New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-09-19
nub,;c carer is a demonstration of his absolute
untrpst,vfthiness.
,r orD ROUdNS NEW ROLE.

TIE OLD ROMANS NEW ROLE.
Jrde Thurman has apparently concluded
,bot heretofore he has taken the campaign 700
ser;dsly largely owing to causes over when
no nd no control So he has resolved to do IL
| f,on this time on as broad burlesque. This
| h, will no doubt make very amusing, with the
telp of a bandanna makeup" snuii-poA
and an assortment Of jokes, which the If
reyerent Roman boys used to denounce rs
chestnutsr as far back as the second century
of the Christian era, years before Judge Ihur-
man was born.
The Old Roman Guard" of Columbus called
upon the Judge the other evening and induced
him tn accept in their behalf banner bestowed
by some Of he ladies CT that town. While en-
Gagged in this delightful occupation, he let his
humorous faculties loose. as it were, in a way
that would have spli. the sides OF the Roman au-
gurs who were his boon-companions so many
centuries ago. They were accustomed to de-
clare that they never had times Of greater altl-
tude. nor more venerable, than when spending
an afternoon with the Judge over demDohn
of yellow Tibcr water in one of the committee
rooms in the basement Of the Capitol. And
the Roman augurs were connoisseurs IN this
sort of thing. Before the public they pre-
served their gravity, but behind the scenes and
in the mdress of private life they knew good
time when they saw it, and always expected 1t
when they bcheld the Old Roman-he was
known as the Old Roman even thcn-turning
the corner with the familiar bandanna hanging
a little more gayly than usual out of his toga
pocket. But he surpassed himself in his speech
at Columbus. First he told them that it was
over 90 years ago that Thomas Jefferson de-
clared the principles that wiped slavery from
our fair land.v The fact that in order to wipe
slavery from our fair land" IT was necessary to
wine up our fair land with the Democratic
party, and wipe good portion OF the party
clean out Of existence, the Judge did not dwell
upon. 1t would have spoiled his joke. which
must have convulsed the cold Roman Guard"
even ii they were all auglus. "To-day," he
continued, There is not white slave in the
domain of Christianity. Why? 1t was due to
Democratic principles " as represented in the
Declaration of Independence.
Then the Judge recalled he trifling incident
of African slavery and the course of the Demo-
cratic party with regard to it, but he dismissed
it with great dignity. at is true" he said.
1--WE had blacks in slavery, but this bondage
had to gon Yes, it did, but in order to per-
suade it to 60, the Democratic party "had to
gov out of power, and large proportion of its
membership had to go' into another world.
1T was the inevitable result" he said, " of the
principles espoused by Jefferson and embodied
in the Declaration of Independence" What
part the modern Democratic party, which IS
continually taking Jefferson's name in vain,
had in bringing about this inevitable result"
in which he took so much PRIDE he did not
say. nor exactly what his own share in it was.
1t might have interfered with the pleasure OF
the "Old Roman Guard" whose Latin gravity
could not Withstand the spectacle of the Old
Roman saying all these absurd things, as the
burlesque actors do, with a perfectly straight
face But now he reached his highest flight
of humor. You cannot name." he cried, one
good cause in the last hundred years that has
not been fostered by the Democratic party"
If this was not received with shreks of
laughter, then the praetorians of Columbus,
Ohio, have net the sense of humor that dis
tingushed their prototypes So the Demo-
cratic party abolished slavery! Well, we live
and learn. Next we shall be told that it was
the Republican party that declared secession
and the Democratic party which crushed the
Rebellion; that it was the Republican party
which fought for slavery, and the Democratic
party which reduced the National debt and
placed the National credit on a granite footing;
that it is the Democratic party which is now
engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle with the
rum power and that it is the Republican party
which steals half a dozen States in the South at
every election by fraud and force. The Old
Roman seems to see things upside down, and
we fear that, in his anxiety to please his audi
ence. he committed the artistic mistake of
standing on his head.