New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1866-06-04
THE uvCKETs I'm RESOLUTIONS.

The shape which an American opinion or emotion
takes is that of a Resolution. First, you have
Naturalization Therefore then, ultimate
cIencher RESOLVED" A great proportion OF our
political history is to be found in this form-lt Is the
ultimate condensation of convention-public pug
nacty and indignation boiled dOwn-social opinion
reduced to bref-psrty promises mnimized to
convenient fonn-the promissory note, in fact, which
in the future is sometimes taken up, and sometimes
lays over In theory, the concentration above set
forth must be preserved but in practice, as becomes
the declarations of freemen owing allegiance no mole
to Lindley Murray than to any other old-fashoned
aad square-tood yrant the Whereas" need not, and
very frequently has not the remotest connection with
the "Therefore.' This independence may not sell
dom be observed in resolutions passed by engine CON-
panies returning from friendly visit to other engine
companies while the knob of the whole, the moral
but-end so to speak, Of the document, the Resolu-
ton" itself is sometimes of the most struggling aud
heterogeneous variety, as for instance:
Rered shall cherish reception by Mobawss No
be To Capt Bashaw for
bounu supply lie thanks To the ladies' OF
sowheAn The beautiful bouquet which they presented shall never
fade Conductor Br-aspe of 1.-THE Little Rock Railroad for his
polite Also. for supply Of chowder at the Bite Station
&c. 'WheIee whatever realms The heart IN
rsveyd sIl returns to thee"
This conglomeraton of good feeling gratitude
and sincere although somewhat awkward politeness
does no harm in fleeing advertisement; but when
we come to the grief of the City Fathers for the death
Of Leutenant-General, recorded on sheep-skin and
sent to the family of the great deceased we feel that
the olumsiness likely to be historically dsceditable
and to give future antiquarans low idea Of our civic
functionaries Consider for instance, the "Where
~" and Resolutions adopted by our Board OF Alder
men on the death of Gen. Scott We cite for admlra-
ton and wonder Whereas" No. 2:
.,oa The occasion Of unexpected event
has plunged whole country in mourning the deceased soldier
RO s sSs n ood @sa HS s eosy
.epiably connee,ed-with every great event &c.
Now, can anything be worse than this' "Occa-
sion" for occurrence we can pass over; but will
the reader notice the awful hiatus between whole
country in mourning" aud the deceased soldier"
II reduces the whole Of that part of the whereas
to this: "Hhereas Gen. Scott is dead he was great
man while living and so he was, although this is
rather a laundering way of asserting the fact. But
mark that he was also the very personiiication
of truly great and good man II e., he was
the very personiGcation of a person. We say
sometimes that a man is the very personificaton of
valor or ri TRUTH or of galantry, but Gen. Scott
it seems the very personlfcaton either OF him.
self or of somebody else Gettingidown, however, to
good man., we fluid the whereas giving out and
ceasing TO do duty The sentence He was closely
identified" has about as much connection with the
Koran as with what goes Immediately before it. We
do not wonder that the Aldermen voted that the Res
olutions should be frsmed-they certainly need some
artificial mode of making them hang together for all
of them are as loosely joned that which we have
especially noticed. For Instance, whereas Gen.
Scott has left behind him
lone of the few. the immortal namss
That were not born to die,
therefore, Resolved That our citizens be requested to
close their places of business on the LIST of June Poor
Ialleck How often and often he must have repented
of writing those too-hardly used lines And now they
have actually got hold of them in the Board of Alder
men, We do not mean to say, however that the Alder
men are much than other people at least in the
matter of resolution -mongering. We have a large
and curious collection of amputated INCREASES
and inconsequent "Therefores' and semldetached
g Resoveds." If people did but know what stun oil
this sort is sent to to print and what weary work
and dire labor it is to put it into toleraby present
able shape, they would appreciate the sincerity with
which we aver, in the face Of all the world
that nomnative case should have verb, and
that it is not fair to leave friendless and deserted
adjectives to mourn for their wandering rayished
nouns The remedy for all this would be to employ |
competent person to draft resolutions for the city,
but we do not recommend the creation of an office for
he purpose, simply because we are sure that it would