The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-08-03
The Distress Of the Politicians About General
Grant.

The Distress Of the Politicians About General
Grant.
All the professional politicians are in trouble
All the men who make Q trade Of politics
with whom the words patriotism and fidelity
are only antecedents relating to such Other
words, expressed or implied, as spoils, plum
der, ofice-all who expect to thrive by adher-
ing to this or that political clique are in the
greatest possible distress about General Grant
and his opinions. They say he has no opinions,
and make feeble attempts to argue thence that
he has no brains. But before they have car
ried this great way they begin to see that the
history of the wharf.-the knowledge of the great
battles that every soldier carried home-sup-
plies an ever present argument against them,
and they hesitate and lose confidence in even
their own defamation, and hardly know where
they are. Wendell Phillips and his coterie
like distinguished character in the Book Of
Job, are going up and down the land and to
and fro in it, wondering what to do about
Grant; beating the bush for argument, weep
ing and wailing and gnashing their teeth in a
rhetorical way, because the candidate they
fear has no ideas" because be puts forth no
sentences of political doctrine for them to
hang their harps on because his history pre-
sents for criticism only great ects, which some
men have supposed are Of more consequence
than opinions-such men as hold that swords
are mems daughters, but Gods sons are
Deeds" 1t is O source Of the most poignant
misery to Phillips-of the deepest chagrin, that
when Mr. Johnson went across the country and
ruined himself by the use of his tongue, Grant
was with him all the time, and all the time as
speechless as destiny. Phillips feels in his own
case how worthless thing in national affairs
is man Of mere words, and his annoyance
that he cannot reduce all to his level-his de-
spair that one man Is 80 far above his measure
is at once pitiable and comic. Who but must
laugh at the unhappy pedler of phrasess
Neither has the general mass of radicals any
peace. Greeley is an example of their I'M
happy condition. He has lost what little
temper he ever had, and spends all his time in
the State Convention swearing harder than
Andrew Jackson or Parson Brownlow. His
powers of vituperation are known; his peculiar
wealth in expletive has been accepted as one
of the most marked features of his character
but lately he has surpassed all known models,
even his own former achievements, and come
out with a richness Of general profanity start
ling to the most hardened hearers; and 1t is
not likely that he can be stopped by anything
less than good strong touch Of the cholera.
It has been thought that all this originated
in the refusal Of member to vote with
Greeley; but that's an error. 1t is the result OF
his bitter broodings over Grants silence. We
had supposed that Greeley's amiable course in
the matter Of bailing JEFF Davis would have sci
him up in o good humor that would last for
the rest of his life; but it did not and the
people will have yet many good laugh at the
grimaces of the philosopher in arguing, in full
view of his own record, that Grant is not q
good republican, and giving for 1t the two
reasons that the General does not give Greeley
his opinions and that he wears the coat of an
army officer, which, Of course, is neither white
nor sloven. The copperheads are in another
kind of trouble. They are afraid that Grant will
not keep silence he will come out some
day with an utterance Of his opinions some
thing like those shot.ed salutes he used to fire
in front Of Petersburg, and they know that
such an utterance would be fatal to oil their
use OF his name. So they go carefully towards
him as the serpent did towards Eve in the gar
den-using all arts of allurement to draw
him on and keep themselves out of danger.
Grant, however, is too shrewd to touch their
apple of temptation, and if they are wise they
will hear the warning Of the Tennessee cleo
ton and hide their heads forever, taking to
obscurity and repentance.