Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-06-23
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The letter Of the Hon. Edward Bates pays
the highest cOmpliHentto Abraham Lincoln.
Wequote
/ ] have known Nc. Lincoln for more than
twenty years, and lhei efore have a right 10
apeaf Of him with some confidence. Asan
individual he has earned high reputation
fer truth, courage, candor, morals and amia-
bility, 30 that, as a man, he Is most trust
worthy. And in this particular he Is more
entitled to our esteem than some other men,
his equals, who had far better opportunities
and aids in early life. His talents, and the
will to use them. 70 the best advantage are
unquestionable and the proof Is found In
the fact that in every position in life, from
his humble beginning to his present well
earned elevation, he has more than fulfilled
the best hopes Of his friends. And now, in
the full vigor of his manhood and IN the
conscious pride of having made himself what
he is, he is the peer Of the first men in the
nation, well able to sustain himself and ad-
vance his cause, against any adversary and
in any field where mind and knowledge are
the weapons used. II -
In politics be has but acted out the princi-
Piles of his own moral and intellectual char
acter. He has not concealed his thOughtsnor
hidden his light under a bushel. With the
bOldness Of conscious rectitudeand the frank
ness Of downright honesty, he has not failed
to avow his opinions Of public affairs upon
all fitting occasions
consider Mr.. Lincoln a sound, safe, ma
tional man. he could not be sectional if he
tried. His birth, his education, the hebitsof
his life, and his geographical position, compel
him to be national. All his feelings and in
terests are identified with the great valley of
the Mississippi, near whose center he has
spent his whole life That valley Is not sec
ton, but, cOnspieuously, the body Of the ma
ton, and, large as it is, is not capable of be-
ing divided into sections, for.the great river
Sannot be divided. L is one and indivisible,
and the North and the South are alike neces-
sary to its comfort and prosperity. Its peO-
pie, too, in all their interests and affections,
are as broad and general as the regions they
.inhabit They are emigrants, mixed null
tituie, coming from every State in the Union,
and from. most countries in Enr0pe; they are
unwilling, therefore, to submit to any one petty
local standard They love the nation as a
whole, and they love all its parts, for they
are bound to them all, not only by feeling
of common interest and mutual dependence,
but also by the recollections of childhood and
youth, by blood and friendship, and by all
those social and domestic charities which
sWeeten life, and make this world worth hv-
ing in, The Valley is beginning to feel its
power, and will soon be strong enough TO die
tate the law Of the land Whenever that
state of things shall come to pass, it win be
most fortunate for the natisn TO find the pow
ers Of the Government lodged in the hands Of
men whose habits of thought whose position
and surrounding circumstances constrain
them to use those powers for general and not
sectional ends.
I give my opinion freely in favor of Mr.
Lincoln, and hope that, for the good of the
whole country, be may be elected. @@
If Mr.. Lincoln should be elected, coming
in as new man at the head of young par
ty never before in power, he may render a
great service to the country, which no Demo-
crat could render He can march straight
forward in the discharge of his high duties, |
guided only by his own good judgment and !
honest purposes, without any necessity to |
temporize with established abuses, to wink at
the delinquencies of old party friends, or to |
unlearn and discard the bad official habits |
that have grown up under the misgoYernment |
of his Democratic predecessor. In short, be |
can be an honest and bold reformer on easier |
and cheaper terms than any Democratic Pres
ident can be, for, in proceeding in the good |
work of cleansing and purifying the admin
istrative departments, he viii have no occa-
sion to expose the vices assail the interests,o or
thwaTt the ambition Of his political friends. |