Litchfield enquirer., 1871-04-13
That # Cruel Joke, Again.

AS~SS "Se@ D tu1aculug% u lSu pleaSanb 10 drop from 2.000 majority in expectation to 300 minus in reality. Even our Sheriff isn't the amiable official he was fortnight since. But the angriest man in the State of Connecticut is the editor of the Sentinel. For once it isn't any make. believe (. show of proper resentment" but the genuine article. The firm of Graves & Morrill, come in for a gratuitous column advertisement of the real aqua fortis. oilof-vitriol kind, such as now and then emauates from the pen of badly reconstructed Southern edi. tor who has had his last COW sold by g negro tax-collector to pay the debenture bills ofsanegro legislature. It may not be altogether. safe arguing with man who takes his bowie-knife between his. teeth, cocks his revolver, and fires off conun- drum at us like the following:
 "Is the Enquirer really pleased at the election the employment of which would disgrace the keeper of gambling saloon7"
 As our existence may be brief, however, if we refuse to answer, we do hereby hum- ply confess that if we laughed on the solemn occasion above referred to, it was very heartless and wrong Furthermore, we refrain from smile when the editor of the Sensinel bangs of that exquisite parody of his on Mark Antony's funeral oration over the body of Julius Cesar (by the way, we recognize Julius and Mark, of course, but which of the defendants is Brutus ? Now the occasion of the unfortunate smile which annoyed our friend, and of the un. fortunate appearance of an eagle or other offensive emblem over our Judge of Pro- bate returns, was simply this:
 Nearly if not quite all the Republicans of Litchfeld will subscribe to all that the Sentinel says in commendation of our pres ent Judge of Probate. In fact we came near making no opposing nomination. Fi- nally it was thought no more than right to give MT. Morrill, the compliment of a nom- ination. It would have proved no more than complimentary nomination but for the outrageous attack mado by the Sentinel on MT. M.. the day after his nomination. That attack prevented many Republicans from voting for Mir. Woodruff who would otherwise have done so. It accomplished much more, for it started Democratic op- position which defeated him. Of the means used to persuade more than half the Democrats of Warren to vote for our candi- date we can only say that they seem to have been strictly Democratic, and there- fore not within our jurisdiction. When tho Warren returns came in, and it ap- peared that the iSentiners "Cruel Joke" had come home to roost with a vengeance. we couldn't help smile, not at the candidate who was the innocent sufferer. but at his outrageous friend and packer. The influ- ence, too, which Sentinel editorials seem to have with Warren Democrats struck us as deserving the compliment of at least one small eagle.
 It is perhaps natural that the editor of the Sentinel should be specially enraged at Mr. Woodruff's defeat. for he is the person primarily responsible for 1t. May we sug- gest. however, that, at the rate and in the direction he is now going. he is like to get Mir. Morrill, on the Supreme bench before the Legislature rises :? o sYa
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 THE LEoIsLATURE.-Asst stated in our last, we have thirteen Republican Senators to eight Democratic. The defeat of '.Woody" in the Twelfth District (Fairfeld County. J is very happy result. In the strongly Democratic First District (which includes the city of Hartfordl Elisha Johnson was only elected by tpelvs majority.
 In the House we have a majority of twenty-three. Among the prominent Re. publicans are John M. Wait, of Norwich, Gen. Pratt. of Windsor. Amos s. Treat. of Woodbridge llate of Bridgeport, Dr. Mil. Ter. of Enfield, B. H. Bugbee. of K,llingly, Samuel s. Oowles, of Pennington, Rev. J, J. Woolley, of Meriden.
 The Speakership will probably be offered to Hon. John M. Wait, should he decline the nomination we may expect lively contest.
 On the Democratic side we notice such prominent names as w. w. Eaton, oi Hartford, I. R. Mitchell, of Bristol, Chas. R. Ingersoll. of New Haven, William D. Bishop. of Bridgeport. Edward W. Sey. mour. of Litchfeld. and Lloyd E. Baldwin, (formerly of Windham). of South Windsor. D@ The Ssntinel accuses our Judge o1 Probate elect of being Democrat and 6 burglar On the former point we have the positive testimony of Democrat who saw him deposit Republican ballots in the box es. Having disproved the charge that he is a Democrat, we don't consider it neces. sary to prove that he isn't burglar.
 s6- A Danbury correspondent of the
 Se,iiiasl undertakes to prejudice the readers lof that paper against Mir. Booth of thai place by calling him the 'sSolon'' of the Board of Registration. aeasa ssa