The Morning herald., 1878-12-21
I(From our regular correspondent J
WASHINGTON LETTER.
WAsHIsa;roH,' %. G.. Dec. 20.

IL r4f w AsHINGTOh, ~. ", Lee. ~
SENATOR wALLAcEs REPLY 70. SENATOR
BLA1NY-THE vERAcITY OF ARITHNE,
Hottie POST TO WHICH A PREsIDENT
TIED HIS HORSE THE APPARITIoN OF
AN OLD Ex,sENAToR UNJUST csrTt,
cIsM OF SENATOR, ooxKLING----wHY HE
DID, NOT LIsrEN TO SENATOR BLAIN1s
GREAT SPEECH. ola 10 y5i7stJGnG aai IN
Mr.. Blaine's, great speech continues 70
be the fruitful source Of unnumbered
speeches in reply, Of endless comment and
discussion in political circles, and in the
press. Decidedly the most effective am
swer that has been made, was that Of
Senator Wallaceaof Pa, who replied to
the Senator from Maine in his own style
with figures, figures that are enormously
suppossd 70 b incapable Of diagsdaisseing tie
truth. MI, rBiaine's figures ,inersass stbe
con gressional representation of the ,sopth,
since The enffanchismsnt Of the blacks, 35.
Mr.. WallaceiB make the increase only 81.
when figures like doctors fdisagrsej let us
amend the arithmetic and revise the ,mals
,ipl,eation table u The old methods Of
computation may have answered, very well
for our ioresfathers, for the golden days Of
lstage coaches and tallow candles, 'fbut
these are the days Of advance, the works
of the men Of mind."T a''# ,slls4&9ti
Some tims, ags0 when an antidiluvian
Senator was dsclaimipg against the public
extrayaeance of modern times, be illas7
trated the prehistoric simplicity Of mans
ners in the Republis, by the lancedote that
Thomas J jefferson, when he was inangnra-
ted, rode on horse back from the White
House to the capital, and tied his nag 10 q
phsG that stood southeast of the Senate
Chamber. A, Senator from Nevada, who
has since died of lsoftening of the brain,
replied that he had no doubtlthat General
Grant could do the some thing If he could
find the post. Bat the post, like the day
of ehivalry, fis gone, and thstmodern sub-
stitate consists Of two liveried lackeys. one
of them 10 shade more slender than the
other, who ait on the, box of a stylish Ian,
dan until the Queen of the Lobby tram
sacts her legislation in the COMMITTEES
room, ear sgc1 io A@pja sIi' .ifsIi.rhC
! Apropos Of . Senator from Nevada: I
saw the white haired other-in-law Of one
of the Senator Bonanza kings from that
state, this morning, and the apparition Get
me thinking. The father>in-law himself
had formerly beena Senator Of the United
States, 4 governor of a state, and . member
Jf ths confederate congress. He is new d
very old man, boarding at a cheap house
for SIS per month, wearing q dreadfully
seedy black coat and psptaloons all frayed
OF the bottom, but still retaining, in bis air
aud manners, areminiscsncs Of the, dignity
of his lost estate, paying bis landlady .
dollar green back, with the air Of an sm>
bassador presenting his country ultima
tum at q foreign Court. Hs was plul
quantity In his day, . man of unbodnded
vanity, of considerable ability, and g eat
physical courage, He fought two duela
Ewitb pistols with the late Geo. D. Prentiss.
Just before the bombardment commenced,
Mr.. trentiss saw some little boys who had
climbed tree at safe distance to biz
right, TO see the fun. He called
1 out, to them "get down little boys, Foott
might hit, you" This contempt Of tht
Workmanship Of his antagonist, wai
deemed sufficient cause for another chal'
lenge, and Mr.. Prentisss had to meet Mr.
Foote again, when, l believe, he wounded
him in the foot. This reminds me Of al
ancedots of another duel that IA. Gam
betta's late rencontre has revived. sTh'
renowned French critic and aeademiciar
Saint Beuve fought a duel in the Bois d
Bologue. The morning was rainy, and n
fron.ed his antagonist holding an umbrell.
1 over him. His seconds protested and triet
to persuade him to lay his protection asid
for a moment, but Saint Beuve insistet
| upon retaining it. He said that he wa
not afraid to be shot, but that he had no
come there to get vet. ...,.
| observe that there ia much criticism Q
Senator Conklings conduct during Mr.
Blaine's now famous speech, but it seem
to me that this criticism is very unjust
: Senator Copkling never listens to an.
bod y but Senator Howe of Wisconsin; an
. was he to insult. and wound the vanity Q
!, every Senator that has spoken for the lae
twelve years-showing, by the compli
!. ment Of his audience, that he thought. MI
Blaine more worthy Of his attention thai
t. ey--than any other Senator, excep
: Senator Howe? Mr.. Conkliny treats'
Mr.. Blaine precisely as he has alway
treated Morton, Edmunds, Thurman
i Sumner~every senator that has of lat
wears lifted his voice in the Senate, ex'
cept Senator Howe. All this criticism
Mr.. Conkling comes from an ignorance
9 his impartial politeness, and the genera
error that he is an ordinary mortal. Fe'
Senators are as consistently polite q
Senator Conkling. Most Of then selfshl
listen to d fine speech.
Senator Thurman, last week, confesss
that he admired rhetoric. But when tn
average pewter .gimhlet Senator bore