Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1864-03-16

OF the condition OF thlngsiln the mex
century A war can 60 on for years IL
this way. But to lead a war once begur
to a successful close demands strength
and vigor of intellect, a clear apprecia.
ton of military matters, and a mind a.
wake t.. every possible emergency and it:
requirements \ great man, a strong
man, a young man, all these should be
the characteristics the leader of the
American people who is to restore us
from the present calamities.
He should know how to lead armies
and to achieve peace as the grand object
of war Is there any one who has failed
to mourn the ignorance of military af-
fairs at Washington? If he would but
have the wisdom not to interfere in mill
tary affairs, but to leave them entirely to
soldiers, then, indeed, It might not be
necessary that he ezshOuld himself under
stand war. But we are now to choose a
man who it to be commander-in-chief Of
the American army, and in war of mag
nitude unsurpassed in the whole history
Of nations. We are not yet at the end of
that war. It stretches far away in the
future. Shall we allow it to proceed as
heretofore, with constant changes Of gen.
erals, and changes Of Plans and over
throwing of campaigns by the interfer-
ence Of civilians, and the terrible contin-
uation of folly through which it has been
rolling along? Mr. Lincoln chooses his
generals, We choose him. lie is the
appointed Of the people. IF they had
expected that he was to be commander
in-chief in a great war, it is hardly prob
ablesthqt they would -haye fixed on him
as the man. Blu: now the future is toll
erably visible. It is a future of war.
Nor is it by any means certain that the
I civil war wili5ehd, in perfect peace when
it does end. Foreign complications, in
to which this administration has allowed
US t.. drift, remain unsettled. The mail
cd tread of French armies shakes the
continent. Who can forsee the future of
unhappy Ameriea2 Let us Chico a
President with our eyes open to the grand
wars which his administration must in all
human probability direct.
Let him be a man of refdcd Christian
heart. The whole country ought to IN
lite in this desire. Where is the consci-
ence Of the. men, Who boast their Gffvili-
zation, who will tomorrow in their pews
as Christian worshippers, who yet disre-
gard this grand requirement in the char
acter of their political leaders, and make
no distinction in voting between profane
infdel men, and men who believe in re-
sponsibility to God, and in living mp to
that responsibility? Letno one mistake
Us. We DO not mean to minsle religion
witt. politics nor to make the.question Of
church membership question of votes.
But We say, and challenge contradiction,
that it is most important question, in
choosing a President of the United Sta
ties whether he is a man over whose life
the refining effects of Christian educa-
tion and associations have shed their in
fuences for good. We have been suff-
ciently often called to fasting and to
thanksgiving for the nation, to feel that
the hand of God is in the whole natter
of our fate fit be cur duty-and who
doubts it? thus to recognize the interpo-
sition of the Divine hand, it is certainly
most desirable that our recognition sho'd
be something more than mere formali-
ties, and spasmodic demonstrations But
more than all this, this war must be bro't
to successful end, if at all, by the use
of such means as the highest civilization
and Christianity demand We cannot
escape that truth. Men may endeavor
to win success by barbarism, by revenge
ful feelings, by the fercest exercise Of
human passion, when after all, it is as
plain as the sunshine that we shall never
see the end until the gentle and holy in
huences which are born OF true Christi
anity shall calm the tempestuous hearts
of men, and give US peace. We need a
man who shall be strong for action, skill
ful as leader, free from the malign in
fuences of old political bonds in the cap
ital, Who.shalI know how to conduct war
SO that its success shall be peace, and
that not the peace of death or of desOla-
ton, but peace on the principles of Chris
tianity and civilization.
The Boston Courier, repubIishing this
article, says: ~
The Journal of Commerce sufficiently
indicates sndO is the person whom it pre-
fer8 for Che next Presidency, in an arti-
Gle which we quote upon the outside Of
to-day's Courier. We need not say to
our readers that all our own feelings and
convictions point in the same direction,
as they have had frequent occasion to in
fer from the tenor of remarks in this pa
per; though we have taken care not to
urge our own decided views on this point