The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1861-02-20
From the y Y. Independent, Feb. H.
Mr.. Stewards True Position.

1 ~,
Seward Is one Of the very few men in public lit,
who have shown a capacity for craftsmanship, IL
distinction IRON political chicanery. his speech
es always rising to the dignity oi the occasion
escbewiig personalities and ephemeral interests
graspiDg principles, and stating these with rare
per.picaciry and force, are landmarks in the dis
cussions OF the past twenty years. Many o.
them will survive as Icing as we have history
and literature. His reputation for sagacIty i:
equal 10 bis gift Of eloquence ; and hence his tar
seeing and comprehensive judgment is regarded
as we'll nigh oracular in problems Ut the State
| His personal character is unsuihed with faint
Ut dishonOr, his political career is above the re
preach of menbesS and Inconsistency. As 4
Senator lie has regarded the welfare OF the whole
country, while he has never forgotten those grea;
principles of freedom aid justice which are iun
| damenral to its prosperity. His understood rela
lation TO Mr.. Lincoln's Cabinet gives a specia
significance to his utterances at the present time
on the questions that agitate the nation. Mr.
Seward is conscious of the responsibility that
rests upon him, and weighs his words with the
callDnes and wisdom of one who is master of him
self and OF his position.
Such a man, in such crisis, is to be judged
by his history, his principles, and his crcumstan
crs tlippant and Captions squib aimed al
some isolated sentence or phrase IN weIlcon-
sidered speech OF the Snator, Is as impertinent
aud as npotent as torpedo thrown against
Fort Sumpter Aud any attempt 10 frame the
ory of Mr.. Stewards position and purposes from
Individual utterances and occasions, Is Ike luGg-
ing of the whole argument OF Paradise Lost from
single aud most opposite scenes. We have nu
iayuritism toward Mr.. Seward. Though The Ls-
d.peneieut was. we believe, the first journal that
suggested his name for the Presidency, it has
never had any interest in him or any commit.
mGnt 10 him apart from his sterling worth as a
statesman and his proved fidelity To the cause Of
Freedom Should ar Seward ever falsiiy his
record and abandon bis principles-shouid he,
like Webster, betray the great trust which the
friends al freedom with almost one consent, have
committed 30 his hand this journal III be a. proml
TO repUdiate the apostatc a. It haas been to com
mead vle champion. Bat the most careful >cru-
tiny OF Mr.. Stewards recent species, and OF a!
the indications OF his present course, tasto give
Us any evidence thai he is either wavering II,
principle or radically unsoand in policy. lie la.
failed in same points TO meet expectations which
were perhaps unreasonaDlcand exaggerated, and
las omitted to say precisely what We would have
gladly heard from ms bps; but the imPUtation oil
timidity or detection which some Journals would
cast upon hun, has no warrant Ia anything that
Sir Seward has yet said or done
Quite otherwise do we interpret Mr.. Seward
response TO the merchants. Indeed, had " Int
tier withheld or another fortnight has sonnet to
the Senstar be might not have g!orilicd HIM a,
| the apostle 81 peace. Hardly was the poets
chaplet placed upon his brow, when the states
man proclaimed himself ready for war, rather
than permi, the wanron destruction Of the Coy
ernnent. In presenting The memorial from New
| York in behalf OF some adjustment by compro
mise Mr. Seward stated that he had advised thi:
mercantile deputation TO go home and work FOL
| the Union-by which he means the Government
OF the country, organized under the Constitution
to be ready to lend or give money Tor the sup
port Of the Union, and il need be To fght in it,
| defense.
| This uttcrance is the appropriate sequel to Nj
Stewards first great speech OF the session. Ii j,
a characteristic of his speeches that they DO MOI
| in,erlace each other; but each particular speech
is logically consistent with itself, and exhaustive
Of the one leading topic of discussion. AIR. Sew
ards creed and policy, therefore, cannot be infer
| red from any one speech. He believes in 18th,
Higher Law"-to which Senators are amenabl,
In their Interpretation of the Constitution itself
| He believes III "the irrepIeSslbie conflict be
tween slavery and Freedom, and the impossible
| " of permanent union OF these two contradic
tory forms of civilization. He believes in tn,
Union as it is, to be maintained under the Con
stitutiou. He believes that when the question
OF the hour is, tchefher ICe hare u Government o.
no, the public sentiment Of the country should
be rallied about the standard of the Union, ire
spective of par ty names aud platforms.
| This and this alone, as We read the speech, i:
| what Mr.. Seward meant by his significant ausior
| to platf )Ims. Nowhere in that speech does h,
declare his readiness to renounce Republican
principles for the sake of the Union :" now her,
does he abandon one iota o! the great principle.
OF Freedom for which he has so long and so ably
contended. Regarding Time as the most poten
solvent of present difficulties he speaks to gaiI
| time.
| In the spirit OF Cancellation, he would be vii
ling, after all present excitements shall have sub
sided, after Mr. Liacolns Inauguration, after th,
fever of secession shall have worn on. its OWL
victims,-h would be wi ling, say two or three
years hence, to submit to the people, in conven
ton assembled in accordance with the Constitu
ton, the question whether the declaration of th,
| Chicago Platform touching non.interierence witt
| the local institutions OF States-a declaration
unanimously reiterated by Congress last Monda,
/ shall be incorporated into the organic law O
the Union, it being understood that the odou.
Fueitiye-Slave law shall be modified or repealed
But when called to confront the question of de
grading the Government and the Constitution b,
direct concessions TO the slave power, Mr.. Sew
| ard avows his determination rather 10 fqkt TO,
the Union, and to perish ceih q. This last ut
| terance makes amends Tor seeming want of pos
iiiveness in his previous speech. Senator MasoI
showed at once that he regarded this emphatic
declaration OF Mr.. Seward as the keynote of hi:
policy. The New York Herald takes the sam,
view. 1t SAYS
Beyond some explanations Of the length O
the memorial, and OF the character of the sign
erS, and their political influence, all that he la,
To say upon the subject was, substantially, tina
the time has not yet arrived for compromising.
He graciously introduced his petitioners to thu
Senate, complimented them for their patriotism
and b!andly bowed them out again. They repre-
sented the commercial interest, a great interest
entitled to respect; but the agricultural, manu-
featuring, and mining interests were also emit
tied TO consideration so that he could not We
decide to be governed by the wishes of the con-
! merc,ai interest In other words, our rural dis
tricts are stronger than the city OF New York.
In very carefully guarded and roundabout
way, Mr.. Seward next declares that the demands
OF the Southern conservatives for Union-savin.
compromise before the Inauguration of Mr.. Lin
coin are inadmssable, because they are unrea
sonab'e. After the expiration of the ninety Gay
OF this session o. Congress, of which sixty hav,
already passed away, Mr.. Seward thinks rher,
will oe time enough for the restoration o. all tina
has been lost, AID for the re-establishment of al
that ia in danger Horace Greedy comes nor
directly 10 the point hen he saws that befor
the Republican party shall stoop to compromise