Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-09-21
CARL sHURz AND THE COURIER

There never was, and probably never will
be, among the political journals of this coun-
try, a more INSCRIPTIONS libeler than the
Boston Courier. The Detroit Free Press may
be as false in Its diatrbes against political op-
ponents; the New York Express may be more
interchangeable and devilish in meanness and
the Washington Constitution may have as
much unblushing audacity; but, taken as a
whole, the Courier has few if any equals.
The conductors of the Courier profess to be
gentlemen, but those who know them only as
political editors would never suspect it. They
make pretension to superior intellectual accom-
plishments and liberal culture, claim which is
very poorly supported by what we see of them,
in their treatment of political opponents
These remarks are provoked by the Courier's
treatment of Carl Shurz. An editorial article
which appeared in that sheet, yesterday, re-
wiling and classifying this eloquent, accomplish
ed, and most honorable gentleman, would be
disgraceful to the coarsest and meanest crea-
ture that ever crawled into notice as political
partizan. After deliberately and most foully
libeling Carl Shuz by describing him as a
peripetetic reviler "of whatever is honorable in
principle and character in this country" the
Courier adopts scoundrelly Justification of
the Harrisburg State Sentinel and the New
York Express, and declares to its readers that
he actually spoke his own sentiments as fol-
lows, in the speech which he delivered at
Springfield in this state last January =
t6Tbara ie vOur naolora+iOn of
ence," said he, ga diplomatic dodge, adopted
merely for the purpose of excusing the rebel
lious colonies in the eyes of civilized mankind
There is your Declaration of independence,
no longer the sacred code of the rights of man,
but hypocritical piece of special pleading,
drawn up by batch of artful petttoggers,
who, when speaking of the krights of man,
meant but the privileges of set of aristocratic
shareholders, but styled it the righte of man,
in order to throw dust in the eyes of the
world, and to inveigle noble-hearted fools into
lending them aid and assistance (SApplause)
These are your boosted revolutionary sires, no
longer heroes and sages, but accomplished
humbuggers and hypocrites who said one
thing and meant another who passed coun-
terfeit sentiments as genuine, and obtained
arms and money and assistance and sympathy
on false pretenses There is your great
American Revolution, no longer the great
champion of universal principles, but mean
Yankee trick-(burs OF applause and laugh
terra wooden nutmeg-the most impudent
imposition ever practiced upon the whole
world (Applause.)
And the Courier, having given its readers
this as an honest quotation from Carl Shurz's
speech, and an utterance of what he himself
actually thinks of the Declaration of indie
pendence, proceeds to annihiIate him in this
style
"a fellow who had dared to utter such stuff
as this in the presence of the men whose great
memory he insults, wonld have found every
one of them emulous who should get at him
first to kick him out of doors, and if he es-
capped then a final doom so justly his due, a
short shrift would have awaited him, had he
dared to appear among them again"
Now all this, on the part of the Courier and
its helpers, is unmitigated scoundIelism,-and
none the less so for being done against polit-
ical opponent. In the speech from which
these most dishonorable falsifiers quote that
paragraph, he uttered splendid eulogy of the
Declaration of Independence, and sought to
vindicate it from an aspersion of Senator
Douglas Douglas, in a speech delivered at
Springfield, ILL.,, in 1857, had said that the
signers OF the Declaration, "when they de-
clared all men to have been created equal, -
referred only to white men, and "were speak
ing of British subjects on this continent, as
being equal to British subjects born and resid-
ing in Great Britain = and he added that ''the
Declaration of Independence was adopted
merely for the purpose of justifying the colo
Al. ofx tI,o,
is to say, it was merely good stroke of poll
cy. Carl Shurz criticized this view of the
matter in most admirable style. In the course
OF this criticism, he insisted that the theory o.
Mr.. Douglas would require new reading o.
history and he spoke with great effect the
passage which his libelers foully represent
as an utterance Of his own sentiments. The
next sentence following the paragraph which
they quote so dishonesty, reads thus :-"Thi.
is the way Mr.. Douglas wants you to read ant
to understand the proudest pages of American
history"
We give some space to this matter, not only
to defend the reputation of an accomplished
and honorable man, but also to show our read
ers what can be done and undertaken agains
political opponents by the gentlemen of tn
Courier They think that Carl Shurz sis
proper companion enough for the class OF mel
who nominated those candidates at Chicago );
and we think so too. In learning, mental &C
complishments, noble culture, eloquence, gen
erous manhood, and lofty aims, he is the pee
of the best man the editors of the Courie eve
knew, or ever hoped to know.