Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1860-06-28

elected. y nave Known Dr. JincOIn Tor
more than twenty, years, and therefore have
10 right to speak Of him with some confidence
As an indiv dual he has earned o high repu
taionsfor truth, coursge, candor, onora's snd
,smisbflitygsothst,a as "a msns he ~ most
uustwosiby ei And in this ,particulsr, be is
more entitled to our esteem thsp some Of her
men, bis, equals, who had far better o?por.
iunities and aids 10 carly life. tHis talents
0 nd the wiIrto ose then'to the beg, sdvsn,.
age, are nnquestionsbie; = AID ihe, -p-eof ia
fovpdsiH tbe fest tbi.in, every position I'M
lie, from, bis humble beginning TO his pres
emf well.earned elevation, he has mare than
fulfilled the best hopes NJ his friends. hnsI
now. inithe full vigor Of his u,sohpod nod in
tbe honest PRIDE of having made him self
Whist he, 10, he is the peer NJ the first mcn
of the nalion. well able 10 sustain himself
and advance his cause. agsin.t my sdyerssry
ard in any field where mind AMI knowl.
edge are the wsspofzsss d---y-sss-- -
1 In politics he bias butarted oui the pfin-l
.ciple Of his ow mora and Intellectual char,
acter,i he has not concealed his thoughts,
por hidden bis light under bushel. With
the bsIdness Of conscious rectitade, and the
pfrankbess sf downtight hopes,y. he has NOT
fsiled 10 svowI bis opinions of public, affairs
upon all fitting occasions. ~ :,
/ This know may subject Rim TO the cstp-
ing censure Of that class Of politicians " bo
mistake cunning for wisdom, snd 5alsshood
for ingenpity; but such men as LINCOLN mus,
act IN keeping, with their own, char,cier
and hone for success only by edSancing the
truth prudently, and maintaining # bravely.
All his old political ante;edents. are in ny
Judgment, exactly right, being square Up TO
his views about 'the pes,ilent negro ques-
tion," I am not aware that he has gone one
step beyond the doctrine publicly and habit
ually avowed by the great lights Of the
Wing party. Clay. Webster, and their, fell
lows, and indeed sustained and carried ou,
by the Democrats themselves, in their wiser
and better days. u, .,,a.
The following, suppose, are in brief HE
opinions upon that subject: |. Slavery isa
domestic institution within the States which
choose to have it, and it exists within those
States beyond the control Of Congress. 2.
Congress has supreme legislative power over
all the Territories, and may. at its discretion,
allow or forbid the existence Of slavery ith-
in them. 3. Congress, in wisdom and sound
policy, ought not so to exercise it's power,
directly or indirectly, as TO plant and estab-
lsh slavery in any Territory heretofore free.
And that it is unwise and imoolitic in the
Government of the United States, to ac-
qure tropical regions for the mere purpose
OF converting them into slave States.
These, ! believe, are Mr.. Lncoln's opin.
io,s upon The matter of slavery in the Ter
ritories, and I roncurln fhpm. They are no
| new Inventions made to suit the exigencies
of the ho,r, but have come down to us, MS
the Declaration o. Tnderendence and the
Constitution have, sanctioned by the vener-
able aui hority nf the wise, snd good men
who established our institutions They a,o
conformable to law. principle and wise pol
icy and their utility is proven, in practice
by the as vet unbroken current Of oar po.
litical history. They win prevail, not only
bee suse they are right themselves, hut also
because a great and s,ill growing ma
iority Of the people believe them to be right
and ,he sooner they are allowed to 'prevai
Flo peace and harmony, the better for all con.
,cerned. as well those who are against then
as those who are for them
II am aware TINT small parIi=sns, in, ,heb
little warfare against opposing leaders. d.
sometimes assail them BY the trick OF tear
Ting from their contex,s some particular ob
Il jectionable phrsses, penned, perhaps, in III,
hurry, of c Imposition. or spoken in the Eea
Of oral debate and holding them up to tn
pubic as the Leading doc,rin IS .of the per
!. son assailed, and drowning from them thei
Z, own uneharitable differences. That line o
II attack betrays little mind conscious OF II
II weak ess. for the falsity of its logic is no
: more apparent than the Injustice Of lis &c
/, sienn.." No pubic man can stdndthaf ordea'
n and, however willing men may Be % see
81 sppneS to their udvetsarics, all fiincR from
2 The torture. when applied to themselves.
II fact, the man who never said 4 foolish mn
| viii Hardly be able to. Prove that he ever sal
II many wise ones. 80 ,'-''' -, 49, ~
u ahsansder MI. Lincoln a sound, safe, IN
\ tional man., He conId not he sectionai [
he tiled. uis birth, his educntion. The habi,
e] o. his life. and his geographical position
!. compel him to he national. All his feeling
9 md interests areoidentified with the gre'
a valley Of -tbe Mississippi, near whose cen'e
!, has spent his whole life. ThatuV Vale
M is no. seclion., but, consp icuonsly, q
bsdy,of the natipn,s and, Largo as il Isl
Idl is not capable Of being divided into aecliop
v for the great Hver CANNOT be dividetq j.
,e one and indivisible, and the North and, u
~ South are alike .nacessny y TO its -comiioTt az
50 prosperity. its people itoo, IN all their i
" tsrrsisvand. Affections, are as broad and ge'
" erst as thedregions they iphabit. They a
rs emiersp,s.,a mixed puhisude, coming fro
q, every S'ste in Jbe,U " aion, and from mo
u Countries iai EWepe; they are bupwi lin
N thsrefpressta sabmit to,sny one petty. loc
NJ s,spdsrd. ssTheyr loys,alI 10 parts. for th'
hr are bound to them al. pot only BY 4 feelir
od Of common interest and mutual dependep
re but also by the sFecollea.ionss Of ehildho'
q and youth, by blood and ,Fisndsbips and
D. eli those social end domestic Straightforward
Is, swselspstife, sad make tbis, world dgpr
D. living in. The Valley isSheginning toifs
e. aits power and viii. soon beh istron e nop
We lao dictate The Law of, the 1and, - Wheney
l.. -