, 1874-04-05

crowd. When man is pushed, it is natural X
push back; and the swaying and surgiDg oi
large masses OF people frequently lead to riot
and disaster. Whom the populace are undulJ
excited to unlawful and violent acts, it mattera
! little whether the moving cause Was prayer OF
| blasphemy, patriotism or treason, exhortation
or inyectiTe. Perhaps as many crimes have
been committed under the name Of religion as
| under the name of liberty. Good intentions dis
torted into fanaticism may be responsible for IS
much injury to society and civilization as wicked
| thoughts and deeds. Governments have been
oVerthTown, men have been burned at the stake,
desolation has been wrought in prosperous
lands, families have been torn asundez. brother
has been arrayed against brother, and nations
against nations,-all Oh account Of what believ-
ers in Animal Magnetism call " the exaltation Of
the senees." It was only q few months ago that
the st. Bartholomew massacre Was re-
few weeks ago that Commune wae
hurriedly organized in Chicago which would
have required but little more fuel to haye broken
out into the same wild, sweeping flames that
consumed the people Of Paris. The fre-brand
is applied and lynch-law is resorted to from time
to timo in communities that profess civilization,
where excitation Of the passions oyercomes the
control OF reason. The sparks Of fanaticsm
flash backward and forward among mon and
women with all the velocity Of electricity and still
greater force.
The time has come to discourage what We call
popular demonstrations in this country. Tho
American character is composite; but there are
evidences On all aides that tho Anglo-Sa1on heir
loom Of phlegm will be overcome by volatility
and al excitability alkin to the French cbarae-
teristics, which arc the products partly Of our
climate, partly Of the form Of our Government,
aud partly OF our social customs. The excite
mouta OF camp-mcetins, Of . religious re-
yiyal, Of heated political campaign, OF
labor strikes, OF Woman's Temperance Cru
sade and other like demonstrations, arc popular
perils and 80 many meuaces to our Government.
The European Governments have generally
taken cognixance OF tho danger threatened by
this class of sensational epidomics, and try to
squelch them at their very inception. When
dozen people gather in the streets Of London
"bobby " tells them to more on ; when two or
three men put their heads together in the streets
Of Paris brace Of gessstia,7nes separate them;
the police OF Berlin are exceedingly cautious
how thoJ grant permits for public meetings
and 50 on The freedom Of speech and the night
OF petition are too firmly fixed as principles OF
our Government to admit OF such extreme exer-
else Of authority: nor is it in any sense
desirable that it should be adopted hero. But it
is all tho moro necessary on this account that
the people should guard themselves against the
dangers OF comunnistic e1citements and fanat-
ical demonstrations. The safety Of republican
institutions depends upon keeping cool This
is the very element which the French and Span
ish people lack. It is necessary that the Ameri-
can people encourage aud develop moderation in
all things, and discountenance and repress tur-
bulence and blustet. The war made us more
to sensational Influences than VIC
were before. We must avoid spasms and con-
vulsions Of every kind. They are infections and
fatal. To 8 less extent, but somewhat in the
same way. a crusade like thst which the women
have been making on ealoon-keepers in certain
parts OF the country is as dangerous as the
Of m organized Commune.