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A "critic" Under The Harrow

A "critic" Under The Harrow image
Parent Issue
Day
12
Month
July
Year
1872
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Mr. Kditor - In order to give oxpression to the sontimcnt of many who rond with groat surprise and groator disgust various articles in tho Peninsular Courier not long 9nce, relative to thp exercisos of ComlBefioement day, it is hoped tlint you will not hositate to inert tho following. Porliaps notcr in this community has thero been an instanco of an attack so shameful in its nature and so uttorly uncnllod for aa wan presented to thn public in tho papor abotfo mentionod, uboat two weoks ago. Nothiug hut n mind poisonod by tho lowost typo of political exoiternont could have boen tho originator of tho insinuations it containod, So baso in thoir naturo and so disgnieoful to even an honorable journalist as to bo unworthy of respootable contetnpt. Bascd, as the chargös were, aliso'Iiitoly upon politioal grounds, to expoct a reply froiu a political antagonist Xrould bo as absurd as it would be dogfading to its author. Of sliuuld a personal oiioiny desire to wroak ' vengeance by lilüwing forth blíists of j i ter invectivo, h wanld find, porhaps too ] late, thttt bU victory was urtw'orfhy (i i joicing, whUo ho wchíld be callo 1 upon to i lament time and trouble vainly squandered upon afí object -vv-hicri could but disgraco the dignity of revengo. But wlien this roply comes frora ono moved by feelings of sorrow and coinpassion, :iti(l who trusts hu is as truo and in corruptiblo a cbampioi of the principios j of tliu Eepublican party as he who ges that certain " speoohes wore manipulated in the intorest of tho ürooley faction" during the exercises of Commence ment day, it should at least bo rcgardpd as a voice of warning, to bofriond one who has allowed tho passion of bis ire to I hush the voico of bis couscienco. When men who are regardod by their fellow citizens to be men of the purest and most noble charactcr afë suddeoly impeached for tho most flagrant violtion of their official (íutíes, and such duties as they have honestly and satisfCtoiily discharged for ycxrs, and when they are accosted with such a titlo as " wooden men" by a man who seeks first within his own breast for a character of treachory to party, and thcn hns tho audacity to come before the public aud endeavor to pin it upon these men, tho community can but bo rosed to tv defunau, not from 'injuries done, which óañ be atoned for and forgiven, but froin insults which admit of uo oompensation, oud -whieli fll upon the head of their author with orushing wcight. Liot ua supposo an iustance of this character alroady present ed to tho he. let us suppose th:vt a man in the blissful doligbt of his own ignorance as regarás the questionat iseueychnrgesthose íully conveisant with tho subject of either i willful violation of duty or an absolute ignorance oi' tlie same. It would be nocessary in the íirst place to ascertain what were the real grounds upon which thia cliarge could apparontly be based. And when after Consulting common sense and th íeal status of the affair, information was imparted' to fche -IToet that this charge eould only be the off-fpring oi' a disgraceíul faUfhood or a inÍ6tu,k((H knoicledto ; that it wus based upun an as suniption utterly unwarrantabli1 ; that it was uot, uévor had been, and liever could bu the duty ofthose arraigned to dictutr. niuch less to know in advance wlint would be tho tendency of thought and speeches of certain ytung gentlemen on a eertain occasion, respect for one'a own character wüuld demnnd that he should ignoro this chaTge as too mean nnd s!liindy ridiculous to deaervo a moment'rt consideration. But should this saiuo individual again impeach tho nJotivcs of these, men by asserting that thy bctrayed the trust conimitted to tliom whon tboy delivcrcd the opinión thnt the speeches above alluded to contnined an element of conseivatism which was praiscworthy - a sentiment repulsivo to neither democrat nor republican fortúnate enough to possess one honest vcin ii his body- lic would jnako hiniielf the most ridiculous exumplo of i'olly tha' could possibly bo embodied in human form. It is then that his most sniiguinc supporters would blush with shame fo; his action, and wou'.d be unablo to fine: worda adequate to express a decent apolInstead, then, if mpposing that an instanco of the case just imagined mighl possibly occur, who enn deny that very recently this community has been called od upon to witness it in its true reality and represented before the public by one of the most admirable of actorg ! Were it not that his fellow citizens are only too willing to pardon something to the glory of his past record, it might bo inferred that he would not have boen altogether displeased, had the remarks of the jioor crimináis who addressed the Alumni on the memorable 26th of June last, in commenting upon the commencement speeches, attributed to them a eentiment quite different from that which roally and pre-ominently characterized them. They were conspicuously conservativo throughout, and were intended to be conservativo ; nor could any ono, with a just regard for the truth, have put aiiy other eonstruction upon them. If the object to be attained by the author of these shameful accusations was the securing of votes for the Eepublican party, how disastrous the result ! If rejiutation and fame wero the ambitions to be realized at the saorifice of the charactors of others, how humiliating and miserable the failure ! A Member of '72. ANOTHER '72 JtAH IXDIOXANT. Deab Arous - The Cmirier and some other journals, manipulated in tho intorests of " Grautism," seem grcatly trou bied about the conservativo oharacter of khe speeches mude by the representativo men of the class of '72, on Oommencement day, and nlso by the speech of ex Oov. Blair, at tho University banquet, in response to tho toast, "The University and tho State." Now, without any iutent of nagsifyisg tlie eicellencc of said speech09, it is only fair to say that tho silly wiulillo of these journals merits the ïttrr disgust of overy loverot'freu thou{Lt 1 md speech, and -ve fee] jastiüed in sayng will bo so regarded by the great niass of stuclents and Alumni wHo had the )loiisro of hearing tho speeches. What if certain terror-stricken men did iscover in those speeches an index fin;er pointing in the direotiou of tho ! iticnl curront among the studonts of the Michigan University, and fanciod, that :hoso aro tlio suro prcinnnitions of th coming storm which is to shake down Choif already trombling p;irti,iaii struc ure - why lament so loudly ? Do th expffüt thereby to drown the voieo whioS ïnds pxprpssion icre against nsiirpiitinn oorruption uut wrong!-' ])o thcy ]l0. to slillis in out tioMo Unive-át tliatfre thnugM'anJ sjirooh whih diring pss yenrs has hurlad its anatl ais and uttcr eil its blcssings as it was m (ved by th ciroumstanccs of politicul and social l{4 iu our country 't It is only just to wiy tlmt the speaker, ohosen by tlie facnlty were nien who knew tbc strong scntiiuonts of Uiejr f„i low classmen and fnllow Btndents- tne tlmt at least throc-fourths of the men of tho class of '72 wero awaip to the corrup. tion alrpady too l'mg rampant. in e Grant ring - and knew that in denonncing tho poHt.ical horosies of tho lay tho would mo 't the hoarty upprobution of V far tho gr.'fitor part of theür felluw among tho aluin li and uri'lor cltuMinun. We snv it was but natural that these men shonW give oxpression to the MUtimontt pre, vailing in the hearts of Yonng America hero, oven thougb tliir arrows of truth 1 inight rosult as thuy hnve in filling witk oonstoi-nation thn berts of these " Who b n 1 tlu' ]ii:iife of the kuep, Th;vt t.irüt muy íuilow Eft-ning " A to tïie spoech oi ox-Uov. Blair, w, feel justifiod in asserting (if nt lonst ap. ' plauso is uny indication ot' ftpprovsl) tlaj his noblo sentiments so eloquently spo. ken met the (vpprobation of the gieat mass of l'niversity men assemblwl oa that festftl occasion. Not 11 word wjj said thot ought to have liurt the sonsibilitiea of tho most sonsitive politicBn, nu. leas, forsooth, his soul was so imbucd with ideas of centralization that our greut sys. tem of union botweon independent Stntes haa becomo rtipugnant to him. Qo ■ Blair oulogized our systeui of yiomogor. erntuent, and portrayed in glowiug coL ore tho blo3ings resulting therefrom. Hi gpokc of contralization as an idea vbich warred against onr dearest riglits, sayine that wbiie ít rnigbt produce a strong atj splendid governn.nnt, it was but anothei naiuo for tyrnnny ; that a for him he loved our systeiu of local State govein. rnents- tlïuy were our safoty at home mi our glory abroad, and even thongh tht tinic ahould corae when men migit b i tnuismi tte'. froïu onf; i:ïd of our couutry ■ tb tho otiier with the speed of tbo tele. Brraph, bo would not do away with oor homo governniont : for upon this testull those moro saornd institutioii9 in wbicl) we justly taku most prido. It is the füatt that guarda with most jealous caro thoee concerns which contribute most to our homo comfort and prosperity. It is the 8Catt that t'oaters onr edacationul interests, und in liis Michigan stands pro-eminent. He spoko ut leugth of her gnardinn cnro for tho Univorsity and kuew it would nevcr be left to decliuo. This was the ubstance of a speech ; whí;h protended lovers of their countrjr oondumn. Wo fuiln l to catoh oao word which, by nny construction, shonld encourago thq heart of any ono who is not a t:ue patriot. Certainly, any oxceptionj the sentiment of Gov. Bluir's npcech must poceed i'rom a spirit of tbe mort hopolcss itviliii(j or trom an ultra psriiaun spirit, inttamed at the tokons for good which ure now brcatLing over onr land, threatening soon to awo p a ay th) corrupting apt-ncies now strugülini,' in liijjh plaoos as if in the iigoiiies of d.'ath, Vcrily, " Whom tho gods would dostruy they tirst mako uiad." Ose ofTï; The Regalar Democratie or antiGüEELET-and-BROWjí Cor.-vention, beid at Bnltiiuore on the duys of the Nutioiul Democratie Couvtntion, was a faiiure, in nmnbers, in the Charactor of the ttemlnnt, and in accomplishiuent. Tbo untnimity whúli prevnilud in the Democratie Convention took the vigor hII out of t ie wde-show. A coDvcntion was iccoiim ndcd to bo held at Louisrille, K)% 8 pt. 3Oth, to do something, and tmtil t'mt ili.y symjxithizrrs wcro nrgeil t5 " check tho growing defection from tms D mocratic principies ;" ond then tbs convention mljourued ine die. ïhfttwM all. - Wo místate, a rcsolution was offerod by a 3Ir. JaCESOK, of Miss, recommending the Xutional Convutiou to bn lidil at Louisvillu to incorpórate the following phmks m its platform: 1. An act of universal amnostv, ahí tile nstoration of politicol riu'liH 2. The repeal of all acts injuriouslv - ftcting the: Southern States. 3. The extensión of the pensión la to the ioldiera ot the South. ir.' 1 1 1 the natioiwl treasury. ö. A chango in tho n itional flg t0 niaku it Hcceptablo to the peoplt) of ootry. HiJge Flaxders, of X. Y., suggestei that tlio rcgilution was untimely. ■ it wns tablod. Bnt Djmoerats invited to Louisvillo to co-operste i men holding such views. Isthattbew provemont on Greeley the "hord shell Democrats contémplate 'i The u.vfortunate ex-Gov. Br.uR k stepped in it again : this time at & mazoo, his oration there ou tho l& July not satisfying his oíd Radical W ciatos and triendg. For ten or fiftecn r these same thin-skinnod Eadical go'T havo boen prcfaning the birthday anniyf s iry of the nation by all sorts of W gan harangues and declaiuations- luisaU' edoratious, and now that one of tbeirono honorod luerabers should simpljr oeate denounco tho Democracy, and covn hiiusclf to discusaion oí the prinoiplM which underlie the very foumlations the govemment and mark the boundwy Oetween Kopublicanism and despoM every hair stands on end. Tt is too W' that' a fact, and we hope that beies Gov. Blair will oonsult tho Badiwl tors of thé State before opening bis mou on University or natioinil gal daysAt a Grelky ajvd Bruw.n ratific meeting at Jackson on WeSoewtoy (Te" ningGov. Blair made a lcngtli? " able apeech, giviug hiB reaeons for " ng to support Graxt and WlMOK' made souio soiions chnrges aganwt1 Vdministration, charges whioh o0 bi; met by cries of " sore-head," " tit"tor, &c. Another weok we may give plrt an abstract of his sptoch. H s nuneed that lie should labor for GbAÍ defeat from now until Norembtrneeting was also addruBsed by 1 . Prixolk, (JLb8M( ana TSCK, all Pron"' nent weli-known Itejuiblicuns. The iu Btate 'freasutf at the closo of business Juno Otb w Í7tT,3i:.,"iO, au icreiEe during tlic wu of $110,710.24. A sniall ainuunt is '" to Stato institutions at 7 pur cout., balance buing dopositod witH pet o' at 4 per cent. It is a good thinj? to bankor with " frierMl at couis" latter days.

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus