National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-07-16


and knowledge, as they are by no means in
separable twins; in fact, they often co-exlst
In inverse proportions. acknowledge
comes" says the poet, "but wisdom
lingers,n and we all remember the lines OF
the Scotch plowman-
A set Of dull concoited asses
Confuse their brains In college CLASSES,
They gang In fools and come out asses,
Plain truth to speak
And some they think to climb Pdrnassus,
BY dlnt Of Greek.
And there can be little doubt that under
the old birch and stutllng system OF educa-
ton the number Of men and women loaded
with more facts than they could carry slg.
gested an item of statistics which would be
as amazing as 1t must be interesting In
census report.
We have left Solomon out OF the list, be-
cause we really know very little about him.
II he wrote the Book Of Proverbs he must
have been very astute person, who would
have made an excellent distr let attorney
for the city Of New York. But his wisdom,
after all,was the wisdom OF the old woman,
who, after spending about seventy-nve
years knitting stockings and grooming with
the neighbors, picks up a number OF
aphorisms worthy of Martin Tupper or the
head lines for spenceran copy.book As
to Solomon's genuine kHowledgc, we doubt
very much II he knew why the ocean is
salt or why Adam ate that apple.
We have, therefore, excluded him from
the company Of Spencer and Aristotle.
Now, as TO the philosophers Of class No.
/, who know next to nothing, they are
numerous as the sands upon the Jersey sea-
shore for multitude. They don't want to
know anything except the dinner hour and
the contents OF a morning paper. Such
people are happy and honest and have their
own exceeding great reward.
But 1t is class No. 2 that deserves our clos
est scrutiny. At the present time of going
to press there are In the wide universe only
two men who either pretend, or enjoy the
reputation of pretending, to know every
thing. Their names are Henry W. IIurl-
bert, who sends London correspondence to
the New York Sun, and Henry Labouchere,
who edits n London society journal known
as Truth. Labouchere is not doctrinaire,
and laughs heartily when he makes q mis-.
take; bu! each paragraph of Uurlbert leaves
an effect only to be compared with that
still small voice of God upon the mountain,
which, brought such comfort to the bewll-
dered prophet. Not that Mr.. liurlbert's
sentences bring much comfort, because no
one can understand them. Sentences are
supposed to express ideas, and this gentle
mans collocatons OF words are not sen.
tences, but, to borrow from the French
generals criticism on Balaklava, "they are
magnificent"
For real, unmitigated fun there is nothing
more delightful than to take one of Mr..
Hurlhert's letters to the Sun aud dssect It,.
They all run something in this strain
Last night ! was dining with my friend
the Duchess OF -, aud after dinner Lord
- showed me a letter from the czar of
Russia which contained a clear account of
what Russia should do to Spain In case
England took possession Of Madagascar, or
in case France advanced upon CONSTANT
nople. You may rely upon this informa.
ton, as the gentleman who gave II to me
holds the strings of European politics in his
hand at present.
As | saw the Countess Of Hohenstaufen
to her carriage she stopped under the lamp
light in the street and showed me short
note from Bismarck explaining the feelings
OF the German chancellor toward Mr.. Glad
stone. The expressions were peculiarly
bitter, but the countess assured me that
Bismarck thinks Mr.. Gladstone is fit for a
lunatic asylum. AS her carriage drove OF
made my way to the house of commons
and had long chat with Lord Salisbury.
He is quite confident of tory victory, and
showed me a letter from a shoemaker in
Northampton, which stated that the county
had become so disguised with liberalism
that Northampton intended TO turn out
both Bradlaugh and Labouchere at the
next election. This will be terrible blow
to Gladstone, and as | was ponderlng
over the possible result met
my dear friend Michael Dayitt
who was eating bun at the restaurant in
the lobby. We discussed the position IL
Ulster, and Davtt showed me letter from
the grand master Of an Orange lodge II
Tyrone, which contained an offer OF fou
thousand full. blooded Orangemen to tn,
home rule cause If Davitt would onl,
| promise that the parliament In Colleg,
Green should never permit the revised
edition Of the New Testament TO ente
Ulster. Dayitt wired assent, and, as hC
finished his bun, told me that the Orange
landlords were hand In glove with Parnell
This may seem strange, but We all know
what the poet says upon that subject. Glad
stone was not in the house that evening, s,
| wentup TO the ladies' gallery and had
chat with the Princess OF Wales. She tell
me that her son Victor has strong literary
tendencies, and appealed to me II in m,
opinion the said Victor should write cpl
poems or sea novels. ] told her ] SHOULD
write to Mr.. Daua for ADVICE and sh
seemed much pleased with the idea.
Upon leaving the house l stumbled u,
against Bradlaugh and Lord Randolph a
the same time. / shook hands warml
with Mr.. Bradlaugh, who Is In excelen
health, and then, armin.arm with Church
hill, walked on to the Carleton.
Russia, as the ambassador told me ye:
terday at IL O'Clock a, M, Is not going t
take India this week, but, from privat,
letJer III my possession' may tell yo
that British India will belong to the czar ol
Thursday week at the very latest.
The French princes all wear flve.butto
gloves, and my friend, D'Aumale, told IN
at supper last night that never in his life
even IN the tented field, was he able to ca
more than FIVE meals day. The plain liv
ing and high thinking Of French prince
and gentlemen is perfectly charming, AM
our millionaire friends in New York woul,
do well to follow the example.
And so on, and so on