The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-03-08
(Yor the Dispatch
Gratitude

Grammarians tell us that there mlgbt ne
n hielsss skeleton OF language WITHOUT olDer
paris Of speech than The yerb ana noun OF
nronoup. PbysioIogis's tell us that IN The
lower OF gaDlsms there Is life without breatb,
body without blood. Religion tells Us OF q
Spirit without body. Our everyday eXpe-
rience tells us but too often that head may
be without brains-at least tmaierialJ' br!,hs
without thought. And so we conclude tDa'
n heart might be without any OF the eieNa'
ting and purifying affections, among tue
chief Of which we rank gratitude.
Yet almost all our &C :. so far as otheis
are concernod. have more or less reference
10 this principle. being intended eltner 10
show gratitude IN ourselves or 10 excite II
iu Others. We find manifestations OF the
feeling among men OF all classes IN ever!
age and in every cline; nor is II conhned 10
men alone. The mouse frees the ensoafed
lion; The lion, instead OF rendiDg, laws on
the trembling slave; the bee stiDgs the nun
Ter. and so diyeris his aim from the un>us.
peciiDg dove; but IL is as useless rs IL
would bc easy 10 multiply examples.
Through gratitude mans heart is first drawn
TO God: the cbld's to his father; the dogs
10 bis master; and who has not heard OF The
old maids bOunGess gratitude TO the man
that asked her TO marry him!
Indeed, so Spontaneous and so universal
Is This prompting OF our better nature that
II demands no eXpianatlon-it requires no
papeeyric. Like courage in man aDd
virtue in q woman, IL is conspicuous only
i'm ITS absence; and then we hardly nave
words 10 express our" deep and solemn rep
rotation" OF the baseness OF its opposite
"Iow sharper than serpenps tootn," and
the various other forms OF tie 0U-repeated
simiie If the viper warmed in ones bosom,
serve from their very triteness TO show the
general sense OF mankind on this subject.
Ii shocks us therefore when calm. medi.
tatiye poet like " ordswOrth writes, not in
bitterness. but In tone Of the deepest sad
ness
al have often heard Of hearts unkind
KIND deeds win Goodness still returning.
Alas! the gratitude Of men
Has ofteHer feH ne mourning"
What can the paradox mean! This ques-
lion has puzzled thoughtful men for years.
Harsh critics have rashly asserted that, like
much else that Wordsworth wrote. the
lines mean absolutely nothing; and his adj
. mirers have labored hard for an eXplana-
ton.
Some have thought that the poet was dis
gusicd by The pietis,ic can't that thanks
Heaven for an escape from HIS, perhaps OF
our own causing, which must fall some
whereof not on us, then on others Tor
whom we should be equally concerned.
Others bave held that be grieyed over the
insincerily Of the thaDkfunesS that, having
no real existence, is satisfied with bare
exprs ssion in words unsusained by any
act. Others again have interpreted graft
tude here TO be "a lively sense Of favors TO
come"
II may be that one of these is the true
explanation but they are all little far
fetched, and there j. one much simpler,
which | believe has never yet been sug
gesied.
1t seems 10 he generally admitted that
much dirty work must be done to enable
any party, however high and pure the aims
OF lis leaders, 10 gain an ascendancy in the
State or TO retain that which it has once ac
quied. For this reason many Of the best
men have ever held entirely aloOf from pol
tiles, and SO the public service has been
allowed TO fail into such hands that one
earnest man exclaimed 10 disgust that pa
triOiism was the last resort OF q scoundrel.
Might not another. then, equally earnest
though less bitter. Justly depi0re the graft.
tude Of men in power that heaps offices and
hOnors upon the vile tools thar have served
tbemf
On the principle OF de ,asoytuiS nil, &C.,
one besitaies at this late day to criiicise Mr..
Hayes's administration; but the great good
that he ass accomplished, and his accredited
honesty Of intention, even when he has
failed, esske his weakness in this particular
all the more striking; and bis case illus
trates toe well the point thatil have tried to
make for me TO pass il over.
Ii may De that the alleged "bulldozers :"
and tar'ls Of money! were sufficient
justiiicstion for the fraudulent use OF the
Returning Boards; yet what honest Repnb'
lican does not bUsb when he reflects that
under this ",reiorm" Administration every
one wbe had he least part in the "Eraud J"
OF 1876, fpOm the lowest negro TO the "viS-
iting ststesman,s from Stanley Matthews
10 Eiixs Pinkston, has sooner or later re-
ceved reward commensurate with his ser.
yices-fr0m nomination 10 the Supreme
bench 10 few doisafs III cash from aeoun-
try pOs,-Ofisoe 10 a seat in the Cabinets
This Is an sEsstance OF gratitude that leaves
not one sentative poet oniy, but a,svhole
bresd eessntig. mourning.