New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-09-11

SCOTT. he has PciAOi lANN '
entitle him TO be marked among the great
est military commanders of modern times.
And no man can achieve such reputa-
ton without possessing large and strong
intellectual powers. A man may be
great officer, as was Ney, Murat, Arnold
and Worth, without large powers, and
wholly without the scope and character
Of intellect necessary 10 constitute great
general and commander. But no man
who has displayed a great genius for com
mand, and great success as commander,
such as General Scott has often exhibited,
and won. can be put anywhere else in the
scale of intellectual eminence but in the
front rank. Such a man may not be phi
lo,opher, q poet, or orator, but he Is
nevertheless man of great mental
superiority. There is no escape from
this conclusion. Such a man must be
a man of brains, and have plenty of
them. The observations that are some
Ilults ludue; iHdt tuc w ny Pdi y
has set aside distinguished men to nomi-
nate Gen. Scott for the Presidency, are
wholly without point or force. If they
have set aside men Of intellect, so have
they taken a man of uncommon intellect
for their candidate. How great their adj
vantage in this respect over their oppo-
nents Mr.. Webster is eminent in his
sphere, but Gen. Scott is not less eminent
in his. And it i'll becomes any man to in
innate that there is any such disparity of
claim or qualification between them, as to
reflect a censure upon the party whose
Delegates nominated, and whose voice has
confirmed that nomination.
But it is not upon the score of intelec-
tual ability, as manifested in Gen. SCOTS
successful military or civil career, that
which we wish particularly now to speak.
His reputation is secure. His renown as
a great commander is established. Party
detraction cannot lessen, party SANDERS
cannot stain it. The public voice pro-
claims, and the public heart responds with
a throbbing alacrity to the decree, that the
fame of Winfield Scott, as a military man,
is beynd all cavil or dispute. But what
we would like to impress wildly upon
the public mind is this, that the name
of Winfield Scott is neither stained
nor furnished by any meanness or
any wickedness No blot rests upon
his public or private character. His hon
or, his integrity, his manliness, his perfect
uprightness, are unquestioned and un-
questionable. In every public and private
relation he is without reproach and above
suspicion. He has shown himself to be
not only above all the temptations of Gu
pidity and ayarice, but the perfect master
of his appetites and passions. He has not
only governed others. He has done
habitually, through a long life, what is
more difioult-he has governed himself.
Aside from every other distinction, Gen.
Scott is tO-dayA MODEL CITIZEN. Nocharge
of vice, of extravaganza, Of discredltable
indulgence, Of sordid aims or mercenary
motives, can be laid to his charge. Sim
ply as a man. General Scott stands before
the world unimpeached and unimpeacha
BILE. He has passed through a thousand
scenes Of temptation in his public career.
he has enjoyed opportunities to amass the
wealth of a pOtentate, yet he is to-day a
man without spot or blemish and though
always living frugal life, yet is he wholly
without fortune. OF the millions that
have passed through his hands, and of the
millions he might have clutched, had he
stopped to do it, not a dollar has stuck to
his palm.
1t Is this phase Of Gen. SCOTS chafac-
ter that EFFORTS our unqualified admirn-
ton, and to which we feel pride, as an
American citizen, in drawing public atten-
ton. We present not only distinguished
man, ard man of large powers of intel
lect, as our candidate for the Presidency
but we present perfectly sober and hon
est mana distinction high and rare, and
one Of which the people of this country
have eyinced, on more than one memora-
Die occasion, a striking appreciation. How
mean and paltry, in view Of this high
distinction, seem the small criticism
of small minds upon the little personal
peculiarities (always attendant upon
every man Of marked individuality of
this eminent citizen Great on
great occasions, as he has always shown