NO. 8.
COIjIiKOKS AND 1'OMTICS.
17
tiillty, proving intellect Hie triumph of
creation. Yot even these reached tho
zenith of their human grandeur, doomed
alas, as you and I, to pass beneath life's
horizon.
But wondor of wonders ! Thought con
qucrs death, the doom of nil humanity.
For notwithstanding the llight of their
spirits to eternity, still they live, through
their works and arc cherished in the
li carts of us all.
None hut tho Infinite is beyond the
scruriny of human thought. All barriers
disappear beneath its ponetrating glance.
It dives into tho laboratories of the deep
rises into the vast expanse above, and in
i's llight roaches even the perfection of
Divinity. M.
OOLLEQES AND POLITICS.
Jyt MEUICANS cannot, as in most otlr
JWL er things, point with pride to the
state of their politics. With questions,
awaiting solution, of enough moment to
call forth the best statesmanship of the
time, still America has scarcely a single
statesman worthy the name. Within a
few years there existed in New York the
Tammany Ring; one of the most corrupt
and powerful political organizations,
whose influence was felt even on tho Ju.
dicial Bench, and whose strength is not
yet entirely broken. In tho South we
have political corruption of the blackest
dye. There votes ate controlled by brute
force, and elections carried by the most
glaring frauds. In our Capital, we recent
ly had an unnecessary session of Con
gross, at a great expense, trying to coerce
the President, and repeal law3 that are al
ready "dead letters," and all over the
' country we sec sectional fooling and class
legislation existing.
But where can we And a remedy Pres
ident White, of Cornell University, lately
appointed Minister to German', recently
delivered a lecture on this subject, in
which he recommended the establishment
of a political course in our colleges, so that
a person contcmpl Uing a political life
might be especially fitted for his calling
the samo as a physician, a lawyer, or a
minister.
Tho only objection to his plan would
be the trouble of getting tho graduates
elected to olllcc. As long as wo have
plenty of men who give their whole time
and attention to the subject of procuring
ofllccs, tho men who do devote thoir ener
gies to the solution of vital questions will
stand no chance. And here we may ob
serve the causo of so much useless and
foolish legislation, and such a dearth of
true statesmen.
A United States Senator has no time to
devote to important questions of State,
and his speeches upon them are written
by his private secretary; or, at best, are
but poor attempts to propitiate all classes;
for example, Blaine's speech on the Chi
ncse Bill. Not wishing to incur the ill
will of the people of the Pacific Coast, he
argued exactly contrary to his own prin
ciples on the negro question. Even in
our own Legislature wo can sec how a de
sire to please his constituency may cause
a man to vote for measures which he
knows to be contrary to the good of the
country at largo; and, if the voice of
some of the members had been obeyed,
during tho session last winter, we would
have had a normal or reform school in
nearly every county in the State. Thus it
is that from the manner of working the
machinery of nominations and elections,
and the state of our politics in general,
really capable men arc incapacitated for
effective legislative work. All their ener
g) is consumed in securing the nomina
tions and defeating the opponents.
The time is yet far oil, when a collegi
ate course, making a specialty of politics,
will do much to better this state of aflairs.
It is necessary to commence lower '
down and effect the change on the voters
tliomsolves, cease requiring pledges of the
candidates before elections, and make the
nominating machinery as simple as pos-
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