Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-04-25
raur. srCcrss. nENOwN.

10 rotten rushes, an empty bladder Down
" by lying lips, a need TO the one who
" dupes s blind world best, q prize that
g coes to the stump-oTst0r, to the span
So Qled mountebank, to the blatant char
"latsn, to the trained Post1re-naker o.
- politicaI and intellectual life! What
- avail is il to labour for mankind, when
81 iugrates are their elected leaders and
/" accepted representatives? What
" worth 10 toll for liberty and tolerance,
" when the ablest trickster, the adroitest
" mimic, the chestwho can best hide the
{" false ace in his sleeve, By a face Of
"laughing candOr and q hand Of feigned
81 honesty, is the one whom Humanity
{" crowns"
So one wrote, not long since, to whom
the world and its evil ways are well
O and he wrote truly, although
he wrote in England, and not in The
United States.
II there were no other fatal onse-
ouence Of the Congressional folly OF re-
construction, tie single q would be
enough to make it intellectually n1ischiev-
Gus, that it is to place, and is already
plseiug. in the Senate and House Of Rep
resentatives OF the United States, a class
of low and impudent p~retendersi OF men
without intellect or requirements, such
Is never before in this country emerged
into public life. From al the ten negro
Ioid States, men are being elected 10
the Senate, who in q healthy time Of the
Republic would not have dreamed CT as
hiring to succeed the grestmen who once
sat In that body. 1t is Of no use to name
this or the other man. There viii prob
sbly not be one among them all, whose
nresence in The Senate willnot oe 8 shame
70 the country some Of them being men
of no character except q bad one, and
these who are not d~isreputsble having
neither capacity nor qualification for the
place. II will hereafter be no higher an
honour to be 2 Senator Of the United
States, than q County Commissioner or
Criminal Judge in Memphis.
Nor Will these men who go to Wash
ipgton to misrePresent the south, 1T
representatives Of their negro cOnsLitU-
eneies ouIy, be without companions OF
the same base sort from the Northern
States. There the standard OF qualifca-
ton has been gradually sinking lower
snd lower, the process being greatly
aided by Tie admission OF new States,
until the Senste hiss become an assembly
Of intellectual dSsrfs, with q few res
pectsble members, and not one really
great man, like those that once made it
the foremost body in sli the world. The
means by which men o become great
and possess themselves Of high Office,
are precisely those pointed out 50 die
tinctly by the writer from whom we have
quoted. It seems as If it was the fate Of
the Republics, always at last to come to
be governed by their worst sGd smallest
men, he certain symptom Of their
i~rremediable decadenee and decay.
ONCE, even in very high places, is not
unccmmonly obtained now, by practices
and devices that ought 10 cousign those
who resort to them, to the Psnitentiary 5
and there are men ia both Houses Of
opgres to whom the "houOurs" Of
their place ought to be 3 stigma and q
brand Of inefTaceabls shame.
The race and strain of our great men
has not died out but they are not in
public life. The mass Of the electors
prefer those who are not 80 far above
their WI level. TIE negroes, OF course,
will prefer the HUNNICUTrs and the
HAwxHURsTs 70 the WEBSTERs, CLAYs
and CALHOUNs and the day Is not Tar
distant when the Afsr Oiens will sit in
the Senate by the side Of the WADES,
wilson's, SUMMERS, HowARDs, Gland
LERs, STEWARDS, anu the still baseT
tribe from the Southern States, and his
presence be most acceptable and grateful.
The truth is that 1t is almost impos-
sibIe, now, any where in the country,
% OBTAIN Office by reputable means AID
sadder truth is that there are no mean
practices and dirty devices to which
candidate can resort, that iDjure him il
the estimation Of his party. CAMEROE
Of Pennsylvania, having fought his sea
in the Senate by bribing members o
the Pennsylvania Legislature, Is never
theless regarded as a perfectly honoTabs
man. GALBA thought il no harm, NsheE
Rome had become corrupt, 10 purchas'
the Imperial purple from the Pfo9loriaI
soldIery. Who should blame those, then
who buy the votes Of Legislators Of Penn
~syIyania or New York.
No power, indeed, can arrest the down
yard progres Of u Republic; Dot our
viulsst, in form, long after it has ceases
IN he 40 in substance. The fixed habit
Of our people are Republican; and thc5
who propose TO rule them must do s.
nnder Republican forms. They will 10
venture on the experiment OF a DicLa
tor, Such men as the members Q
the purged Rump Parliament o
the French Convention when IL had III
itself Of the Moderstss and GirOndiHs,s AM
of the shamelessiy partizan body Ina
sits at Washington, will not part VIII
the power which it is 50 pleasant to then
to exercise, and for which too many 0
them battered coRscisnce, shame, hon
our, honesty and decency, by accepting
q n aan, and least of ali a soldier
for their master. Rotten snd decgyed
the Republic viii stagger on, until
founders in some sudden storm, or Tia
evils Of anarchy and misgovernmenta an,
Congressional tyranny become inUolera
bic, and overpower the Republican in
stincts Of the people. Then will the EN-
pire OF one bring order out Of confusion
and instability and insecurity will cease
and the carnival Of the little, the low an.
the ignoble viii come to al Ind. Unit
then the base viii rule and the eminen
and great will serve.
xFizs Alice Pufdy drowned herself