New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-09-18
eENERAL BA1Rn,s REpoRr.


General Baird, of s'harmless pleasantly
fame, has perpetrated another Joke. He has
made report But he is kind enough to in
form us in the paper itself that he does not
report these things as perfectly correct in
every particular" In fact, even without this
friendly assurance, it would be easy to dis
cover his statements to be very incorrect in
many particulars We do not propose to fol-
low him through five mortal columns of
mingled asseveration and insinuation, in
which he seeks to palliate the errors of his
own position, by attaching blame to others.
1 This perhaps, is natural, and we can account
for this effort of Gen. Baird without attribut-
4 ing to him any higher blame than great
ohliquity of judgment, as well as of vision.
He sees things ''as through a glass darkly,"
but happy Imagination supplies the place of
fertility of invention, and enables him to
see things beyond the dark glass in colors as
brilliant as he may desire, and even to look far
down into the most secret thoughts of men.
| With vivid imagination are combined the
mists of bitter prejudice against Southern
people which, by refraction through the me-
dunn of distorted judgment, produce i'm
ages Of startling magnitude. The gigantic
figure which, through the mists of the morn
ing. is sometimes seen browning the lefty
summit Of the Jungfrau, is. a pigmy to the
malign spirit conjured up by the terrified i'm
agination of Gen. Baird.
He appears to see the world peopled ex-
olusiyely with s'bad men" One doubts on
reading his so-called report whether to re-
gard him as q blessed missionary bent on
destroying the evil spirits by whom he is sur
rounded, Or whether he is the Mephistopheles
to guide their malign operations. He is evil
IDENTIFY well acquainted with the evil motives
which sometimes stir mems hearts. He init |
mates as much in the paper before us. ssWith |
all our knowledge Of the depravity of the hu-
man heart, he tells us. the proceedings Of the
police were beyond his expectations. But
whether this ejaculation was uttered in his
Mephistopheian character or in that of a /
peaceful missionary, we are at a loss to con
ceive
His report, however, gives gratifying evil
denee of improvement in one particular. He
actually asserts something about 6 the sanctity
with Yhichiwe alIMish to enshroud the law
We have heard Of wolves clothed in the limo
cent garb Of the lamb. We have also heard
Of Satan engaged in thetnovel and sshar1nless
pleasantly of rebuking sin. But we never
expected to hear that General Baird, who
overthrow all law, desired that the law should
be invested with anything of sanctity.
Especially is this startling fact when we
had SO recently learned that he employed, ii
,eference to the Constitution ITSELF the funda-
mental law, language of denunciation better
uited to the regions Of Mephistopheles than
9 the|courts Of the saints. or even to the DO
tie places Of this sinful earth.
But, after all, we may give undue praise to II
Teneral Baird. He may not have reformed in i
bus respect, as we had at first hoped When !
g speaks of his desire to ''enshroud" the law il
with sanotity, . it may be that he only alludes !
the ceremony Of enwrapping the corpse in i
hlte before committing it to "the obscure
rave.'' E-sa 4
But we DO not propose a serious review of Il
eneral Ba1rd's report. It is not worthy Of it. tY
e ignores facts which have been again and
Ealn substantiated;; and he dwells with en- b.
lasls upon reports in which there is no lust til
undatlon, and, to support which, he con in
sses there is not yet sufficient testimony. f(I
'neiusions drawn from such premises are ict
cessarily faulty ; and they are the more la of
sntable and the more unjust that they are pa
'de to reflect upon those who are not to De
me. 9aN A7sa a8laAa q.tn ef,
e falls into the error of 50 many other North rel
men; he ignores the fact whichis patent
.dispassionate Judgment, that the police tn
I the city government were defending them col
yes from assault, instead of assaultino to
ers, and were suppressing a riot begun by las
evolutionary party which sought to ever fol
ow by violence the established government
he State It is natural that those who Dg =
tlciPated in the riot, as well as those ,,s-
2se Weakness as was the case with Gen. 10 10
I'd contributed to bring it on, should at t ~.
ito eyade the just issue of this question. -
heresult must eventually be seen in its D.t
! light, and the mists with which preiu- L..
and peryersion seek to F" enshroud the q,
must ere long be dissipated before the !,
/ light Of truth.