Year: 1859

habit once formed becomes, with most men, an
inexorable tyrant, no matter how detrimental to the
physical or moral constitution We are free to admit
that newspaper editors have their full share Of bad
habits and with certain class Of the editorial fra
ternty the practice Of dsregardng the truth of mis-
representing the language and sentiments Of their
brethren Of the quill of garbng into sinister mean
ing what in its actual sense was perfectly innocent ia
not one of the least odous, If harmless habits that
are frequently paraded before the public. We do not
say that this unhappy disposition is confined to any
particular latitude Or longitude, but we do think that
certain of the editorial gentleman Of Cincinnati
particularly afflicted with it. In the Cincinnati Com
mercial of a late date we find the following para.
graph: .~.=...


The New Orleans Crescent has gradually lost faith
in the ability Of the mild, amable and inofensive
people Of the Gulf States to protect themselves from
the impudent aggressons of the reckless, ravenous
and bloodthirsty hordes Of abolition bullies of the
North But the Crescent has found champion
Speaking Of the awful imminence of the invasion Of
the Southern States by the legions Of Aboti0n-the
Crescent says:


And then the Commercial goes on to give, in our
own words, our opinion that if such thing were
possible as an invasion of the Southern country by
an army Of Northern fanatics, we should fnd-if it
also possible that our own courage and
were not competent to the emergency-an nvincible
champion in that dread destroyer, the yellow fever
That is all very we'll, and we reassert it. But we
did not say nor intimate that we believed in the
awful imminence Of such invasion, nor did we say
anything to justify the inference that we had los,
faith in the ability of the Southern people to protect
themselves in an emergency Of that description. We
were simply replying to an absurd menace in th e
Inn Va dn hnIia ho1if;
fanatics will invade the Southern country, except fol
the accomplishment of thievish enterprises but il
they should do so in well appointed and organized
armies, for the purpose of conquest, the people Of
Mississippi and Louisiana would not wait for the pes
thence to beat their legiops home again.
In the Cincinnati Times we find another charming
Cincinnati scribblers when enlghtening their readers
upon matters in any way pertaining to the South
Here it is:


New Orleans is said to be almost overrun by scoun
| drels. The boldest robberies committed every
night and the papers advise people who travel late
night early in the morning to keep sharp eyes 81
persons they meet Some Of the rascals have deicat
tastes; one of them, few days ago, carried off fon
thousand cigars. Nothing appears to alarm the mis-
creants but the occasional talk of Vigilance Com
mttee. The terrific certainty and expedition will
| which crime is discovered and punished by thes
popuia eouies en. ue heai vi tue ui6uWaJ HAL dut
| palsy the hand of the assassin.


| The idea conveyed in this smart paragraph tha
police is inefficient and our administration of jus
tice unusually bad is altogether false one and th,
allusion to "the occasional talk of Vigilance Com
mittee' is in oil conscience rich enough under th.
circumstances. As to the administration of justice
it may be bad enough in New Orleans, but it is in
fnitely worse in Cincinnati where within the pas
year two or three most shocking murders were per
mtted in face of the cearest proofs, to go withou
adequate punishment, and where, in one case, il W
remember correctly, the Judge felt it bis duty to
buke the jury for verdict stupdly in defiance Of tn
| law and the facts.