Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-04-06


Physical Theory OF thesRrasIdency.
The Telegraph tells us that President
Lincoln is sick. We do no doubt il. lie
has cause to be sick. It Vtii be a tnir5,.f,,
Il, in six. months, he is not either dead or
dazed. z $50 u
Mr.. Lincoln is evidently ovsrfaslc his
powers. His views of the duty of Presf-
dent are clearly Utopian. BE beltAves5 siip-
cerely' that it is. the right OF every citizen
TO nRProAch the Presidents And If be has a
complaint, to make it; or a petition, to
present 1t. And this rigbt OF the citizen
involves the duty of the President to hear
attentiYely and answer respectfully. if.
Mr.. Lincolnhis now living, or trying to
live, up 10 this honest ntsmistaken CON
ception of the Presidency he is break
ing down under it, and must abandon IL, or
die. Splitting rails is mouotonous and
heavy work, hat an able.bodied man may
survive it, Navigating a Aat.h6It 6hftle
!uFoiu stream Of the Mississippi river has
IT'S hazards, but what with3a Jolly dance at
hlghts when the boht is tied up 70 shore, or
quiet game'of "seven upt when the waters
are placid and the channel straiGht for i,
stretch of twenty miles Of so, a man. may
make score of voyages and remain n
tough "sailor'' nt the end.s
"Riding the CircRitH of a dozen immense
Western counties to attend courts pro-
NOTES health and longevity, and suInuiur
State against Douglns imay be .upattenrlci
with harm, provided IL baiOnly in the field
OF debate that the capacities Of the Little
Giant are contested. Innll these ayocn-
tions Abrnhan4I.incoln hae acquitted him
self with signM ability, aud he NAV proud
y claim to be "representatiye Auiericun. i"
lie Is equally man of muscle and Of
mind. And his humble achievements as
man of labor, combined with his later
trlumphs as II man of thought, have given
him the deep popular sympathy that made
him President.
Mr.. Lincoln appreciates this fact; but
lio mistakes the duty imposed by his fame.
His conceptions of his duty MS President
are radically wrong. He hears every com
plAtnt that comes up to Washington. He
allows every petition TO be presented to
him. He endeavors to make himself nc
quAlnted with the merits of every contest
for Office that occurs, from Maine tu Calf
iorniu. His ambition is 10 set, personally
to 1t that the service OF every man who
helped to make him President receives its
fecompense, and. that tho gift shall be
gnoged by the clearly asceHained value of
the service reHdered
Was ever SO gigantic q tRsk essayed r.
fHhs ever so. llnpossiblb q y achievement
aimed at Noihuman brain will stirtlTe
the persistent effort to accomplish sustl IL
work. Omniseiruce alone could master IL.
We cam appreciate the earnest sense of
duty that impels the President. Andlif
the effort he is making were to result in
nothing worse thWn his own sad iisap-
Pointmcnt, we might be silent. Bnt when
we see the rightful expectations of n great
Republic in Jeopardy land the interests oF
millions of non political citizens sacrificed
to the impertinence of the 5office-seeking
few, it is not only our right but our duty
t0protest. MryLincoln owes a,higher dn-
" the country, to the world, TO Ills own
fame, than to fritter away the priceless op-
portunities of the Presidency in listening
10 the appeals of competing ofFice-hunters,
in whose eyes the loss of thousand dol
lar clerkship would be a,catastrophe little
inferior to the downfall Of the Republic
N. J. Times.