The southern press., 1850-10-05
Seeing the Elephant.

1t is often difficult for persona at 8 distance
from Washington, to understand the secret
springs which work the machinery, or to pene-
trate through the hypocritical professions of
partizans into a knowledge of their real purposes
Some however, of our Southern contemporaries
shaking of the party shackles, and seeing
through the falsity Of the statements put forth
by the hired Hessians here, who fabricate their
facts as well as their great men, have watched
the course of events for themselves, and arrived
at very clear conception of the measures, the
men, and the motives of this session.
From the Mobile Iisrald and Tribune, we ex-
tract the subjoined proof of this:
"OF ELEPHANTs.-in the east, those who
hunt elephants dig huge hole and place over
il covering. They then send forth tame ani-
NAL OF the same species mostly, we believe, of
the feminine gender, to elude the herds of these
huge unsuspecting beasts, which range the for
ests and lungles. Attracted by passion, the herd
pursues, and the trained animal flies towards the
treaeheruus hole into which straightway those
who follow fall. After being thus secured, they
are beaten and carressed alternately, until at last
they learn to submit quietly and do their leaders
bidding. The tame monster is rewarded by
sundry feasts OF the most savory food, until
shame upon it, it begins TO like the infamous
frauds which it plays off upon its poor fellow
brutes. We think that there are two or three
tame elephants in this region, but of the mascu-
line order
Men--professing TO be Southern men--pro
pose to rejoice over the passage Of certain bills
which a little while ago, were infamous under
the title ofthe I" omnibus" With rare articulate
exceptions, this omnibus commended itself to
the support of no men in the South-certainly
of few men born here, bred in the ways and
habits of the South, and identified from early
life with itsinsiitutions. The thing was secuted
Legislatures condemned it and threatened re-
volt against it. In this State the popular voice
was nineteen out of twenty against it. De
feated in the Senate, it started in detail i'll the
House OF Representatives, and now we have q
meeting called in Mobile to approve--nay, re-
oice, and raise shouts in its favor. We cannot
see exactly into the deceney or reason of this.
Ii the thing was unjust and insulting in the one
shape, it has not been made less so by being put
in new one. In the first no man would have
had the hardihood in Mobile to propose meet
ING in its behalf; vet now men get up calls and
some Of the city officers hawk them around the
and not less odious form.
We began to think, as We have already stated,
that there are some tame elephants somewhere
about this matter, en,icing the unsuspecting
herds into hole Your genuine party leader is
an animal of this sort. Famishing for the savory
morses of office, and trained to deception, he
goes forth, and with false signs attracts hia fel-
lows until they are fairly entrapped, and then he
rcves in the rewards which his dupicity has se-
cured for him. To the fourfooted creature, it
is not wonderful that these articles not quite
plain, although we have no douit that even an
elephant could not be twice entced into such a
dilemma; but that men, who have reason and
independence--me who pride themselves on
their adherence OF bribe and freedom from the
control Of dcmagogisni,- be the victims
of such tricks is quite amazing, and would in
cliue one to tile opinion of Lord Monbodio, that
humanity once had tails as monkeys have; nay,
more, that these tails are not yet all quite worn
off by the progress Of civilization"