The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-09-04

Csessrtsm ~ Known by It's Fruits
" Representative statesma.ship.
An era is generally shown by its men. The
tree no more surely shows its sweetness by its
fruit than the generation by the men it pro-
ducea We are more or less types of our
time, it's fruition, and in all classes there are
family resemblances. History is marked with
this phenomena. There was the generation
OF cant and piety under Cromwell, and the
generation of license and infdelity under
Charles There was the time of the nabobs-
the time of the dandies-the time when every
gentleman carried his sword ready for duel
owned main Of cocks and dined with
his favorite prize fighter. France had, almost
in the same generation, the brilliant vices of
the Regency and the austere virtues of the
Republic. There was the gilded butterfly
period, when men only lived to prey on vir-
tue, and the time of fire and fame, when
young men cultivated their hair and called
themselves Regulus and Brutus and
discussed assassination as patriotic
duty. In our Revolutionary era we
had whig and tory struggles. One generation
yearned for court like Hamilton, another
despised all kings like jefferson. One genera
ton worshipped the stakeholder, the next
worshipped the abolitionist. We had the
generation of simplicity, say in the time
of Quincy Adams; the generation of display
that came with the war and war fortunes.
There are men living who remember when our
merchant princes lived on Maiden lane and
walked to church on Sundays; who remember
also the flashing eminence of quacks and ad-
venturers, and the gambling kings Of Long
Branch and Saratoga.
If we might select phrase that will give
generation the era of false pretence and
mediocrity. We noticed recently in the &C.
count Of on interview between an American
traveller and Mr.. Carlyle that the venerable
and illustrious thinker cried out, ''We are all
going to the devil together--we here
but this Gladstone, who is q bagman,
or he they call Dizzy, who is
pedler." We do not venture to say how far
MIR. Carlyle speaks truly of England and
some allowance must be made for the vehe-
mence of after-dinner fireside rhetoric But
the germ of Mr.. Carlyle's expression cor
responds with our thought about America We
do not recall time in our history when there
was so much false pretence and mediocrity in
public life as we see now. 1t is one of the
surest, as it is one of the most painful, EVIL
dences Of the growth of Cesarism. We do
not remember a time when our public life did
not have men of conspicuous renown-known
to all men-what we might call promontories
and peaks-peaks shining at times and seen
over the world. There is only dead Sandy
Hook level, and marshy odors in the air,
breathing poison and disease A striking and
at the same time hopeful evidence Of this is
that we only see this barrenness in public
life. In other branches of art and science
and industry the time is rich in men of
gifts. At the Bar we have O. Conos Evarts,
Hoar-in oratory and eloquence, Phillips and
Beecher-in literature Whittier, Longfellow,
Boker-younger men, Of rare promise coming
up. whose works are already read in many
tongues. In business achievements we see
what is done by Vanderbilt and A. #. Stewart
and Thomas A. Scott and Cyrus w. Field.
The genius of individual enterprise was never
| more alive. The country knows the men who
have fought her battles by land and sea.
Wherever we turn there is life, energy, hon.
esty, the creative spirit, the impulse to inquire
and know the truth 1t is only when we con-
template public life that We see the barren,
sandy reaches-here and there scrubby plant
! nEoa oil
miasmas of Credit Mobilier and corruption,
and the absence of any high generous, refresh
ing manhood.
Let us make our meaning clearer by an illus
tration. The highest level this political
generation has reached is Schuyler Colfax.
Until within q short time Mr.. Colfax was the
most popular man in the United States-Vice
President and candidate for the Presidency,
the envied, the successful, the darling states
man. the model of all virtues, the example to
youth. A day came when the truth was
known, and in an hour the worshipped of all
men became the despised of all men. The
Credit MobiIier investigation did not damage
Mr.. Colfax in his character He was as good
a man when it ended; he is as good man to-
day and as deserving of popular approval as
at any time in his career The wolf that falls
OF is wounded in the hunt is at once rended
asunder by other wolves, and how swiftly
poor Colfax was torn limb from limb
And yet how much filter he is now to
be President than he was last year, when his
friends were seriously thinking Of running
him against Grant We say that he is a
better man now than he has ever been, and
more fitted for the Presidency. He is a
creation of this time, an embodiment of
false pretence There are not nine in ten of
the men who carefully nourished Mr.. Colfax,
and led him from place to place until the tips