Year: 1877

The whole country owes Mr.. Butler thanks
for tie brief respite he has given it. The
longer it continues the greater will be the
debt of the country to HIM. Perhaps strictly
speaking we are indebted more to Mr. Wayne
MacVeagh than to Mr.. Butler himself for
this period of tranquility, but Mr.. But
ier's silence is such boon that we are
not disposed TO begrudge lin the credit for 1t
so long as he soothes us with il, whatever be
the moving or quoting cause. How long his
present torpor will continue we have no means
of knowing but there is reason to believe that
the removal of Pitkin and appointment of Wllar-
ton will rouse him very shortly into strldulous
eruption. We hasten, therefore, to thank
him for so much rest az he has given us since
Mr.. MacVeagh last knocked HIM ont of time.
The truth is, the public is more than sated
with Mr.. Butler. People have had so much of
him for the past zen or fifteen years that his
figure las lost much of its grotesque pic
tnresqueness, and his views and opinions
upon political or any other questions have
ceased to he of any interest t0 any one but
himself He makes II very great mistake If he
supposes that what he thinks or says Is OF the
olishtoat public consequence. The general
drift of his opiniens, his habits of thought,
and even his modes of expression are now 80
familiar to the public that if there were any
curiosity to know where to count him upon
any question there would be no difficulty what
ever in forecasting his position and discount
ing his action. And nothing he can do or say
can refresh his stalenesS OF renew his worn
ont variety.


That there have been times when he seemed
l.; ,;,,, wi
in the mysterious workings by which dark
things are wrestcd in spite of themselves to
benefcent moral purposes, wrought out good
results through his Observation-Disclosures not to
he denied. And it is true also that
when his appearance had the attrac-
ton of novelty, and his methods, de-
vious though they were, seemed unique
and fresh, and his persistence and audacty
first began to loom up on the political horizon
rs mOnstrositics Of abnormal development, he
did have certain sort of fascination for a
great many people. He was so often the OBJ
iect of attack, and seemed so agile in
escaping and so insen'ble to hurt. that for
while the political naturalists hardly
knew whether to class him with the loon
or great Northern diver which eludes its
enemy by qucknesS and adroitness, or with
the pachyderms, whose hides shed shot as a
duck does water But he has now long been
casscd with the latter, and the fact has been
thoroughly established that his pcrmanence
in politics is due TO the thickness of his
skin and not the Gulckness of his wit.
Persons unfamiliar with his habits, who saw
him disappear under Mr.. MacVcaghs first shot
and come up again after Il week apparently
unconscious of hurt, might have supposed he
dipped at the flash and was not hit. But all
who know him-and everybody knows him
now understand that his reappcarence was
due to the thickness of his skin, and
not by any means TO the quickneSs
of his wit. How long he will stay down after
the second shot remains to be seen. but, as has
been inthnatcd, recent events at Washington
are quite likely to bring him to the surface
again shortly. The country, however, mas 10
further curiosity to witness his performances.
He has grown to be a public nuisance


We know of but one way in which he can
assert claim to public consideration. That
is 10 subside utterly. Or If he cannot bring
himself to make that sacrifice, if he will be-
take himself into something like retirement
for time aud give the public stomach lit
tie rest, he will be cordially thanked. 1t is
not necessary that he should inform the cOun-
try through a press that he uses constantly
and rs constantly abuses whether he intends
to support or oppose the Administration,
or whether he intends to abandon or remain
III the Republican party. No one cares what
he does or where he goes. The Administration
seems quite competent to take care OF itself,
and the Republican party is always strongest
whom he endows it with his hostility or kndles
its enthusiasm with his dissatisfaction. Tho