The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1899-04-07
SHOULD Be KEPT At home.
! the Water Valley Herald.

From the Water Valley Herald.
The performance of the "wounded
liOn'' at Aberdeen, and his later posi-
tive refusal to meet Hon. John NJ.
Allen at Meridian, was ii surprise to
his friends and foes. To have made
a speech in his own behalf. and a~S>ail-
ing his opponents, and then to have
avoided the counter assaults Of his
foes by escaping and leaving the field
in a hurry, was not much liOn-liker
either wounded or bon vivant. To
name himself a lion in the pcrleryld
elWlucnce Of sclt-apprabation, cannot
be said to be Ovcr modest; but having
conceived for himself the distinguish
ed courage Of a lion, he should have
maintained the character he had as
sumcd for himself, and stood his
ground. The ludicrous spectacle of a
lion frightened by the sable wings Of
an impudent "vulture" burning the
wind" ''cutting' the back and
"totin' the news across the prairie
to his lair, just made the whole cOun-
try smile at the inapt sclt-laudatory
smile which the Falstatian govern
or had applied to himself. If we
should take the two roles the govern
or has given himself in the great poll
tical play, he has badly mixed them
in his Aberdeen performance. The
brave, fierce and u%nconquerable lion,
and the whimpering bloody of 'perse-
Cuted Virtuel-tU play two such char
acterS in II single act is bound to be
more or less ridiculous. The hysteri-
cal sob of the small boy in a paroXism
of c~owardice, sounds strangely with
the growl of the lion; but the govern
or has passed the whole great length
between the extremes of herOism and
the puSilanimity of heroism and the
puSilanimlty Of weeping injury. The
whole course Of the governor would
be plain sailing if his foes would Just
take the cue he.has provided for them,
While Ansc, like "patiencc on a
monument, smiling a grief" plays
his little game Of persecution and
m%artyrdOm, he would have his enc
mics overwhelmed in rcmprse with
the tablcau lie is playing, and when
the ''kIng Of the forest" and the hero
of "giecns and table cutlery" growls.
then 1t is the duty of the ''small
pack at his heels to cover and "hunt
tile cover"
But the meak and ugly enemy don't
play right for the governor. They
Just wont rUn away when the lion
grows, They don't triguten IL little
DIT when they see the cleaning knife
shovel the luscious greens Gown the
NoraciouS throat Of the beast of the
jungle. They don't ever weep while
the governor plays the SorrOwing
farce Of the "rnappreciatcd Reform
en-, the "Solitary Pa%triut'' and the
"lcr>ecutcd Saint" that '.needs the
prayers Of the good people of the
state" The ugly crowd, the vulgar
multitude just won't do their part.
They accuse the governor Of running
the gauntlet Of the quarantine and
drinking pine-top to freely, but they
fix the wrong time. 1t was not so
when they said it was, but at some
other time the "wounded lion," the
humble browser Of turnip tops, ssneed-
l ed the prayers Of the good people of
the state The governor ought not
to be sent to Washington. where
turnip salad and the primitive case
! knife are unknown. He would be
; homesick without greens and lone
some without his favorite table knife.
/ Let's keep the governor at home close
by the luscious turnip patch Let's
give him knife and plenty of greens,
> Il spoon and enough potliquo", that
. lie may be happy. He is II SeIf-made
e man, and he ought to have time to
$ perfect and improve the job, that
..tln nrnunrS If tho mod nnI.nln IL Aln