New-York tribune., 1879-04-01

he retorted upon Mr.. Peters that he "bad spent a
portion of his time IN the Old Capitol Prison-a
traitor to his country" This was little too much
in Mr. Peters's way, but then we can't say
that it was not provoked. 1t is easy Tor
gentlemen Of the bar TO slip INTO ths
undgned style of personal fence indeed, the prac-
tice IS as ancient rs law practice itself 1t prevailed
at the Irish bar in the days of Its greatest Drliancy
and resulted in many PhGnix Park dueis' IL
is way which lawyers have OF ahvef-
tisng their cleyerness to the public Which
furnishes them with clients; ana we
hardly remember n single great advocate VINO
did not occasionally lapse into it. In any book
of anecdotes Of the bar. the majority OF them VIII
be Of retOrts courteous dscOurteOus andot repair
tee more pungent than delicate Such cases as that
pending at Washington must be tried but why not
with grave severity. if all engaged felt seriously
the unpaatable nature of the mal0dOrous business
A lawyer is er o6ieio gentleman. Moreover he
has an opportunity of giving society lessons in good
breeding Yigor is not inconsistent with gravity,
and the surer an ad yocate feels Of his law, the
more polite he can afford TO be. General Buffers
rule is a good ono for himself and for all his breth-
rem.
Some of the Southern newspapers of the still
dissatisfied Confederate type are finding fault
harshly with those Southern members who prop
erly enough voted pension money to the veteran
soldiers of the Union. The system of pensioning
men who fought on the " winning side at the ex-
pense of the losing side is, it is thought, unfair
and nquitous.7 This grumbling comes of mis-
understanding of the whole matter. There was no
"winning side" in the strict sense of the word.
There was no "side" at all. The laws were
maintained the Government was preserved against
treasonous attacks; the Republic was saved; but
the Southern armies were never rightly III the held,
and were never considered belligerents except for
purposes of convenience and humanity. IL the
seceders have come honestly back to the Union,
they must take it as they find it, and bear the bur-
dens which they themselves created Because we
want fraternity and restoration of the old good
will, it does not follow that we must admit
that we were wrong. or no more right
than were the disunlOnists. If they may demand
that we should refuse a just Iecompense to those
who did u.s. at such cost, such yeoman service, WHY
should they not ask us to pull down our monu-
ments, surrender our trophies, burn the records OF
the War Department, and take away the military
commissions bestowed for extraordinary ser
vices in the fields If a Southern man
chooses to think that he fought " for
home and altar and the right of self-goyernment,"
he must do SO to his hearts content or discomfort;
but. all the same we are obliged to consider him
mistaken. lie mOurns an eyanescent and baseless
fabric of a vision are the supporters OF lnst-
tutlons to which he has always owed allegiance,
even if he has not held it. Add to this that they
are institutions to which he now confesses fealty,
and there ls really no to be said upon the sub
ject.
John Wesley had his reasons for making the min
istry of the Gospel itnerant but if lie were now
living it is lust possible that lie would not object
to longer pastOrates. A great missionary work has
been already accomplished; thousands OF churches
have been established and the necessity of con-
stant journeying by land and by sea has been con-
sderably diminished. 1t must always have been
hard fora church to part with preacher to which
it was affectionatey attached; and if a man has
been useful in his particular locality for three sue
cessive years, the fact furnishes presumption that
he may be useful for three years to come. 10 leave
all his plans to be carried out by another must be
something of a wrench 1t is not surprising, there
fore, to find respectable portion of the Methodist
connection favorng longer pastorates. The subject
was freely discussed in the conference just con-
cuded in this city; but no change was de-
termined on. The body is eminenty con-
servative, and will not readily abandon
rules which for so many years have worked well.
Some stations naturally preferable to Others,
but the majority of the ministry will cheerfuy
acauiesce in the maintenance Of the ancient discip
line. The histor record of trials, sacrifices and
zeal is one of which the Methodist body is justly
proud ; and the great spiritual leader who founded
il is still held in a reverence too high to allow the
methods which he established to be diSTcgarded
without conscientious hesitation.
1t may be unfair to argue that We are slipping
back to barbarsm, from the increasing fOndneSs for
physical feats of strength and endurance. With all
our civilization, however, traces Of the old savage
state are sometimes unpleasantly discernbe. Think
of touds in human form deliberately attempting
the wreck of a railway train. This vllIany was
attempted on the Grand Trunk Railway near
Smiths Creek, Mich, Ou saturday night
the plan adopted being the removal of
rail. Three servants of the road were
killed; others were injured. Here, for the
sake of plunder or revenge or from sheer fendiSh
mlschieyousness, a triple murder was perpetrated,
while the deed made many murders possible. Com
pared with such horrible brutality, murder plain and
simple, by ordinary methods seems almost 4 msde-
meauOr Men who could be guilty must have p
dash OF the wild beast in them and If they do not
make lis believe total depravity il because there
is redcemng goodness enough left in the world TO
deal sharply with them when they are caught and
found guilty.
POLITICAL NOTES.
ri. e f,oI, I'M TildpD ic full