National Republican., 1883-12-28
Punching OF Heads.


sympathy of all kind-hearted mon. Several
things conspred to mako tho job difficult
| We will enumeratc few:
! /. Immens wealth OF material This must
latter may be the product Of mines, gold
coal, copper, and tin, or of manufactures
commerce, agriculture, and happy speculd-
tions, while wealth of material relates chiefly
to abundance, without much regard TO quail
! ity. In taking an inventory of stock for
building committees Mr.. Carlisle found too
many large-sized colonols, majors, and cor
porals, and they mostly turned up as seniors.
A senior expects to be at or near the head =;
but as the seniors were from the south chiefly,
and il would not answer TO make the late
confederate states the most important part of
this union, somebody's heads must necessarily
be punched. So tho first duty was to select
the victims for punching, and the painful
\ ness consisted in the reflection that the heads
to be punched were very friendly, very faith
| full, and very tender-such heads, in fact, as
ones sweetheart carries and to strike which
one would scorn from the bottom of his soul.
| But IL had to be done. Full many time in
forth TO slaughter and meekly laid their
heads upon the block to receive the blows of
! the butcher; but never before has there boon
seen procession, composed entirely of colo
ncls majors, and captains. marched out to
bear the stroke of the shillalah welded by
the massive hand Of tho national slayer
2. There were too many kinds of democrats,
all in good standing. 1t would be wearisome
to name all the kinds, and we will only mem
tion seven, viz: Hard money democrats, soft
money democrats, protection democrats, free
trade democrats, incidental protection demo-
Gratis, democrats in favor Of the money power,
and democrats opposed to the money power.
To give these several sorts all the impor-
tant places they claimed was simply iinpossi-
BILE, and hence moro heads must be punched.
| The club was raised, and for three weeks an
! excited nation looked upon its terrible and
threatening aspect with q sensation of awe
| seldom beheld. Beneath, and within
good striking distance, was seen the
majestic uncovered brow of veteran
statesman from Pennsylvania, known to all
as the champion of democracy on many a
hard-fought field, under whose banner had
| gladly gathered the masses Of the Keystone
State, accustomed to the leadership of the
astute Black, the mighty Buchanan, and the
and to whose support the masses rallied with
extraordinary fervor Yes, Samuel the be-
loved, Samuel child of our institutions, Sam
uel the saviour OF democracy, Samuel till re-
Gently the hope Of the working classes Sam
uel the faithful the venerated, and the strong
must pass under the uplifted weapon, gaze
upon its deadly intent, and, like the martyred
saints, feel its crushing vilainous power.
The blow came and felled to the ground
the aged statesman who but yesterday be-
lieved himself the wielder of nations
destinies, the master of q shillalah that would
fay whole batallions of crude and impious
statesmen rs easily as the swinging of a cart
whip or cat-o'-nine-tails. Think ye that
such a stroke as that cost nothing? Samuel,
who by seniority-seniority the vital thing
to be expected-could claim the first place,
must go. And there. behold he lies upon
the turf, waiting to be buried by his comrades
as stealthily as the soldiers buried the re-
mains of the British Sir John More.
Nor was this all. There was the New York
veteran of thirty years service, the festive
Samuel, of world wide renown. 1t is impos-
sible to name even half the ca talogue of hi:
services, democratically viewed, they have
been So constant, numerous, and trans
cendently important. When from circum-
were no colonels, majors, and corporals in
congress from the late confederate states,
Samuel s. Cox stood up, and, though con-
demning the cause of the rebels, defended
their honorable motives, and made PROPOSE
tions calculated TO make their return tc
places of profit and power easy, without sac
rfcing his loyalty to his country or render
ing him liable to tho suspicion of being q
black republican. He was a friend at court
They were in the clutches of the usurpel
Lincoln, and there he manfully stood insist
ing that the war must close, demanding
leniency and forgiveness and the killing o.
the fatted calf And Cox didn't ask much
The chairmanship of foreign affairs wa
the ono little eve lamb he claimed and would
have been content with but alas the smitel
saw his pleading look, his attitude of wear,
supplication, his modest uplifting, and then
smote him in the face with remorseless
blow, and down no went with scar that tim'
will never obliterate.
The spectacle Of these two fallen brave
laid so low makes such demands upon on
} heartstrings that we cannot go on with
further recital. We have belonged to part.
which has in some small degree opposed tn,
{ absolute rule Of the whip in the hands o
colonels, majors, and corporals. Our Samuel
r have thought us too suspicious, too unjust
4 and too sectional, and have complained forci
S bly, of our feeling as we have; but, now lyin
there weltoring in their gore on this fir;
> demonstration of tho returned regime, W
. | imagine them seeking strength TO exclain