The Portland daily press., 1874-05-15
A "Frightfui'' Example,

B. I. Butler is getting well. The attack
which Frustrated him last week was suppos
ed by many to be the breaking down which
is sure to come to every man who maintains
constant and intense mental exercise. Inc
intellectual gymnastics of Butler for seVefal
years have been of the most exhaustive type
and the strain has been scarcely relaxed ior
a moment. He has an infinity OF occupa-
tions, each recurring the closest attention.
They are mostly of an irregular and bad ten
dencv and hence require ceaseess vigilance
lest they be overtaken and punished by JUS
tice He is like man navigating boat
through rapids thickly studded with rocks; if
his attention wander for an instant, if his
hand lose its steadiness or strength of grasp,
ehipwreck is certain. He pursues his tortu-
Gus course, humping hard upon this rock or
that but avoiding, thus far, destruction.
Probably no other man in the world could
follow such course for so long a time with
such comparative impunity
There were grounds for fear last week that
he had come to the end of his career by loss
of health. Fear, we say, because, although
whom the country could profitably spare, it is
not certain but that his uses as an example
may outbalance all the harm he has
done or can do. There is no such striking
instance in our history of man who sought
distinction and power by bold and vicious
courses, without even the pretence of prin-
ciple or any assumption of virtue or rectitude
He makes his fight for eminence by an APP
peal to the worst impulses and motives in the
public nature. If any man could succeed in
this way Butler could. Gifted by nature
with sngularly acute and agile mind, his
training has developed a ready eloquence,
captivating to the average OF mankind.
spec;ousness OF statement fitted to delude,
and power and sharpness of repartee in
timidatipg to opponents. He has come in pos
session, somehow, of vast wealth which lends
its powerful aid to his purposes. He is free
from the entanglements and hindrances of
personal vices and follies and his strong body
is enervated by no species of debauchery. He
is said to be blameless in private and domes-
tic life He presents all the conditions OF
success, if success can be attained in the way
he has chosen.
That he will fail fail conspicuously and
ignomniously-no one with shadow of faith
in the average uprightness and intelligence
OF the nation will for a moment doubt Al
ready the signs of his downfall thicken. Men
who have been inclined to adhere to him.
are dropping away from him. 1t is getting
dangerous for public man, from the more
decent parts of the country, to be suspected
OF intimacy or confedera cy with him, and
one OF the latest forms of attack on a man
is the accusation that he is "Butler man."
His two defeats for the Governorship of
Massachusetts and the marked rebuke ad
m!nistered by the result of the Massachu-
sets senatorial contest to man remotely
suspected OF collision with him, show his
standing andprospects there. If he renews
his claims for the Governorship this year he
will encounter still more crushing defeat
Ii, then, his life and health be spared and
he continue Lis ''tricks and his Manners
he bids fair to make a most useful example to
the youth of America. Should he break
down untimely, some might say that he
would yet have been successful and thus i'm
pair his value as model. But when he goes
10 ruin, borne down solely because he repre-
scented the bad side of things instead of the
good, his history will be complete. Young
men starting in life may study it to edifica-
ton, and come to believe with the earnest
ness OF fructifying conviction, that there is
no road 10 stable power or desirable promi-
nence except the straight path Of principle,
virtue and right.