New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-03-10
a DEAD DUCK.

h33584s "a DEfA4 2QtxA.-
H 4 Give it 10 Forneyln said an enthusiastic indi
viausl in the crowd of people whom the President
was addressing on the 22d Of February give i
i to F6fney! ~ The President had already given
litn to Sumner, Stevens and Wendell Phillips; but
: as he had not yet reached the limit Of his gene
rosity, he concluded that Forney should have
some Of it too 6 gentleman in the audience y
said tile President, asks me to give it to Forney
In reply to that have only to say that do not
a. waste my ammunition upon dead ducks Thus
under pretense of not giving it to Forney, he did
give il to him, it seems to as, with bounteous
Iprofuseness, not to be measured by the lumber OF
: words employed, but by their meaning and
effect. t.gsA 7sk 5{s .lsg5
I This degree Of D. D. or Dead Duck, which has
y been conferred by the Presidential college upon
Mr.. Forney, is not, some have argued with con.
siderable force, cGaard. He was not making
game of Forney by calling him dead duck We
4 doubt whether he even intended to accuse him of
belngla quack. The most reasonable explanation
of mis- meaning is that he intended to convey the
idea that Forney, during his lifetime, had been
politically amphibious, padding about over the
muddy waters OF radicalism, or waddling around
| on the dry land OF conservatism, wherever there
Was the best chance Of picking up the crumbs, or
dabbling in the Stops, Of office. And that now,
since Forney, over estimatng his importance, and
not keeping the vigilant eye upon the sneepings
of the official table that he had always done
heretofore, had placed himself upon the political
mortuary list, It was not necessary to throw away
ammunition BY killing him again. The President |
is no Falstaffs to flesh his sword in an inanimate
body.
The political and personal career OF the duck
i whose decease the President has recorded, and
| whose obituary we are now writing, is not very
remarkable, nor distinguished for any special cir
cu1stance except the close fidelity with which he
has always attended to his own interests, and the
! admirable manner in which he has always IookedI
out for No. I, no matter under what combination
Of political circumstances. Pennsylvania being a
Democratic State when Forney first conceived the
idea that he was great man and worthy of no.
litical hoRors, he very naturally became Demo-
crat. No man excelled him in virulence of abuse
of Abotionists and Black Republicans In the
paper whichhe edited in PhiladeIphia, and in the
stump speeches which he made, he denounced
everybody except Democrats, just as he now
denoulces Democrats, as traitors to the country
and more ct for the gallows than any other fate.
BY his glowing zeal for his party, and BY clinpinp
to the coat tails of Mr.. Buchanan he managed tnil
secure the clerkship Of the House of Representa-.
tivesIat Washington. Certain irregular transac
lions with regard to bill in his possession as
clerk, caused him to be suspected The explained
It away with such easy grace that the inyesti
CATION was stopped. Encouraged by his luck. he
next Tentured to aspire to represent Pennsylvania
n the United States Senate-but just as he had his
plans all fixed, Cameron stepped in, bought IN
two Of three Of his men by paying them higher
brides, and carried of the prize When Mr..
Buchanan became President Forney expected to :
be the power behind the throne the great dis. :
penser of Executive patronage, and heavy re-
,ipient thereof himself. But the old public func
.ionary by that time had become tired and dis
5usted with him, was satisfied of his selfishness
md duphcity, and ignominously kicked him, Gpu.
afyely speaking, out Of the White House. His | "
lex political venture was to attach himself to the
ortupes Of Douglass But when the sun Of Douglas Sc
rent down, and the Republican party came into 4
over, Forney could not stay out in the cold any :.
anger With convenient facility of principle.
e abandoned the Democratic party, carried him, III
elf over.bag and baggage to the Republicans. and
Or bis apostacy was rewarded with the secretary
hip Of the Senate, over an old assistant secre- 8
ary WhozhadF grown grey upon thirty five years
eryiee in the position. Since then Forney has
ad his hands full. Besides being Secretary oil
be Senate, he has been arunning y two news
apeFs, one in Washington and another in Phila
eipfa, regulating the general affairs Of the
ountry nstructing the President what he shall
., and keeping one eye at the same time upon St,
ePennsylyan Senatorship, and the other upon ~
y foreign mission that might happen to be ri.
cant. y
But President johnson seems to have had no
!. Al. n. |
was no doubt very kind in Forney to offer to
nduct the affairs Of the country and dictate the
hey Of the government; but President johnson
not exactly see it in those Lamps From
t rnoment-from the moment when the Pres-
It failed to give up his Office AL except the r
ne to Mr. Forney-the latter died. The conyul- mil,
Jerks and twitchings of his body, BY which he CIR
leavors to simulate life will deceive no one Tar
more than did the squeaks and gibberso of the At
eted dead in the Romish streets. The most
Herful galyanc battery will in future produce T.
more effect upon the Dead Duck than feeble W.,
Z enpt at q quack, Or q futile effort to stand upon
sWebbed feet. No matter what stories NAV be 4,
aHoat OF MS return to life, people will set ii In
wn for cannrd. If he had stake driven dem
oush his body, was the case with nialefac. issa
$ in ancient times. he could not be "deaderi st
ii he il, The President has preached his fune- 49,
sermon, and, even if there were a spark Of
atty left in him, he would not have the presump-
nto lift his head after the g memorialn Grafton
been pronounced. He is not even, as is said, :
y broken stock gambler d lame duck" The
Tree has been conferred upon him by the Presi- s
I, and no one will mistake for Doctor Of Di,
ity Mi. John w Forney, D. D.
-----s p-------------
LITERARY LECTURES. The public will be graft gS
I TO observe that series Of literary lectures,
9 in number, for the benefit Of tile Lyceum
airy. Is advertised to commence on Tuesday
ming next. All the gentlemen named as And
urers are capable of discoursng with ability
The subjects selected by them and the list is
ded by q name famous for eloquence and dis III
Euished FOR literary excelye,,ee ri 40 u binl
I'LL void sensihly felt this season by our care
pie of literary tastes offer
EcTuRE 20 NIGHT Hon. VIM. NJ. Burwell win, eaci
deliver lecture tonight at the Me. La
y,e st&.k. - f..A