Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-02-06
M renaenelea of the TIme.

. go <rOISL ~ o-----l - 81 GS@SL
that she should give the right of suffrage
10 the black man, would be the most IN
gracious thing he had heard done. . .
They must not expect that the men who
submitted to an overwhelming military
force will rejoice at their own downfall
and spring up and kiss the hand which
whipped them. We must have
or eye on other measures than legal CO.
lerciOn for the protection Of the blacks
until such time as men learn their duties"
The "mslting mood" into which
many of on: people seem suddenly to
have passed is apparently producing
strange and insOngruouS results but,
If We look beneath the ripples on the
surface, We find the main current
flowing steadily forward in the old chan
mel. Men are trying to deceive them
selves, but It is evident they meet with i'll
success. Political parties are but repeat
ing, under certain modified conditions Pc
euliar 10 the time, the history Of other
days. For the third time since the formA-
ton Of the republic, the President holds
his position by an unexpected turn Of the
wheel Of fortune. Upon the occasion OF
each accidental change of administration
have the two great political parties striven
to control the new incumbent. In the first
instance the opponents of the administra-
tion Of President Harrison were 50 sus-
cessful in PROSECUTING his accidental sue
cessor that the word tyler has since
been the SYNONYM Of t~reachery. In the
case Of Willard Fillmore, the second acci-
dental President, the " opposition" did Rot
succeed in attaching him to their party,
yet they shaped his policy and induced
him to pursue q course that destroyed the
organization with which he professed to act.
The Copperheads Of to-day have similar
designsupon President johnson, and, from
the moment ofhis Inauguration to the pres
emit thine, haven not ceased their efforts to Sc
duee him into an unnatural alliance with the
direct and open enemies of those TO whom
he owes his elevation. That at times he
has lent & toO-willing earto the voice Of the
siren, many true men believe, but we can
not think he is willing TO cause an open
rupture between himself and bis original
supporters.
In q transition period like the present
it is interesting to observe the tendency Of
individuals to gravitate toward those
charged with the administration of the
governmsnt-to take shelter in the shadow
of power. We can point to no more
striking illustration of this than is found
in the ostensible "ohange of front" of that
great, radical and hitherto reliable apostle
of freedom, Henry Ward Beecher.
Sharing the kindly spirit pervsding the
hearts of nearly all loyal people, feel
ing common to the m~agnanimous victor in
all lands-Mr. Beecher forgets for the mo-
msnt the sound maxim, "Be Just before you
Hsre generous, and INDUCES in glittering
generalities shout the duty of our people
to exercise the broadest charity and grant
the fullest forgiveness. In the abstract,
Mr.. Beecher is right and these kind
thoughts and u~tterances are ersditable TO
his nature-a nature SO warm that he has
temporarily bestowed his sympathies upon
an unworthy object. All this in the name
of supporting the administration" A
few weeks age, in his own pulpit at Brook
lyn, he became so msgnanimous that he
proclaimed q desire to welcome rebels to
full religious, Sosial and political fellow
ship without sven asking them to resant
the heresy Of seeession-te reneunce their
theory of the constitutional and moral
right of a State TO destroy the Union and
inaugurate civil war. But Mr.. Beecher
did not succeed even in transferring him
self to the ranks Of the conservatives.
After proposing to welcome back our
Herring brethren" with all their Htheories"
TO give up which he asserted would be a
surrender Of manhood, be prescribed GER
tain conditions under which the whole
class Of "pardoned" and "reconstructed'
should be received, and pronounced in ia
vor of requiring them to subscribe to an
oath declaring the whole doctrine of seees-
sion aEalss and heretiOsl." Hear him
whilst in the melting mood:
aNor ara zoe to expect them to sipe up
their theories. = / would not respect
them if they did. = = 1 expect them to
retain their theories, but to accept the
facts"
Now let these who are disposed to
despond because of the faltering of this
great leader, look upon the following,
uttered in a subsequent portion Of the
same sermon, and be treasured:
Communities should not be permitted
to take part in the government until so
conditioned that they eannot destroy it.
Thev must stSedr never again to attempt TO
destroy Ms. They must not only declare
their act of secession nHH aud veid, bEt Gb
initia false and keretieGt."
The task Of reeOneiling these hostile
ideas we leave with Mr.. Beecher. We
are sorry he placed himself in this posi-
tion, though We are not quite sure that we
do not like him better in consequence. 1t
proves that however he may attempt il,
he cannot desert the great principles with
which his life has been identified. 1t is
70 be hoped he win accept the lesson, and
hereafter content himself with advocating
the right without stopping to inquire
whether in SO deing he il or is not "sup-
= porting the administration"
The friends of freedom are not the emily
Dnes who affect to share the "universal
confidence and "good feeling" Our
Copperhead nsighbOrs are vOciferous in
shsir protestatiOns of " mutual fOrbear- !
isnce" ct eetera and reallyseem willing to
laerihce anything, except essential party
measures. For example certain Copper I
aead journals apPlAuded President john !
for his supposed determination to ,
,ring Jefferson Davis to trial, declaring it j
mo more than proper that the crime Of {