New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-10-04


politics of to-day.
If the destruction Of the EscuTa is as complete 40
the telegTaphic messages give us reason to fear one
of the worlds most remarkable palaces has virtually
ceased to exist 1t has not the beauty OF aTchitec
trre and the grace of situation which many Others
possess 1t is cold, gray mass Of granite. as I'M
lovely and unsympathetic as tho bare and jagged
range of mountains among which it stands. But
there is no public building in the world more inter
estng as q memorial of time which has now hap
PLY passed away. 1t reared at a time when the
fear of God and the fear of the King were the two
absolute and tyranncal sentiments which dOm-
mated the Spanish mind. There was for once in his
tory absolute faith and absolute loyalty throughout
great nation. The last spark of municipal indie
pendence lad been extingIishod, in the reign OF
Charles ", in the blood of the COmuneTos
on the field of Villalar The last i'm,
pulse of free thought had persisted among the
cracking fagots with which Philip ii. had annlhi-
lated the Reformation in his dOminions. To COM
memOrate his triumphs, to provide an abode which
should be at once palace, hermitage. and atomD
this human vampire reared on cherries plateau Oh
the Guadarrama Mountains this colossal pile which
serves as monument and cenoaph OF royal and
prestly power. No king will ever buld such
faith so blind as that which reared this Escurial If
it il indeed destroyed it will probably never be re-
built There has not been for many years enough
money in the Treasury of Spain for such purpose
A year or two ago it was announced in the Cortes
that tho Alhambra threatened ruin The waters OF
the Kent were said TO be rapidly undermining the
hight upon which this marvel Of Saracen architecture
stands and yet the Chamber declined to vote the
funds necessary to it, 1t is not likely that any
greater iberalty will be displayed in favor Of the
ugly and fOrbiddiDg incubus which lies so heavily
on the bosom of the mountain range of CASTLE. Tho
cutlery of the press over the loss of its art treasures
Is not wel-founded There were still there at last
dates few valuable pictures and books. but the
bulk Of the great collection was long ago transferred
to safer quarters in the Royal Museum of the Prado
The principal loss will be the library and the chapel
The world will get on just well without the tapeg
tries and the gilt chairs of the royal apartments Of
the palace.
When we saw in a Baltimore newspaper an article
beaded with typographical magnitude, President
Grants Cencrosty-IIow He Aided a Southern Sol
der" we were reoiced at the reflection that for
the President had bestowed something outside the
Dent-Grant household It's a wonderful story. Ono
day, in Washington, Grants hat was blown from
his head by disrespectful Liberal gale. ItwOuld
have been totally inconsistent with the Presidential
dignity to chase the hat in fact such pursuit is in
consistent with anybody's dignity; but young
man from Baltimore who was standing by made
tracks for the fugitive beaver and fairly succeeded
in hunting down the absconding hcadpece. which
he gracefully restored to the Chief Magistrate. This
act of kindness made profound impression upon
DR.. Grant, who forthwith appointed the young hat
restorer to a lucrative ceIkship We state the facts
for the benefit of ofce-seekers in general Tho Doe
tors hat may be blown off again. Let them watch
the windy opportunity. and go fOrt But let him
have care Shrewder boys may contrive furtye
knocking off of hats for the sake of the glory and
profit to accrue from their restoration!
It seems like cruelty to deprive The Nec- York
Times of its favorte pastime of asking absurd ques
tions, but we must decline answering any more Of
it's inanities until it has explained. Why il sup
presses facts about Tweed and nvents fasehoods to
save him. III. Why it wrote to member of the
Tammany Ring threatening publication of its
figures, and when not bought into silence sent
proofs Of its proposed publications to another in the
expectation of an offer to suppress them; Ill Why
il refused to give the authorities and public infor
nation of Tweeds possessions and his efforts to
transfer his property; and ". Its connection with
the Union Pacific bribery business. Let it explain
these delinquences by something else than wagers
before 1t sets up TO catechse other folks.
John Thomas is consistent only in his inconsst-
ency and just now labOrs under haziness Of ideas
which reminds one of the peculiar conduct of his
great prototype when having full charge of the key
to the wine cellar in his masters absence. He argues
that Francis Herman should not be elected because
he is Roman Catholic and claiming, falsely. ve
believel to have discovered that Chauncey NJ.
Depew is Know-Nothing. insists that he sbould
also be defeated because lie is opposed to Roman
Catholics Nothing short of half dozen seidlitz
powders viii restore to healthy action the brain OF
man afflicted in this wful manner.
We not sure but that the best caricaturist who
has yet visited our shores passed through Newlork
and only stopped when he had crossed 'the Misss-
sipp Mr.. Kepper of st. Louis hasrecently produced
two sketches one illustrative ofthe mud campaign
now waging by rccreant German against Senator
Schurz; and the other giving cruelty lhe-like
sketch of a Rubinstein coneert-both of which are
full Of brilliant originality and artistic treatment.
He has ideas and knows how to draw, a combination
30 rare as to be comparatively unknown
The Grant papers complain that only one man,
Alfred Wilkinson has yet proved their Protestant
Order story foolish fabrication. BY and by they
will learn that their stories have come to deserve
hardly 50 much attention as that