and right as they have
for such a cours4 in any Southern State.
The mind of mani is very liable to run
into extremes in any direction. For
centuries preceding the Reformation
the most AFFECT despotism in church
and state prevailed throughout Europe.
The citizen was at the mercy of his
ruler without any constitutional obliga-
tons interposcd between them to break
the force Of tyranny.' A long night of
oppression, wrong, degradation, and
wrctchedness well nigh extinguished
every vestige Of liberty off the face of
the earth.
But when the reformation came and
unfettered the human mind, it, in many
instances, leaped oven all barriers and
ran to the opposite extreme of person
al liberty, denying all authority in
church or state, eliminating, in Eng
land, in the party in religion and in pol
tiles, known as the Puritan.
AS the Puritan has cxerted such an
influence in the civil connections of
England it will not be amiss to glance
at his peculiaritics as seen from an
English stand point, We are all famil-
lar with him from an American point
Of observation. And here let us re-
mark that we care nothing at all about
his religion apart from his politics but
religious faaaticism constitutes so large
a part Of his character, and is so init
mately blended with every act of his
life that it would be difficult to even al
to him without touching that which
most of all constitutes him what he
was ages ago and what he is to day.
Maccauley says, "the extreme puri-
tan was at once known from other men
by his gait, his garb, his lank hair, the
sour solemnity of his face, the upturn-
ed white Of his eyes, the nasal twang
with which he spake, and above all by
peculiar dialect. He employed on
every occasion the imagery and style
Of the scripture. According to him
it was a sin to hang garlands on a May
to drink a friends health, to fly a
to hunt a stag, to play at. chess,
to wear lovelOcks, to put starch into a
ruff, to touch the virginals, to read the
Queen. Rules such rs these, rules
which would have appeared insupport-
able to the free and joyous spirit of
and contemplate to the Sc
rene and philosophical Zwingle, threw
all life q more than monastic
He prescribed all the fine arts.
regarded the solemn peal Of the or
gan us superst'tious. The Puritan
would not admit any one in
the public service until the House
be satisfied with his real godli-
ness" Their descendants in this coun- |
Try have organized what they call a /
Congressional Prayer Meeting! i
Let us hear Maccauley again. "But c
'ear- batting, then a favOrite diversion |
If high and low, was the abOmination p
which most strongly stirred the wrath II
# the austere sectaries. 1t is to be re-
marked that their antipathy to this sport c
nd nothing in common with the feel C.
,g which has in our own time, induced {,
Legislature to interfere for the pur- il
ose of protecting beasts against the
anton cruelty of men. Tile Puritan "
6ear-daiting not because It gave pain n
the bear, but because it gave pleasure to G.
g spectators. Indeed, he generally con tt
ived to enjoy the double pleasure Of tor n
both spectators and bear" h
Now itSo happened in the course Of
'ents that these extraordinary gentle N