Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-12-08
respects, but he answered with an astounding
REPLY.

stronger PROOF OF your lHnOIdHCe OF the STATE
of feeling among your inclpient northern sub
iects than TO write a letter TO a paper of so
little consequence as the .7nti- Siauery Stand
ard. Your particular friends, and warmest
adherents, here, Bennett Of the HeraLd, and
Webb Of the Courier q Enquirer, for instance,
will be highly amazed at the innocence and
want Of knowledge Of the world you display
in surprising it Of any consequence whether
YOU are est, emed or not by a class of people
" no are fools enough to make morality their
standard OF character. Even that other class
represented by such men as Greeley Of the
Ijtbnne, and Fuller of the Mirror, who make
a sort Of sneeking acknowledgement that it
is best sometimes TO recognize a difference
between right and wrong, will laugh in their
shoes at the idea that in political matters any
such Inference is TO be considered. The cir
culalion of the Standard, as compared with
that of the papers referred TO, is very limited
indeed. The readers of this, as the editors
Of those very well know, are a small class.
They are, to be sure, an intelligent, reading,
and thinking people, highly esteemed among
their neighbors for the uprightness of their
character. and their devotion to what they re-
gard the truth. But they are also a quiet,
slay-at-home people, not 10 be found in bar
rooms and aTm-chairs, or on grog-shop coun-
NtlCs ~ NCl1 llhllt lUllupHCp
over that portion of the sovereigns 10 whom
you, in a great measure, owe your election.
They are too generally, as we Yankees say,
a well-to-do-people, content with a moderate
remuneration for their well directed toll and
very few Of them belong TO the class of spec
ulating tradesmen who voted for you, Sir, not
because they know or cared anything about
you as a man CT a Statesman, but because
they hoped for a Wing administration, and
an increased duty in imports. If you knew
us Northern people better you would never
have felt annoyed at the want of the esteem
of such an impraclicable folk, limited in num-
Der, most Of them non-voters and all Of whom
actually believe in certain well-defned moral
principles, and are eccentric enough TO en-
deavor TO act up to them. Should our con-
temporaries of the press condescend 10 run
their eye over our columns, and should &c,
sight of your letter, you may be sure that
your friends will blush for you, and your po-
litical foes be unsparing in their ridicule, that
you should feel the least sensitiveness as to
any opinions which we might have of you.
| believe l once hinted-half-iocosely of
course-that il did not much matter whether
you or sold Whitley" should be the occu-
pant of the Presidential chair. ] am not sure
that ] was not nearer the truth than | thought
for; for he most certainly displayed the most
knowledge of the state of Northern feeling,
in giving an indignant neigh TO your PROPOSE
ton to send his respects TO me.
However, | can answer for it that all our
friends will be very glad to believe, that be-
meath that tough and rough outside, which
common fame has hitherto made your chief
merit, there lies a small germ of a softer ma
ture which leads you TO value the good opln-
ion of men who have quite another criterion
Of character than military reputation.
But do not plead guilty TO the charge that
you have been visited in these columns with
undeserved censure or a want of candor. 1t
may seem unfair TO form a very positive judg-
ment of a man about whom SO little is known,
for though you are TO be the next President
of the United States, there are, doubtless, a
great many people in the country who are
doubtful whether there is any such man, and
many more who have no very definite notion
) as TO who or what you are, or where you live
The Boston people are somewhat famous fol
' their intelligence, but | hear of one man there
who voted for you with the impression tina
he was helping 10 put one - Father Taylor
a well known sailor preacher in those parts
T into the Presidential chair; and another CAV
: you his support, firmly persuaded that III,
e king had come 10 his own again. meaI
u that John Tyler was up for reelection. PEI
haps this man wasn't far from right. But al
i this by-the-bye; those of us who read III
newspapers pretty atteniively, have no douh
that there is such a man as Zachary TayIC
somewhere down in Mississippi, and kno,
that certain positive qualities are ascribed t
him as making up his character.
You may have some good qualities thu
the world knows not OF, but your admireI
are content with those which are ascribe ed
ID you in the soubriquet of Rough and Ready
You are supposed 10 be distinguished by hi
sort of honest frankness which often belong
TO men of your professions, and by the dec
sion of character which a life spent in CAM
is sure TO give. These are excellent quail
ties, but can hardly be called virtues. Ba
men are often bold, and are not always hyp'
40 critics. But however respectable such CHI
- racterislics are, they would not be considere
as sufficient qualifications for the Presidenc
had We not Just seen you elected to fill tn
high office with positively no other virtu
~ claimed for you by your friends. You ar
to be sure, a good soldier, but the only CT,
"a, office | know of, in which mere skill in XII
,n ing men is desirable, is that of the hangma
This list of your assumed good qualities
a very meagre one, and even that, the OPP
nents of the extension of Slavery are oblig,
in 10 reduce to almost nothing. The best ira
ne that of frankness and honesty, has been e
tirely wanting in the recent canvass. Y,
If have permitted yourself to be represented
one thing at the North, and another at I
~, South. A frank, bold man, who means
h pass for just what he is, and nothing moi
would not have permitted this. Your rOug
~, ness remains for the respect of those who a
~ captivated by a swearing old soldier in a sha
II, by white coat; but your readiness, in eve
thing else but killing Mexicans, seems Xix
or ly to prove of that cunning kind by whit
b V unprincipled politicians gain their end.
~ But there are some other very weighty o
ID j%eclions to you. And first, you are a sIav
W holder. You are living on the daily toll