The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-04-26
Ar. We .s had IS we Seem,

lines which are commanding more than ordi-
nary attention:-
scanned the fostering news we half despise,
Yet scramble for no less,
And read OF public scandal, private fraud,
Crime haunting scot Tree while the mob applaud
once made vile to bride unworthtness
And all the unwholesome mess.
The Land OF Broken Promise serves or late
10 teach the Old World how to wait.
MI Lowell has been abroad for some time
and naturally takes what might be called an
expatriated view of affairs. Life abroad is not
without its attractions to the average Ameri-
can mind, especially after it has recovered
from its yearning for green corn and oysters
and becomes reconciled to breakfast without
hot bread It has been said that among the
advantages of living abroad is that the Ameri-
can sees in America q country great deal
larger and great deal smaller than it ap-
peared when at home. In other words, it does
not show the ripeness, the culture and the OPP
portunities of the older countries, while, on
the other hand, it does show the possibilities
of future such as no other nation in the
world possesses
What, however, is sure to arrest the attention
calls the fostering news" The traveller, as
he pauses for day near Chamounix or Kill
larney to read the file of New York news
papers and tie up the threads that have
snapped between himself and home, is apt to
be startled with the revelations" and sex
posures' and investigations" that cram the
party journals. Names he has been taught
to revere are sullied. Honorable and gifted
men who have served the country well are
dragged in the mire. The chief magistrates
OF his country, his State and his town are
vilifed in words that would be repulsive to a
drab. Take the current Of reading and COM
ment and illustration that ran through the
Last campaign for the Presidency. The
American found that the President of his
country, the first citizen and first soldier of
the day, and the representative OF his nations
dignity, was boor a sot, the stable companion
of jockeys, whose highest amusement was to
toy with bulldogs. He found, also, that the
statesmen who surrounded the President and
sustained him in council and administration
were men Of grovelling tastes and corrupt, that
some had been bought with the Spanish gold,
while others were known to be in the habit
Of robbing the Treasury to pay their current
expenses. On the other hand, he learned
that an honored and illustrious citizen who
had lived sixty years of a blameless life and
who had won the affections Of his country
men by his services in the cause of humanity
and his purity of character, was, after all, the
friend of assassins, the secret supporter of Sc
cession, the partner Of Tweed in his robberies
and the responsible cause of the crimes of
Andersonville. The result such q reading
would make upon the mind of the wayfaring
American is precisely what it made upon
the minds of the American people. They
elected the illuminated Grant by an over
whelming majority and they honored the SLAM
dered Greeley with the highest honors ever
paid to an illustrious man.
We have too much Of what might be called
fostering news" in our journals. But we
think Mr.. Lowell makes grave error when he
speaks Of "crime Haunting scot free while the
mob applaud" and of ''office made vile to
bride unworthiness." In our country we speak
of things which are not discussed in Europe.
We indulge fankness of comment and Gen.
sure which surprise our friends abroad and Gre
ate wrong impressions. We exercise a rigid
supervision over our public servants. Subjects
are discussed with us which are never men
toned in the European press The Prince of
Wales (if we may make the illustration without
ofence) might lead life like his ancestors
George Nv. and Charles H., and there is not
journal in England that would ever allude to
him except in the terms BETTING gracious
majesty. But no American President could
lead such life and remain in Office six
months. One of the most gifted and honored
judges now on the English Bench is known to
have led personal life that would never be
tolerated in one of our judges Look at the
process Of analysis and scrutiny through which
o candidate must pass before he passes the
Senate. There is no such process abroad, and
if Mr. Disraeli were to resolve to appoint a man
resembling Attorney General Williams to the
Court Of Queens Bench there is no power and
no public opinion that could prevent him.
We had, we admit, the scandalous Tweed
domination; but we put Tweed in jail. Tweed
was no more than Walpole and the Pelhams,
who died honored noblemen of England.
We should be sorry also to think that Amer
lea, with all it's faults, is "the Land of Broken
Promise We must remember that nothing
80 weakens the public morals as o continuous
and exhausting war. History shows that
war is always followed, as it were,
by moral pestilence by speculation
rise in values and false ideas of wealth
and prosperity. All Of this we have
gone through and much more remains We
believe in the future. We have men in Office
who are not ideal statesmen, perhaps, and we
have our own amusement In denouncing
them. But are we 80 much worse than the
fathers? Remember that Hamilton wrote a