The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1875-03-31
AN ARTISTIC PORTP6Jr


Hon. PRocroR KNOTT, in a lecture
on 1.-The Model Statesman" delivered
in Philadelphia few evenings ago.
drew the following lfe-like portrait,
which will be readily recognized as that
of a certain person who is at present en-
gagged in running down and capturing
the office of Governor of Kentucky
As a specimen of high art wordlpaint'
ing it is worthy of preservation:
Ifyou were to describe to him the char
acter OF one who, with inferior.taleut the
instincts and habits OF rude vulgarian
and an utter restitution of moral princi-
pie and political information, had succeed
ed in making himself the favorite Of the
populaee By singular volnbility of Lam
guage and loaS, vehement manner of
delivery, combined with coarse manners
and unmeasured abuse of those better than
himself, whose vulgar impotence had SCI
cured him the reputation for a blunt hon
esty in the expression Of his sentiments,
and whose rashness had been mistaken
for quickness of decision and promptness
of action, he would conclude that you
were speaking of = the distinguished
Democratic leader now in your mind's
eye. y - The great leading object in life,
the one which concentrates all the ener-
gies of his intellect, and Influences every
sentiment and emotion Of his soul, the one,
in fact, upon which his very existence
seems to be hinged, is to get into Office
- until some convention, which he had
no agency whatever in packing, puts him
forward as the gallant standard-bearer of
his party and the champion of the untu-
tored sons Of toll
Actuated, as he invariably processes to
be, by pure and unselfsh devotion to the
public good, y = it is but natural that
- where the dispensation of place and
power depends in great measure upon
the popular will. the Model Statesman.
should not only manifest the warmest re-
gard for the individual prosperity and gen.
eral welfare of the people. but the loitiest
admiration for their wisdom. virtue and
intelligence, as well as the profoundest
Difference for their superior Judgment up
on every conceivable question of public
policy. Consequently every other senti>
ment of his soul seems completely absorb
ed in boundless, fathomless affection for
the masses.
The miser may gaze in rapture upon
the shining heaps he has amassed through
long years Of patient toll and painful SELF
denial; the young and bouyant bridegroom
may feel every fiber and tissue of his be-
ing tingling with the delicious emotions
of mingled affection and hope as he looks
down in manly pride upon the gentle and
beauteous form, whose trembling hand
nestles in his own beside the marriage al
tar; the young mother may feel the warm
rich flood of maternal love yelling up
from the deep fountains Of her soul as she
folds for the first time the form OF her eld-
eet born to her gentle bosom; but all such
sentiments pale into utter insignifcsnce
when compared with the unuttersble af-
lection of your Model Statesman for the
great body of the people Under the over
towering influence of this master passion
his soul is seized with an Unsuitable yearn-
ing to become an exponent Of their wis
dom, as well as the champion OF their
rights and the indicator Of their virtue.
He hankrupts the vernaeular in adulstion
of their infallibility while insiduously at
tempting 10 delude the public mind with
some dangerous and destructive fsllacy;
he appIsuds their purity while endeavor-
ing to give shape to popular sentiment BY
exciting some miserable social prejudice
OF tanning the fires of sectional jealousy
and hatred; or, as is more frequently the
case, he maintains mysterious reticence,
or expresses himself in sort Of Delphic
ambiguity with regard to new and import
ant issues, until be catches tine drift Of the
popular current, when be exhausts the yo-
cabulary in extolling the intelligence and
honesty of the sovereign masses. at the
same time modsstly insinuating his own
far-sighted sagacity which had long antic-
ipated precisely that particular crisis in
public affairs.