The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1874-06-25
Yours very Respectfully,
CORA E. GORDON.

Who shall decide when schoolgirls disagree7
Immense, profound responsibility
The modern mind, full versed in logic's lore,
Surprising anght that e'er has gone before,
Seems wildly rent with factions opposite,
Each claiming to have found the perfect light;
And all the fire of Webster, Hayne and Clay,
Is naught before the wrestlings of To-day.
What sages in the unenlighented Past
Could not decide, the time is come at last
For US to do it-ours, the giant mind,
And with our knowledge to enrich mankind;
But when that knowledge glows in streams diverse,
A hand is needed to correct its course;
That hand, alas, is mine o may I feel
That on its irmness hangs the Nations veal!
While breathlessly (a) her eager people wait
The act momentous, that decides her fate.
look abroad upon the sea of Doubt,
And see that ancient vessel-scarce worn out
By faithful orators-the Ship of State
[Time-honored lfe-boat, made, as 'twere, to save
Aspiring speakers from untimey grave
In their own watery rhetoric's soundless deeps,)
look abroad, and see her as she sweeps
Ger the broad waters, and her restless roll
Bespeaks her helm to be without control,
And teaches me to lend willing ear,
To learn which of the claimant Virtues, here,
Shall with firm hand that vessels helm assume,
And thus with skill avert the fearful doom
That must await her, if no pilot shall
Conduct her DER the waves political.
With eloquence they all have made their claim,
And cautious we must be ere we disclaim
This one or that, but each in Justice test,
And see, ere we exalt her DER the rest,
How meath her guidance the great ship moves on
Toward the ports that nestle in the dawn
OF Glory and Prosperity's bright sun.
But as we gaze, we see her course begun
And whose the ruling spirit, whose the hand,
That now so sweepingly assumes commando
'Tis Hospitality, enchanting maidl-
Fairest of creatures! though not quite so staid
As sober Charity, yet tcharming still,
AS both fair arms extended, with sweet viii,
She pleads with other vessels, as they pass,
That their ships crew may come on board en- TGssc,
Celt, Teuton, Frenchman, Spaniard and "Chinee,"
Al she embraces warm and lovingly;
Receives their cargo, sans distrust or fear,
Whate'er it be, tippling, or Iager-beer,
Or Sunday laws abolished, Gan in all,
For worse or better" is her touching call.
Tis yours to make requests, mine to obey"
And here and there she sends her native crew
To do their bidding, snd receive the due
OF customs violate, and laws undone,
For which, in gratitude for having won
Guests so illustrious, they fain must smile,
Constrained by Hospitality the while,
To bow sublimely, while they check their tears
Of Indignation. ''There has been for years,
glorious maxim, that the less must yield
Their wishes to the greater, If the field
Fer be disputed; hence must we-the less
In consequence submit without Distress"
And Hospitality, as to display
The same sweet spirit, mourns if they but stay
Simple deck-passengers longer while
Than five full years, then greets them with smile
And to the cabins most luxurious parts
Bids them be welcome, and to heal their hearts,
THAT long have suffered, from the CALLING wrong
OF having to remain on deck SO long,)
She comforts them with sugsr-plums of high
Position, Office, boons for which they sigh.
And thus with entertainment so engrossed,
Forgets her rudder till control is lost,
And rocking, reelng, drifting, plungirg stin,
The vessel wanders at her own sweet will
And fearful sight, she sinks beneath the weight
OF this great cargoI But when not too late,
The fair commander sees her great mistake,
She sacrifices all for her guests sake;
Unlike immortal Nye, who when betrayed,
Went for the smooth HAh Sin, /" this tender maid
Says not, "We're ruined, :" but in classic fight,
Echoes the words, in sinking out of sight,
OF Dante's amorous hero, her last breath,
''Love hath conducted us unto one death"
But while we gaze upon this scene sublime,
(Which bids defiance to my paltry rhyme,)
Let us not hardly judge her, if unwise,
She dreamed her guests were angels in disguise,
And hoped, like Baucis and her spouse of old,
Of whom Dean Swift facetiousIy hath told,
To find that on their presence aye should wait
Blessings-soft winds, to watt the Ship Of State
| On to her haven.
But of this no more.
Let us direct our glance toward the shore,
Far distant, where, in sorrowful array,
The Virtues left behind sadly display
Their various charms; each worthy candidate
For pilotship. Let US decide their fate.
Again we launch the pondrous old iron-clad,
| (Which, spite her late disaster, we have had
Brought up, repaired, reftted, in the flash
Common to iighty Fancy's daring dash,)
Yes, launched again upon polite seas,
We see her sails spread brayely to the breeze;
Nor is she now unnamed, though sad to say,
Vices, not Virtues, bear the ruling sway.
Intemperance, Dishonesty, appear
The guiding spirits of her mad career.
Justice is there, but from bright array
Of poppies blooming Bribe and Salary,
That heaped within her lap profusely hes,
The kindly gift of bland Dishonesty
Half sleeping, every sense with odor fraught,
She sighs like Lotus-Eaters, Grouse me not"
Gazing from shore, sadly and wistfulIy,
Are Patriotism, Truth, and Honesty,