But we began by asserting that the party in the old Bay State is in a quandary.  It has reached a point when one of two alternatives must be chosen,—­either to force an issue with its allies, as well as with its Republican opponents, by nominating a downright, old-fashioned Democrat for the governorship; or, acquiescing with the wishes of its allies, to attempt a quasi victory over its opponents.  In the former case defeat would be honorable, though defeat is by no means a foregone conclusion; in the latter case a victory is probable which would be worse than a defeat for the Democrats.  We may not presume to give any advice in this matter; and yet it would seem that some well-intentioned and honest advice is needed.  If there is to-day a true-blue, a frank and out-spoken Democratic newspaper in the city of Boston, we do not know its name.  Our esteemed contemporaries of so-called Democratic persuasion, in this cultured city, are either bridled by the administration or are timid in expressing their convictions.  Why has it never occurred to any one of them to urge the selection of a candidate that has not allied himself with the new gods in Israel,—­a stanch, dyed-in-the-wool, old-fashioned Jackson Democrat, such for example as the HONORABLE CHARLES LEVI WOODBURY?  He has always been an ornament to his party, wise and prudent in his counsels, broad in his scholarship and still broader in his views, untrammelled in his profession of honest principles, and true to the faith.  He was never known to wander after strange gods:  he has never paraded before the eyes of the public, clad in a Joseph’s coat of many colors; he has never sought the emolument or the honor of public office, and yet, if we are not greatly mistaken, his scrupulous fidelity to party principles, his unswerving integrity, and the confidence which men of all parties repose in him, have merited for him as high an honor as lies within the gift of the people.  There are but few such men in Massachusetts, and their worth is only comprehended when they are compared with that of the aristocratic dudes whom President Cleveland has thus far smiled upon in this state.

The Massachusetts Democrats have this year a grand opportunity to assert their independence, and to set a wholesome example to the party in other states.  They can do no safer, wiser, or more honorable thing than to nominate Judge Woodbury, a Democrat of Democrats, as their standard bearer.

The Boston Evening Record is a sample of daily journalism that is getting to be rather common nowadays.  Like many other of its contemporaries, it seems to be impressed with the idea that the province of a newspaper is to coin facts rather than to chronicle them; and that editorial ability consists in getting away from the truth as far as possible.

In a recent issue, it comments on General Butler’s article in the North American Review, and more particularly upon the reason why the General did not desire the Republican nomination for the Vice Presidency in 1864, expressed by him as follows:—­