The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-10-07

opponents. Without such enmity they could
not count upon popular support; with it they
were doubly armed in defence of the institu-
tions Of the country. by uniting to the inherent
strength of their positions that public sympathy
which is never withheld from those who do their
whole duty. Whatever may be said, genuine
testimonials Of approval are not awarded to
men like medals at q cattle show, nor do they
fall upon them spontaneously, like degrees
from Yale or Oxford. They must be tried
Real distinction has a slower but more sub
stantial growth, a broader and higher aim,
more genial and intelligent Office Ephemeral
reputation occupies an uneasy seat-it too
often consumes the food which had been re-
jected by men of larger capacity and more sub
stantal fame. Nature at least is con 1istent in
the application of her laws.
What General Pierce required was to under
stand and execute the judgment pronounced by
the people in the election of 1852. Like his
distinguished predecessors he too required OPP
ponents and, like them, he should have chosen
such opponents from the ranks of those who
had arrayed themselves against the Union,
More than ever was this apparent for the wing
party was, by the very act of his election, dis
banded and lost; thus, retaining his hold upon
the popular. sentiment that elected him, by
faithfully executing its will, he required the
assaults of free sellers and abolitionists in Or
der to prove the integrity of his purposes and
his fidelity to the constitution. II he has made
any mistake it has been in regard to men.
He has given individuals too much weight,
and not enough to the cause entrusted to his
keeping. The day of individual control has
gone by. The public judgment has. become
critical; men are measured by what they do
and say and not by what others do and say
for them. Great reputation is not made in a
day any more than great trees and mountains.
This General Pierce should remember in con-
nection with his Cabinet, which is so constituted
as to excite popular distrust without in any
sense, generating public confidence Its men,
bers entertain opinions at variance with those of
the President and the country. They were drawn
together as coalition, with vain hope of
uniting those extremes of public sentiment
which are tolerable only when separated. They
have given caste of management to the ad-
ministration which must be fatal to its useful
ness and to its strength. They have degraded
the government to the level Of their own petty
schemes Of political barter, and unless arrest
ed in their course will inevitably sink the Pre-
sident to the standard Of their own character
and practices.
The remedy for all this is obvious and sim
pie. The cause of the country, the character
OF the President, his hopes of usefulness, point
him to the dissolution of the Cabinet The
examples of Jefferson and Jackson are before
him their fame, their fidelity to the constitu-
ton, their utter rejection of it's enemies, their
warm embrace of its friends, his own hopes of
success, his patriotism and sense Of justice-all
point him to the dismissal of those advisers
who have sown in his administration the seed
Of its fall. The organization of the Cabinet
was an experiment it has been failure.
General Pierce owes it to himself and to the
country to correct the error he has made, and
that promptly. A time is approaching for
test. That test could be avoided by the imme-
date dismissal Of the "spoils Cabinet"