The Portland daily press., 1874-04-06
THE PRESS.
MONDAY MORNING. APRIL 6. 1874.
Grant and his Defamers.

oenIs nave 1n1ntbi.g about the truth or false
,ud &c these charges-we almost take 1t 1or
gran.ett that If is dissraceful that things should
have come to such pass that there is any pos
sibilty for such charges to be made.-lBoston
Congregationalist.
We clip the foregoing from an exchange,
as specimen of the worthless newspaper /
currency which has been undergoing asteady
imitation for the past four months. In No
yen,ber 1872 there was whirlwind which
swept all this trash into the waste basket, but
latterly swarm of rag pickers have been on
their travels, and, as a result, we iind such
rubbish as this, mixed in with great deal
that is fouler, working its way into the clrcu-
latlng medium Of public opinion as last as
dupes can be found to accept it.
1t is bad enough for independent jour-
mails. whose stock in trade is scandal and DEF
amation. TO give currency to this sort OF stun,
but for re igous journal, dIstinctively de-
voted TO the cause of Him who denounced all
evil speaking and the bearing Of false witness,
it is simply shameful. 1t was not probably
inspired by anything Of malgnity but result
ed from careless credulity which took the
unsupported aspersions and insinuations of
men who are malignant as basis of truth
from which to moralize, not rejecting that
in matter involving the personal integrity
of the Chief Magistrate of the Nation,-the
foremost man of all America in the view Of
the world, only the most positive and conclu-
-tfIc assumption
which is made. a.sa,t..s .fioaa .4
SIT is alegedr' That is the favorte phrase
ology of the gossiping journalist. 1t is equiv
alent to the 'they say" of rural Paul Prys
and village tattlers. 1t is peg on which
writer, not quite SO bereft of moral principle
as to have grown fond of lying directly, can
hang as many malicious fictions as he can
carry in his memory or coin from his brain.
There is an exquisite simplicity in the Con-
gregdtiondltst's confession that it knows
nothing about the subject which forms the
basis of its arrangement of the highest officer
in the nation. sBut we do know" it adds,
''that it is disgraceful that things should have
come to such pass that there is any posi-
bility for such charges to be madev' Disgrace
full indeed! Nobody can deny that! But to
whom? Did the Congregationatist never
read that Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madi-
son and even Washington were assailed in
their life times with torrents of personal vi
tuperation and aspersion compared to which
tie abuse of President Grant is tame and
mild? This was also "disgracefulp' Not to
its objects, however, but to its authors. Did
it ever occur to the Congregationalist that
Va Ali
guide entirely ignores the logical sequence of
its sentence, and visits all its wrath upon the
slandered, having no word of rebuke for the
slanderer. Is this just? Is it manly? Is it
decent? On the other hand, is it not calcu-
lated to bring reproach dpon the editorial pro
fession, and subject newspaper criticism to
contempt? Here is religious journal,
teacher of morals, an educator of youth,
which ought to hold up the doctrine that "a
good name is better to be chosen than good
riches" catching up bit of floating scandal
utterly incredible, and utterly groundless,-
insinuation against man whose reputation
is precious to every American citizen.
We repeat that it is very likely the offense
against good manners and ethics to which we
have called attention was committed
thoughtlessly and without any adequate sense
of its gravity. But we feel it our duty to
make the exposition of it the text of an earn
est remonstrance against the growing flppan-
cy and disrespect with which our craft is
treating public men aud public measures.
Now Heaven forefend that we should be I'M
derstood as deprecating political criticism o.
the most searching kind. We Only demand
that it shall be kept within the limits of truth
and decorum. If the press is to exercise any
influence in tue affairs of Government, il
must preserve its dignity and self respect, and
treat all questions with degree of candor
anG impartiality which shall entitle its views
to general confidence. 4E1 u
1t has been our good fortune to enjoy some
personal acquaintance with the President OF
this Republic, and our opportunities for &C
quiring accurate information respecting his
character and daily lite have been sufficiently
favorable to warrant us in expressing the
immovable conviction, that no statesman of
the century, has surpassed him in integrity
duu lCClituuC vi pun pOoCs We diO INV eAAohS
those who regard honesty as so exceptional a
trait as to entitle its possessor to canoniza-
ton. Our experience has satisfied us that
vast majority of mankind are honest and that
dishonesty is notably exceptional. We
should be sorry to lose that faith, for with.
out it our hope for the race would vanish.
But if we were called upon to name the
man among all whom we have ever seen and
known whose individual uprightness seemed
to us of a higher type than that of Gen.
Grant we should be obliged to admit our in
ability to meet the requisition.
If people will stop to reason q moment
they will recall in confederation of our views,
the pregnant fact that Gen. Grant has filled
larger space in the public eye than any
other American from the day of the capture
of Donelson, Feb. II, 1853 to the present
hour-that circumstances have directed to-
wards him the closest scrutiny, and the
severest standard of judgment-that he has
lived in glass house, at which every evil
minded person. might throw stones with i'm
punity-that he has run the gauntlet of in
Vulnerable military and, worse still, two
Presidential campaigns-that he has been at
once the most conspicuous and the most en-
inent actor in the grand historical drama,
which will constitute the memorial of his
fame-and yet in a capital where the spies
and informers who furnish spicy chatter for
readers who must be amused. swarm like the
locusts of Egypt-where straining eyes stop
up the keyholes, and caves, troopers lie con-
cealed in every tavern and dwelling-where
the footsteps of every cabinet minister are
logged, and ali the members of his family
inpudently shadowed-there can be nothing
established, discredting his blamelessness
except such wretched drivel as we have
qnoted abov,. His civic career has been
characterized by unostentatous modesty. in
genuous sincerity, inflexible rectit de, and
sturdy PATRIOTISM.
Some errors have undoubtedly been made
IN the matter of appointments to office, but
when we consider the vast number of Off
ciaiS LOT the country and the impossbility of
personal knowledge of the several cases on
the pat OF the President, it seems really
wonderful that 60 fan,