Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1868-08-04
Fred. Douglass on the Fall of Chase.


man having now reached terminus
ton hardly less instructive than
mela ncholy, it becomes those who
have felt the deepest interest in his
life and character to rec ognize. the
fact of apostacy and protect them
selves as far as possible from its
damning consequences, by holding
his example up to moral indigna>
ton and earnest Reproductions. The
position Of Mr.. Chase before the late
Democratic Convention, viewed in
Connection with his early history
and the sources from viii ch he has
mainly derived popular considera,
ton, is certainly one of the saddest
spectacles which can afliict the eyes
of men. An Aboitionist of thirty
years standing, II Liberty Party man
of the olden time, when The party
could count only 1000 votes in the
whole country, an anti slavery law
yer, trusted most by the trembling
fugitive from slavery, an Abolition
politician and statesman, indebted
for his distinction, his high position
among his countrymcn mainly in his
supposed unselfsh and infiexibe de-
votion to human liberty, and espee-
tally to that of the much hated ne.
gro, is found at last in the gutter be-
fore Tammany Hall piteously implor
ing the Democratic party to nomi-
nate him as their candidate for the
Presidency, urging as his chief rec
ommendation his ability to demora>
lie a sufficient number of his old anti
slavery associates to put the govern
ment into The hands of the Demo,
cratic party the next four years.
"What falling off was there, my
countrymen /"
Here is treachery, compared with
which that Of Webster, Seward,
Charles Francis Adams and Andrew
| Johnson whitcns into innocence.
The fall of Mr.. Chase is more scan
dalous and shocking than that of any
other of which American history af-
fords an example. His descent is
from a point higher-he has fallen
lower-and he reaches depth Of in
fanny deeper and hotter than that of
any other of his predecessors in
treachery. 1t is only few weeks
ago that he was seeking to win to
himself the votes of the colored men
of the South on the ground that he,
more than any other prominent man,
best represented their interests and
rights, and now he is for party
whose chief claim to popular regard
is based upon its hostility to the me-
gro and its purpose to place him in
condition only less wretched than the
slavery from which the war for the
| Union has rescued him.
1t is not many weeks since that
good man, Gerrit Smith, was vigor-
usly pressing the name Of Mr.. Chase
for the Presidency. He was evident.
~ surprised, if not grieved, that l
was not equally earnest in the same
work. He could not understand why
| should favor the nomination and
election of General Grant in prefer
ence to Chief Justice Chase. Mr..
Smith win have no difficulty in un>
derstanding my preference now.
The fact is | have for many years
been troubled with doubts Of this
mans Anti Slavery trustworthiness.
Before Mr.. Chase had betrayed that
heroic woman Margaret Garner, in
to the hands of Kentucky slavehun-
ters before he deserted Mr.. Lincoln,
and sought to supplant him in 1864 /,
before he accepted the Chief Justice.
ship, as the price Of his support of
the second election of Mr. Lincoln !;
before he manifested his inordinate
desire for the Presidency by leaving
the Treasury (where his services
were most needed by the country,
in order to put himself in training for
the Presidential nomination before
he framed excuses for his failure TO
try Jefferson Davis; before he
brought the whole influence Of his
post on and learning to shield An-
drew Johnson from deserved i'm
parchment, ard before his present
Identification of himself with all the
denominations of the Democratic plat
form, | had uncomfortable impress
sions of the man which | could not
(though / often desired to- divest
myself.
A portrait of the character of Mr..
Chase given me by Hon. Samuel
Lewis, of Cincinnati, when that good
man and faithful Abolitionist was on
his dying bed, has despite of all eff
forts to shake it off and forget it, fol-
lowed me for dozen years and
has become more and more vivid as
time and events have developed the
true status OF the man. The iudg-
ment of Mr.. Lewis was that Mr..
Chase was not to be trusted in any
emergency-thath he was coldly sel>
fish and intensely ambitious, and
that in furtherance Of his ambition
he would sacrifice the Abolition
cause or any other. | was shocked
by this portrait of Mr.. Chase and
disputed its accuracy at the time,
but its ugly features have confronted
me ever since. Hence, gross and un-
expected rs was the detection of Nj.
Chase to many of his friends it was
not wholly unlocked for,
He has confirmed the bad opinion
of him in every particular. Greedy
for the Presidency, he has not hesi-
tated to renounce all ties of ancient
friendship, to repudiate all obliga-
ton of gratitude, to disregard the
sentiment of reserve W hich BELTS his
present high office, to intrigue and
scramble for a nomination at the
hands of a party conspicuous for the
bitterest hostility to the professed
principles Of his whole life, and
whose triumph in the coming cleo
ton would be the direst calamity
The signal defeat, rebuke and humil>
alton of the institute ambition of
Chief Justice Chase in some measure
atones for the Democratic business
which has accomplished his seduc-
ton. He has solid his judicial err
| NINA in vain IIa IL lilo Wolcax