The New York herald., 1874-07-25
Abuse of Ruhlic Men.

That magnificent scene in "Henry ", the
King, walking unknown from tent to tent, is
met by the reproaches Of his soldiers, has the
universal Shakespearian moral When in the
bitter sense of ingratitude the gallant Harry
exclaimed. "Upon the King let US our lives,
our souls, our debts, our careful wives. our
children and our sins lay on the King!" he
uttered the experience of all history. Nature
gives nothing, so Emerson says, but always
sells even her blessings, as the old Popes did
indulgences, and men pay q high price for
greatness. Columbus felt this when he asked
that the chains with which Spain had paid
him for an empire should be placed in his
coffin. Barneveld who had organized great
Protestant league against Catholicism, was
prosecuted and slain by his own countrymen
as Spanish spy. Such hard penalties as these
are oftener escaped than suffered but to be
great is, at least, to be envied, doubted and
abused This fact IN human nature furnishes
consoling philosophy. 1t must be cheering
to Marshal MacMahon, for instance, to read
that sit has been the inyariable custom of the
French whenever anything went wrong to
abuse the chief of the State" That explains
satisfactorily, to himself at least, his embar-
easements to-day. When great man is con-
demned by his countrymen, and finds the
proverb thrown at his head "V0r populi, ror
DEL" it must console him to quote, .'And the
people cried, Cruelty him, cruelty him. "
All the eminent Congressman who retired
,,,{n e.
of their dealings with the Credit Mobilier or
the back pay job, comfort themselves in this
manner, and no doubt the ex-chief Of Tam
many considers his sojourn on BlackweUs
Island another example of the ingratitude of
republics.
The American certainly does take pleasure
in abusing public men, and the Frenchman
can hardly excel him in this. Greeley found
this out when he ran for President even the
race he had helped to make free rejoiced in
the opportunity to be ungrateful. General
Grant suffers in the same way, and we know
he thinks himself the worst abused man in the
history of his country, because he said so in
his second inaugural address. What must
he think now The democrats used to
call him ''nepot," and now the republicans
call him Cesar. All of our public men are
just now subjected to an exceptional ordeal Of
censure. We do not remember one eminent
man whom the people and the press would
rather praise than blame. The dead alone
are fortunate in their biographers. Men praise
such men as Gideon Welles because delicate
sentiment of honor leads them to respect the
sanctities Of the tomb.
Each In his narrow cell forever laid,
The rude forelathers Of the hamlet sleep.
The living, on the contrary, get all the hard
words they can bear-from the Congressman
who is accused of mean and malicious excess
Of public virtue to the other no less conspic-
uous, who has been abused so much that he
takes any ordinary curse as O compliment. If
this is the tendency Of comment in these warm
summer days, when people at the seashore
and the mountains are naturally inclined to be
good natured, what will it be in the fall, when
the complexion Of the next Congress is to be
decided? 1t is likely to be a very hot CAM
paign but our advice to politicians is to be
moderate in their language. Never to say
anything of man that would prevent you
from dining with him the next day is an
excellent rule. To violate it is not only to
make an enemy which is bad, but probably
to lose good dinner which is worse