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Perter's Palinode

Perter's Palinode image
Parent Issue
Day
16
Month
December
Year
1870
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Sitttre Fïmryof Ce.nmny etooH sliivcviiifi in la penoco-shirt undcr the Buowy toweïi of l'opo Gregory, we doubt if Uiv world bas seon any such ''jèi apealado óf oontrition as is ex.! ia Adaiiral Porter'a lottor üf reion to the Prcsideut. A lover dould iOMpely liavo penned words of more slavish dcvotion to bis ofï'onded mixtruHs. A goScrol boy cculd ecaroely have been drivon into suoh criuging reínoráe Wv the brandishing of bircli. We ofinnot road tina luctirymoso love-lettor witftoat theexclninatioii ot Kollingbroke at the bedside of the dying poet riaing to our lips, "Ais' poor human nnture !" Altogether, the lotier is iusufferablc, mul the details aro more intolerable tban the ccDeral impressron. The letter ought never to have been wtitten, and every line of it w a separate sggravation of the original fault. He fays his first impulse on reading the pubüshed commuoicnt'ion to Secretary Welles was to denounco it as a forgery, but on refleclion te thought it might be proved to bo genuino. Nelthor himself nor his secretary could reineuiber anything abont it. The writirg of soaf.dalcus lcttüis nbout his lrot!ier officer was so comnion a matter witli the gillant Admiral that hofurgot it before the libeling ink was dry - Jn just 8uch words as these, perhnps moro bitter and caustie, he had often Npressed bh envíes and spites and resentaients ayaiiat Kanks, against Butler, Hgüinst every officer of the service lic had been throirn in oontiict wil), and against every member of Congress nhosa line of eiiiuluct did not please him - He wrote wi hout aiiy senf=e of responsibility, bnd feit only a grievous sensa ol wrong when his private strietures were brought to light. Ho oan think of uothing botter to say thnn that he never entertainéd the sentimenls express;d in that letter. Then wliy did he write rt? What motive eould he have, except to carp for carping's sake, and flatter li is venerable correspondent and goss'p at Washington? 15ut woree than all these sluiflüngs anti contradict-ior.s is that Iyrio wnïl of grovbkns: penitenoe witb whioh he closes : "Nfthine I can Bay will effect your fairfcme" - I do not hesitato to diapprove t5e sentiments of which I presume I must bear the odium," and so on to the melancholy close. The most extraordinary tbing about tl is unparallcled performance is its ut ter U8elcssne8i. There was positively no occasion for it. Here was a private letter, written six years ago, in wh'ch Stie Admiral gave expression to bis annoyance at what he imiigined the ídjus tice of Gen. Graut toward the navy - It is stolen or betrnycd aad publisiied - Whfal necessity lays upon Admiral ter to accept thiu accident aa a personal caíastrophe ? The incident might have occasioneel a moment of disagreeable regrefr, but no more. Ho had only to gy that the letter was iiie, ■svritten in a moment of agitatiou and anxiety, under iinpressions that had proved erroueous - and that would have been the end of the mrtter. If Adrairal Porter imngined tbat the pnblicatioQ of tliia private correspondenoe would modify so far the personal relations between himself and the President as to intertere with his promotion to the rank for which he had been designated, he not only did Gen. Grant a great injustice, but eviuced the niost lamentable ignorance of the very nature Of the Exccutive offioe. The President of the United States is not the proprietor nf gradea and places in the publio eervice. He coüfors npj ointmciits and promotioDS from considoratioas of the publio good, and not from personal caprice and whim. What David D. Porter thought of U. S. Grant a;x years ago is not to be considered in the qaestion sa to who is the best man for Admiral oi the navy. That question was decidetl by tho President eeveral montbs ago, and it would be throwing doubt on his honesty and patrioiism to suppose V at any impulse of personal pique would have induced him to witlidraw an ap poiutment which he had made i:h i'ull eonvictinn of its fituesB and importauce. ble ra'iKtake He has fjrgöttetrywTeïë servaüt he íb. He lia tn-i;iuetl he wa8 tho lackey of the President, aud ha gone down on bis knoes toHtve h plaoe. llis truc mastcr, the peoplo, hs witneseed' tilia exhibii ion wiih silent dingust, and the bilí of Gen, Logan, aboli-hing the grade of Admiril, is the cluaret expresswn of the popular judgmcut. The grade was created to do fittkig hocor to the gieat Captain who has gane and has nol lt;ft bis ieer. Let the rank rest iu ulsejance uutil we can fill it with ODe l.ko him, wbo Dever disobeyed ap order, BB.d uever bowed tho knee to bdv but God.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus