The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1883-12-04

| FLORIDA can exert heatlng 1nuucnceS ish Ia
body more than any State in the Union. Cai
she not exert salutary Influences upon The disdr
derei spirit Ofthe timcsy rs
Her palms and orange groves whisper Ui
refuge from the winter storms Of the icy North
Can she not breathe talmy influences, asseagins
the fierce tempests OF partisan passion?
| The old saving has been in peace prepare iol
war; But better rendering would say in peace
| prepare for peace. Ii you know how precsaas
how heavenly sweet peace is then keep H.
Avoid everything that might destroy it
Learn war no more" Study The things tia
make for peace" Whatever other studies yea
embrace do not embrace In your university
curriculum study the things that make for peace
| Fol il is q volcanic planet we live on, and We
are volcanic race! Educate leaders and led
rulers and ruled, high aud low, rich and poor, Ia
be builders not pullers down, conservers not de
strOyers peace makers not war makers. Teach
them that cannon balls and armorel navies are
minus quantities in reckoning the nations assets
They destroy wealth not produce Beat the
sword into a plow-share, and let it enrich The
husbandman. Lay aside the illusions of the
past the false notions Of glory, and ascend trcln
| the wild-beast plane TO the human and humane.
| Ii is by watching against discord that we avoid
the danger Of fatal strife. Those dangers are
real Into This continental school room all na-
| tions seem pouring Ii is an invasion. One can
| hardly resist the feeling of snpcrsensual cause.
| Some hand We cannot see is beckOning. Some
trump cannot hear is summoning. They
come saturated with absolntsm, or in every IL,
gree of reaction therefrom, even to nihilisic So
| cialism.
| Our system is strong, but the strain is great
| There are. exciting questions before us--c.ptal
| and labor, protection and free trade monopoly.
| land tenure, prohibition, civil service reform
| and many others. We must settle these ques-
tions by frank and full discussion calmly, wisely,
| benevolently.
But our system gives to The wisest and best
| Uftf Tn i,rnnr nj ,n1on fol.
| Are then ignorance and schshncsS as fiji 10 rule
| rs wisdom and benevoencc? If man is g., ig-
| norant to manage wisely his affairs will you
| cntrust him with the affairs of others? Il too
weak to resist the temptations of private life
| will he resist The greater temptations OF public
| life?
On the b,si suppOsition that the wise and the
foolish were equal in numbers, you might still
see seated side by side in Congress the li'erale
and illi,erate, the temperate and the sol, gentle
men and blmklegs, purlians and impurtAns,
philosophers and idiots, all honorable mtn.
But in Etct the numbers are not equal
In all parties (and we have from three tG five
in the field the better element is liable la be in
the minority. How then system Sue
ceed? If this is government of maorities, and
majOrties are ignorant and selfish how is il pos
sible to succeed? Here is n man OF scrupulnus
rectitude, associated with numbers less sCrupu-
lOus than himself He is told that it is his duty
not to wreck his party Tor distractions As Ma
chiavel says He that follows what ought to
be, rather than what is will sooner ruin than
preserve his party" The logic seems irresistible
The temptation is exceedingly potent He must
shut his eyes and c0nnive al many things he dis
approves.
But if one party does unscrupulous things
other parties will be tempted To do them We
must, they say. And thus the corruption in
crcascs by competition, and the power of self
reformation is lost Conscience is even ridl.
culcd. And men who insist upon honor, tr.;th
honesty, disinerestedness scoffed at
But what must be the end of such courses:
How can we long prevent appeal to brute
force?
ufoc, wiivn al tincc falls t" >lauAcr ana dctrdC
ton, when these FAIL and parties arc nearly bal
anced, and very angry, and prizes, the most daZ-
zling ever offered to avarice and ambition lie
within reach. what shall prevent the strong hand
from clutching at them?
The only way TO prevent it is by increasing
the moral power of minorics. The majority
must rule, but the minority must influence The
majority. This must be government of'ma-
jories but of majorities controlled by mnorities.
mans influence may be far more powerful
than his vote. The able editor can vote but
once, but his influence may sway the votes of
hundreds. SO OF the clergy, the bar and other
professional men. Influence is mysterious. A
man sometimes sways community uncon-
sciously almost, by simply being. Wom~n,
than man who does, because she is nearer the
Divine, calmer, more self-gOverned. This is the
secret of success in popular government 10
make mnorities sway majorities by moral in
tiuence. The majority is the throne the mi
noriiy is the power behind the throne.
How can this be done? We have seen too
often how bad men can do it by committees, and
caucuses, and corrupt rings. We have yet to zee
how wise and good men can do it. 1t has been
said, Zone with God is a majority" Moses
said the same twenty five centuries ago" One
shall chase thousand" 1t is the Divine in us
that gives healthy moral influence and thlt is
why the philosophy SO much lin vogue in certain
quarters, which begins by cOnfessing itself an
orphan, without God and without hope in .hc
world, is not the philosophy Tor institutions
to rest upon. 1t robs us of our only hope and
leaves US in the rapids above Niagara
1t is the Divine in US, in single hearts, that
gives moral influence, and can increase that in
huence to any required pitch; can make one
man AS influential as ten. as a hundred, as q
thousand. One man iull of the Divine may i'm
bue a village with healthy influence. Ten such
might purge New York, hundred such might
disnfect Washington. The great object is 10
increase the number of such everywhere all
through society. This is the real object of etiu.
cation, in the family, in the primary schools and
upwards to highest collegiate. A university
ought to be the most powerful focus Of this
Divine moral influence
1t is said, indeed, religion depends on faith,
science on reason-as though devotion were an
amiable weakness TO be tolerated, while science
was matter of proof and demonstration
But modern science is as really matter of
faith rs religion is. Chemistry rests wholly on
the molecular, or atomic theory. But no man
ever saw a molecule. Men have seen angels;
men have at least insisted upon it, that they
have seen spirits, but no man ever even pre-
tended to have seen an atom, and Huxley con-
fesses that their existence is as hypothetical as
that of angels. All chemistry then, and all ma
terial sciences rest hyphothesis e., on faith.
But do We not know God by positive knowl.
edge? How does q child that wakes in the
night, and cries for mother, know that mother is
there? sweet voice in the darkness says, i" lie
still darlng!" soft hand strokes its check
The little one turns over with q sigh of content
and slumbers again. In the darkness of the
nightwatches of time our soul cries out for God,
and he answers US. Do we not certainly know
it? Thou hast encompassed me behind and be-
fore and laid Thine hand upon me-"
Within Thy circling power stand,
On every side feel Thy hand,
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
3- am surrounded still with God
Presence, the Infinite Love, besides being the Sc
cret Of personal influence, is the best aualicia-
tion for the study of every branch of know ledge
The mind that upholds aud carries forward
this material system is himself an arithmeiician,
chemist, geometer, architect, artist, biologist,
physician. If the undevout astronomer is mad,
as has been said, so is the undevout chemist, for
all chemistry is pervadel by close arithmeiical
calculation. So the undcvout liuguist, for I,u-
man language is an outgrowth OF the analopes
terial that Of,ty lOric