The Portland daily press., 1865-03-09
Mrs. Grundy's Nerves Terribly Shocked.

Mrs. Grundy's Nerves Terribly Shocked.
Times are sadly out of Joint. No respect
is shown for the feelings of the "ruling ciaSs-
es.. A greasy mechanic" comes up anu Jol's
an LII. D. from his pedestal, OF one OIL tue
common peoplepiis found proiamng tue az
mosphere Of the Senate Chamber, IL the pres
;ence of refinement and riches, of education
and eloouence. Of aristocracy and arrogance, OF
starch and craftsmanship, and red tape is cut
with a tailor's shears, and propriety has lis
white kids soied by contact with the digits of
a hard working backwoodsnan. saiih GA /
The war has, indeed. made sad havoc among
stately proprieties generated in the .attnos-
phere of the slaye-peh, in the observance of
which plebeian has been expected to stand,
hat in hand, before patrician, while the latter
held his nose lest his oifactories should be ir-
ritated by the odor Of perspiration caused by
honest industry. "Mudsills" have been
thrown up by the fortunes Of war as the gran
itic formations Of the solid earth are npheaved
by the agency of central fires, and the light
FANCY framework of conventional respectable
: ity Is trampled in the mud as an excited Paris
ian mob sometimes trsmples under foot the
trappings Of royalty. ms1i 8.baai SsA
The first great shock Of this kind given 10
the sruling classes'-those born all eboote
and spurred" to ride the people--was in 1860,
when national convention took it into its
uncultivated head to nominate for the highest
Office in the gift of free people, plain, un-
couth, ungainly rail splitter; and fol, the next
highest place common demo cratic "dovn
easter" who is never particular in tying his
crav@t, or in tho number and width of the
plaits in his shirt bosom,
2 Mrs. Grundy was thrown compile telv out of
equilibrium, and, holding up her bejeweled
hands, exclaimed, so Lordy! what are we
coming to!" From the tone of rae, old iady's
friends one might have inferred that the Presi-
dental office was disgraced, that its dignity
and honor had been destroyed, and that for
all time to come no diguifed. seli-conscious
great man, such as had filed Offices under Bu-
chanan and Pierce, would ever consent to
stoor so low as to occupy the Presidential
seat. - $500
But four years have rolled past, with their
! smoke and conflict, their upheavals and over.
throws, and the nation had become measura-
bly, accustomed to the rough, unpublished H.
nois raiEsplitter, when. q new aud terribly Sc.
we're shock was given to poor Mrs. Grandy's
shattered nerves. Not only q raiI-spiitter has
been rsinstalled IN power, but an East Ten
.nessee tailor is inaugurated as the presiding
officer of the Senate. Aud, mirdbtIe dictu,
both of these uncultiyated bocrs have outrag-1
ed all rules OF propriety, and infected the at
mosphere of the national capitol with their
vulgar coarseness. Why, Mr.. Lincoln deliy-
cred an Inaugural that was only nalfa column
long. And not only this, but he said to the
people, in this Inaugural, that "tittle that is
new could be presented" and that al! that was
of Importance was "as we'll known to the pub
lie as.to" himself. This, thinks the lavender
gloved, diamond bedazzled editor Of the Bos-
ton Courier. must produce "intense mortifca-
ton" in the American people. sit is certain
ly not the style,n says this high-born editor,
"of address, on such an occasion, becoming
Chief Magistrate, or which would have been
adopted by person with any definite idea Of
the claims or the duties OF Statesmauship."
What right have the people to know anything,
In the estimation Of high officer of the Gov
eminent? Hasn't 1t been common for Presi-
dents to think they knew everything had a
monopoly of wisdom? Is it not Notifying,
therefore, to have the President tell the read
ing people of the United States, that, on all
! important matterss suitable for public infor-
nation, they know as much as he does? This
IS shocking. The good old days have de-
parted, so that even in the estimation of the
highest officer of the Government the people
are intelligent, know something, are men and
not'mere beasts of burden, to bear upon their
strong backs the upper stoata of greatness,
composed OF the purse-proud, the aristocratic,
the men Of silk stockings, with high-sounding
cabalistic letters at the end Of their names.
But there is no end to Mrs. Grundy's
troubles. A boorish East Tennessean. one of
those low born, ignorant, cross-egged me-
chanics known as tailors, has been lifted into
the Vice Presidents chair! What an indignity
to greatness What an insult to tho ''rulng
classesP And then when he was Installed
into Office, instead of decoronsIy holding his
tongue, and becoming a mere ornaments
lay fgue-in the Senate chamber, before he
took the oath he outraged all the proprieties
by making I've minutes speech, in which
the boor was visible in every sentence. Even
Mr.. Sumner is said to have been Shocked
! Why should an ignorant mechanic from the
mountains of East Tennessee, presume to
open his mouth in the midst Of classic refine
menti adtt
And then Mr.. Vice President johnson went
SO far as to acknowledge his dependence upon
the people. He said the people were sovereign;
the source OF all political power. He even re-
minded the highest judicial aud executive
functionaries, that their power came from and
rested upon the people; that the great ele-
ment OF vitality in the government was its
proximity to the people; that it was the popu-
lar neart OF this nation that was beating to
sustain cabinet officials and the President of
the United States. He even acknowledged
before the representatives of Eastern mon
archies, that he was a plebeian, and he thanked
God for it. he thanked God that the strange
Times upon which we have fallen call all con-
oitons to the support the Government, and
ne pledged himself to be true to the people.
why neeo the Vice President say this p
why not keep The mechanics brown face and
hard hands out of sight, aud exhibit only the
powdered wig and the white kidsp wby NOT
defer to the aristocranc notions Of thoso
foreign ministers, who cluster about wash
ington as thick as moths around a lighted
candle? ~ aAa
one ofthe Mrs. Grundys in this city says,
"Ine speech was vulgar and staggering to
the last degree, and impudent to the other
Official personages neutrality-suspicious. in
that it reminded them Of their relations to the
peopleI This from paper that less than a
week since was on its knees before the la
borers' Association" trying to worm itselfinto