New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-08-07
. QUESTION OF COURAGE.

a QUESTION OF COURAGE.
Mr. Brecknridge has Lately made feeble at
tempt to maintain the ancient renown OF the
Saveholdng section for bullying and broSbeaJ-
ing: and, considering the unflvorable circlm.
stances by which he was surrounded, he has
shown that the ancient prestige has not altogether
departed from tbs men of his class. The bully
is never in his element unless he has, or thinks
he has. majority or a strong force of symPa-
thzers among the bystanjers. 1t was the con-
scousness of strong support, for instance which
gave peculiar JUNCTION TO the oratory OF Bark.-
dale. when he interrupted LOyejoy Niththe pleasant
remark: Order that black hearted scouudrel and
L" nigger-stealing thief TO take his seat And
we al know what precautions Mr. Preston ).
Brooks took previous "a his assault upon hr
Sumner: or. If anybody forget. The particulars Of
that brilliant exploit we recommend hlu % cor
suit the record; he viii ind il quite hapdbooklor
rufan.beaiuners The Kentucky Senator con-
siderine thc fact that his sia, yhOdug cronie.
hal nearly al fa ,be senate, aad ,hat ICE "ts
thereby deprived OF tLat moral support which
arises Gom the CONSEQUENCES OF tie prctcnce Of
allies and symplthzers. did very well. The rif-
cuhlstsnces of his late attempt u buls ing have
been given TO our Concre sional report but w.
briefly racapitulate them. On Thu DAY follow
ine up his programme o. auaig1ug and d,noUlc-
ing all the men in thc Executive aud Legislative
Departments, VINO have Thought :. patriotic duty
10 try to arrest the progress 0i .le Shareholders
rebellion, Mr. Breckinridge proceeded 10 discuss
after hs fashion, one Of the bills then before the
Senate. Mr.. Baker Of Oregon replied, and, ia
the course Of his remarks, asked these questions:
What would have beea thought 10 4Do.ser cs9i lad Ia
more martial sse f Senator asbmye suil't si eloquent
o. the seusioT from Kentucky, had risen u h place AID
declared that the advancing Hsnn5ai Iu' and right md
Carthage ough, to be dealt with terms Of peace Nha.
would have though b. AFTER the battle CT tauIac senator
had .en in Lis place denounced every e ID ~ Of troops
every expenditure Of treasure. aud every measure u soo
le,lions Of tie ca glory ''
To this Mr. Fessendcn, in his seat, replied,
L" He would have been bu.led from tAe Ialpeian
Rock" And Mr. Baker, accepting this answer
went on with bis comments upon the reasonable
speech Of tho Kentucky Senator. When be- had
got through Mr.. Breckiuridge replied, in polite
terms enough, 10 Mr.. Baker, but when he came
to Mr. Sumner, for whose voice he had mistaken
that OF Mr. Fessenden, he put on hs plantation
manners, and spoke in This style:
"sB seus'or hi. floor. whose ha' yet to he
tested ba. ld that in Rome would have been hurled rom The
Tsrprisn Rock" etc.
We have nothing to say about Mr. Summers
courage, or the tests to which il has been sub
iected; bat Mr.. Breckenridge. probably uncOn-
sciously, furnished to the Senate and the country
a test of his own courage in this episode of the
debate. The offensive comparison OF the disloyal
Kentuckian 10 a REASONABLE Senator OF Rome
was made by Mr.. Baker; aud upon him, if Mr..
Breckenridge had been a man Of courage, instead
Of bully, the retOrt would have been made.
But Senator Baker wears q sword, and per-
chance carries pistol, while Mr.. Sumner bears
neither We are not aware that the Massachu.
sets Senator has ever showed auy fear Of Mr.
Breckenridge and Mr.. breckenridge certainly
ran no risk from nOn-c0mbaIant Senator when
he made his insOlent allusOn. We shall have to
seek further for evidence of the courage which
the Kentuckian impedly claims for himself when
he sneeriDgy denies il to others.
There is a newspaper in Kentucky called Tie
Paducah Herald, which is an honest and out
spoken Secession sheet. We make the follow
ing extract from recent copy OF that paper:
"Let Us make the tight for the Legislature Let Il be doae
upon the ar issue Secession or 10 sseeiono Fenin Win
tho Abolition North join the Souih-,o remain slsy, state
or Abolish Slavery be honest We oil mean Seces'ion
Magofin IT, Beckugidge means IT, Powell means IT,
Burnett H. We all mean H. Then why not 'ay 50, and
out and advocate It openly and hene .ty.'
Now Tie Padacoh HcraH may be mistaken ne
to the intentions OF Nlagolin, Breckenridge
Powell Burnett and "all the rest. We can
only take its evidence as corroboraiiye OF other
evidence in the case. II Mr.. Brcchiuridgc, a
southern man with Southern feelings, disposed
to compromiso but determined to sustain ihe.I
GOyernmen. IA ia efforts to sustain i.seiL had
voted AID spoaea ~ the protested loyal aad