The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-08-13
A PHOTOGRAPH.

Early in the war, and while yet COM
plete ignoramus in military affairs, he
had been appointed to high command be-
cause he was man of parts, and because
he claimed himself man Of influence.
All through the struggle he had held
eminent positions, giving orders to off,
GERS of far greater ability than himself.
and to many thousand soldiers of far
greater courage. Never but twice had
he been under fire, and then only by dint
Of laundering a laundering promptly
rectified. Never had he devised cam
paign, and never overlooked field of
victory. His real battles were carried on
in his tent, or oftener in superb
quarters in the midst Of cities, surround
ed by staff Of newspaper correspond
ents. These heroes of the pen did for
him all the fighting that he directed or
knew how to direct. They did it on pa.
per, and under his dictation. They
wrote out his strategy and his tactics,
and forwarded them for prompt publica.
ton. They put him at the head of co.,
umns on columns of print. No other
general in history has won so many bat
ties which were never fought, or which
were fought under the management of
others. They were devoted to him,
these Dugald Dalgettys of the press, and
for cause. He treated them kindly; he
was hail-fellow-well-met with the mean
est of them; they couldalways have &C.
cess TO his presence, whoever else was cx-
Guided; they could have tents, and
beasts. and rations, and commissary
whisky for the asking. Greatest favor
Of all, he furnished them with important
information-or father he feigned so to
do. In short, he was the most wonder
full general that the world had seen since
the golden age, and it is not likely that
he will be para.leled until the coming of
the millennium. And, strange as it may
seem in view of this absurd history, Dam
iel Bangs was man Of ability, ambition
and perseverance and resolution.
He wanted to be president, not with the
hope Of initiating noble measures, but
solely for the ostentation of the, thing,
for the pleasure of giving orders. He
was the stubbornest puppy, and the most
regardless Of dirt, that ever tugged and
snarled at a root. No labor could tire him;
no succession Of failures could discourage
him; no exposure or scorn could shame
him. If he had possessed sense Of honor
enough to know how to appear honcra-
bic, and morality enough to perceive that
most Of his countrymen are moved by
moral sentiments, he would have been
far more successful man than he was,
and probably he would have been
greater one. AS things stood,
there was not the remotest hope
of his becoming President; he
could not climb 50 high as the Senate, but
must stop in the House; and even there
he could only preside over third rate
committee. The great wire
puller was by profession criminal law
yer. and, as some plagiaristic jokers put
it, very criminal lawyer. To give the
devil his due, by the way, we must not
omit the fact that he had great power of
speech, aside from his street Arab wit.
He could grasp the whole of difficult
case or a complicated bill; he could argue
the right or the wrong side Of either with
admirable completeness of view, closeness
Of logic, and vigor Of statement. He was
not wanting, either, in the notes of high
appeal, or, strange to say, of moving
pathos; and, finally, his diction was sin
gularly lucid, varied and precise, for an
extemporaneous orator. In fact, he was
very able man. and would perhaps have
been a great one, if he had possessed any
moral principles, or could have imagined
them in others. His constant stumbling
block was this, that he believed that all
his countrymen were rogues, and could
be moved only by roguish motives.