Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1859-04-06

Of our editors, as have been At loss how To
dispose Of the worn-out habiliments Of 9
sage Of Ashland and the Hero Of the her
mitage. and We. therefore. have given over
all attempts to rig Mr.. Buchanan in the
waistcoat Of Old Hickory, or envelop Gov
srnor Seward in the pants Of Harry Of the
West. We confess We are satisfied with such
men as Cass and Buchanan, Sew rd and
Crittenden in their habits - they live. and
have no fault to fad be .uss they display
in their respective positions individual
characteristics different from those of great
party leaders in days gone by. Neither
Mr, Prentice nor any other man, who in-
dulges In his strain Of lsmentation, car
make anything by comparison between
the condition of the country and the char
acter ofthe ststssmsn sixty years ego. with
ne state Of the Union and the standing Of
our public men to day. 'Tis true We have
no man who fills the same position - did
Jefferson At the beginning Of the present
century; true that We have no Hamilton,
driven into private life by the people who
are the subject of Prentice's warmest eulc-
gies, hut the grave has hardly closed over
author of the Kotzss letter, and be who
vsnquished the diplomatists of Europe, who
formed the Quintuple alliance. still lives IN
active laborsr in the administration Of our
government. True. We have lost Jeffer-
son-England has lost Chstham-Frsncs
Richelieu-but what folly is it to prophe-
sy the ruin of great nation, because the
order Of nature removes . great man. Yet
such is Mr.. Prentice's argument.
Let him compare the loyalty to the
Union (the decline of which he processes to
deplore) exhibited during the war of 1912
with the fidelity to the Union. displayed at
the present day. and when he has sated his
desire for the horrible with the ruin his
imagination portrsys, the Hartford Conven-
ton with its troops of traitors might disturb
his pleasant fancies, and prove that the last
forty years have seen some increase Of de-.
votion to the Union. When he has wept
sufficiently over the PROSTATE Sumner,
stricken down in the Senate by the ruffisn
Brooks. let him recall the golden days Of
the Republic when Lyon and Griswold on
the floor of Congress banded the lie, and
hurled canes and spitboxes at each others
heaaA Why should he speak Of the pres
ent attitude Of South Carolina towards the
Union, when he knows that the Palmetto
State never was in open rebellion against
the Federal government, save in the days Of
Jackson, whose death he regrets a. the har-
binger of the countrys doom But enough !;
it were useless to pursue the subject fur
ther
When one assumes to speak Of the degen-
eracy of others, the corruption of politicians,
and the decline of nstional morals. it is on
ly right to expect that the orator shall be
free from the vices and infrnities he con-
demns. And yet hardly year has elapsed
since in the streets Of Louisville, Prentice at
tempted to assassinate brother editor, who
had worsted him in newspaper encounter.
If he relies for his country's safety upon the
rising generation, how commendable was
the example he set them. Again, he sighs
over our loss Of statesmen, and deplores the
fate which commits our destiny to the
hands of "amateur politician" shall
we say Of his sincerity when he attempts to
elevate that financial cyclops George Law
to the chair of the immortal Washington