National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-05-18
onr Peoksnirs I'm Polltics.

formed by anatomical friends Is one OF the most
wonderful works Of nature. do not know how
II may be with others, but II Is great satisfaction
TO me to know, when rcgaling on my humble fare,
that nm putting in motion the most beautiful
machinery with which wehave acquaintance.
really feel at such times as IL was doing pub
lie service When ] have wound myself M, i'll
may employ such term, said Mr.. Pecksniff, with
exquisite tenderness, "and know that am Going,
feel that, in the lesson afforded by the works
within me, am Bencfactor to my Kindl"-
DieEenSs Martin Chusslc,vi, chapter g.
We have quoted the above utterances
of Mr.. Dickens's pet hypocrite to show
by analogy what Pecksniflian morality is
doing for American politics. Mr. Peck
sniff had just been indulging in ham and
eggs, a dish of which he was very fond.
But had he eaten to crafty his palate or
even to satisfy his hungerp Oh, mol Tc
admit that would be to lower the stand
ard of his lofty morality and place him
on q common footing with ordinary be-
ings. He had eaten solely to set in mo-
tion, for the benefit of mankind, those
wonderful works of nature within him,
by which was conveyed lesson of sur
passing beauty Oh, noble PecksniHl
VII, pTlCeleSS nam anu eERBI
We have our Pecksniffs in politics, and
the honors and emoluments of public
office are their political ham and eggs.
They do not seek Office because they
want either the honor or the profit. 1t
is all for the public goodl They have
subdued their own desires as the oleagi-
nous and rotund Mr.. Pecksnif had con-
quered his appetite. The vulgar pleasure
which the eating of savory viands confers
upon the common earthly mortal was
foreign to the experiences and tastes of
the aesthetic and sublimated Pecksnif.
It was only as moralist and humani-
tartan that he enjoyed his meals. In like
manner the political Pecksnif enjoys
Office only as his holding of it benefits
mankind. He isincapable ofany personal
appropriation of the distinction con-
ferred upon him. 1t is all for the public
good. Pride, ambition, money, or the
comforts it will buy-to all these our
Pecksniffs are wholly Indifferent. You
shall mark one of them in some high
| public Office. He wears an air of calm
and generous selfappreciation. He
knows that if he goes out his place can
never be filled. His heart is heavy with
| anxiety lest the public shall lose his SER
vices. He knows that so long as he can
| remain in his honorable and much
sought-for position he is "wound up"
and is Going" and that he is adjusted
to the moral mach inery of the universe.
Blissful thought Exalted selfabnega-
ton! If wicked "scoffer against the
cause" is set up for some influential
place, with the possibility ahead that our
Pecksnif may encounter his opposition
for reelection to the Office which he
knows he so adorns, and in which
he performs such marvels as n
Benefactor to his Kind, what won
der if he makes a stand for the pub
lie good? Oh, Public! you do not de-
serve to be served by such unselfsh men.
"The cause" they uphold is the cause of
Civil-Service Reform. That reform con-
sists in bearing the cross of Office against
ones will, in scrambling to get in in or
der to keep the scoffers" out, and in
forgetting the taste of the ham and eggs
in the blissful realization that by eating
them the beautiful machinery " of di-
gestion is put in motion. Says NJ. Taine
in his history of English literature, in re-
viewing this same character of Pecksniff:
The English Yin their Parliament, meetings,
| associations public ceremonies, have learned the
oratorical phraseoogy, the abstract terms, the
style of political economy, of the newspaper and
the prospectus Pccksniff will talk Ike prospectus
He will possess its obscu,iy, its wordness, and its
emphasis. He will seem to soar above the earth,
in the region of pure ideas, In the bosom OF truth.
| He will resemble an apostle brought up In the
| Times Office. He will declaim general ideas ON
every occasion. He will find a moral lesson In the
| ham and eggs he has just eaten. As he folds his
napkin he will rise to lofty contemplalions. You
recognize new species OF hypocrisy. Vices like
virtues change in every age.
The resemblance between the above
vivid portrait and some of the more pre-
tentious of our own Civil-Service Reform
Pecksniffs is not more striking than is
the analogy between the following words
of the same writer and the reasons which
sometimes render profitable the gross
hypocrisy of our own political Pecksnifis.
He is speaking of English society:
In country where 1t Is scandalous to laugh
| vi DuHhuSi MHtlc BlOoHly nuS pre-
| served something of his old rancor against happf-
| ness, where the critics of ancient history insert
| dissertations on the virtue of Ncbuchadnezzar
1t isnatural that the appearance of morality should
| be seryiceablc. 1t is n needu coin; those who
| lack good money coin bad, and the more public
opinion declares 1t precious themore 1t is counter
| feited.
Honest, intelligent, and faithful per-
formance of official duty is the highest
standard that can be conceived of for the
civil service of the Government. This is
the good coin. Ambition to rise, pride Of
place, and the enjoyment of lawful COM
pensation do not debase it. Hypooritical
pretense of unemployment of public
honors, cant about the immortality of
aspiring to them, and Pecksnitiian
drivel about "a cause" which consists
wholly of this very pretense and cant,
are an insult to common sense and an
outrage upon common honesty. OF such
is the bad coin. To us it seems poor
counterfeit.
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EDITORIAL NOTES.