Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1864-03-25
From the Boston Daily Advertiser.
/ PORTRAIT OF A PRESIDENT.
pRAwN BY wILLIAMH. PREsoorr.

In 1916, Pedro de la Gasca was sent by the
government of Spain to Peru, 10 hold the office
of President, and suppress rebellion which
threatened to rend the province away. A large
part of the second volume of Prescott's Con
quest of Peru is occupied with the measures
adopted by the President, and carried out to
complete success; and the volume closes with a
portraiture of Gasca. A reader of it now can
not fail to be struck with its extraordinary like
ness TO Mr.. Lincoln Literature has few instan-
ces in which a vivid and minute portraiture of
parsonage eminent in great events, presents
SO many points of resemblance TO another per-
son in far distant scenes and ages.
Gasca was plain in person. and his counte-
nance was far from comely. He was awkward
and i'll propoftioned; for his limbs were too long
for his body,-so that when he rode, he appear
ed to be much shorter than he really was. His
dress was humble, his manners simple, and there
nothing imposing in his presence. But, on
a nearer intercourse there was a charm in his
discourse that effaced every unfavorable i'm
preston produced by his exterior, and won the
hearts of his hearers.
" The Presidents character may be thought
to have been sufficiently portrayed in the histo-
ry already given of his life. 1t presented COM
bination of qualities which generally serve to
neutralize each other, but which were mixed in
such proportions in him as to give it additional
strength. He was gentle, yet resolute; by ma
ture intrepid yet preferring to rely on the softer
arts ofpolicy. He was frugal in his personal eX-
penditure and economical IN the public; yet
caring nothing for riches on his own account,
and never stinting his bounty when the public
good required it. He was benevolent and pla-
cable, vet could deal sternly-with the impenitent
offender; lowly in his department yet with a
full measure Of that self-respect which springs
from conscious rectitude of purpose; modest
and unpretending, yet not shrinking from the
most difficult enterprises; deferring greatly to
others, yet, in the last resort relying mainly on
himself: moving with deliberation, patiently
waiting his time; but when that came, bold,
prompt and decisive.
Gasea was not man of genius, in the vul-
gar sense of that term. At least, no one of his
intellectual powers seems to have received an
extraordinary development, beyond what is
found in others. He was not agreat writer, nor
a great orator, nor great general He did not
affect to be either. He committed the care of
his military matters to military men; of eccles-
iastical to the clergy; and his civil and judicial
concerns be reposed on the members of the Au-
dience. He was not one OF those little great
men who aspire TO do everything themselves,
under the conviction that nothing can be done
so well by others. But the President was
keen Judge of character. Whatever might be
the Office, he selected the best man for it. He
did mere. He assured himself of the fidelity of
his agents, presided at their deliberations; die
tated general line OfpOlicy, and thus infused
spirit of unity into their plans which made all
move in concert to the accomplishment of one
grand result.
q distinguishing feature of his mind was his
common sense,-the best substitute for genius
in ruler who has the destinies of his fellow
men at his disposal, and more indispensable than
genius itself. In Gasca, the different qualities
were blended in such harmony, that there was
no room for excess. They seemed TO regulate
each other While his sympathy with mankind
taught him the nature of their wants. his reason
suggested to what extent these were capable of
relief as well as the best mode of effecting it
He did not waste his strength on llusOry
schemes of benevolence like Las Casas, on the
one hand; nor did he countenance the selfish
policy of the colonists, ON the other. He aimed
at the practicable,-the greatest good practiea-
bic.
'In accomplishing his objects, he disclaimed
force co qually with fraud. He trusted for sue
cess TO his power over the convictions of his
hearers; and the source of this power was the
confidence he inspired in his own integrity
Amidst all the calumnies of faction, no imputa-
tion was ever cast on the integrity of Gasca.-
No wonderthat a virtue so rare should be of
high price In Peru.
There are some men whose characters have
been so wonderfully adapted to the peculiar cri-
sis in which they appeared, that they seem to
have been specially designed for it by PrOvi-
dence Such was Washington in our own coun-
try, and Gasca, in Peru. We can conceive of
individuals with higher qualities, at least with
higher intellectual qualities, than belonged to
either of these great men. But it was the Won
derful conformity of their characters to the exi-
gencies of their situation the perfect adoption of
the means to the end, that constituted the secret
of their success; that enabled Gasca so glorious
ly to crush revolution, and Washington still
more gloriously to achieve il"