Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-06-29
WISCONSIN EDITORIAL CONyENT,N

o oI oYerWorked minds be not unnecessariI
g iiiIriIl5ed on, we shall dispense with all pre-
nan5 lnaali5narles IN way of introduction, and pro
?eGo at once to the announcement of our snF
|. |. JGct, winch wisely, or unwisely, has bee1
1 CHOSEN for your entertainment,
3 moral Frogress as aided by the Press (" i
7 CeAt that admits OF so wide a range of dis
/ cusslon, that twenty minutes effort can af
ford but little more than a mere skeIeton " "
w tne subject. We certainly need not waste
! une upon an audience like this in proyine
| "ha5 ma ls already 8 scientific deductiou.s
IIat progression is a law of Nature there
u can D5 no doubt; and that its workings MAY
p9 greatly accelerated or retarded bv fayora.
pie or unla7orable conditions, is a fact clear
es phsned IN nature. The full period o.
tisne occupied in the growth and maturity OF
tne Luman race, will show the unmistakable
PROOF OF THIS position. But that there NAV
pe mouse qds OF years wherein the workings
OF TINS law may be found suspended. is a fact
, equally certain -"o
The popular notion that each succeedino
century 1nds mankind greatly improved in.
GeiIectually and morally is certainly a most
taliaclous one. That man has sought ont
many inventions, that he has greatly i'm
proved his surroundings, has made many
81 anu ana imposing demonstrations over the
elements OF matter; that he has multiplied
nls ehJoyments aud even created new wants
are 1acts most obvious to all.
Could one of the philosophers of old he
resuffected and made to inspect our modern
aqVancements, he would undoubtedly be fill
eo Win awe and amazemenS, if he did not
even Iall down and worship the man Of the
nineteenth century. But should he, by de-
Slees, Gake time to carefully examine our
great Inventions, and study somewhat the
nature OF the men and women of the present
age, he would gradually regain his eduilibri-
uln, ana, upon finding that mans physical
fnSepectual ana moral organization was no
Tufther developed or matured than if was
three thousand years ago, his high respect and
reverence would undoubtedly be much
apated. And though 1t be granted that in
| physlcal condition the human race is at q
stAnd-st1ll, yet the question arises. Has there
oeen no advancement made towards the
peffectlon OF mans mental and moral DOW
ers, during the historic period? We answer.
GhaV though the sum of human knowledge
mas mas greatly augmented, yet we have no proof
@ @IldC Ihe moderns, IN point of intellectual
capacity, are one whit ahead of the Ante
diluvlans. Where, in modern literature. can
we we nnd superior productions to the IIliad of
Homer, the Songs of David and Solomon
the poems OF Ossian and above ali, the Book
! of Job
And again, when we note the wonderful
lessons III morality, ethics and religion, of
| those by-Sone periods-lessons that have
! Deen subscribed to and adopted as the au-
tnorlty and rule of action throughout the
civilized portions Of the world, we are forced
! to acknowledge that those early periods were
/
put greatly superior in devotion to truth, in
| selt-sacriicing benevolence and the rigld
virtues, to any of modern times.
Inc civilization of our own favored land
P9htlcaily the freest on earth--has made no
adYancementS beyond that of Greece and
Rome; and, like theirs, bids fair to end in a
general obliteration of virtue anr and high
toned manhood
And herelet US ask Is not this great re-
PuDhc subject to the same mortalities of ma
tions gone before? And do we not already
| show symptoms of virulent disorders that
presaee decrepitude, if not dissolution. a.
no very remote period? Are we doing anv
more than following the beaten track-the
broad road-ot c9 renowned historic people?
This is the moral of all human tales:
Tls but the same rehearsal of the past:
FIRST freedom, and then glory-when that fails
Wealth, vice. corruption, barbarism at last
ana history, with all its volumes vast
Has but one page"
christianity, thus far, has succeeded in sub
Jectlng but small portion of mankin1 to it's
domln1ons. Both Europe and America, 1t is
true, bear the liable; but how much of the
Christianity taught in Judea eighteen hun
dred years ago, can be found at the present
Tune IN these grand divisions of the globe
Man has mastered the elements of earth: has
neerally gained supremacy over the forces
OF nature. His real achievements are more
wonderful than those OF the tabled magicians
OF story. Does not steam harnessed to his
car transport him with the speed of the tor
nado? Has it not become his efficient SER
want upon both land and seap Have not the
Hghtn1ngs OF heaven been impressed into his
serYlce,-aye retained to do his errands2
1'To tread the oeze of the salt deep,
10 run upon the sharp wind of the North %
All things have become subject to the will
OF this lord of earth-all save the unsubdu-
able, mutinOus and rebellious passions of his
| own soul, which set his will at defiance and
| both scOrn and mock his power. Man, to-day,
is about the same selfish, po1icy-governed
animal that he WAS eighteen hundred years
| ago, thus atfording most striking example
| OF the suspension of a known law of nature.
''Dut," it is asked, sis there no remedy for
this dwarfed and morbid condition of the
moral faculties?" Aye, there must be a rem
edy IN Natures Pharmacy for all evil. A
| change must sooner or later take place in the
moral faculty Of the race. A time will come
when men will be liberated from the thraldom
of the baser passions; when a mans word
will be as good as his bond when friendship
| will be something more than name; when
| the noble principles of impartiality will dwell
| in the hearts of earth's rulers; when Justice
and benevolence shall wax hand -in-hand,
| and when true manhood will be estimated al
| It's proper value.
The way d manner such a condition of
| things is to be brought about, is question
more Of theory than Of 'sitive knowledge.
! We need not speculate upon the proba biiitles
| of cons tutional cha res being effected in
|
| viii be left in subject'on to the moral powers:
| nor ed we advance the by potL esis that
| the prest IL race must, in conformity to law
of nature, eventually become extinct, and it's
| place filed by q race ess under the influence
| and cont ol of evil.
'FWhat leason, but from what we know?''
| We know that God uses means,-often ma
| teri | fo1 ces, to effect mental al d moral
changes: but whether the agencies now ope-
lating, VII in time prove sufficient to eman-
| cipate ma from Il thraldom Of evil, is a
| question not cas- " nswered.
The invention of movable type and the Print
| ing Press, found darkness and oppression over
all the earth. This great conferment has done
more for mans advancement than all other
put together for though his mora nature is
| still in bondage to the passions of earth, vet
through The agency Of the Press, the shack as
| Of ignorance have been stricken from his in
| tellect and vantage ground given him, where
by he may lessen his moral se1vitude though
he should fail in securing his entire freedom.
| And ii the gains thus far made in human
progress be attributable in so large a degree
to this cause, may it not be safely inferred
that the same appliance will contribute in a
like degree towards the completion of the
work?
That Christianity will continue the basis
of all moral advancement, there can be no
| room fCr doubt TIE thorough adoption of
it's principles is the worlds only salvation
Ana in the dis. nination Of these principles,
more than in any other way, does the press
Justly take rank among Gods greatest gifts
to man. And yet, like all good and perfect
gifts, it is liza BILE to be perverted to base and
selfish uses. Indeed it is q question whether
to-day it be not as much under the control of
evil az good-thus presenting the striking
paradox of one who liberates others, and yet
is itself enslaveds
But had not the world examples of paral-
lei nature in days of old when God spake to
men through the mouths Of the prophets ?
All that called themselves prophets in those
days, were net commissioned of Col Baal
had his prophets as well as his worshippers.
cation have greatly changed. God now
speaks to men through the Prophets of the
Press; and many great and noble ones bear
his mandates. But while the good thus sur.
wives. evil lives also. Baal lives and has has
prophets of the press, and they greatly out
number those Of the Lord. All, but the true