The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-15 00:00:00

GRAMMAR AND VIRTUE.

The publication of Mr. Disraeli's " Lothair " gives a
new text for those who are always lamenting about the
want of eminent scholarship among our public men. Look
at Lord Derby's translation of the Iliad, they say—look
at Gladstone's " Juventus Mundi "—and then oblige us
by looking at " Lothair !" What member of Congress
has produced a work so heavy with learning or so light
with fancy as these? To be sure, there was Mr. Baldwin's
"Pre-historic Nations," but be left public life on its pub-
lication, and his Congressional career already seems a pre-
historic period. Senator Brownlow's work on Methodism,
"The Iron Wheel Examined and its False Spokes Ex-
tracted," must be tolerably pungent, if its title is a speci-
men, but can hardly be classed as high art. But for Mr.
Sumner, indeed, the total literary yield of both Houses
of Congress would be unpleasantly near to what is
called in cricketing " a round 0." It is not strange,
therefore, if this new literary exploit of Mr. Disraeli's
proves exasperating to the patriotic mind. To be sure,
the comparisons commonly made do more than justice to
the Parliaments of our English cousins. It was a member
of Parliament who, according to Horace Walpole, be-
queathed an estate to Sir Matthew Decker, supposing
him to be the author.of the Gospel according to the Saint
of that name. And certainly the reception in Parliament
of the once famous author, James Harris (father of Lord
Malmesbury) was by no means encouraging to literary
men. " Who is that man ?" asked Charles Townshend
of his neighbour, as the new-comer took his seat.
" One Hawes," said the other. "He has written a
book en grammar and another on virtue." " Then
what the d—l does he come here for !" said Towns-
hend. "He will find neither grammar nor virtue
here !" It must be sadly owned that neither grammar
nor virtue can be guaranteed in any legislative body;
nor will even scholarship, as such, be likely to be in the
majority. Perhaps it is not desirable that it should, since
the prime need is always of men of affairs, whether they
or are not students. As it is, many of our Represen-
tatives in Congress, and almost a majority of our senators
have received a college diploma, such as it is, and the
charitable editor of The Congressional Directory attributes
to most of the remainder "an academic education," what-
ever that may mean. Let us hope that it grounds men in
the rudiments of grammar and of virtue. But it must be
owned that most of them represent the business class
rather than the studious class. Most of them, in those
Chinese literary examinations of which we hear so
much, would probably have stopped short at the red
silk scarf, which shews that a candidate for office has
reached only his first degree. The special literary and
scientific culture of this nation has not Merely a slight
representation in Congress, but it can scarcely be said to
have any. This is certainly to be regretted. Yet that
this class should monopolise or even control Congress,
would be almost as great an evil on the other side. The
questions now pressing on the nation are mainly business
questions. To settle the difficult problems of taxation
and banking, a second-rate business man is ordinarily
worth more than a first-rate professor of chemistry or the
classics. At any rate, what we chiefly need is to have
able and honest men. By what training they got their
honesty or ability is of no more importance, after they
have once come to trial, than is the preliminary training
of an athlete. At a rowing match we look to see
the stroke ; we do not care about the beeves
and loaves on which the young men have fed.
Strength is strength, though it may have been
murtured contrary to all the rules of training. In Con
gress a man is judged by his ability ; where he got it is
his own affair. To have abolished slavery is more than
to have written " Lothair ; " the Fifteenth Amendment
is worth more to this generation than the twenty-four
books of Homer ; and to weather a great civil war without
national bankruptcy is to exhibit a new heroic age. No
learning, no " early advantages," can guarantee wisdom
or virtue ; and that they can be won without such advan-
tages we see every day. The nation is very imperfectly
governed as it is ; but does any on e seriously suppose that
a committee of college presidents would govern it better?
After all, no man can know everything, and
an intelligent man is never ridiculous, except
when he claims to know something which he
does not. Let a Congressman, like a shoemaker, stick to
his last. A man may be never so " practical," but if he
begins to misquote Latin and mispronounce French, it is
ail over with him. Let him hold to English grammar and
American virtue, and he may be safe. Unhappily, it is a
malady incident all professions for men to wish to ap-
pear strong where they are weak. Mr. Lillyvick, in
" Nicholas Nickleby," who objects to the French lan-
.guage as " A very melancholy dialect, sir," because
he had only heard it spoken by prisoners in gaol, would
have found it more melancholy still as disguised in the
novels of some of our young ladies. And our worthy
Consul at Bradford, England, Mr, George M. Towle, has
brought all the English critics about his ears by mis-
quoting the very first line of Virgil's " .lEneid." The
critics are right ; he need not have quoted it at all, but, if
he chose to give it, he should have got the line straight.
.Even in England a statesman is not now expected to know
all Horace's odes by heart, as rox did; but if a man will
play at that game, he must come under its laws. The
safest way is for a man to keep- on ground where he is
strong. Nevertheless, General Jackson was Jackson,
thoug his only Latin phrase, according to Jack Downing
was " E pluribus unum sine qua non."—New York
Tribune.

EJECTION FROM CARS.—It is quite time that the
brutal system adopted on many railroads, of forcibly eject-
ing passengers from the cars, was done away with. In
more instances than one the passenger thus treated has
either been maimed for life, or killed outright. In some
cases the outrage is committed without any sort of pallia-
tion. Thus, Mr. Haskell was travelling on the Morris
and Essex Railroad, and stopped at Newark. The con-
ductor marked his ticket good, but on resuming his
journey another conductor demanded a fresh fare. Mr.
Haskell declined to pay it, and he was thereupon thrust
out of the car, and he had to walk several miles to his
home. Are the conductors thus licensed to take the law
into their own hands ? If so, there would be no possi-
bility of refusing any preposterous demands which the
fraternity chose to make.—New York Times.