New-York tribune., 1878-06-08

1
surviving friends should have an opportunity
TO feel the pulse or hold a mirror to che lips
of the departed. Mr. Courtney doubtless saw
or thought he saw, in those passages IN the
address which seemed to curl friendly
arm round the statesman's neck, eyl-
dences of genuine cordiality and sincere
esteem. 1t was this misapprehenslon that leu
him TO protest with the warmth OF MS earnest
nature against the terms of the obituary. lie
would not, he said, vote for anything that
"eould be distorted INTO approval and support
" of Mr.. Tilden's course during the past year."
Imagine the insinuating smile with when Mr.
Clinton informed him that the only act OF MI
Tilden's during the past year which the ad-
dress approved was his vote for Augustus
Schell, and assured him that there was nothing
III it which he could not, even with the views
he had expressed, cOnsclentiOusly Iudorse'
Much as if he had leaned over to the angry
Courtney with a bland smile and whispered,
"We come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."
Mr.. Tilden is not the Tammany candidate
for 1880. He was not in 1876. There's a
dim suspicion-and it may have crept into Mr..
Clnton's mind-that the opposition OF TAM
many in 1876 did him more good than harm.
He was nominated In spite of it, at any rate.
Mr. Courtney may think it wise to repeat the
tactics of the last Tammany campaign against
Mr. Tilden. Mr.. Clinton obviously does not.
How much better and more easily fatal
to the OH gentleman to load him up
with bis 1ammany record to say, "he
"was one of us always" and "we
"were proud of his success;' to speak OF him
in the past tense and pack him off in a silver
4 tla
There was in all this something OF the kindly
spirit of the Quaker who said to the dog, I'll
mot hurt thee, but I'll give thee bad name,"
and so shouted " Mad dog !'-leaying to other
people the cruelty of stOnlng the poor crea-
ture to death. "There was, perhaps, no Dem
ocrat in this city, says the judicious
Clinton, "whO had so long, through good
land evil report, at all times and seasons,
adhered to the fortunes Of Tammany Hall.
His authentic biography "-consider for
moment the sly suggestiveness of that word
authentic D" identifies him with Tammany
Hall forty years ago. Could anything be
cleverer than that as a send-Oif for candl-
date who had survived his usefulnessf But
Mr. Clinton did not stop with this load
ing forty years association with Tam
many Hall upon Mr.. Tilden. He twisted
the knife in the wound with the spe
cifc statement that "eYen when Tweed
"and his cOnfederates in crime held
"despotic sway here, Mr. 1ilden did not
Gin any public manner identify himself
with any anti-Tammany organization until
"the Fall of 1S71.n Nothing here or any
where in the address about the great work
of Reform in the city and State, OF which
Mr.. Tllden is so proud only recital OF
his long connection with Tammany Hall and
"pointing with pride" to the fact that
he stuck to it through almost the entire
period in which Tweed and his pals held
control. And then he goes on to tell that
"it was a proud day in our history" when
"we elected to the high Office of Chief Mag
"istrate Of this Union one of our own vet
"eran Democrats, who for near forty years
" had expounded in Tammany Hall the prln-
"ciples of Democracy" Mr.. Clinton is 10y
all odds the most discriminating eulOgist of
the time.
But the crOwning excellence Of this address
is in the closing paragraph, wherein, after
this "authentic biography " of the late candi-
date and burning protest against the " frauds
by which the Empire State" was outraged
and Mr.. Tilden cheated, IT is stated that Tam
many Hall does not propose to make very
much of a row about it. "The great business
"interests of the country should not be
&" inperiled by threats to instigate a revolution
"in order to unseat the present occupant OF
"the White House, and to place IN the Presi-
dental chair our distinguished feOw-citizen
" of Gramercy Park Isn't that good, though ?
They have been dreadfully defrauded and
all that and Mr. Tilden has been shame
fully cheated, but we don't propose to raise any
very great row abOutit it. We fOrbear, on account
of "the business interests of the country"
Here's an exhibition of salf-sacrfce, paral-
leled only by that of the bOarding-schOol
youth who, IN answer TO the question what he
was willing 10 give up during Lent, responded
briskly " Hash.' 1t is a very neat and effect
i've address 1t tells at considerable length
how proud Tammany Hall is of Mr.. Tilden,
and how long and devOtedly he has clung to
It, and how badly he has been cheated
in this Presidential business. But we
" submit to it like good citizens" says Mr..
Clinton. Don't disturb anything on our ac
"count or on account of our distinguished fell
"low-citizen of Gramercy Park" There's
something exceedingly touching in the manner
in which he steps forward in behalf of our
distinguished fellow-citizen Of Gramercy Park,
and declines to have any fuss made over it.
We hope our distinguished felIow-citizen of
Gramercy Park appreciates IT.
And then Major Quincy made n speech, in
which he said, "Wherever Mr.. Tilden may
"look for his guiding star in politics, it is
"here only he will find it." 1t strikes us that
if he does he will see altogether too many of
them for comfort.
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