Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-07-22
HORACE GREEzEE-HIs HEAD AND
HEART.

DAVIS, If he should be admitted to bail. A
person in Illinois wrote to ascertain the
truth Of this statement. The letter and reply
ran thus:
WArKEoAy. TT, june 24-To hon. Horace
greeisB. Neio Ig.k: DEAR SIR: ] would respect /
fully ask If It be tue that you have offered % go
JEFF. DAVIS bail for his release2 Also. II the /
above &c true. why you did not Try to obtain bail
for WIZ. keeper q JEFF DAVIS slaughter pen /
idle curiosity, but for the purpose Of obtaining
your views on so important point IN the mean /
time remain
rsi.o.s. Very respectfully yoggrsii yu.ov :,
ANSWER.
Yes. sir ! would bail DAVIS, or you, or any
other cUlpTt that the Government would shame-
fully keep in jail more than year, resisting and
raigned and tired CT let go. hours truly,
To Mr. J. WILSON, Jr., Waukegan.
Few men in America have a larger brain
or 4 better heart than HORACE GREELEY.
No man connected with the Press Of this
country, at any time, has exhibited greater
sincerity, more Independence of thought, or
holder expression. Constantly receiving the
denunciations Of Iis adversaries as a bitter
and narrow partisan, he has been less with
his party than any other man of equal
| power and influence. lie left the Wing par
ty, in which he was born and nurtured, ia
king an advanced position in the anti-sla-
very ranks. He was demonstrated with, but
| persisted; and became eventually the father
of the Republican party-never going, how
ever, to the GARRISON and PHILLIPS eT-
treme.
! Then secession came, as one Of the legltl-
mate results Of the sectional organization
which he had fomented, and Of which he
| was the chief builder and most industrious
workman. He then said "let these erring
States go in peace" But his counsels were
unheeded, and war followed. He stood by
his people and section, giving them all aid
and encouragement Next came emancipa-
ton, which he then held military neces-
sity, as he had long held it to be a political
one. He was satisfied, and there was never a
day afterwards, from the time It became APP
parent to his mind that the proclamation
would become practically effective, that he
was not an earnest advocate Of peace. Eman-
cipation secured, he was for stopping war,
even upon the conditions of universal am
nesty, and made active efforts in 1864 to &C
complsh it. He failed, and events took
their course.
The war terminated, with both emanci-
patton and the extinguishment of the mill
tary power Of the South. The theory of
abolition which Mr.. GREELEY propounded
years before was now solved, and with the
solution he was satisfied But GREELEY
never stands still nor retrogrades. His next
step was the enunciation Of the corollaTY
which his argument gave to the solution Of
the problem-sufrage to the negro. But in
taking it he neither proposed to change the
government chang the rebels" confscate
their property, nor disfranchise them. Here,
he again falls behind his party, and in the
individuality and sincerity Of his purpose, is
willing to free the illustrious prisoner at
Fortress Monroe, and proposes to become
his bail until the Government is ready to
bring him TO trial. lie would this day pro-
claim an unconditional amnesty, and trust
the people 10 give the negro the right of suf
frage in the proper way and at the proper
time.
We know of 70 politician in the Union
who has been more governed by reason, or
less by passion than GREELEY. We have
uniformly dissented from his reasoning, and,
before and since the war, endeavored 10
show the evil results Of the triumph Of his
views. The war was the resultof his teach |
ings. His negro suffrage theory may not |
produce another war, but it will have a most |
disastrous effect upon the purity of the bal |
lot-box in the South and weaken instead of |
strengthen popular Institutions. He does |
not see it thus, and will not probably live to |
see the practical demonstration. But it is |
his philosophy, and like other philosophers |
Of most benifcent mind his theory and |
reasons il they shall ever come to a practical |
test will result, contrary to his desire and |
expectations, in nothing butdisappointment |
In his head Mr.. GREELEY is genuine but |
mistaken philosopher-in his heart he is a /
genuine but mistaken philan.hropist. His |
politics are like his business. The struc- |
ture Of his mind is, in the main, eminently |
conservative, but its force and vigor, which |
are superior, give strength to his errors, and |
lead him to positions either not tenable or
mischievous. His sedentary and abstemi- /
Gus life led him to believe that fruits and
brown bread were the best diet for man
kind, because best for him. He may still /
believe so, but the world does not He wears
a grey coat and a grey hat, but the most en-
thusiastic Of his admirers do not. Years
ago, he purchased n small tract Of land at
Chappaqua, by which the Harlem Railroad
now passes. On it we're gushing springs Of
cool water, and a stream which furnished
cascades and landscapes perfectly delightful.
The house on it was small and unpretending.
He had a princely income in the city and
could have then made his possessions
in the country an Eden. But he didn't.
He allowed the old house, inconven-
lent and uninyiting as il was, stand.
He preferred TO increase his dominion by
buying other contiguous farms. He has
thus absorbed nearly dozen Of them, with
their orchards, springs meadows and cot
tages. He cannot live comfortably in any
Of them. His locks are now whitened with
age, and he is clearing site for the erection
Of residence in all respects his ideal, where
he will have his books, his papers, his fami-
ly and society congenial, and where he fondly
hopes to find the domestic and personal hap
piness which have constituted the dream Of
his life. His ish-ponds, fruits groves,
meadows, cattle, and all the bright treasures
Of his cherished home, win come too late.
He viii die in the midst Of a magnificent
estate at the very moment he is prepared to
enjoy IT,
SO it is with his politics lie fails to inn
prove present possessions. When one point
is gained he Immediately strives oranother,
and they are all comparatively inproduclive
He proposes too much. He works for two
generations in matters wherein God has de-
creed that he can satisfy but one. Such is