New-York tribune., 1874-05-22

exquisite bit of m0ralizlDg on the ihside i"oq"eci
little men with their back hair neatly zone up ther
sleeves and skirts standing out with puncti'iouS
Stiffness and fanning themselves WIN nuttering
assidnty are standing by the side OF stream
This is the text and here is the commehb' h"'no"
had already taken his leave ana was """'0
inc nv the side Of the river in q sorrowfu ana
detected manner when ho met fisherman "ho
said. why do Won come here You are the chief
retainer OF King S6.' Then Kutzen replied, Inc
men of the world are all alike, and as impure water
but am pure; they are all drunk, but am sober,
therefore / come here Then the fisherman SAID
AN ancient sage has said that if we mix and assoc-
ate with the men Of the world. we shall become as
impure IA they are; if they all drunk. we shall
be drunk also, and drink the sediment OF their
drink; if they are dirty shall be dirty also. ana
stir up their mud Then Kutzen replied. 1t IL an
ancient saying that when we dress our halr
we necessarily rub the dust off four cap when we
bathe IN hot water we necessarily shake the dust OH
our clothes; thus. when our hearts become pure we
shake off all deiilement. | would rather throw my
self into the river and become food for fishes than to
be defled by theev Then the fisherman went away
smiling, and striking the gunwale of his boat, sang:
So when the waters of Soro are clean, VIII wash
my cap-strings when the waters of Soro are dirty
will wash my feetp" Has not the reader sometimes
had shrewd suspicion that decade or two spent
in learning to read his Japanese tea-cups and pic
ture books would meet with some such reward as
this
1t is perhaps too much to expect gratitude from
the public to its teachers, but it is at least reason
ablo to demand decent acknowledgment OF great
services such as Mr.. Ruskin for instance. has rem
dered to English literature and taste 1t superflu-
Gus to say he has never received such acknowledge
ment and while he has sometimes reclaimed with
some vchemence against this injustice which dis
credits the public more than him, he occasionally,
aso gives voice to tho protest Of the scholar against
the Phstines in language as moderate as 1t Is
forcble. There is no exaggeration whatever III the
terms in which he refers to his clownsh assaiiants
in a recent number of Fors Ctarigra He says
at is quite possible for the simplest workman or
abOrer for whom write to understand what the feel
ngs OF gentleman are, and share theIn II ne WIZ puV
the crisis and horror Of this present time are at s ue
sire OF money and the fulDess of luxury dishonesty
attainable by common persons are gradually mahlhs
merely disbelieved but even the conception Of them
ud!crOus To the ordinary chur mind; so tha To
take only poor an instance OF them as my own Ine
because passed it In amsgtvng, not IN fortune
hunting; because have labored always for the hohor
of Others my own, and have chosen rather 10 make
men look Turner aud LDl than to form or exhD tue
skill Of my own hand because have lowered my rent
aud assured the comfortable lives OF my poor tenants,
instead of taking from them all could force for tue
roofs they needed because love wOOu WalA OettGi
n London
fly than shoot it, and rather hear thrush sing tnh cav
it finally because never disoDeyed my mother De-
and have been kind the unhankfu and theeyi;
therefore the hacks Of English art and literature WaS
their heads al me- ni The moor wretch who pawns the
drtv linen OF his soul daily for bolD Of 7ogr wine and
s,9 G'g9r' '''A' o' '"o eH'iH1'' ''H''A'"''
This is all true and honest. Differ az we may
about the taste and the discretion OF some of Mr.
Ruskns uterance no one can deny that his life and
1 poI1a opl thaf ha Ipgar
something better from his countrymen than he has
ever received His willing critics will make merry
over the phrases we have quoted, but they are no
more ridiculous egotistic than the dying words Of
Gregory VII, greatest of Popes and one of the
greatest Of men, 1 have loved righteousness and
hated iniquity, and therefore die i'll exile"
The problem of Municipal Government grows
more and more simple every day. Dir. Tweed was
making rapid progress when his career a. local
political economist was so suddenly cut short but
Gov. Shepherd seems to have surpassed him and to
be possessed of still greater fertility in expedients
for lessenng the friction and increasing the expenses
of government. From the testimony given in
the District investigation on Wednesday it is evident
that New York politicians might avelearned sew
eral wrinkles from these comparatively green hands
in Washington. According to these statements, the
meetings the Board of Public Works are in the
habit of holding must be the most delightfully."- in
formal gatherings ever had IN this free and untram
meed country. Mr.. Cuss, a member testified that
the larger part of the weekly meetings not
meetings at all Mr.. Shepherd would meet one
member on a street corner and talk over matters
and encounter another on another corner
and straightway the minutes of "a meeting
of the Board" would be entered on the journal
Mr. Cluss, though Chief-Engineer of the Board as
well member, was never consulted about the
awarding of any important contract, and no meeting
was ever held to consider them "Whenever Mr..
Shepherd awarded a contract it was called meet
ingw The advantages of this mode of transactng
official business, which would have seemed bold and
revolutionary even to the Tammany Ring, are
not to be lightly estimated If all our Boards
and Commissions were made peripatetic. there
would be no need of public buildings that eat up
millions and yet never get their growth, of carpets
and upholstery, chairs and tables of marvellous
make and stupendous COST The only expenses
would be for shoe-leather and minute-books. To be
slte the money seems to go as fast under this pas
tOral plan as under the luxurious one, but it
will not do to forget that paternal governments, like
those of Messrs. Tweed and Shepherd are luxuries
that must be paid for
There's considerable humbug in the war people
are making on pies. If the truth were known. it
would be found that not few of those who are
loudly denouncng the pie in secret as firmly its
deyotees as those who eat it openly and are not
ashamed For no other manufactured product has
so strong hold on the American heart. People take
it as an appetizer and for dessert; they daily with
it as an enree, and square great circle Of it for
piece de resistance they eat it just as conscientiously
AT midnight as they do at noOn This is the manner