The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-09-18
INSTINCT vs.. POLICY.

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1t is not the function of policy to stiff
Y impulse and ignore instinct Nature in h
simple and normal suggestions is usually th
best guide that men can follow. Ifa naturs
: and innocent want is felt it ia natures wisdol
I to crafty it. and when gratifed innocenty
proves in ninety-nine cases in every hundred
the best and wisest thing that could hav
been done. When man is interfered witt
in the pursuit of lawful and innocen
pleasure, whether ty man or beast, natur
tells him to drive the animal away ant
to chastise his human foe. Nature ant
! instinct tell each of Us that W,
have certain rights of property, ant
when we find these rights encroacheG
upon, even the most conscientious among u:
are prompted to resist the invasion, and to
repel the invader, not by any slow and de-
hberate process, not by any deep laid schemes,
not after balancing the pros and cons Of argu.
mentative policy, but at once. while the sense
Of wrong is most keenly felt and while the
fire of indignation is glowing with a fervent
heat. The time to answer an aggression is
never too soon; the time to resent an affront
is the very moment it is given; the time to
repel an attack is while the attack is going
on; the time to get satisfaction for an insult
is the very instant that the insult is received.
When citizen finds burglar on his prem
ises he does not pause to reason the subject
and to consider whether the marauder de-
serves death or not; he shoots him at once
and reasons about it afterwards. Nature
guides him and he acts from wholesome in
stinct, the instinct of self-defense, which is
common to all living things 1t is an instinct
indispensably necessary to the continuance
of the human or any other race. It is virtue
at all times, and when exalted by high objects
and controlled by high emotions, it is patri-
otism, philanthropy and heroism.
Reason is blessed gift, next to divine
memory. Caution is at times an exceedingly
useful quality. Pruden,e has lawful sphere,
and when we'll timed it becomes a useful
handmade to vaor There is "policy in |
war, but it is only the war that makes the |
policy tolerable. If discretion be the "bet-
ter part Of valor, it must still be q real part
Of true valor to be SO dignifed.
Men who have a real grievance, and who
feel it, as men should feel all encroachments
upon their rights, cannot safely hesitate about
The time or means of obtaining justice. Ma
,ure gives the will to be redressed, and where
here is an instructive will there will be
ound way, and the readiest way is in
Ilmost every case the best way.
We may appeal to every readers individual
experience and ask him if he has not many
lines been sorry that he did not act upon his
lrst impulses and impressions. instead Of
neditating upon the matter, consulting friends
r postponing it for q more fitting season.
We do not presume to set passion before
eason, or native instinct before deliberate : +,
lethod, or in any manner to ignore the !,
laims and prerogatives of common sense and
alignment. We only enter plea in behalf of
alive impulse, and contend that it is oftener !
Use to yield to it, to act upon it and to obey
than it is to repress. subdue, discourage :
nd stife it with the wet blanket of cold and !.
'rmal prudence. What is spontaneous is not
necessity bad; it is often good, and the /
ighest good.
These suggestions are intended to apply to
70 public at large as we'll as to individual
items. When community suffers an in
gnity, an oppression, an insult or an out
&c, it is not wrong and foolish, but proper
ID wise, to act forth the indignation which
ey feel. They need not pause to calculate Il
nsequences. When one suffers q wrong, Il
d in chivalric spirit raises his hand to win b
OK his rights, not he, but the wrong doer, Al
to blame for the consequences. home E
ievance is home affair for home folks. It ii
not necessary to 60 into complicated cal P
lation of results before acting as becomes "
IN and good citizens. I,
It matters not if long succession Of out Il
yes have heretofore been endured. The B
use of to-day is not justified by any line Ell
anterior abuses. The wrong of the hour is
, opportunity of the hour. If we have tb
elected our duty ninety-nine times, these b,
only ninety-nine reasons for neelecting it %,
longer. Policy is not lawfully akin to wis hs
N unless added to true valor. Policy born 4;
fear is spurious. re-
TASTY action is justly deprecated when it M
he action Of hasty folly; but when there is an
honest, necessary and and rightful act to al
done, haste is virtue and hesitation sin. 20
Sor FORGOTTEN gives US sincere pleas Of
to know that on the 14th September the tn
les of Jackson, Miss, appropriately deo- mi
k.AL 49, a, ~, , M,