The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-02-14

contains, was suggested by discussion
which took place at a former meeting OF
the Association on the relative merits OF
the past and present
At summer eve when Heavens ethereal bow
Spans with bright arch the glittering hills below.
Why to yon mountain turns the musinS eye,
Whose sunbright summit mingleS with the sky
Why do those cliffs of shadowy tint appear
More sweet than all the landscape smiling near:
It's distance lends enchantment to the view,
And robes the mountains with an azure hue.
This idea embodies not alone physical
truth but grand subject for thought. To
the mountain climber toiling among rocks
and SHOWS, over the remains of fallen for
ests, nature in her widest mood displaying
her grandeur before him, may have an idea
of grandeur, but none of beauty. 1t is
not the toiler up the rocky sides of Mount
Blanc, amid eternal SHOWS and ice, but the
poet upon the lowlands where the whole
gigantic outlines of that monarch OF noun
talns can be seen at once, who bursts into
raptures over its sublime proportions
The soldier in the rush and turmoil of the
battle field is only cognizant of his own
immediate part in the contest; 1t is the
distant observer from some signal tower
who gets true idea Of the grandeur of the
movements that end in victory. We are
incapable of valuing at its true worth, the
busy life of which we form part. The
rivalries and prejudices that surround US,
blind us to the merits Of our compeers, as
we'll as to the real significance of many of
the great movements of the day. We
pray with Tennyson,
"oh God for man with heart, head hand,
Like some Of the simple, great ones gone
Forever and ever by,
One still strong man in blatant land,
Whatever they call him, what care +:
Aristocrat. democrat. autoorat.-one
Who rule and dare not lie,
and forget that those simple great ones
were the subjects of the same jealousy,
the same remorseless hate by partisan
opponents as our own great men are accus-
toned to being. "Prophets are not with
out honor, except among their own PEG
ple;;" equally true is it that great men
have no honor from their own compeers.
Inc IndTiSeeS WIZ UulIG tOuibS III tI'S
prophets their fathers had murdered and
yet still walked in the ways of those faith
ers by prosecuting the prophets of their
own times, were fair Indications of The
disposition of humanity.
Along the track of time we can see the
fires of the stake or the blood of the scat
fold where the pioneers Of thought-the
radicals of the ages-have suffered. How
few of the lights of the world, the demi-
gods of fame" have failed to reach the
martyrs crown? One age has been ever
ready to accept the teachings of the pion-
GERS of preceding ones, and prosecute those
of their own.
1t is amusing to hear some people talk
about the grand old Roman republic, or
the stern virtues Of Greece and depreciate
their own times. Could they have lived in
the days of Scion, no doubt they would
have sighed for the good old days when
their ancestors dressed in skins and wan
dered wild through the deserts of Asia.
The philosopher who wandered with his
lamp in day light through the streets of
Athens, looking for an honest man, uttered
a sarcasm at least equally true, as he would
now to wander on the same quest through
the streets of London, Paris or Washing
ton. Those who think the worlds great
men are all dead forget that Sheridan was
a drunkard, Burk gambler and Walpole
a shameless bribe-taker. They who think
American craftsmanship died with Cal
houn must bear in mind the fact that he
came near being hung as traitor that
Webster was drunkard, and that Clay S
life was so embittered by political factions
and personal quarrels as to cut it off before
its close would have come naturally. The
bitter, remorseless factions to whom no
regulations are sacred do not alone exist in
this year of grace 1874. Even when Wash
ington lay at Valley Forge, he was as bit
terly assailed as any of our present public
men, but aoe only remember his virtues
and lose sight of his faults.
A much greater contrast between the
present and the past is in the average
amount of intelligence. Guttenburg did a
grand work for the world, but it was left
for our century to develop the power of the
press as political and social educator. l,
is due to the press and our common schools
that our intelligence is now so far in adj
vance of century ago. Our Legislators
are better men, more moral, of more gen,
eral intelligence, because their constitu
ents have more intelligence. When the
action of our representatives are scanned
alike next morning in a million home:
scattered from the st. Johns to the ella
they find that there is power in the wort
that they cannot dare to ignore, and that
this power rests upon common intelligence
The plea may be raised that there could be
more independence were the intelligence o
the people such as not to permit of The
close watch that is now kept upon legisa
tive action, but irresponsible action is alkt
DANGEROUS, whether based upon recognized
law or national ignorance. The press il
the ruling power in the land, and it rest
for its power upon the influence of educa
ton, produced by the common school. L
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