Columbia phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1865, April 26, 1865, Image 2
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"Wednesday Morning, April 26, 1865.
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Masterly Inactivity.
It is Ss. nebo, we bebeve,.wbo sdys, in ajmo
ment of incertitude and loss, "Patience, ?and
shuffle the cards." Mr. Burlies well kaown
and febcitons phrase, "'masterly inaotivity/
'bas its special meaning at those periods ia th?
life of the statesman, -when the curtain of the
future seems let down close to his feet, and he
sees pot in what direction to take the next step.
At euch a moment, it is the fool only who
through mere weariness, or fcetfnlness, or
fright, still papists in movement, thoogh he
knows not but that bis next step will be over the
precipice. There are period?, "brief, w botonen
and nations have to fold their hand? and throw;
themselves humbly and hopefully upon God;
when, having done all that was in their wisdom
to conceive aad in their strength to execute,
they most fold their hands and wait patiently
upon that Divine Power who has been pleased
to let down an impenetrable veil between hu?
man search and* action, and the inscrutable
future of design as well as event. To do other?
wise-to booed forward unadvisedly-to h ur ry
on, throegb a mere eenie of. Weariness and un?
easiness, ia to exhibit impatience with"God.
.There is no wisdom.in showing ^oneself impa?
tient with God. It only hurries one on to self
sacrifi?e. Patience for a reason-that is, when
you ?an neither work nor see where toge-and
in the language of the poet,
..The-darkest day,
Wait till to morrow, will have passed away."
Jfow, espeeially, it appears to us that th?
seaton cf "masterly inactivity" is upon ns. Oui
situation leaves human wisdom at a los? in al
ep?cuietfe?? opon what the hour shall demand
a cd what the morrow may bring forth. TV?
" have done all that we could-very far fron
wisely, we grant-but Heaven JB merciful ever
to vanity, ignorance and imbecility-that is
just so ?coo as they -will humble themselves
confers their impertinence and worthlessness
?ad submit to wait events attire hands af th.
?prest Disposer of all human affairs. We ari
. temporarily an exhausted people, and, nnlucki
ly, there sro too many thousands not merely t
de/f ondir.g people, but they are impatient o
the d?lay in the resumption of those privat
devotions to Mammon in which they hav
trfcown themselves more devout in homage thai
to ahe gods of patriotism aad humanity. The;
n r.y flt w themselves now, if impatient of th
?lew ordinances of God, as much too eage
in picturing pea.e? as they were, perhaps, pr?
cipitate in demanding war. uXex extr?mete
?c tevefunt" Avoid the extreme. If raeb, a
*:l;ey think, in provoking war, they may b
f-qually ?o in their desiro after peace. Tb
very eagerness of ibe enemy in offering true
atc! pete* -if th#y have done so-argues th
cx.it?nee ?f a condition of. things which w
flhrdl netd time lodecjpher. Kow is the tim
to exeit our vigilance to the utmost-to b
most cireunuT| eet in feeling our way-to lisiei
with- iat-mia CUB ears to the smooth and tp*
cious asfiMai.ee of those who have ahewi
tfcyo??dv %* to hellish -in their hale, and v
beware, lest the term* Af peace ?ball inro?re
j u8*not only in a foreign war, but in one, en?
gaging % whi^h,, we shall forfait nit tbe^grate
fal ?apporta bf conscience. To aljjt; ourselves
with* oar pr?sent enemies, simply t? secure a
peace at all hazards, ia probably to force usinte.
foreign war, againatthose?%h? have ne quarrel
with UP, all the eon's who ana ?till spared to us
from four years of bloody battle through
which wo have gone. It is time that our eons j
should have rest-that motbeca should cease to
wail oy,er the premature sacrifice of their first?
born on tho altars of Moloch-that we .should
be'permitted to return to oar desolated homes,
and seek'to recover from the ashes, and through
the healing help of tiree-, the repose and hap?
piness eo. Jong denied, if apt absolutely lost*
.If we"-are stilly to fight-if there aro to be more
'wars, taking our children away to the slaugh
I ter, then, in God's name, let it be with those
[still who have destroyed so many-the rava?
gers of our homes--the violators of all our se?
curities-the reckless and restless robbers who
will never be at peace with any people, so long
as they have wealth for the spoiler, and victims
for the tyrant. Let us pause for a season
beware of baste-keep our arms bright-our
armies on the Watch-and avoid, aa we would
shame and death, any precipitate action, which
shall again throw us into the embrace of our
natural enemies.
^Democracy an4.Demagoguiam.
Democracy makes cowards of public men.
Men who fear the popular vote,, will never op?
pose the popular will. Men who build upon
tho masses will appeal to the lowest standards
as thc most numer?os. Numbers thus bes?me
the substitutes for intellect as well aa charac?
ter. .The relations^ the two-the leader and
the people-will jesuit in the degradation af
the former sud the presumption of the latter.
In degree ns the one ie weak and timorous, will
thc other be lipid and insolent. The caprice of
the populace will keep strict paie with the
contempt which they will feel at the weakness
of their leaders; and one Bel of demagogues
will thus give place to another as the sparks fly
upward, each successive swarm making an in?
crease in tba duwnwai tl progress of intellect
?nd character. Very f?on, there will be no
moral restraints upon the passions of thc mul?
titude. The , creature who buys their votes,
sells himself in the purchase. They know, his
price in their own. Hie tenure of his hold
upon them will be limited -by his uses in sub?
serviency. Should he forget himself for a mo?
ment-forget duly to acknowledge hi? sub?
serviency-he Will be cast off. If he is simply
cunning, he will continua to play his game con?
sistently. He will appear before them in rags?.
If he forgets himself in his vanity, they will
revenge upon him all their burts of self-esteem;
and fresher subserviency, soda more lavish hr. nd
in bribery, will enable any competitor to win;
the voices that Were lately all his own. The
popul?te, fed on vanities and m false relations I
to their leaders, are always jealous of neglect.
They are jealous of all shows' ?t> wei! na esser
t?OD? of authority. In all countries, from the
days of Aristides to the pr?tent, tj<<sy are jea
_ '._ < ? _._
1 lo tts of their own great men. Henee,, they?
voted Aristides into banishment became of. his
virtues, ?which made them ashamed. Ilcnec rt.
?eas that Sieitter Webster,'Clay nor Calhoun,
the master statesmen Of their lunga and sections
in the United States, could ever he elevated
to the Prea"denoy; while such mea of straw as
Harrison, Pierce, Polk, could ail rise into tho
seats once,?lled by Washington and .Jefferson.
In Democracy, we call upon God to bear wit?
ness to a lie. .He has made all men unequal,
studiously so-some with five talents, others
again with only one talent-in order that they
should have various use*, and thus l o ina?.;
mutually dependent for ihe proper working of
society. In the leeth of all experience, in de?
fiance of all thought, philosophy and religion,
wc declare them all equali and assume for the
race at largo the capacity for the govet-amerfe
of society, when hardly one in n thousand ia
able to govern himself. God will not sanction
a lie. He witnesses against it. All the favor?
ite democracies of the world, to the present
day, have devoured tftcli other;, th? sr.rvivor, it'
uny, finally devouring himself. That Demo?
cracy makes cowards jof its public men. is per?
haps Ute cause of all the evil. Were thc popu?
lar leader brave and honest enough to oppose
the passions of his peeple, they might be saved.
And yet, the passions of tue people oneo
aroused, are as the horse maddened into a reck?
less consciousness of his own powers, and rend?
ing the harnees that fetters him to the car. Tho
error ia in suffering him to get the bit between
his teelb~-in suffering the man te exercise his
powers asa beast, without having trained him to
the development of his higher natara, which
might Lave lifted him to a height only next be?
low that of ah angel.
- aft
What to Think?
You may suppose anything. Conjecture is
boundless, and takes its aspects from the moods
of men. One man has a habit of seeking the
dark, another the bright at?,"eta of a subject.
Ono says, teuching the reported assassination of
Lincoln, "It is the worst thing in thc world for
.ne, for Andy Johnson ie a brute and drunkard,
(as if Lincoln were any belter,) and he will bo
a thousand times more disposed to tyrannize
than would a Better man.'' Another thinks
tliat'lhe change is wonderfully for thc better,
and he has bia reasons-sueh ns they are-for
this profound conclusion. Now, all this matter
ii mere child's play. You may go on guessing
from morning to night, and sleep uo better for
it, and eurely wake no wiser iu the ir.orniusr.
Were we, as a people, good for anything bul
prattle, we should- not ask or euro who v.- *
President or ruler among our enemies. We
should lather prepare for the weist at Ii.-?:
hands, and plu?k our Mower of sufety from li.e
nettle of daagtr,
* There is hardly a chunco of reasoning f..-: ?i
con* .lion of the Yankee people. Tiny nie i .
governed by law or principle. Th? most i.:
gaut people in the world, they have iceennd e :.
in tho eapiiec of passion, to the first de*poli?m
that offered. They have submitted bliudly ...
hie will, never even r< moustrating, (hough 1..
has subverted every fundamental law of tkeir
Constitution, and every tradition of the hui,