New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-08-16
AZ UySTCcESSFTL CAREER.

We can hardly feel other than sorry for Mr..
s. s. Cox oil account of the very bad mess ne
has made of it during the session oi Congress
inst closed He has thousands of sincere
friends WHO would have rcjOiccd to see him
distinguish himself in public life and make for
himself a worthy name, ii not ~ leader
or statesman, at least as an honest and
faithful representative conscientious ana
Industrious public servant, and cOurtc-
Gus high-mindcd gentleman. He has had
large experience in public life and an eX-
tensiye acquaintance with men and affairs, is
a man of varied attarnmcntS and great rcadi-
ness and resource in an encounter of wits OF
"A discussion of facts and principles, and has
in addition social qualities in an eminent de-
g1cc which bring 10 him many friends, and
withal the gift and art of popularity which
open the avenues of political prcicrment
and furnish both the incitcment to am
bition and the means for It's gratica-
ton Few men at his age have been
able TO look back upon career oil such I'M
VARYING political success very few have re-
cciycd so often the generous PRISE OF
opponcnts, or been so kindly treated by them.
There is something sad in the disappointment
he has given his friends and wcll-wlshcrS
during the past eight months. AT the outset
he asprcd to the Spcakcrship of the House,
and numbered friends enough among the
members to make him formidable com
pctitor for the successful candidate. 1t was
not an unworthy ambition, but his chagrin
at being defeated, which he made no effort
TO conceal, was an unfortunate disclosure
of weakness From tlat time on hc
seems to have been followed by Il fate which
impcllcd him to constant laundering, repeated
exhibitions of partisanship and bad temper,
and several grave disconrtcSies and breaches
of parliamentary law. We do not need to ie
captulatc the unpleasant scenes in which Mr..
Cox has figured on the floor of the House
during the session. They are fresh in the
memory of all who have read the debates in
Congress or kept the run of the proceedings.
Even Mr. Cox's political friends have ventured
no defense of his conduct, and the most
ardent of his admirers could only say of his
performances "What piiyw
And yet it is to be feared that Mr.. Cox's
behavior is but a type of what might be ex-
pected in more iullncss and completeness were
his party to gain control Of the Government,
and be continued in its present ascendcncy in
one branch of Congress. 1t is the repetition
ON a smaller scale of what used 10 be in the
qnte-bellum times; certain rccklcssncss Of
behavior, staggering manner and coarse
impudcnce of dcmeanor, which sixteen years
of exile from power do not seem to have re-
moved or s0itcned. Mr. Cox is not by any
means a blackguard by nature; his polti-
cal associations have corrupted his hab-
its of thought and the courtesy and
dcccncy of his speech. He talks in Con-
gress not like statesman, OF even like n
well-balanced, self-poiscd politician, but like
bar-room wranglcr or Il ward vote distributor.
He has dropped TO the level of the men whose
support and yutcs he courts, ard they rccog
nize in him their representative. The coarse
gibc and vulgar cpithet, the brutal charge and
low insinuation, the haunting insolcncc aud
clustering bravadO, which have so often char
acterizcd the speeches of some Of the
Democratic members, are, it is to he
feared, not merely occasional ebullitions of
temper, but the legitimate fruits Of Demo
cratic rartisanship; an accurate reprcsenta-
ton Of the spirit and character of the party.
Mr. Cox, in losing his head over the success Of
the party. ONLY did what the whole party had