The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1879-08-28
A SIaIXyart "GOd.,

The tufted moth, with silk HAIR def
ly brushed, and symmetrical legs nest
" kept is signed, then burned, by pro-
pInquity to the thing he loves, which
is an eager flame.
Roscoe Conkling is that moth. Conk
ling, the "Stalwsrt" { great heavens,
what q misnomer for such creature y /;
COnkling, the "champ on of human
rights" Conkling, the Statesman !"
Conkling, the woIshipped bully of the
Stalwart horde; ConkIing, the Adonis ;
energies from the atmosphere Of PfoVi-
dence like poor. sneaking, whipped
dog, bearing upon his beet.ing brow
the brand which an angry husband
alone can PIT there.
Conkline's gallantries, 1t Seems, have
baen coeval with his life at Washington.
His persistent attentions to Mcs.
Sprague while attending to her business
affairs, and the denouement a ProYi-
dence, present him to the world as a
most contemplate, ignoble character.
To cover his own m,shap, he lies to the
public by rushing OF a dispatch
through the Associated Press to the
country, to the effect that S?Tague's
difficulty was with the German L'nck,
exclusively, and that ne COrkling }
figured in the affair as a ''!riend Of the
family" The meanness OF this sct is
inexpI essible, but is characteristic Of
the selfish man who peIf 'rmed 1t. |
places Mr.. Conkling in the m )st daspi-
cable attitude.
A career like that Of Conkl'ng usu2 IL
ends in bloodshed. Married men who
fiirt with all the pretty women they
come across must calculace upon
awakening j .alOusy and estraugemen.
at home. Married men whose Il rta-
tions run into criminality and a brazsn
abandonment to passion must expect
their carcasses to be pierced with bull
lets by men whom they Indirectly ir-
jure. ConkliDg's wife and daugh.t r
kept away from Washington 10 avoid
the consciousness of the near presence
of bis manifold unfaithfulness. Has in
fa,uAtion with Mrs. Sprague has been
the talk of Wsshingt n for years. a
superbly beauilul woman, she possesses
that feminine vanity whick delights in
the a1ulation of handsome and disun-
guished men. Few women there are
who are impervious to the incense of
per is ent devotion, especitly if they
arr not happily married. They over
l3ck the T, Il c'ions which the eager
tongue OF slaLder may rt'er upon the
apparent situate All their little en-
couragements of TIE admiTer are care
fully noted down IN the book of the
Ill m ioA IN NJ rtl
but she does not see 1t. The man is in
peril, but he does not care. The moth
hOvrrs lovingly oyer tie pllpitat;ng
flame and | Il hes his face in it. Woe
be to q man who troubles anothef's
nest; who leafs the public mind even
to suspect that 4 has been deliled.
Roscoe Conkling may parade his
pure patriotism, which everybody
knows is sham; he may inveIgh
against those he is pleased TO call "bar-
barians of the South" he may below
about "humsn rights" and ''justice, "
but he, himself, stands before the world
as a robber of domestic happiness; a
sneaking bird of prey who plays or his
fine face and figure; polished llbcr-
ne; aud he appears finally fowl with
feathers bedraggled in the mire; a fugi-
tive with pale, cowardly face, stealing
out of town, trembling before the jus
5iiisble rage of an indignant husband
Conkling is cowaIdly rnte cowardly
in politics, cowsrdly on the stump, cow
ardly on the hlor of the Senate. Be.
hold your god, StslwsIt', with
blanched face, trembling lips, qniver-
ing legs, snes king Ike whipped dog
by night out of Providence, with. q
shotgun pointed at his sleek carcass
Courier Journal.