The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-03-11
The Ottomites In New Yoxk-A Prayer for
the Pacha.

been literally killed with kindness They have |
been Toasted and dined and lunched and
sandwiched and wined and sleigh ridden to
death. Although they are men who |
have seen The world, and who are &C
cub.omed to strange sights and sounds, it may |
safely he presumed that they have been slightly
astonished at the manner in which they have !
been received ut the second commercial city in |
the world. To them has been presented spec
tacle which could not be paralleled in France,
England or any other civilized nation upon the |
face of the globe. They see q great and pros
porous nation. distinguished above all others Tor
the rapidity Of its growth, the enlightenment, |
Intelligence and freedom of its people, its big |
ships and long railroads. its great public works |
and ma nifcent private enterprises. But in con-
tradisinction 10 all this glory, prosperity, hap
pines AID general Hail Columbia totality, our
Ottomite guests have been brought in close con-
tact with our official sumpeers, In the shape of
a committee of the Common Council of New
York. Amore unfortunate contraemps cannot
be imagined. AS rule, the people about our
City Hall are men without education, breeding,
ASulSuSAi Va AtSAASSASS ihSA "AV WV shSAA
positions to grog shop and shoulder hitting in
huence. Thus we find the officials having the
Ottomites in charge violating the ordinary
rules of good breeding at every STEP forcing
upon the city's guests the rudest attempts at
hospitality, and trot!ing them about to be
stared at as if they were menagerie Of wild
animals, with ten tails each, instead Of being
whose perfect breeding would put the best
society Of our city to the blush. They stand
upon an equality with their civic hosts, and
therefore cannot give vent to their amusement
al the singular scenes in which they are forced
to act; but nothing short of that adamantine
gravity SO peculiar TO the higher class Of Orieu-
tai gentlemen could Withstand the temptation
to laugh at the ga,cheries of our honorable and
very dignifed City Fathers.
Our Ottoman guests thus have q reversed
picture presented to them In their own coun-
try, as well as ON the Continent, the govern
ment is in the hands of men who are out
wardly we'll bred. They dispense hospitality
quietly anG literally. Their idea of "ban-
quet' is not confined to ''four black bottles of
spirits,"a pyramid of sandwiches, (Shade Of
the Propbot-pork for an Efendi) and few
pounds OF buiscuit. They know how 10 be
courteous to person OF rank and position,
without boring him to death. The vulgarity is
among the people. Our rulers, however, are a
miserable set Of fellows, who rarely have an
idea, and never know how to put it in proper
shape Many of them are taken from the scum
Of the city, and there have been some civic dig
nitaries who belonged more properly TO the State
prison than TO the City Hall Several of the AL
dermen can hardly write intelligibly, and very
few members Of either branch of the Common
Council have the faintest idea of the rules of good
breeding generally accepted and acted upon in
the daily intercourse Of gentlemen. The Off
cials here are the ulgarians-the people occupy
the social position OF European rulers. The
contrast between our officials and those of the
Sublime Porte arouses at once our national per-
ception Of the ludicrous, and inhicts a severe
wound to our national pride. The Ottolnlt.,
have been bored with Aldermen, pestered by
Councilinen, circumvallated by the hangers-ou
Of the Corporation, until they must have been
fairly disguised with the we'll intentioned but
absurd attempts at politeness which have been
thrust upon them. The only American gentle
men occupying official positions that the
Admiral has met are the officers of the army
and navy, who have been forced into the back.
City Hall. All the Admira's prc.conceivcd
ideas Of the dignities of Office have been upset
and, though nominally ashore, he IL really all
al sea
But cur guests will find before they leave
that the real leaders of this people are not in
Office. They will find great minds among the
masses-the professional men, the merchants,
the inventors, The mechanics, the manufacturers
and The great agriculturisis. 1, is in the hands
Of these men of the people that the real destiny
Of the nation is placed; il is from them that
strangers must ascertain the power of the re-
public and the secret of its glory. They must
not judge of our people from the laundering
stupidity and bad manners of a New York Com
mon Councilman. Neither can they take q
member OF Congress for an example They
will find the same low, stupid fellows at Wash
ington-fclows who spend their days in grog
shops. their nighis in gambling houses-fellows
who put their feet on their desks, exude oceans
OF tobacco juice upon the federal carpets, wear
black dress coats in the morning, and who
generally are guilty Of the most outrageous
offences against the most ordinary rules Of
etiquette. In Europe, the best men are
in onice-here we take the worst The fact
is that the only mainstay of our government is
in the inherent respect Of the masses of the
people for what Goblet calls the constable's
ataG We are intelligent enough to understand
stituted opponents.
IL may he asked, after all, what Is the occa.
zion of this tremendous and overpowering dis
play or attention and affection TO the Ottoman