Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-05-15

IL was admitted the wealthy landowner
ana planter, While the mere money getter
by Whatever means was excluded, unless
ne came under what the French cali
"negocian" as d flering from the "mar-
chand.' Democracy had not then adopt
ed the idea that an men beng horn free
ana equal before tne law should be so at
the tlresIde and the drawing-rOom, and that
the blaekguard's assertion to his nelghbOr,
the gentleman, "Em as good as yOu."
forced MIN i'll selt-defense to be more eX-
elusive in his associations, even at the
cost OF being stigmatized as 'stuck up"
by another class, while they themselves
turned up their noble noses at their social
Interiors, real or supposed, az the only
available means of asserting their own
claims to aristOcracv!
That civilization descends from the high
er to the lower is true oalv where the
higher stands on an intellectual and
moral elevation superior to and recognized
by tbs masses. This was the case with
the Jewish hierarchy and with the CathO-
lie Church in the Middle Ages, till the
crimes of the BOrgias and the infdelity of
Leo Y. arrayed the more intelligent Of the
mobiles and of the people under Luther
against the church, and the lower class
against all law and order under Thomas
Munzer. who (hke our Puritan brothers
ofNew England on the abolition question
charged the retormers with establishing a
species OF Popery by their adherence to
the written word.
THE PRESENT STATE OF THINGS IN THE
UNITED STATES
authorizes the hope that the overthrow of
corrupt political organization that de-
ceiVed the peOple'under the banner Of a
miscalled Republican party is a II rst step
a rnfOrDlat1lf, in r1oIffioo1 lie Il =,
return to the principles of true republic
canism. Ours is a democratic republic,
as distinguished from an arist0cratic re-
public. and If we recognize that this last
has always reduced the people to virtual
slavery, as IN ancient Rome and middle
age Venice, we may well fear that the
former, run to its ultimate results, NAV
end IN the same unless the pulpit and the
primary schools be most iudiciOusly used
as protecting agencies. With us Of the
United States, although "the bottom
raiP' is not yet ION the top it may
soon become so, for. in consequence
of the apathy of the better class OF the
community and the struggles of the dema-
gOgy, we are so nearly divided on all
questions that a third party-small in
number,b but pOwerful-is sufficient to turn
the scales in government of universal
suffrage, may give us Caesar, whose
laurel crown may be changed for a tiara.
a loom, or a steam car, instead of for a
dyit 9 prostration, at the foot of the Wash
ingt0n monument on the banks of the
Potomac.
Is THERE NO DANGER OF THIS VISIBLE
when we look at the state of things in the
capital Of the Union even now, as they
loom up before our ewes, or is it that we
cannot or will not see?
These thoughts passed through my
mind as, looking with satisfaction at the
performance of our young actors. male
and female, | recognized the germs Of
power and purity which had marked the
lives OF the grandfathers and grand
mothers of the present rising generation,
and thought of what seems to me to have
been the mission Of Georgia when she
planted on the banks OF The lsOndiga n
nome for the unfOrtuu ate--the religious
exile and the political refugee-and at
Bloody Marsh drove back the hOrdes of
Spain and the InqusitiOn. But when
Cesar did not fall at the foot
OF Pompey's statue, dead and utterly
abandoned by friend and foe. as the vic
tim of an overlapping ambition, but re-
NAMED standing, while in the blaze Of red
light a beautiful ''tableauX vivanp' was
shit from our eyes by the descending cur
tain, shudder ran over me as / asked
myself is this typical of the fate of our
Brutus, Cleveland, as he strikes the
dagger Of civil service reform into the
bosom of official corruption? Heaven for
bid
FOR EVEN IF THE FIELD OF PHILLIP
be found in the United States Senate, and
the ghost Of Cesar threaten to meet him
there, we may hope that STRONG in his self
reliance and in the grandeur of the prize
at stake, the preservation of the Republic,
be viii not say, driven by Democratic dis
sension,
SO Julius Cesar. thou art mighty yet;
Thy spr' walks abroad, and turns our
swords
In our own proper entrails,"
but at the next election, supported by
popular opinion, led by press, pulpit and
public enlightenment, eXclaim with the
conquering Octavius:
"Cal the field 10 rest, and let's away
To part the glories of this happy day!'
With regard to the play as acted by our
young tragediaDs, the pleasure was great
to one who has seen all the great actors of
the last 90 years, including the last public
display Of the powers Of Ne danes Mars
and George, the tragic qur bus ui the time
of Napoleon, but the reasons for it may
well be deferred to another dav.
r w H.