The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1874-05-13
The Gentleman in the White House.

Of course such exhibitions as
Grant made the other day to Colonel
Lathers and the South Carolina tax
payers, and again on Friday 70
Messrs. Low, Field and Johnston,
ind the committee Of New York's
best merchants, bankers, and citi-
zens, are deplorable and humiliating
in the extreme, but as for expecting
better-there our centem-
poraries have the advantage Of US.
We have outgfown the memories
which some of our Republican friends
still entertain, and which our South
ern friends, more generous if not so
lust, are still inclined to build hopes
upon-the magnanimous conqueror
of Appomattox, great figure as he is,
cannot any longer loom before us in
proportions SO gigantic as to screen
the protege Of Butler and Morton,
the patron of poor boy Simmons and
Richardson, the insulter Of William
Gray, the defler Of Sumner, and the
assassin of Louisiana. We have
truer measure Of President Grant in
| 1874 than we had Of General Grant
| in 1865, and there is no use in hem
ming and having about it.
can honest man may like glass,
An honest man may like lass,
! But mean revenge and malice false
He'll still disdain."
We did not support General Grant
for Presidency, and we are not in
clined to ask or expect miracles Of
him now, as some of our contempt
raries do. 'Provision has been made
that the trees grow not into the sky"
said the wise author of 'Wilhelm
Lester" but that does not prevent
the oak and the ash, the elm and the
! pine, from having their peculiar
beauties and uses. We neither
, looked for craftsmanship in General
Grant in the first instance, nor, hay
, ing tried him and found him lacking,
r did we put him forward again, claim
ing for him virtues which we knew
:, he did not possess. We never
o claimed that he was the model gen.
tleman Or the type of refined Chris
: tianaity. But then, we do not let
9 our knowledge concerning him affect
. us towards him as the disappoint-
ments of others have done. Wenev-
9 err thought Napoleon less a general
. because he snubbed his guests and
kicked his servants. We never
thought Massena less brave war
rior because he plundered the COM
missariat and robbed the paymasters.
= Some of our contemporaries deal
with the case differently, and we are
, bound to believe not so consistently.
! Here is the Nation, which, after
> gulping Leet and Stocking and Tom
70 Murphy, and finding Grant the sole
- hope of the country and very pas
- sable candidate in 1872, is now in
y 1874, in view Of the little Sanborn
o trife, strongly inclined to believe
! him the nucleus of all our villianies
- the root of half our evils, and cor
a rupt trickster and q double dealer t
80 boot. After exalting him to the lev
- ell of our best Presidents, our con
= temporary is now trying with equa
= unsuccess to debase him below tn
-, level of Butler.
y Equally unjust is the chagrin 0
- the Presidents friends on account 0
=. this South Carolina loneliness ant
10 this fine politeness to the New Yorl
70 Committee. Why should these hope
bo full persons have expected anything
at else than what happened? Certainl
- they had no title to do so in view 9
70 circumstances whereof they were ad
,co vised, as, for example, the questio
cd of veracity with Mr.. Johnson an
GO his Cabinet, the treatment of Gene
~ raj Hancock, of Mr.. Sumner, and tn
CO. language af the last inaugural. Is
,o11 notpasking rather too much OF pc
-, son of such antecedents to expet
: ;, him to have reserved force Of cor
~ ity and SAVIOR faire for all circun
g. stances, NO matter how unexpected
". We think so, certainly. Did n
:, that fine soul, Thackery, tell U
: ~ perhaps gentlemen are rarer pc
=, sonages than some Of us think fo
Which Of us can point out mar
such in his circle-men whose ain
,na are generous, whose truth is constal
800 and not only constant in its kind b
elevated in it's degree; whose want
meanness makes them simple; W