The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-12-29

party?
Or, if they must seek among the names of
past generation for titles to confer upon
their radical idols of this, they might at least
be content to choose from among names less
sacred than that of Washington. There is
Arnold, who, in his later years, was certainly
trooly loil; there is Conway, who intrigued
against the commander in-chief Just as some
well-known radicals intrigued against McClel-
Ian at later day; and there is Ethan Allen,
who was as rough and full of strange oaths
as Stanton himself. Let our radical praisers
of the dead search for parallels among these
congenial spirits of the Revolution. They
will find them amply suited to their purpose,
and they can thus respect at once the truth
of history and the reputation of Washington.
SIDNEY WEBSTER AND HAMILTON
FISH-THE SPANISH CONQUEST OF
THE UNITED STATES.
From the ~ Y. Sun.
Mr.. Sidney Webster Is a gentleman who
understands how to do things He seems to
have possessed natural aptitude for state
croft; and the faculty has been long and sue
cessfully cultivated. Soon after completing
his collegiate and legal education in New
Hampshire, he went to Washington as the
Private Secretary of Franklin Pierce, with
whom he remained until the end of Mr..
Pierces term. He soon came to be recog-
nized outside as power inside of the White
House. If parties were anxious to get diff
fcult measure through and the sanction of
the Executive was requisite, it was fact that
seemed to be instinctively smet out, that
''Sid Webster, as he was familiarly called,
was the man to do it.
Some time after the retirement of General
Pierce, Mr.. Webster came to this city to prac-
tise law, and married daughter of the Hon.
Hamilton Fish, beautiful and highly ac-
compished young lady. Mr.. Fish at that
time, although he had been much in public
life, seemed of all men the least likely ever
to be anything more, politically. But as it
is sometimes said of lucky business mon that
everything they touch turns to gold, so a
mysterious good fortune seems to wait upon
the most unpromising political ventures of
Mr. Webster. Throughout the war it was
generally supposed that his sympathies were
rather Southern than Northern. He was one
of the gentlemen SO often seen about the
New York Hotel: and there was a strong i'm
preston that Confederate atmosphere sur
rounded that locality. His warm friendship
for Mr.. Pierce-who was a sympathizer with
the Rebellion-remained unbroken; and Mr..
Pierce bequeathed to him some token of
regard by his last will and testament.
General Grant was elected President, and
he adopted new rule for the selection of his
Cabinet. Tried by the recognized touchstone
of merit-success Grant had proved himself
a great General. He had had scarcely any
experience in civil affairs; was rather an
ignorant man for West Point graduate;
and was singularly wanting in that intuitive
sense of propriety which had prevented all
former Presidents from mourning so much as
the appearance of evil in regard to making
political appointments for pay. General
Grant made up his mind to select his Cabinet
from the list Of those who had given him
money. Of course there had to be one excep-
ton to this; General Rawlins whose brain
had guided him through his military cam
paigns, had to be retained. But for Secretaryo of
the Navy the President selected Mr.. Borie, his
largest pecuniary benefactor out of New
York; for Secretary of the Treasury he Sc
lected Mr.. Stewart his largest pecuniary
benefactor; and when Mr.. Stewart was found
to be ineligible he selected another New
Yorker, who had given him one thousand
dollars, for Secretary of State; and that was
Hamilton Fish. Whoever, with all the facts
before him, will undertake to say that General
Grant was not influenced and governed in
making appointments to high Offices of state
by considerations of pecuniary presents to
himself, is simply incapable of weighing evil
dence, and is incompetent to perform the
duty of juryman in case involving ten
dollars
1t was an unprecedented, corrupt and an
infamous system. No one step has ever been
publicly taken more calculated to demoralize
our Government. 1t was an open and shame
less proclamation, public advertisement,
that the administration was to be venal COR
rupt, and rotten from the start and at the
core One act of receiving large sum of
money, and then appointing the giver to q
high office-one such act, of which General
Grant has done so many openly and publicly
one such act we saw if done privately and
afterward proved, would have impeached any
President that ever lived. 1t would have i'm
peached George Washington, and it would
have convicted Andrew Johnson. No such
pecuniary stain rests upon any other Presi-
dent. Low as James Buchanan sank in the
scales of wisdom, if not of patriotism, he
never took bribes.
This terrible crime of General Grants was
overlooked at the time, because the great
heart of the people was warm and gushing
with gratitude towards him for their salvation
in arms, and their eyes were temporarily daz-
zled by his military glory. But the great blot
will remain stain on his name, as the ac-
| ceptance of bribes affixed eternal dishonor to
the name of Lord Bacon.
At the time of General Grants inaugura-
ton, the revolution in Cuba had developed
such strength as to indicate that its success
| was highly probable. 1t seems to be esta-
| blished by sufficient evidence that nearly the
entire native population of the island were in
favor of throwing off the Spanish yoke AS
was natural, the American people sympa-
thized warmly with the Cubans, contiguous
to our shores, in their efforts to free them
| selves from foreign dominion. The Spanish
! Government, keenly alive to the situation of
! affairs, perceived that the outbreak of this
feeling, which was rapidly rising in the
| 1 aIn lra1