St. Landry democrat., 1884-11-22

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coin led? A moment Of self-inspec-
ton has now come to these men.
We believe that a great and whole
some humiliation will lead them to
look into their own souls and see
the perverted ugliness that a brief
madness has made there. And we
believe that those to whom this en-
lightenment comes will have done
with such madness forever.
Moreover, we are sure that they
are, or will be, grateful to those who
stood between them and their de-
sires. Let us say now that it was
no slight thing to make q stand
against such popular outburst as
threatened the future of this coun-
try last Summer. It is true enough
that there was no real heart, no
genuine vitality in the movement
started by a tricky politician and
his tools for disgracefully sordid
ends. But there is enough in mere
popular momentum to make opposi-
ton a serious thing. It is easy
enough to go with the crowd and
shout; hard enough to stand still
and bar the way of a mob.
You say lightly Yes, the indie
pendents, and the Times and the
Post and Harper's Weekly and
Puck did good work in the campaign.
Stop and think what that means
especially when you say it Of pa
pers. You are accustomed to think
of these journals as SO many col
umns of BREWER and nonpareil, and
SO many pages Of pictures. But
you must remember that behind all
this type and ink and paper are
Men. Men who made up their
in the sincere belief
that they were periling their mate
rial interests to perform the duty
they clearly saw before them. Men
who through all these wild months
have toiled, with brain and hand, in
dull Offices, bearing the heavy Sum
mer days when the lightest labor
was a burden. Men who with sore
hearts and troubled souls have la
bored to save fools, for the fools
own sake. Men whose reward, even
Of gratitude, will be seant enough at |
the best.
Stay. We take that back. We
have our reward, and a generous re-
ward, we who have worked with |
voice and pen and pencil. The task
has been hard. The end we saw
not. We had faith only in our
cause not in its immediate success.
But even if the Vaccinations of
politicians were to overturn the re-
,ult of last weeks election, we still |
rave gained that which cannot be
aiken from us. We have found one
another.
That is the best and greatest
hing we have done. 1t is painful
o think that there is enough weak
less and blindness among our peo-
lie to make such things possible as
We have seen this Summer. But
llso it is compensation to know
hat there is an element that NAV
,e surely and absolutely trusted
N element of clear-headed honesty
nd indomitable patriotism. We
Who have fought for the right these
i've months have been drawn closely
ogether.
Each man knows his neighbours
leart as he would never have known
had not this trial come upon us.
loved by one common love of
ountry, we have given speech to
hose nobler aspirations that are
nut too likely to Wither and die, I'M
ormulated and unspoken, in the
lull conventionality of peace. The
rouble we have all felt has revealed
0 each man how dear to his heart
7ere those things Of which in calmer
ines he thought but lightly his
ountry and his country's honor.
n this fiery furnace through which
7e have passed, cyuicism and indif-
have been burnt clean out
f us. We who have stood this
EST will never hereafter speak light
I or irreYerently of that great idea