Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1861-02-22
From the New York World.
speech and silence.


- TaHity Fair
From the New York World.
speech and silence.
Speech, says the German proverb, is sill
yer, but silence is gold. Like most pro-
verbs, this is true under certain circumsian-
ces, but its converse its true when these cir
cumstancerbave changed of which the last
three months have furnished most strik-
ing example, Surely never was silence pre-
served so wisely as by tho President elect,
and rarely has it been broken more admira-
bly, than by him in his brief responses to
the greetings that he has received on his
way to tho Capital. His reserve, under
the circumstances in which he has been
placed, is very remarkable, and indicates a
balance Of character and firmness of will
which argue favorably for his administra-
ton, even in such a trying time as this
Day after day has he been badgered, in the
most widely circulated sensation newspaper
in the country, to write, to speak, to show
his hand, to say whathe thought and what he
purposed. No trick, no allurement, no pos
sibe threat was spared-to say nothing of
the wearing bore of ceaseless iteration; but
recommendations, coaxings, intimdations,
borement, were all in vain. Mr. Lincoln
endured this, and all the echoes and imita.
tions oft throughout the land, with an i'm
mobility almost sublime. By SO doing he
has drawn the fire of the secessionists Of all
grades, and he has also allowed the national
sentiment of the people in all quarters Tex
cept, of course, in the Gulf States, where,
under the circumstances, it was not to be
looked foD to develop itself spontaneously.
He knows now exactly the views and the
feelings of the people whose executive officer
he is called to be; and be knows, too, exactly
what tho secession leaders desire, and how
they purpose to attain their ends. On the
other hand, they know nothing of his inten-
tions, and have not been able to Illustrate
his plans at any point-which it is plain
was the only use which they would have
made of the letter which he was SO inplor-
ed to write.
But now, when he is upon the very
Threshold of his official term, when the 10y
atty and the national spirit of some of the
very States upon which the coDspirators
counted is showing itself unmstakably,
though not without qualification, Mr.. Lin
coin Compelled, as he is on his inaugural
journey, 10y the habits of our people, to an
ticipate somewhat his official declaratious)
tells the country his mind in few brief,
| pithy speakings, which have hardly dimen-
sions enough to be called speeches. And
what he SAYS cannot fail to confirm patriot
ism whore it is strong, to quicken and sus-
tain it where it is weak, and to cheer the
hearts of all Americans who are not dcterm-
ined to rule or ruin this government if they
can at any cost. He believes that this re-
public is a nation, and that any one of its
elements has not the right to dissever and
destroy it from mere willfulness or selfish
ness. "By the rightful principle" he asks,
"may State, being not more than a small
part of the nation in population and soil,
break up the nation?" He repudiates the
notion Of of"marching armies" into States, and
"forcing them to submit" He evidently
means to execute the laws of the United
States, and to leave, in all other respects,
the relations Of the pc )ple of the several
States 70 the National Government, to be
decided by the influence of time and the
course of events.
What the course of his administration or
at least what its spirits will be, we learn
from his speech at Cincinnati. He says:
awe mean to treat you as near as we pos
sibly can, as Washington, Jefferson, and
Madison treated you. We mean to leave
you alone, and m no lOGy to interfere Vith
your institutions; to abide By all and every
compromise ofth Constitution; and, in a
word, coming back to the original PROPOSE.
ton, to treat you so far as degenerate men,
if we have degenerated, may, according, to
tho example of those noble fathers. Wash
ington, Jefferson and Madison. We mean
to remember that you are as good as zee
that there is no difference 6etween us Other
than the difference Of circumstances. We
mean to recognize, and bear in mind always
that you have as good hearts in your bos
oms as other people, or as we claim to have
and treat you accordingly"
These declarations arc wise, maguani
nous, statesmau-lke, Christisn-like. They
showed that whatever acerbity of feeling
may have been exhibited by very small
proportion of the northern press and people
toward the South, there exists no sentiment
of the kind in the soul of him whose elect
ion is made the occasion--it was never the
cause-of our present national troubles
For be it remembered, these words of Mr.
Lincoln's, are not born of tho moment t.
meet tho cxgehcies Of the moment; the,
are but rcpeltions ofwhat fell from his owl
lips long before he suspected that what h,
said would assume national Importance
If Mr.. Lincoln is half as honest rs he ha
the reputation of being among men VIII,
know him, Of all parties, and half as saga
cious and as immoveable as he has showr
himself by his silence since he was elected
we may expect from him an administrator
Of mingled firmness and conciliation, whicl
, at the least will save the now dropping hon
or of the country.
The Joint Committee have made all arrange
ments for the Inauguration, and the Commits
} sioner of Public Buildings will have a platform
erected in a few days over the eastern porticO G