The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-12-18
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..

nSnes many examples OF the triumph oil
indomitable will. Intellect, ever soaring
upward, though beset by obstacles and re-
pressed by difficulties, anon cropping for
the light, seldom loses sight of "the silver
lining" and presses on to the hight where
shines the noontide sun. In all the wide
range of human experience nothing strikes
us with more force or wonder than the pos
sbilities in man. Inventions, the printing
press, the electric telegraph, the steam en-
CINE; the ability to girdle continents, to
make "the waste places rejoice, to chain
the forces of nature, to measure the dis
lance of sun from earth and earth from
planet, and to solve the problems of physics;
the power to rush through the Alps and
ride under the seas, and to enjoy the beau
ties and the wonders of creation wherever
existing, all testify to that capability of
mind, and to the inexpressible longing of
man for the higher and the better. But
most of these have been accomplished un-
der the fostering care of governments or
institutions of learning. We find our re-
mark best illustrated in the quiet, earnest,
persistent strugglings of that man, who,
born to poverty but rich in mental endow-
ments, pushes on, unsubdued by toll or
obloquy, to the attainment of every desir-
able and honorable object for which We
should live and labor in this world. The
lives of the men whose names stand at the
head of this article give point to what we
have written, and fully e1emplify the truth
of these reflections. The parallelism of
those lives, and their kindred achievements
are fruitful subjects for thought, and we
may dwell for awhile, perhaps, with profit
upon some of their manifestations. Born
to the light of day in the dwellings Of the
humble, unable, from necessity, to indulge
for the time their higher ambitions, sur
rounded by few of the comforts and none
of the luxuries of life, coming to manhood
scarcely able to speak or write correctly
their own language, they labored on, un-
conquered and unconquerable, by the un-
certain light of the pine knot, on the
uneasy table of the tailor, in the resound
ing forest of the frontier, and finally gained
the summit of human glory. American
history, at least, presents no similar spec
tacle. Not that other men have not sue
ceeded as we'll, but that no other three
men of the same generation have made the
Same humble beginning, embraced the
San anininnc naccad fhrnnnh thu
vicissitudes and arrived at the same goal.
Without the favor of fortune, without the
encouragement of friends, without the
smiles of power, by force of their own
undaunted wills, they hewed out their own
pathway, trod it with firm and vigorous
tread, arrived at the castle of success and
uttered in no uncertain tone the "Open
Sesame" These poor, humble and despised
children of poverty, the rail-splitter, the
tailor, the cobbler, looked down upon and
sneered at by the scions of noble stock,
compelled society to unbar its doors, but
rested not there, rose higher and higher,
saved nation, consolidated people, hon
ored humanity by having lived, and died
in the hearts of all and sur
rounded by such tokens of genuine sorrow
as never Stuart Or Plantaganet could boast.
What a glorious commentary upon free
institutions! what we'll spring of encour-
ment to the youth of the land. In the
light of their lives there can no longer be
cause for dependency. The thckest gloom
will be pierced by ray of sunshine, and
though but few, if any, can reach their
leuel, yet each, in his own sphere, may
labor more earnestly, cheered by the truth
and success of the lives of these men, and
influenced by the motives by which they
were influenced. The advantages derived
from such histories, however, belong net
simply to individuals, they rise to institu
tions. Republican government itself--'that
government which holds man together in
the proud state of equality and liberty -
is benefited by the exhibition of such
examples. 1t is bonored and profited by
the manner in which Lincoln and johnson
and Wilson advanced themselves under it.
They have given practical illustration of
the working of our free and equal and
elective form of government" and Europe
and the world will see how that form of
government has operated in the person Of
these men and in the land which gives to
virtue and talent all that they will ever ask
the free use of their own exertions for
their own advancement.
Surely if men ever deserved to be re-
these are they. Their careers
have terminated, but the influence which
proceeds from their acts remains, and will
to remain, all powerful. The men
of this generation and of posterity will
aspire to emulate "the zeal with which
they labored for the public good, the forti-
tude with which they endured every private
calamity, the lofty disdain with which they
looked down on temptation and dangers,
The deadly hatred which they bore to bigots
and tyrants, and the faith which they so
'ternly kept with their country and their
fame.'
tB The Whisky Ring prosecutions at
st. Louis have assumed a new and curious
character. Several important convictions
nave been secured, and on Thursday 9th,
he Grand Jury found an indictment against
Gen. o. E. Babcock for participation in the
revenue frauds. Babcock is major of
engineers, superintendent of the public
at Washington, private secretary
20 the President, and altogether man of
mark. When he was first connected with
he frauds by the legal proceedings at St.
Louis he asked for military court of
inquiry, which was granted. Generals
Hancock, Sheridan and Terry were ap-
pointed to compose it, and the members
met for the purpose at Chicago. Before
anything was done the news came of the
st. Louis indictment, and Babcock was
arrested by the civil officers and taken to
hat city for trial. This caused suspen-
'ion of proceedings by the military board.
The trial will probably take place without
1elay, and the country will soon know
whether the charge made can be proved or
lot. Meanwhile the President has taken
lmbrage at certain passages in the argu-
nent Of Ex-senator Henderson, one of the
counsel employed by the Government in
hese cases, during the trial of Avery, late
L ~ Al