The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-11-18
Mr.. Phillips Lecture.

Wednesday evening. ms ORATOR has uoue
GOOD service in the cause of humanity, and |
manufactured some thunderbolts in his forge |
which he has sent red-hot through the world.
In early life he developed q great penchant
for criticising events as they passed, and che
habit became so embedded in his nature that |
It sometimes shows itself when not needed,
and occasionally when he does not intend 70
play the part of a critic. In his lecture "eu-
nesday evening he began by saying the ei.a'
political struggle was over, ana az p~'
were advised to join hands anu iea' y
struggle for great nationsii'y-'n esa
desideratum of the present moment ne uiu
not stand ON that platform as an a0olitionist
No. a. critic for which he believed his audi
onoa ,,onla he thankful. God would now |
49, oaro If the negro, and the election had |
5000 and Abraham Lincoln was elected as
.ho ranresentative Of American ideas. Oar
dptv now was to educate the South and give |
them a strong taste of New England civiiza- |
tion. man divided between passions must |
be necessarily weak. Even Webster's great
ship had founderedon the rocks, and Stewards
dory was bottom up. Here was touch OF
his sarcasm which always produces laugh
ter. 4-t.a5 sf-s
Mr.. Lincoln was an honest man, but then
he was politician, and here was a touch of
his criticism which he could not forget, for he
has acquired strong passion to pounce upon
Old Abe. He acknowledged that Mr.. In
coin was a true exponent of the sentiments
and feelings of the people, but Phillips is new
er satisfied with such a representative; for
the people are never fast enough for him.
Like Lamenais he always carries repeater
in his head which is constantly striking the
hour. With him the present moment is every
thing, and he always forgets that Gods time
is not measured by the changes of the moon,
the ebb and flow of the tides, or the ticking
of the best chronometer ever constructed by
human skill and ingenuity. He is never ready
to accept the logic Of events, nor even wait
moment for them. He seems to be afraid
they viii overtake him and he become SO mix
ed up with them as to lose his individuality,
and nothing would give him SO much trouble
as the loss of that. Mr.. Phillips makes a
good pioneer Into the forests, but he never
stops long enough to clear up farm. Thai
is left for others. The peculiarities of bis
mind often remind us of the story Of
the little boy who was crying and sobbing
very much to the discomfort of bis kind
hearted mother. sWhat's the matter, Johnny
Does he want some Gingerbread" mo,
won't have gingerbread" replied the crying
urchin. swell, what will little sonny have 2
tenderly asked the mother. ~ want piece
of picked elephant" he replied. "Johnry
shall have some if he will be good boy. 81
won't have a piece of picked elephant
"Well, then, what does my darling want Pr
want whole picked elephant" blubbered
outthe boy.
Such is the disposition of Mr.. Phillips. lie
Ia neuar aA4i-n--ay-A-s WHO'S picked
elephant. No matter what events may oc-
cur, he rises above and scars beyond them,
still carefully preserving his individuality,
and shooting what he processes to believe is
folly
So much for some of his peculiar charac-
teristics. In this lecture he uttered son
brilliant and patriotic thoughts. He euloglz-
ed Grant, Sheridan and Sherman, and said the
rebellion must yield before such noble officers.
Since our armies were rid of that nightmare
Mcclellan as he styled Little Mac, they had
gone On conquering and to conquer. But we
were sorry that he took pains to travel out OF
his way to strike at such men as John Bright
Richard Golden, Count Gasparin, Laboulaye,
Henri Martin and others who take such n
deep interest in our Republic in this hour OF
her peril. We did not like the curling of his
upper lip nor the tones of his voice when he
asked why these gentlemen should write and
send letters to us telling US we ought to vote
for Mr.. Lincoln! What do they know about
our political status? Why didn't they send
such missiles to the governments of the Old
World instead OF sending them across the
waters to US? He said they would never
have written thus to Americans il our nation
atty had not been greatly weakened. We irf4
ferred from his remarks-and we think the in
ference just one-that these liberal spirits
OF Europe were meddling with that which
is none of their business.
We beg leave 70 differ from this fiippant
orator. Why should they send such letters TO
European governments, not one4of which is
struggling for democratic principles, but, on
the contrary, for that aristocracy which ig-
nores the rights Of the people-stamps under
its iron heel popular sovereignty Ours is
the only government that is contending for
democratic principles and popular sovereign
ty-the same doctrines these European Re-
publicans are struggling for. Then why such
asneer at them? They not know our polit-
icai statusl Mr.. Phillips knows as well as we
do that Bright, Golden, Gasparin and others
are well informed in. relation to all our move
ments, and we thiuk they can judge of our at
fairs from their standpoint quite as well as
Mr.. Phillips can from his, and we venture the
opinion that their minds are not SO much
clouded with prejudces as his is, and not SO
prone to ind fault with aud pull down the
pillars of every temple not erected by their
own hands. The truth is, Mr.. Phillips is
more powerful In pulling down than he is in
bull ling up. He can never stay long enough
in a place to erect a temple. his temples are
too much like castles in the air. Sometimes
be may lay good foundation, but the stones
he will suddenly change, and fly to another
site.
Mr.. Phillips too often forgets the maxim,
nc fdcto jus oritur-The law arises out of
she fact. He will not receive events as
tney pass, even if they favor his notions of to-
uay-tomorrow he will sigh for and prophesy
o.ner events. He overlooks the present, or
gives II out a hasty glance and then scars
away into the future or among the Clouds
nu' alDer an' ME-. Phillips has the power
to interest an audience. He amuses,, and OF
tentimes instructs, and sometimes confuses
his hearers. He is not always satisfied with |
his own positions, but often so qualities or
modides them that he is in quite as much |
doubt In relation TO their soundness GA a..