New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1847-05-15
MIR. Folks Popularity.

The Editor Of the d" Union is no Iconoclsst He
is no breaker Of images. On the contrary, no Pa
god or saint had more deyo1t worshipers than he
OF the image which he has fashioned unto himself.
Like certain barbarous nations, OF whom we read,
he has selected for bis worship the most ungainly.
proportoned and hideous object within the sphere
Of his observation and the more repulsiveit seems
to others, the more it becomes endeared TO him.
His melancholy jeremiads upon the destruction
Of the Freedom Of the Press" have entirely
ceased; he has hung his harp upon the willow
from the dirge with somewhat strange alacrity,
he has passed to the exultant tones OF JOY. and is
now singing PRans to James k. Polk.
Poor monomaniacl II be think that his gross
selfimpositon is shared in by others: ifhe think
that men Of sound faculties and Of obserysnt minds
can adopt such an insane concusion-or that men Of
selfrespeot and character could give it utterance
To do the Union Justice, however, it has
correspondents equally affected with itself One
speaks Of the thnness of the polls, and the poPu
Iarity of the Administration fit correspondent Of
the official organ for where else could appear such
gross inconsistency such an absolute contradiction
in terms as well as in facts The thinness Of the
polls was evidence Of the popularity OF the Admin
istration So strong, so devoted, so dsinterested
was the attachment of Virgisans to Mr. President
Polk, that they stayed at home and declined voting
for his candidates They were well satisfied
that he was convinced of their fidelity that-not to
insult him with a suspicion to the contrary-they
cautiously and earnestly ioretoge to give him any
proofs thereof Why, this is the very error Of the
moon
But richer correspondent than the last is a
Judge c., whom the Union has pressed int
its service. He out Herods Herod, and would
DER do Termagant He thinks that this Admin
istration is the best the country ever had u KeeE
your incognito, Judge c.. most sacredly. fol
your sake and for the sake Of your interesting
Progeny-ifyou have any and if you have not, fol
the sake Of common sense and the universal truth
If you do not-and, after the expression Of such s
sentiment, perhaps you can not-take our word fol
it, you viii rue the rashness Of your declaration
and blush to find it fame
From the J0idRess which dictated the eTpres
sion Of such an opinion, men may be induced by
painful curiosity to find ont something more abou
Judge C.. Dark mystery shrouds the author
Of many other sentiments. and the minds of mer
have been furiously agitated to discover them. Pc
lion upon Ossa has been piled up in Commentaries
and have added to the obscurity they were intend
ed to remove. The most beautiful of the ancien
English minstrelsy are uniatbered no one knows
with certainty who composed the Icon Baseilikon
while the authorship OF Juniuss Letters is, and per
haps, ever will be, an anxious mystery. Ii is
seeming cruelty in Judge c. to add to the many
puzzles that disturb the curious mind.
In Virginia. we know that all sorts Of sentiment
are tolerated and expressed The more incompre
hensible the distractions there, the more popula
they become. Audacity Of utterance captivatei
the mind there, more than correctness OF opinion
We shall still be surprised, however, if an asser
ton. like the one upon which We comment, so ut
tery opposed to fact, and so entirely subversiy'
alike OF all sound reasoning and sound morality
can find sympathzers or adherents. Out OF Vir
ginia. we are fully convinced that the belief in Mr.
Folks popularity has less disciples than Millersn
or Mormonism, or any other mental deusion-
Those once affected by it are the readiest to ex
pose its absurdity belief in James X. Polk has
federation nowhere: his political friends SPEAK
with less courtesy Of him than his opponents thf
first often abuse his personal character the latte
merely condemn his public acts.
He who wishes to express hereafter the only
eulogy to be pronounced with truth upon his Ad
ministration must say, Nothing in it so well be
came him as the leaving It.