The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1856-09-03


age, and Young America rejects them altogether.
A LITERARY DUEI-WEBB AND THE BRooKsEs
IN ARMs.-Our Wall street magnates, the Brookses
and Chevalier Webb, are carrying on terrible
war about the funniest thing in the world-their
own private characters. For some time past the
Chevaliers Brooks have been slandering and
abusing Colonel and Mrs. Fremont and in return
the Chevalier Webb has been amusing the leisure
hours which even great man must have, by
pitching into Mr.. Fillmore and his friends. This
agreeable exercise was carried on for some time;
but the Brookses being the younger blackguards
of the trio, soon ran ahead Of the HISTORIAN Che
Waller. Whereupon Webb gets out of temper.
He sits down and gives the Brookses one of his
little column sermons-one Of those pleasant
homilies which merchants go to sleep upon these
long summer afternoons. The Chevalier Webb
sends whole Chesterfield charge into the Brooks
camp. They are, he says, engaged in a crusade
against decency," and are manufacturers Of
sanders;' furthermore they are scurrilous,'
Z" born without the instincts Of refinement no
gentlemen" authors and fomenters Of all the
discord which deranges and DISCREPANCIES society,""
they have told deliberate falsehoods, and cir
culated infamous SANDERS they have the 'fend
ish malevolence Of vulgar minds;' they are
reckless fools''-in fact, the conviction is ire
sistible that, according to Chevaler Webb's idea,
the Chevalers Brooks are as bad as Dogberry's
prisoners
Marry sir, they have committed false report;
over they have spoken untruths secondariy, they
slanderers sixth and lastly, they have beied lady
thirdly, they have verified unjust things and 10
clude they are lying knaves
And Chevalier Webb finally winds up in the
Old Bailey style, with God have mercy on
all such !" Whereupon the gallant Chevaliers of
the Express do charge violently upon cieqr nous
quetaire of the Courier. The Brookses say first,
that Webb is "disagreeable subject that he
is an Ass in lions skim rascal who
ought to be dashed naked through the world
Sir Bobabil;' beggar on horseback"
that he has brazen 'front.' that it isn't worth
while calling him liar because /" that hand has
been burned in and dashed in publicly and pri-
vately;" that be carries the mark of Cain on his
brow: that he is general or colonel Of some ir-
regular army, nobody knows where;' that he
was publicly logged in Wall street for pryng
into the bedroom of a married lady in the alb
sence Of her husband;' that he {" sold himself for
ffty-two thousand dollars" that the " finger of
scorn" is pointed at him all along the path
way of life;'' that he wantonly dragged before
the world the private correspondence Of lady"
and sent one broken heart to an early grave
that he was the cause of the murder of Cilley;'
alder and abettor Of mob that drove Mrs.
Wood from the stage Of the Park THEATRE thai
he is a bully" a "blusterer," - convicted
felon,' and that if he is gentleman, 1.-The sooner
the reign of the DULLES and blackguards driven
from California by the Vigilance Committee be-
gins here, the better for private decency and pub
lie morals"
That's fine reading for cool September morn
ing and Wall street must be much edited by the
very pretty quarrel between these chevalers,
who have left the candidates TO abuse each other.
Such controversies always end in that way. The
grand secret of this row seems to be difference
OF opinion as to what constitutes gentle
man. The Chevaler Webb says that he is
gentleman by birth, and that the Che
walters Brooks are no gentlemen. Thereupon
the Brookses say Webb is "no sort Of gentle
man." and thus the thing comes to dead lock.
There's been good deal of dispute Of late on
this very quesion--what constitutes gentleman?
1t was the grand turning point in the Burlingame
affair, and il seems as much a vexed question as
the theory Of perpetual motion or the squaring
of the circle. The next Scientific Convention
ought to offer a premium for its settlement
Meanwhile, it is to be ardently hoped, by all par
ties, that the chevaliers in Wall street will 30 on
abusing each other as violently as possible until
after election. This exercise will, by employing
all their faculties, prevent them from injuring
the cause they profess to defend, and afford an
agreeable entertainment for the lovers Of light,
spicy literature.
FRENoNT's BANKING OPERATIoNs.-For some