The Illinois free trader. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1840-1841, 1840-08-14
Gen. IKarrison's Dupiicity.

"Out of thine GUN mouth ,UiN condemn thee"
people Of the United States q candidate for the
Presidency, he was charged by the Wings with
being non-committal ON many subjects of import
ancc to the nation. But his letter to Sherrod
Williams in 1896, and his whole career since his
election, have completely silenced this charge, and
we hear no more Of it. Nor can such charge
now be urged against Gen. Harrison. No one
dare call him non-committnl The great fault OF
the General is, that he commits himself too much,
ON both Sides There is scarcely subject Of
interest to the nation upon which Gen.
has not already expressed two opposite
,,dr l.. He is and is not an abolitionist for
aot INST high Tariff, in favor of and opposed
b. onal Bank, &c.--is in short, all things to
Now for the proof.
~ %, in a letter ''to the public" which he
p rel to repe the charge that he was friendly
% ~s,,ry, he says:
se ccused of being friendly to slavery. From
~ Ia. st youth to the present moment, have
b. ardent friend of human liberty. At the
s became the member of an obolition
get blishcd at Richmond, Va. the object Of
thlf ~ ; to amcliorate the condition OF slaves,
ere their freedom by every legal means
ibe friend Judge Catch, OF Clermont
as also member Of this society, and has
n me a certificate that was one. TIE
,. Uhich Ithen came under, hare taiH
rmed."
- Ia his letter TO the Hon. Geo. Evans, Of
Maine, he wishes topersuade The abolitionsts that
ne is still friendly to their cause repeats wha. he
said in 1922, but with the injunction, don't pub
Esh Il. AT Cincinnati, too, he wished to persuade
the abolitonists of his friendship if the following
extract from speech lately made at an abolition
convention in Massachusetts,, by Mr.. Leavilt, the
editor of the Emancipator, may be relied on
Mr.. Leavitt said, she knew the fact that Gen.
HARRISON since his recent nomination, and before,
had gained much of their favor and confidence III
his personal intercourse with the abolitionists oil
Cincinnati. He had visited the anti-savcry rooms
there, and had led many ,rue-hcarcd abolltlonlsts
to believe that he was with them in the great work
Of emancipation.
But at the same time while Gen. Harrison is Sc
cretly cndeavouring to persuade the aboliuonists
Of the north Of his friendship, he writes TO Gov.
Owen of the south, thus:
You ask me whether am now, or erer hdre
been, a member Of an abolition society.
~ ANSWER, decisipeiy, No!"
This is said unquuIGaliy, and in the concluding
paragraph of this lie, even endcavours to
cast odium upon the cOlIDPof the Ohio Statesman,
for publishing an extract from his own writings
declaring that he had belonged to an abolition so
ciety. And in letter to wing committee OF
Kentucky, he says in reference TO his anti-aboli-
ton sentiments in his Chovio, and Vincennes
speeches, that his opinions are still unchanged,
and that 'he could not be an honest man and o.
low the publication to go out with his sanction,
ifhe had changed his opinion"
DO not these extracts from the Generals own
writings smack strongly of duphcify?
But leaving abolition, let us hear the General
on another subject In . letter written in 1922
while he was candidate for congress, he says:
SSH In your last paper you recommend to til,
candidates at the ensuing election, TO publish thei
political creeds, that the electors may have fail
opportunity Of choosing the sentiments which hes
accord with their own. have ever believed tina
every elector has right TO make this call upor
those who offer their services to the people, ant
that tie candidates ARE HOUND 10 a,is,cer Il"
But In his speech ut Fort Meigs, which wa,
published in Nor Of the Free Trader, his opinion
is entirely changed, and he speaks thus;
II will now. fellow citizens, give you my rca,
sons for having Refused to give pledges and OPT.
Mons more freely than ] have done since my no.
minsson for the Presidency. Many Of the state
ncnts publishsdupc this subject arc BY NO means