Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1864-11-10

preferred to act with that party which, without re-
gard to antecedents seemed to us the most conser-
vative Of the vital principles of the Government,
involved in our present complication. It has not
been with question which Of the parties in the
past was the wsest and the best, but which to-day
is best fitted to check the tendencies which have
received too much development and impulse from
the drift Of events during the last four years We
believe that our political "machine" is'in danger
from the velocity Of its movement in the new drec
tion impressed on it by the predominant wing Of
the Republican party. We cheerfully recog-
mise the fact that the Republican party num-
bers among its adherents many with whom
we could cordially sympathize if their opin-
ions gave. color and complexion to the Admin
istration, but we have not much confidence
that they will be able to maintain their posi-
tion in that party, and at the same time main
tain the consistency and integrity of their opin-
IONS The drift Of the last two years has seemed
to us pregnant with warning on this point If
we have fallen out of the current it is because we
were not willing to swim with it.
At the same time we know there is wing of
the Democratic party no less impracticable and
exactng in its demands than the so.called "radcal
wing of the Republicans. Not being identified
with the one party any more than the other, we
suppose ourselves free to discuss the dangerous
tendencies Of each and if Mr.. Lincoln, during his
Administration, had manifested as much stead
fastness against what he calls the Greeley fac
ton" rs Gen. Mcclellan has shown in regard to
" the Vallandigham faction" we might have seen
our way clear to support his pretensions to re-
election, notwithstanding our old Whig addiction
t, "the one term principle" As it was, in COM
mon with the great mass of our political associates
have felt it duty to labor for the election of
that candidate who promised to look with single
eye to the restoration of the Union under the Const
tuition, and who seemed least likely to be jostled
from his purpose by extraneous influences.
Itmay be that we have erred in the course we have
taken. Wcdo not pretend to be infable in matters
IS to which we suppose ourselves to 50 much fall
libiity iu many others 1t is certain that no path
of duty has ever seemed clearer to our eyes, with
such lights as we were able to bring to discovery
of the way in which we should walk. Whatever
may be the award of this days arbitrament at the
ballot-box, whether it shall appear that we have
acted with the many or the few, we shall have the
consciousness that We consulted honestly, if not
wisely, for the welfare Of the country We fully be-
love that the part we have chosen "wil stand the
test of human scrutiny and of time" And what
ever may be the result of the election, We have
the same theory Of civil obligation to PROFOUND for
our own guidance and for the guidance of our coun-
trymen. So long as Gen. Mcclellan and Mr.. Lin
coin were before the people as candidates for the
Presidency, it became the duty it was the right
Of all to canvass with freedom, if only with can
dor, their respective claims to public confidence.
But when the contest has been decided let there
be, as far as possible, end Of strife and debate.
If the choice Of the people shall fall on Gen.
Mcclellan, it will be the duty of his opponents,
equally with his supporters, to give to him, as
President, the support he is entitled to claim from
all good citizens As the constitutional head of the
nation. And between Mr.. Lincoln, the candidate
of his party, and Mr.. Lincoln, the President of the
United States there is wide difference. In the
former character he can ask to be supported only
by those who concur with him in his opinions and
policy. In the latter character he may rightly ask
to be upheld in the discharge Of his constitutional
functions by citizens of all parties alike. And
when we call to mind the discordant elements
which enter into the composition of both the par
ties respectively supporting the candidates. of Gen.
Mcclellan and Mr.. Lincoln, it must be apparent to
all that the success Of either will impose upon pa
triotic citizens, without distinction of party, the
duty of avoiding factious opposition to the one
or the other, since, in any event. the intrinsic
difficulties of the position of either must be greatly
enhanced by the divergent views of the supporters
Of EACH whether Gen. Mcclellan or Mr.. Lincoln
shall be installed in the Presidential chair for
the next four years. Those who, on the one hand
or on the other, apprehend the most disastrous
consequences from the elevation Of Gen. Mcclellan
or Of Mr. Lincoln to power, should not despair Of
the Republic, but are bound by the very sincerity
Of their approximations to labor, within the sphere
Of their influence, for the correction Of tendencies
to evil--giving to the Administration, whoever
may be the incumbent Of the Presidential Office all
the support that can be given in consistency with
scnsc of duty to the Constitution and the public