The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1862-12-17
Comments Of the Abolition
Prcss Upon the Presidcnfs Message.

T
1 Prcss Upon the Presidcnfs Message.
From the Albany Argus and Atlas.
The reader will find on our FIRST page
EXTRACTS from the press on the subject of
/ the Presidents Message. 1t will be seen
that the Presidents friends criticise his
Message with far more severity than we
have.
| The New York Epcning Post, which
is disposed to defend the acts of the Pres
idcnt through thick and thin, says:
"sMr! Lincoln is not rhetorician of
the Macaulay school, who writes polished
Britannia ware sentences. Neither is he
Eafornaf losician, whose premises and con-
Iclusions carry conviction with them as
Lirresistibly as a cannon ball carries death.
His reasonings are not always rigid nor
his illustrations happy, and his methods
are any tA.ng, but graceful. x
1t viii be a disappointment to the public
that the President tells us nothing of the
progress of the war; yet something should
have been said, if not for the information
of our own people, for that of people
abroad.
The New York Commercial Adcert;ser
|dxells also upon this cold -blooded indif-
ference, this apathy of sense and of con-
science in regard to the services and sac
lrifces of war:
In one respect the Message disap-
lpoints US, and is. indeed unsatisfactory.
1t is entirely silent on the domestic con-
|dition of the country. Except from in
Icidental mention, the reader of the docu-
ment would have no idea of the mighty
and exhausting conflict through which
the country is passing, and which has been
$50 fruitful of events during the past year.
Our soldiers and sailors with their Gen
erals and commanding officers Of every
i degree are passed over in total silence,
without word Of commiseration for the
brave wounded and dead, or genial par
lagraph for the living. Except that refer
ence is made to the departments Of War
and Navy, the reader of the Message
would not guess that We had an army in
the field and navy on the ocean. 1t is
strangely barren of every word or idea
that could lead one to suppose that war
had slain its thousands and disease it's tens
| of thousands since the preceding Message
was penned, or that the insurgents had ex-
hausted their resources of blood and treas
ure to overthrow the Federal Government,
and the loyal States had poured forth
their lives and their money in noble, self
sacrificing efforts to sustain that Govern
Ement under the shock No word Of sym
pathy with the past, or of cheer for the
future. x x 4 We confess that this
defect in the Message surprises and pains
us. "5s 5sarl.f
The Sprinfeld Republicans says:
"Not few will say that the President
seems almost wholly eblivious to the great
crisis that is upon the country, and the
momentous necessity that rests upon the
Government, while he is absorbed in his
scheme of compensated emancipation, the
realization of which is in the far-off future
II it is to come at ALL Others still will
scout his pet plan altogether, and declare
it waste of time and energy to consider
it at all, while it is so palpable to every
one that earnest war is the business of the
hour, and that it is by war to the utter
subjugation of the Shareholders, that sla-
very is to be abolished, and not by the
consent of the Shareholders themselves y
The Oswego Commercial Times, forget
ting that Lincoln's stump speeches were
not written by him, and that his Messages
were, says:
I "We confess we are disappointed in the
Message. Since he became President,
Abraham Lincoln seems to have abandon
ed altogether that forcible and eloquent
istyle which rendered his speeches famous.
We look in vain for any such ringing
sentences as those contained in his im-
promptu speech at the Cooper Institute,
prior to his nomination for the Presidency.
The Message is plain, straight forward
and rather heavy. He makes no appeal
to the feelings, he touches none of the
finer emotions of the human heart; he
makes no effort to stir up the patriotism of
:. the people to high and lofty deeds for
Union and liberty. Does the elevation of
a man to the Presidency blot out of his
mind all the eloquence and poetry it may
have previously contained?"
/ We have quoted exclusively from Ad-
ministration journals. With all their
partiality and with every interest inviting
them to apologize for and sustain the Pres
ident, they condemn both the manner and
matter of the Message. They all ac-
knowledge the defects of style which make
this State paper national opprobrium.
] They regret the absolute silence with which
the war and its sacrifices are passed over,
and they refuse their assent to the recon-
mendations which it contains We know
of no exceptions. A few are silent; but
/ the rest condemn.