The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-10-18
A Learned Essay which Introduces "
Capital Argument In Favor Of hem-
ner's Election. .5... z


A Learned Essay which Introduces a
CAPITAL Argument In Favor Of hem-
per's Election. ......' ..... 4
rForihc Dispatch.l
In an article in the Dispatch Of Tuesday
last the writer says "We can say to Mr.
Rradlaurh, A. Pope said to the world in the
last century, that few are the ills that kings
or laws can cause or c,lre-eSpecially cure"
1t was Goldsmith not Pope, we believe, who,
as well as we remember, wrote the lines
How small, of all that human hearts endure. :,
That part which laws or kings can cause or cure.
He goes on to say in the following words,
or to this effect, for We have not the book
by us: 1855.
" Still to ourselves In every place. consigned,
Our own felicity we make or fad.
With gentle which no ruae storms anhoS'
Flows the smooth! current of dolncst JOY.
The lifted axe, the agonizing wheel. ....
Lukr's iron crown. and Damien 5 pea OF sleeI,
r. mon remote from power, bat rarely known, .
Ielve reason, faiih aud conscience, all our OWN.
Pope had said before:
:, For forms of government let fools contest; .
Tina, Which IS best administer Is Dcs-
And DR.. johnson is reported to have said
on one occasion to Adam Ferguson, who
had suggested that luxury corrupts peo-
ole and destroys the spirit of liberty " {:
8 Sir. that is all visionary. / would not give
half a guinea to live under one form OF gov
eminent rather than another. 1t Is OF no
moment to the happiness OF an individual.
Sir, the danger OF the abuse OF power is
nothing TO private man.
| There is no doubt that any Government
may be so administered rs to contribute
more to the happiness and prosperity OF 4
pcoplc than any other form badly admins
tered but it does not therefore follow, by
any means. as Mr.. Pope would have it, that
| there is no room for dispute about forms
of government. since it must be admitted
| that certain forms Of government are much
| more likely to be we'll administered, and
afford much better guarantees for the con-
| tiuuancc of good government, than other
forms. If we could be sure of having
ALWAYS such man as Washington (clarum Ell
venerable nomen genti6us) to preside over
lis, many might prefer, rot without reason,
despotism to republic; but if to-day we
had him, or such person as he was, to rule
over Us as a dictator, how could we be GER
| tain Of his successor:
The celebrated historian of the ''Dccline
and Fall of the Roman Emplre,' whose elo-
uucnt words | wish could exactly rcmem-
| Der. somewhere remarks that "it one were
called on to point out that period in the his
tory of the world in which the condition OF
| mankind was most happy and prosperous,
he would, without hesitation, select that
| which elapsed between the downfall OF Do
mitian and the accession Of Commodus'-du-
ring the reigns, think. OF Nerva, Tralan,
Hadran, and the AntOnines-When. rs the
historian further observes, Rome wasgovcrn-
ed by men of the greatest wisdom and virtue,
in the possession of absolute power; but he
proceeds to mention, as an Objection 10 tnaI
form of government, the uncertainty OF Its
continuance in such hands, or, rather, the
moral certainty that it would fall into other
hands: descend to some tyrant, some Cara
Gala, or some wretch, perhaps some monster
ofyice, whose pleasure might be the intlction
of every sort of calamity upon the country.
III Dopt of fact, the wise and coed and phi
losophic Aurelius Antoninus was succeeded
by Conmodus, remarkable for nothing that
we remember but his personal strength, and
activity, and beauty, and his crimes.
The form of government, however, must
he adapted to the character and capacities OF
the people who are to live under 1t. The
inhabitants Of Dahomey or Ashantee would
certainly not be tit for il representative form
OF government. For the people OF the
United States. we believe it to be the best
that can be devised.
We do not suppose that any kind of gov
eminent is to last forever. BY sudden con-
vuSion, or slow decay, or gradual change,
if not bv war and conquest, every govern
ment, We presume, like every other thing OF
human creation. must have an end.
"There," says Lord Byron, contemplating
the ruins of Rome . ... .a.. .l~i
{. JT,ere is the moral OF all human tales ~ztsi'.
,Iis hut the same rehearsal Of the nast; eu,.. f..
First freedom and then glory: when that Iaiis
Wealth. vice, corruption, JGrbd1tSm at ttst. ...,s..
And history with all her volumes vast, ..
Hath but one page Ills better baih w f am nels
sll treasures all delights, that eye or ear,
Heart, soul, could seek, tongue ask Away 1919"
With words, draw near. t,-,,
The changes above described ID the cnal-
acter and condition OF nations may ahe i'l'.e
in the present age, as they did III ancleiI
s;,.Ii.oJ nation being overrun by barbarlans,
~ os' , tn Roman empire was by the Huns ana
az wv, coths and the Eandals. Gunpowder
IND the printins-p press, and the arts ana
i.nowlndee of civilization. give it an advan-
tane always sufficient to protect 1t against
,noro harbarians, however numerous or sll.
on;or they might be in bodily strength anu
bowers of endurance,
we shall have made considerable step
,,oni,ward and fallen greatly from our high
ost.te. we think, if the Conservative canU-
dates shall be defeated at the next election.
We are very far indeed from having any
unfricndlv feelings towards the colored race,
On the contrary, we desire to see them III
every way happy and prosperous. We
wish them to have the complete protec-
zion of the Government under which we
live: to be protected as perfectly as the
white race in the enjoyment Of their
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit Of
happiness, and in their political rights;
but we are not willing to entrust them with
the government of the country. We do not
design to speak Of them in 4 contemptuou>,
or derisive, or offensive way, but we know
that they are illiteate. uneducated, and
without the information to be derived from
familiar intercourse with well-informed per-
sons, and of course without the intelligence
which those advantages carry with them
and that they. are almost entirely destitute
of any knowledge Of political matters.
This We do not impute to them as Il crime.
We do not blame them for it, but we
do regard it as sufficient and conclusive
reason why we should not give them..the
control of public affairs. We do not allow
our women to become legislators and rule
the State, nor do we allow our little children
to do so not certainly because we do not
care for them, or feel any concern about their
interests, but because for the good of the
State, or for their good, they should not
have that power..a, We cannot understand
how any sensible and rejecting mind, free
from partially and prejudice, and from any
bias of self-interest, can hesitate a moment
tn nrefar the Conservative Darty as at