The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1888-09-28
NO.. 81.

some sort of an analysis, more or less met
aphyslcal, of the characteristics of the
hero, and this We attempt for our hero as
follows;
l. He has more cheek than any man in
North Carolina, either native or of the
carpet bag persuasion.
,. He has as much brass as cheek. N.
B.-This distinction between brass and
cheek is purely metaphysical.
;. He is 10y nature bold to rashness, that
is to say, when the enemy is weak, ignor
ant or distant But he is not half so dan
gerOUs IL close quarters a~ he looks. AS
yet no mans blood is on his hands, not
even Gank's. Notwithstanding the bound
less possibilities he has enjoyed in that
line He,is no man for dead corpuses"
Of his own make
4. He is a ready man, and can furnish
more testimony and better fitting testi-
mony on shorter time, from his own imagi
nation aud by his ''own unaided efforts, :"
as General Grant used to say. giving chap
Ter and verse, than any man in the State.
Ia this matter the truth never stands III
his way.
3. he is by unanimous consent admitted
to be a thorough proficient in the dialec-
ties of demagogy of the grosser grades.
His skill as a demagogue is considered
very wonderful.
q. His powers of observation aud gen
eralization are fairly good In proof of
this may be cited the reply he made to a
Northern member of Congress when asked
what Was really the effect of emancipation
in the South. Its we'll enough" said he,
for liggers, but it's hell on bull-yearl-
ings." For terseness of expression and
yet for comprehensiveness of the situation
this is not often excelled
:. On the other hand, his Judgment of
men, that is to say, of white men, is not
always good. For instance he thought
he had soft thing of it when he met Col
Waddell in Fayetteville in 1870. This was
a mistake in judgment in which he has
ever since had cur sincere sympathy. We
deeply sympathize with any man who un-
derfakes to bully Alfred Waddell, think
ing he has soft thing in hand. Our hero
made that mistake. His judgment of a
negro, however, is infallible.
s. Another defect in his mental make
up, if indeed, it be q defect, is a varia-
beness of memory that III large measure
affects his statements, 50 that at times
they not only fail to he consistent with
each other, but fail also to be consistent
with what may be called the parent facts,
or, in other words, the truth. This idi-
OsyncrasY, which is so marked charac-
terlSlc or our hero, would be a source OF
modification to one differently constitut-
ed This also is metaphysical.
8. There is a certain moral obliquity
that obscures his inner vision at times and
disable> him from distinguishing between
decency and indecency. This leads him
into bad habits; the slander of women for
instance.
10 His mind generally is slow to act,
except when the inventive or imaginative
qualities are called into play. For a fact,
fiction is his forte. This, too, is purely
metaphysical.
With such mental characteristics and
the physical gifts he possesses, his wealth
of cheek and voice and brow, our hero
could not fail of eminence-of one sort OF
| another
And thus ends our story. If we have
failed to chronicle brilliant success the
| fault is not ours: we have done the best we
could with the material we had. And in
! this connection we note that our herO's
nearest approach to success has been when
| he had either slaves or Federal bayOnets
at his back, and neither of these are now
| here.