New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-02-21
THE NORTHERN PREsIDENT.


II any one can read the speeches which Mr.. Lin
coin has made on his recent trip TO Washippto,
City without feeling of intense disgust. we eny,
him MOTHS disposition. Instead of displavinc som,
of the qualities of statesman and natriot h,
has, in point of fact, shown "nlentifuI lock,, q
both, Instead of rising to the dignity of Presi
dent, he has fallen to the level of n stumn orator
addressing, for temporary effect, miscellaneous
assembage of the populace.
His speech at Indianapolis, which we believe
was the first he delivered after leaving home, more
especially challenges attention for its evasion of
the real ISSUE its unnatural evity in the presence of
great ana Serious events, andits Illustrations drawn,
not from anything grand or sublime in nature mt
from the passional attraction of free-love ;,
| and the little pills" of the HOMEOPATHIC nractica
| of medicine Who would have sunnosed that q
man elevated to the Presidency of nation conId
indulge in comparisons of this sort? Imagine
| George Washington or James Madison. on their
way to the capital, mailing public speeches. des
tined to be read by the whole world, in which illus.
trations were drawn from such sources as these,
MIR. Lincoln betrays an utter inability to rise to
the dignity of his subject. He resorts to the
indirect and unsatisfactory and undignifed expe.
dent of asking questions of the populace before
f1atly what he means. Too timid to express boldly
his sentiments, he resorts to the roundabout wov
fputting heterogeneous, thereby suggesting what
he would not declare openly-and then. for fear
OF its being considered too great a committal, re-
minding the people that they must recollect he
was only asking questions, not expressing opinions,
Was there ever before such an instance of lack of
drectness and dignity in any one called TO so hiuh
an office?
Then we discover also that the Northern
fresloent has totally misconceived the nature of
the Government, and the Federafive system hv
winch the old Union was formed. He asks what |
the difference is between a county and a State
supposing the county to be equal TO the State in
population and territorial extent-deducipg from
thls that State has no more the right of Sc.
cession than county, This absurd protcnsion
SHOWS now little MIR. Lincoln like most other
Nofthern politicians of all parties, knows of the
OF the old Federal Union. He thinks
that there is no sovereignty whatever in the re.
spectNe States-that they are the dependencies of
the Federal Government, instead of being the
constituents of it, and that there is no such thing
as Federal Government without an unlimited
surrender OF ther sovereignty on the part of the
espectiVe members. He thinks that the Union is
ne creature OF the States, the latter losing their
lentlty IN the operation, for all purposes except
nat OF tribute to the central authority. The doc.
Flhe OF state Rights and State Sovereignty, it is
nam to see, is something to which the President
! Inc North is altogether stranger.
ltls but fair to say that Mr.. Lincon a. he trav-
iea farther North, became more diginfed in his
arangues, and more cautious in his utterances
hoef tue manipulation of politicians more discreet
nan himself, he began to see that he must chance
IS style His later speeches are Just as free from
passlonal attraction" comparisons as thew are 5
ON the mistakes of the ill.informed politician,
Compare the indianapolis speech of Lincoln with in
lie inaugural address of President Davis, and how til
eat the contrast The reader of the latter cam I'M
1t fail to be impressed with It's dignifed manly, r.
flous tone-its freedom from every kind of clap
ap-lts abstinence from all insinuations or snp
stlons-its open, bold honorable and fair state. hr
snt OF the opinions held by the distinguished ora So
: In nothingis the difference between Northern j
Southern sentiment and morality better illus. ,
ted than in these two addresses No wonder Pre-
ward, who, with all his antislavery bieotrv and snf
aucism, has some regard for outward appear III
'es, should hesitate to accept position in the Ian
blnet OF one who has poor an opinion of the
puiar intelligence, and small an appreciation oef
tne dignity OF his office, Mr. Lincoln displayed
his speech at indianapolis. NJ