Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-10-23
Pen Pictures of Mason and slIdsIl by
F0rney.

FOrney.
He says: -...r
have frequently referred to Mason. A
! more arrogant, offensive dictatorial dema-
| gogue never lived. AS ostentatious aud as
stately as Dombey he may, nevertheless be
called the Pumblechook of the Secession con-
| spracy. Vain of his mediocrity, which he
mistakes for craftsmanship, he canInot see
that he is laughed at by his associates and
despised by every decent man. His arro-
gance would be insufferable If IL were not
ridiculous; and all that fondness for aristo-
cratic examples and opinions, which other
men would rather conceal, he takes pleasure
in displaying on evevy occasion What, then,
induced the so. called President Davis to send
this wretched quack TO England2 The an
swer is, because he is the slave of slavery
the worshiper of England, and the remorse-
less'enemy of every thing like rational liberty.
If he disgusts our English enemies by his
conceit and bluster, they will receive him
with open arms on account of his undying
hatred of all.republican doctrines.
John Slidell is man of another tempera-
ment. His first quality is a dogged OBJ
stinacy in pursuing whatever he undertakes,
without hesitation, to the bitter end. By
birth Northern man, he has for long time
been fastening on the Southern rebellion.
His ambition is unbounded, and among his
dreams for more than twenty years has been
the idea that he might one day be the head
of a great pro-slavery Government. His
abilities are Of higher order than Mason,s.
Not much of q speaker, his strength lies in
the skill with which he digests, and the reso-
luton with which he presses forward his
plans. Married to French lady, he talks
French like native. His tastes are refined,
and his habits of life luxurious and expensive.
Like Mason, he has deep seated horror of
the cdnditle and mud .sills'' of society. He is
a travelled as we'll as an educated man, and
when he reaches, if ever he does reach, Paris,
he will at once throw himself into a sea of
intrigues, and toll with unceasing vigilance
to carry out the instructions of Davis 1t has
been his study for years to establish intimate
relations with foreign ministers at Washing
ton, aud he will use the advantage thus ac-
quired with considerable effect.
One of his nearest friends in Paris is the
celebrated Frank z. Corbin, also a man of
affluence, by birth an American, who only
escaped the clutches of the United States
Marshals about two moRths ago, by fleeing
into Canada. The proofs of his completely
with the Southern treason are SO clear, that
if he can Join Slidell in the French capital
he will be enabled to render him much as
sistance. The connection of Slidell with
moneyed men in Europe was undoubtedly
one of bis chief merits in the eyes of Jetfer-
son Davis. If the Rothchilds and Barings
the Southern Confederacy they would be
most efficient allies of the new French min
ister.
Slidell has, for more than thirty years,
been the intimate friend of James Buchanan.
They had few secrets that were not secrets
in common. Both Of them crafty to de-
gree, and nearly of the same age, Slidell was
the most determined, and, therefore, the
ruling spirit. Fully apprecisting the cum
ming and heartlessness of Buchanan, he
knew also, that he was a timid man, who
could be controlled by strong intellect, and
hence he rendered him considerable aid in
reaching the Presidency, and all this, un-
doubtedly, in the hope of being able to use
the General Administration. 1t was Slidell
| that forced Buchanan to abandon his con-
servative and Just ground on the Kansas
question-Slidell that insisted upon making
the Lecompton Constitution test--Sidell
that led in the war upon Douglas, and coun-
seled the measures which ended in the de-
struction of the Democratic party at Charles
ton and Baltimore-and when, finally, the
direful harvest of Secession was about to be
reaped, the poor old man recoiled from the
precipice to which he had been dragged by
this reckless leader. In the last hours of his
Administration, when he refused TO obey
the commands of his evil genius, Slidell
turned upon him with contempt, and left
him with every expression of'detestation and
scorn. His influence over Benjamin was al
ways great. Doubtless their business rela
tions were peculiar, but the gifted little
Hebrew was not match for the iron will
and uDslaked perseverance of his colleague
in the Senate. How he and Jefferson Davis
have contrived not to disagree is part of the
secret of the oligarchy that remains to bt
| disclosed