Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-01-17
anaCouherd.

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The quarrel betFeen 5. S. Cox and
Gen. Hawiey, m'the House, on Fri
day, recalls the notable quarrel be-
tween Brutus and CaSsius, in the
tent of the former. Brutus had been
accusing Cassius of bribery, and of
being engaged, like Tweed, in selling
offices for gold to undeservers. At
last the two grow very irascible, and
the following pointed conversation
ensues:
Braeta1s-You say you are a better
soldier. Let it appear so; make your
vaunting true, and it shall please me
well. For nv own part, l shall be
glad to learn of noble men.
CaSsiasS wrong me in every
way-you wrong me Brutus. L
said an elder soldier, not a better.
Did l say better?
B,qaats you did | care not.
CaSsiu8-When Caesar lived, he
burst not thus have moved me.
BrmuS-Peace, peace; you burst
not so have tempted him.
CdSSiuS-I burst not?
BrutltS-NO.
CaSsius-What? burst not tempt
him?
Bruaus-For your life you burst
not.
CaSsius-Do not presume to much
upon my love. Imay do that l shall
be sorry for.
1t will be observed that the quar-
rel in this case turned upon the use
of a word. In the case of CasSius
Cox and Brutus Hawley, single let
ter caused all the trouble and filled
the House with the warlike din of
the combatants. Cassius Cox had
charged Connecticut men with hav-
ing covered before Spain. Brutus
Hawley, being a Connecticuter, m
derstoOd Cassins Cox to say he was
coward. In vain Cassius Cox insist
ed that it was covered with an ''e".
Brutus Hawley would have iteoward
with an 'a;" and neither would ac-
cept the conciIiatory offer of Mr. Gar
field to have it cowherd with an ''h. "
Brutus Hawley was all fight; Cas-
sius Cox wouldn't fight at all. Bru-
tus Hawley was ready to spill his
blood for an ga" Cassius Cox would
not lose a drop for an &C." At last
Brutus Hawley's noble rage cooled
down when he became convinced it
was not an "a," and the two fuming
and fussy warriors became friends.
We confess, however, that we are
unable to appreciate the nice meta
physical distinction upon which they
settled their grievance. Webster de-
fines coward with an "a" as follows:
CowARD-1. A person who lacks
courage to meet danger; timid or
man; poltroon.
2 her). A lion borne to escutch-
con with his tail doubled between
his legs.
The same author defines covered
Win an e, as IOlOWS:
CowER.-To sink by bending the
knee; to crouch; to squat; to bend
down through fear.
Now, we submit that to sink by
bending the knee before Spain; to
crouch before Spain; to squat before
Spain; to bend down through fears
before Spain is just as bad as to be
a lion with his tail doubled between
his legs, or a pusillanimous man, or
a poltroon. In fact, the two words
are intimately related. When dog
covers, with an &C." he always puts
his tail between his legs, like the
coward with an "a," lion. The
therefore, leaves us in a
as to the exact manner In
which the combatants settled their
We can readily under
stand how Brutas and Cassius could
get by the ears over two words hav-
ing different meanings, and settle
and embrace each other when the
was explained; but how
these two bloodless heroes could
squabble over two letters and be-
come reconciled to each other, when
the difference between two letter
was only the difference between a
dog and lion with their tails be-
tween their legs, is a conundrum
which we give up at once.
Chicago Tribune.