New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-09-10
PLEADING TO BE RETURNED
BRECKENRIDGE AND HIS SHAMEFUL
CAMPAIGN.
THE ''sILvER-T oNGrED ORATOR" BY TURNS SEN
TIMENTAL AND CYNICAL~EMoT1oNAL SELF
AMUSEMENT AND sAnpoNIC EFFRoNTERY.


TIMENTAL AND CYNICAL-EM EMOTIONAL SELF
AMUSEMENT AND sAnDoNIC ErFRoNTERY.
| lrEoM A srArr CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRrBUSEl
| La Grange, Ky, Sept. 4-Tne line OF defence
taken by Colonel breckenridge In prosecuting his
| canvass for denomination is peculiarly interest
| Ing from the fact that II emphasizes so pquantly'
| the personal foibles and intellectual limitations
! Of this unabashed pleader for political and social
rehabilitation Facing aroused constituency
!. with record OF moral grossness like that uncov-
| cred by the Pollard trial. II would have been
only natural for a despatched candidate to take
| one of two very plain and open courses-either
| TO proclaim with the bold ard sweeping cynicism
of Colonel phil Thompson, Mr.. Breckinridges
| unbush!ng advocate before thu court at Wash
ington. that an exposure Of private vices, how
| ever odious, need not and should not affect
| politicians public character and usefulness; or
| TO admit frankly the Nervousness Of ones offences
and appeal for leniency Of Judgment in consider
| alton of that free and full confession OF error
But to man OF Colonel Brcckinridges pecu-
liar type of intellect and temperament. the adop-
ton Of either q these two lines Of defence was
logical mpcssibility. Essentially sentmcntalist
In politics with a highly cultivated turn for
emotional oratory, nature and training had alike
untitled the returning prodigal for the sardonic
and cynical role outlined for him by Colonel
Thompson. On the other hand. though display
If penitence. spectacular and imposing In its Of
tect was decidedly suited TO the powers Of an
acknowledged master Of lachrymose eloquence.
There is apparently. In Colonel Breckinridge's
| character morbid impaticnce OF criticism, even
when sef-innictod. an imperious assurance OF
superiority TO ordinary standards Of conduct-a
moral insensibillty. in short-which has put the
assumption Of this alternative part equally be-
You'd his natural abilities.
The result has been that cropping now in one
direction and now In the other the embarrassed
candidate has held 10 neither possible attitude
with consistency or resolution. On one day he
has pattcd his vices patronizngiy IN public
and declared with air of Falstafilan inconse-
quence that they have really made him fewer
enemies than his virtues. on another day he has
beaten his breast before his constituents with
the contrition Of the publican the efrusiveness
OF his establishment scarcely conccaling. how
ever the lively hope beneath Of going back Justi-
fed to the House Of Representatives. But the
OVER owsring need - sentlmen,allzlng over some
thing has unusually triumphed over both these
moods and Colonel Brecklnridge has finished by
finding an easy and regular outlet for his emotion
In the ampllnca,ion Of the prosecutions" To-
which he has been unjustly subjected. and the
celebration OF his own undeserved but patien,
martyrdom 10 public opinion outside the Ash
land district"
These thoughts were especially borne home T.
the writer he listened this afternoon 10 the
"slver-tongued" orators speech at a gathering Of
his Oldham County constituents al the little river
tow. Of Westport. Oldham County Of which
this village OF Ia Grange IL the county seat. lies
on the south bank - tho ohio R.ver. ad
Joining on the west jefferson. whose county seat
is louisville With rs two relghbors 10 It's east,
Henry and owen counties. 1t forms the 'upper"
or back country" end az the With Congress
District Poorer I'm soil more sparsey settled, ana
with a population wholly rustic these thre"
river valley counties have usually ngured IN the
politics 81 the district a quite unimportan, 'ap
pendagc 10 the five richer. more populous and
more highly developed counties ~ the Blue Grass
reelon-Fayeiie, WOodford. Franklin. Scott and |
Bourbon which from the beginning have made
the history Of the Ashland Distrc, what II IS
Until this year. when all normal political con-
dltIons were swep, away In the ferment caused |
by the revelations Of the Pollard trial. ~ claim
10 Congressional nomination had ever been raised |
by n Democratic leader from the back coun-
try" end II the istric, For two genera ions the
sea; held 20 long and lllustrousy by CLAY |
had been practically monopoiized by the two |
counties 81 Fayertc and Woodford. and but for |
the exposure ~ the present occupants immoral |
tics this hard-and-fast succession would doubt !
less have been carried undisputed into another |
generation. Encouraged. however. by the extra |
ordinary political confusion and party demoral- |
ization caused by its revolt IN the Blue Grass |
counties against Colonel Breck!nrdgc the lead !
Ing Democratic politician Of the upper coun-
ties. Mr. Settle. of owen. took the field last May |
as n candidate against both the sitting member |
and his chief opponent of the Blue Grass sec |
ton Mr. Owens ~ Scott County BY one of the |
curious whirliggs 81 politics. the contest for the |
nomination has thus been carried with equal |
energy and bitterness into every part OF the dis |
tric and the hitherto neglected upper" end has |
become one Of the most vital factors In the sue. |
cess or failure OF Colonel Breckinrdgcs signih- |
cant experiment in American politics. To hold |
enough cf the back country vote 20 make good |
his known losses In the Blue Grass counties has |
been the chief aim Of the Breckenridge canvass: |
and In his stamping tours the ''silver-,ongued" |
orator has penetrated for the first time In many |
years into the obscurer parts OF this rustic upper
section
AT Wesport this afternoon. n tiny village nest |
ling on one Of the steep bluffs which rise from |
the Ohio. eight miles from railroad. the tele-
graph ne found an audience sngulary suscepti- |
bic, perhaps. TO tire specious eloquencc Of his |
plea for personal Indulgence and political quarter.
Before this bucolic. out-of-the-way gathering. II
was only natural, too, that ne should let fall
little the mask Of intellectual refinement. and |
show something OF the real feeling customarily |
hidden under the OF his fastidious oratory.
His first sentence struck the real note In the
whole speech. Standing on a rude platform built
under the trees In the churchyard Of the
church which Wesipori possesses. the besmrched |
statesman faced his audience. one third women
and young girls and jauntily declared: II am not
now running for & professorshp OF theology or
the presidency Of a female seminary" II was