Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-03-16
RoHrnIANs ANp KNAvEs.

community.
JOHN s. G. HOGAN a co.
BOHEMIANs AND KNAVEs.
The chief cause of the mal-adminis
trstion Of public affairs in Republics il
the large number Of political Bohemiani
who come, even before the callow Com
monwealth is fully fedged, to hold
place and office. The Government o,
the United States had, even before the
war. fallen in a great measure into the
hands Of that tribe, and it is still more
so now, the necessary consequence being
an a~ccelerstion Of its pace on its road &c
perdition.
Bohemians, in cities like Paris, Lon
don and New York, are literary and
artistic vagabonds. Men, a magazine
writer says, "of an indomitable irregu-
lsrity and Incidence, who live by their
wits and for self-indulgence, are Bone
mians. These Bohemians are q genial,
generous fraternity, not members Of the
Temperance Society, rarely with a bal
ance at their bankers. Responsibility
il the yer Of the Bohemian idea.
Whatever is not respectable, they Gre.''
Political Bohemians have sIl the bad
qualities Of these and rarely any Of their
good ones. Commencing with nothing
but their wits, q convenient indifference
TO principle, s fluent g~libness Of tongue,
and perhaps q hereditary right to
Office, they thrive politically upon their
wits and st the public expense. 1t is, in
one essential respect, with them as with
the literary and artistic Bohemian, with
whom I'VE quote again, ait is as with
the races. Men die, but man survives.
So the Bohemian passes, but Bohemia
Is immortal. The line Of succession is
not hereditary. One Bohemian dies-no
son Of his succeeding-but the fraternity
Is forever enriched by the accession Of "
the bankrupt, the principleless, the
selfish and the vensl. we have
changed the last sentence, to suit the
different characteristics Of the clans.)
You never conceive it possible for one Of
these adventures to say, like FLETCHER,
Of S~altoun, al will lose my life to serve
my country, but I will do nothing base
10 save it." The consequence Of the doe
trines they advocate and the measuers
they support, never enters into their cal
c%ulatiOns, except so far as they are imme-
distely and directly to affect themselves.
You can find them everywhere in public
life, ven in the Senate; and it seems to
be impossible TO prevent 3 republic from
falling st last into their hands.
Another species Of public men, not
u~nfrequently met with, is thus admirs-
bly, described: "He adopts politics
merely as q professional profession in
which he means to practice, and to sue
coed at all hazards. Year by year his
course is conspicuous in the eyes OF all
men and everything which proves per-
Bonal selfshness and want Of moral prin-
ciple in any man, proves it in his career.
Such a man, who practices politics as a
trade, may be fatally dangerous to the
very existence OF a country, because such
q man has no faith in the ideas upon
which that country rests. To defeat his
ambition is the duty Of every good citi-
zen; and it is equally his duty to
show the people that it is fair to question
and suspect the motives Of such s
knRve.p
But is it, after ali, psradoxical to say
that i does not so much matter about
the motives Of public men. Good mo-
tives 60 a very little way. It is better
10 have talented knaves, than fools and
incspables in office. The former are
likely to 90 right, when their selEinter-
est does not run in the opposite direction
The latter will never go right unless by
accident. The former Will occasionally
do wrong OF purpose. The latter will
by any accident, bIunder into the
right path. 1t is folly, more than
knavery, that ruins republics. Who
cares about the motives Of the insects
that builded the coral reefs on which the
Of State is shattered ? Or, to be less
fsnciful, who cares what were the mo-
Of the BsrOns who forced King
JOHN 10 grant the Great Charter ?
~endesvOured to set on foot q cru
SADIE against the veto power. No doubt
bis motives were good: would the in
jury have been any less, if he had sue
ceeded in overthrowing that barrier,
erected by the States against the enact
ments Of the pOpulaee in Congress 4?
Why did he not recognize it as a truth
that the President was the Representa-
tive Of the States, not Of the People Of
~ the States; and that he was
with the Veto Power, {
to defend the rights OF the I
5tstes, his constituents. No doubt the ,
which induced JACKSON to issue !
ais Proclamation against South Caro- ]
ina, were good. II none the less made '
orthodox the greatest fslsshOods in doc !
rine and the late war inevitable. In :
Iced, the evil effects were greater, be- '
,Ause his motives Uere good. II you /
want to launch an erroneous doctrine or :
3 ruinOus measure, get an honest 5
nan to do it. Honest dealing is often b
he only good policy for q knave. Sus- Z
,eoted by al, he can cheat no one. Bet /.
er the knaves than the fools. You can c
manage them by means Of their self
In the main, what benefits the
ountry, will benefit them. You cannot
manage q fool, especially 8 pig-headed :
ne, or one Of the Turveydrop species, or !
make him know that be u a fool You !
annot even buy the Jee-sinple Of him,
ut only a lease at will. You can buy
he fee-simple Of a knave. The greatest Z
inculty a statesman labOurs under, is n
ealing with the follies that always rise {,
hickly round him, "as the roke doth in q
be rayne.D He can make the knayeries y
srve him. h
The individual human insect Is TO be D
.RFticularly noted for one special predi- q
seton, that Of almost invariably seek =
rs and coyeting the place and employ a
aent for which be is least fitted. Talk Il
S you please about the mysteries Of psy- 81
there is one that puzzles as q
nore than all b rest-how il IA that a =,
q dOlts sdunderhead, an ignorant. a,
a incapable, Y is conscious of bis d,
7snt Of brain or want Of knowledge. or pa
nhtness for the place he occupies or 81
spires to. We have seen men eompla-
entity sit on the Supreme Bench Of %.
tate, without sense enough 10 under m
tand one-hslf of KEET's Commentaries. ri
nd with less knowledge Of the law than Ia
many 8 scrivener's hslf-starved clerk in n
CITY has picked up. The most sense tv
- and ht men are specially desirable u
= Cabinet offices; and in Congress it is, v
"a little boy once told US in a small N
village, about Masonry there.
10 they do eveyy where" " he asked " as ~
do heres Why, here, they just take eli
, gav body" o.