Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-11-02
Our Washington Letter.


WASHINGTON, d. O., Oct. 81, 1871.
1.-THE days of signs and wonders have not ceased
The parable of the fig tree, uttered by
Him who 'spoke as never man spake,'
eighteen hundred years ago, recognizes
the fact that coming events do cast their
shadows before them. Men in those
times had learned to look for, and, in
part, to read the signs of the times. Some
they readily discerned, others they beheld
but comprehended not, and still others
they saw not at all until they were sup
planted by the very events which they
foretold.
It has become an accepted axiom that
to be forewarned is to be forearmed, and
that much of the evil of the future may
be obviated in proportion as it is truly
anticipated. Men of to-day are assid-
uously applying themselves to the solution
of this intricate problem, and the aveng-
ing pen of history will give the result of
our successes a1d blunders to posterity
along with those of our brothers Of eigh-
teen hundred years ago.
We claim no proficiency in discerning,
much less interpreting the hidden mystic
ries of the future. In common with the
readers of the HERALD, we have our
field of observation, and we recognize it
as our highest duty to be true to them,
true to SELF and true to facts.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
appear on every hand. Our social, po)iti,
cal ard international skies are checkered
with bright promises and gloomy threats.
In fauoied security we hear the low rum
BILE of discordant elements-so low, and
so distant, as to be hardly noticed. We
can pass them unheeded in self exulta.
ton, and disregard all evil omens, but we
oucbt to remember and learn from the
past. The deluge found men eating and
drinking in utter disregard of its warn
ing. Jerusalem fell in awful splendor,
but not until Justice had baen outraged,
and the beggar that proclaimed her doom
denounced as a maniac. The last decade
of our own history, awful in its import,
ought to teach lesson. France toppled
and fell in a manner conclusive that ma.
tions, individuals, and straws are alike pow
erless before the power that moves crea-
tiou. and Chicsgo's Sabbath morning of
promise, peace and plenty, horslded an
evening of ruin, desolation, and woe.
The present, and the immediate future,
are times of fearful import. This is OBJ
vious to all who comprehend the present
situation, and it is equally plain that our
we'll being as q people rests not so much
with our leaders and would-be rulers, as
with those whom they are pleesed to style
" the common herd" " the vulgar crowd
etc. By this we mean the bone and mus
Gle, the men and women who produce the
wealth of the country, instead of those
who are produced by the wealthy.
They are the bone and muscle of gov
ernment as we'll as 6f enterprise, ard in
the event of trouble theirs are the bones
to ache, and theirs the muscle to bear the
strain. The duties, obligations and de-
mands upon this class are daily increas.
ing. Not only their bone and muscle, but
their brains must go into active opera
tion. They must read, think, act, and all
of this for the right, without fear or fa-
vor. When they do this justice will be
honored, and our government Republi-
can in fact. Without it there is little
hope for either. The hope of the future
is in none of the upper ten" but in the
lower thirty millions. Let them bring
their honest hearts to the work, ply their
stalwart shoulders to the hub, stretch
forth their brawney arms and propel the
car of progress fully up to the light of the
nineteenth century.