The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1875-02-27
"FA1N9s AMT AS THEY USED
III IN RES

"FH1Hes AMT AS THEY USED
TO BE-" =.
tits habit with a very numeroas
class Of welfneasing batg poorly In
formed people to sigh over the woful
degeneracy of contemporaneous pub
lie men and public morals as COM
pared With the noble patriots and
yirtous body Of American citizens
who existed in the early and hal
cyon daysof our Republic. a.ass
Perusing the partisan newspapers
of present dates, aud remal'king the
unceasing volume Of vituperation and
abuse wbicli is poured upon the men
at the head of the government, these
'moufners over. the lost: virtues Of the
good, old times when our forefather:s
fonrished sigh as they say. !. Things
amt as they used to be; no one would
have dreamed Of attacking Washing
ton or his government as Grant and
his associates in the high. offices are
attacked to-day!" "'
70 The only trouble with these people
il that they know nothing of the his
tory Of the party conflicts that ragged
in those days with all, or neary all,
the bitterness that has characterized
those Of later times. No President
has ever been elected who has not en-
dured SANDER and denunciation from
partisans. Lincoln, jackson,
Jefferson, and even the great Wash
ingtou, ran this gauntlet. But it is a
happy decree Of Providence that with
the lapse Of years the unmerited CEN
sure which villas been visited upon
the great and good gradually fades
from the pages Of history and their
honorable deeds and noble qualities
shine forth with increasing brilliancy.
Is As an illustration Of our position on
this subject we append herewith an
article which appeared in a news
paper called the philadelphia aurora,
on March 4th, 1897, the day upon
which the immortal Washington con-
Guided his second term of service a.
President. This extract was repro
duced in the last issue of sHarper's
Weekly, and may be regarded wholly
authentic. How many are there Of
us who would have supposed such
harsh things as these could have been
Of Washington, the beloved
Father Of our Country, and the ad.
ministration Of the government which
We are wont to point to as . worthy
pattern for all Presidents to follow I
Yet. in all probability, this article Ia
but a sample Of hundreds Of like tenor
which were published in the early
years Of the Republic. Read it, sor-
owing friends, ponder we'll the les
ION it teaches, and sigh no more for |
The degeneracy of the age. A hundred
iears from now your children's chill
lren will look back upon the days of
Grant and Lincoln with the same adj
niration We do upon those of WASH
ngton. .-r ,iil
Here are the sentiments uttered by
newspaper seventy eight years ago:
lord, now lettest Thou thy servant de-
'art in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy
was the piouAi ejaculation Of
nan who beheld Q flood Of happiness rush |
ng upon mankind. If ever there was a time
hat would license the reiteratiou Of the ex- |
iamation. that time is now arrived : for the
nan who il the source Of all the misfortunes
t our country is this day reduced, to q level I
Nth his fellow citizens. and is no longer
osssssed Of the power to multiply evils Ill
p the United States. If ever there waa a
eriod for rejoicing, this ie the moment.
very heart in unison with the freedom and
ePpiness of the People ought to boat high
nth exultation that the name Of Washing-
IN t,g,n tbs day ceases to give a currency
political ipiquity, and to ,legal,ze corruD
on. A new era ID now opening upon us
era which promises much to the people:
'r public measures must now stand upon
'eir own merits, and nefario,ls projects can
longer be supported by name. When
retrospect is taken of the Washington adj
Illustration for eight years, it 10 u subject
the greatest astonishment that q single in
!vidaal should have cankered the princF
Ics OF repubhcanism in an frightened peor
e Just emerged from the gulf Of despotism,
y. 10 should have carried his designs against
'e public liberty so far as to have put in
opardy it, very existence. Such, however,
. the facts, and with these staring US in
e face, this day ought to be a jubilee ii n
u United States. i4 .i,r -. II Il
Brother Roche of the Ibe.ville Re-
16lican pays a compliment to the J
HIEF and its editor. which ra 81 :!