Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-02-28
THE ANCIENT, AND THE
MODERN STATESMAN.
BEFORE THE MINERAL POINT
HIGH SCHOOL, FEBRUARY
TWENTY-SEC0ND.

|
tions which forms 4 part of our
morning exercises led us into a
brief discussion of the value of good
government. On account of the
limited time then ut our command,
4 few thoughts, briefly expressed,
were made to dispose Of the whole
subject. The present occasion offers
Il fitting opportunity to enlarge
upon it as its Importance deserves,
There are people whose digestion
is 50 perfect that they are made
acquainted with the fact that a
stomach constitutes part of their
organism only through external
sources. The misery which results
from the abuse Of this organ has
never admonished them of the
necessity of prudence in their treat
ment of it. So, likewise, those who
have never experienced the ills OF
bad government, must either re-
main ignorant of the fact that gov
eminent may be made the means OF
oppression, OF must learn it from
the testimony of those in less fortu-
nate situations.
To us who have never known
other rule than that devised and
set in operation by the people
themselves, who have never been
warned by the nightmare Of des-
potism to look carefully TO the
healthful management of our polit-
ical institutions, the advice OF
Washington seems supertluous. The
man who said that eternal vigil
ance is the price of liberty seems
to us to have been unduly cautious,
As the days and the years roll ON,
we pursue our various callings
obcying now the behests Of duty,
and now the invitations of pleasure,
restricted nowhere by the inter-
ference of political regulations, safe
i'll all our rights whether Of person
or property, scarcely cognizant Of
the existence of government, except
through the slight burden of tax
alton it imposes, it scarcely seems
to us possible that all this may
some day have an end, and we may
find ourselves in the same plight
experienced by other nations whose
prospects at some period of theil
history were az favorable as osrs
We enjoy free government as We
do the all-prevading atmosphere
never doubling its permaneney
never even speculating on the phe
nomena that would attend its
destruction, more than we should
on the sensations to which We
should be subjected were we to be
placed in vacuum.
This, no doubt, is the manner il
which national affairs are treateG
by the greater part Of the inhab
itants of our country. Especially
is this true of those who are toe
young to hold in full remembrance
\ the events Of fifteen years ago
But this is not the course which il
Justified by wisdom. The Eve
which | have just used in remark
ing upon the popular indifference
to the affairs Of state does not in
clude the student Of history or po
litical science. To him, the sky
may wear as serene an aspect as il
does to his neighbor, who can SEE
nothing but sunshine; but unlike
his neighbor he is skilled observer
and he can detect ominous signs
where the other sees nothing He
knows that furious storms come
from clouds no bigger than man''
hand. Scientists Of the present
age explain the condition Of the
universe in all its parts by the tern
evolution. Civilization has beer
evolved" from barbarism; and Or
the other hand anarchy has been
in some instances, evolved from
order. Even revolution is a pro
duct Of evolution. It is not nee.
essary here TO enter upon any dis.
cussion a. to the propriety Of the
term or the extent Of its application