The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-06-25
An Evasive With ess.


The lively Mrs. jerks does not improve
on further acquaintance. Even her irreve-
rent audacity and fippant tongue cease to
be amusing when administered in large
doses. Such exhibitions are diverting
chiefly because they are odd; they become
tedious as soon MS the gloss Of novelty
wears off, That kind Of pert flip
pancy is SO unfeminine, it SO over
steps the modesty of ladyhood, that
amusement at it's oddity soon gives
way to disgust with it's violation Of pro-
prie.y. A woman who seems to enjoy making
a public spectacle of herself by tho dar-
ing impertinence of her replies and BY
bandying smart repartecs when ex-
amined under oath cannot be respected
as a candid witness, even when i. is pcs
sible to extract from her the truth This
Mrs. jerks not only parties questions by
her fippancy, but when they are pressed
upon her she plumply refuses to answer
with the same easy freedom she would prac-
tise in private circle of her equals. The
committee indulgas this slippery witness in
her freaks because there is no power to COM
pei her to answer questions The House
not being in session the committee cannot
procure an order of arrest for contempt and
she can make game Of her examiners and
defy them with perfect impunity.
Very little was elected from her yestor-
day beyond repetitions Of the same story
and evasions which she presented en- Satur-
day, and yet the hours were not quite mis-
spent during which she was kept on the
witness chair Yesterdays examination
served to divess her of the sensational pres
tige which attended her first appearance,
and to reduce her to her real proportions rs
an intriguing, INSCRIPTIONS adventures.
She adheres to her statement that she
dictated tho so-called Sherman letter, but
fatty refuses to tell who was her amanuen-
sis, or to account, except by impertinences,
for her motives in practising that fragrant
deception on persons for whom she pro-
fessed friendship, or tor the liberty she
took with Mr.. Sherman in opening pri-
vate letter addressed TO him and sending IN
answer signed with his name. Her refusal
to tell who was present in the room
when the answer was prepared precludes
the calling Of witnesses to contradict her
respecting tho composition of the letter in
that place but she was made to give ouch
on exhibition of her habits of mind and
modes of expression as brings the truth of
her main statement into doubt. The letter
is remarkably terse, being couched in the
fewest words that would suffice to convey
the same meaning, whereas Mrs. jerks has
shown herself to be an elusive, garruous
woman, who can hardly express herself
at all without introducing som, irrele-
vance. This being her intellectual character
how did it happen that she was able on a
sudden impulse, to compose letter so
exactly in the style OF trained man of
business? The very first expression in the
letter is one which no woman would have
been likely to use. yours of even date"
has been received. This is form
of expression most unlikely to have
occurred to any woman, even in
attempting to counterfeit the style
of public man. But those who Judge
opinion upon the general cast of the letter
rather than upon particular expressions.
It's directness and businesslike condensation
is quite alien to tho habits Of mind which
Mrs jerks has disclosed In this examination
and in her published letters. 1t is SO
nearly like what Mr.. Sherman IN ght have
written that when he testified before the
committee he not only discovered no inter-
nal evidence that it WAS not his. but stated
that there were things in it which he might
have written under similar circumstances.
How did this Eighty, erratic, loquacious
magpio of woman succeed in composing
such letter?