The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1868-03-07


yAroRIsas. are among those who are
to cultivate the amenities Of sci
ence and literature, even a. now grim VS.
aged war is smoothing his iron 'front.'
and though the times, not yet without inelf
aspect OF ferceness, may occasionally an'mase
us TO discharge Of paper pallets ags'ns' =.
sailants Of our rights, real or imaginary, ss''.
we are / peace man, though not possessed OF
big Columbiad peace-maker, our weapon
being only pop-gun. However, We snail
endeayor to amend its insignihcance BY the
trueuess of our aim and the spirit with which
we advance TO the assault Of all redoubts
,hreateningly or scornfally exposed.
We have fallen on serious times, which,
according to the diverse characters OF indi-
yiduals, evoke theories and emotions of end>
less variety. The ardent patriot who looks
largely 10 human agencies in the history OF
governments, is loud in his censure or COM
menda,ion ef this or that party, to when ~
looks for ruin or safety. The iatalist or OPP
,omist ,cu zee only what he sees taxes
nothing for granted till it comes, ana lneh re
..;,.s i aa from the gods he Is already
looking to the event, whatever 1t may be, a.
. norton of that deep necessity in the history
If races, which marks out the habits and
thoughts Of peoples by the same infiexioie
laws which sketch the outlines OF continents
The Christian patriot, with his steadfast trust
in Providence, says: "He who holdeth the
seas in the hollow of his hand will not suffer
our young and vigorous nation to see corrup-
ton before the first century Of her existence
;p rounded. He who delivered her from the
fiery furnace OF civil conflict, will Jet watch
her life"
aNa,ure stops where man begins We
have often heard pseudo resormers and phys
biologists declaining as to what IS natural OF
unnatural in dietetcs or hygiene, Who have
We, failed to make the very first step toward
the comprehension Of nature which step
consists in thorough apprehension OF the
above axiom. All outside Of man $ doings Is
Nature. and nothing in which the reason or
volition of man is exercised, can be called
natural.
We have been not unfrequentiy made an
dienaut and merry at once ct the crude no.
tons prevailing among many who have set
their hearts upon renovatlng mankind, ny
tearing away shred after shred Of our cloth
ing. till the simplicity Of Eden is reached or
the status of the brute creation. They cast
ont from the larder OF civilization, article
after article of good living, until they ma
Themselves meekiy in the wake Of Mebachgd-
nezzer, the king goat Of Their Tube. We
knew once red-eyed, unwholesoni e. looking
printer, WHO devoted the greater portion OF
has time TO chewing wheat and barley, thus
managing to keep his Insignificant body and
soul together. Notwithstanding hls strictly
vegetable diet, he had the fierceness oil the
hyena toward that society which was banded
TO prevent the carrying OF bis principles to
their ulnnatum.
These same rats have some hoy got into
the temple of 4Ecsculapius, and are gnawipg
away Mt the pillars of Medicines at the max
Inns oil experience cOubaSut VI soVh chiei
ing 10 safety from the ruins. II you ask them
for proofs, they denounee you as naturalist.
They lite spitafally Mt facts, those bard flies
in the tool-chest Of philosophy. They imagine
that thay gaze eagle-eycd II The very sun in
the heaven Of science, when 10 fact they are
but bas, whirhng in uncertain flight through
the low hanging mists and vapofs OF the
night, or, be,aking themselves to the damp,
dark caves ofsuperstiiion, and hanging upon
the shiny stones of long neglected traditions.
amidst the feculence of eHete barbafisms.
THIS tendency TO return TO barbarIsm pre-
walls largely in the moral and religious exer~
cises OF the mind. Seers and witches, with
their augurings, their charms and counter
charms, have their evening leyees and their
matlnees. Tie ghostly world is holding high
carnival with free range up and down, no
longer hedged BY cock-erow. The great souls
Of the past are dancing attendants on foolish
girls coming at beck and call. The wise and
good Of past ages seize on spasnode old
maids Of both sexes, and through physical
,ontortons and convulsiye oeciamations, vent
themselves OF alternate folly and blnsphemy,
sufficient to stagger the faith Of humanity in
he peculiar advantages ascribed I'd the state
,f future blessedness. &.