The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-09-26
MIR. SeYmOnr,s Uniliness.

Mr. ScymOurS UDHneSS.
From ne N. T. Times.
The estimate of Mr.. Seymour's character
conveyed by the letter OF General Dix is veri-
fed by his conduct in connection with the
nomination for the Presidency. General Dix
states the impression left on his mind after
more than quarter Of a oentury's personal
and political intercourse with the Democratic
candidate. His private excellence Is conceded.
But, in the opinion of the General, she has
not a single qualification for the successful
execution of the high official trust to which
he has been nominated" "He is especially
deficient in that 6rmness of purpose which, in
critical emergencies, is the only safeguard
against public disorder and calamity
Colonel Browns exposure of the Democratic
movement for the nomination of Chief Justice
Chase revealed very plainly the feebleness Of
purpose or the discreditsble insincerity which
characterized Mr.. Seymour's part in that
affair. 1t is impossible to reconcile his pro-
fessed anxiety for the selection of Mr.. Chase
on moderate and progressive PLATFORM with
his own acceptance of the nomination on an
extreme and reactionary platform, except on
the theory of mental instability or feebleness.
A strong and really honest man would not
have taken such course. If alive to the
danger of ultraism, and in good faith desirous
of having Mr.. Chase as candidate, he would
not have succumbed as quietly as Mr.. Sey-
mOur did to the very influences which he pro-
fessed TO resist. So, also, in regard to his own
nomination. Few more pitiful spectscles can
be imagined than that of party leader, who,
after solemnly declaring his determination not
10 be nominated, violated his declaration,
and yielded in tears. The most charitable
construction of motive cannot save Mr.. Sey-
tnour from the imputation of weakness. This
circumstance alone would justify the remark
of General Dix as to his want of decision and
self-control A man who is unable to with
stand the temptations of party convention
is not fit for the Presidency at any time, and
Is especially unit in times of peril and diff
Guilty.
The same infirmity is apparent in Mr.. Sey-
mour's surrender OF his convictions on the
bond and greenback questions. He held de-
cided views in regard to both. He contended
that to pay the bondholders with deprecated
paper would be to destroy the national credit
and tarnish the national honor. And he de-
picted the evils attendant upon an inflated
currency as among the greatest calamites
that could befall the country. These views he
cherished, or pretended to cherish, until the
eve Of the Convention. Nay in conformity
with them, he lent his aid to the strangling
of Mr.. Pendleton in the house of his friends.
And yet, rather than be deprived of nomina-
tion which he protested he would not accept,
he abandoned his financial principles without
word OF explanation or q sign of remorse,
and donned the mantle of the slaughtered
Pendleton. Thus regeneration was added to
weakness in manner as fatal to Mr.. Sey-
mour's profession of principle as to his repu-
tatioH for ixedness of purpose.
These are the latest illustrations of the un-
fitness of one whose whole political career, as
General Dix remarked, "has been in nothing
more oonspicuously marked than in an utter
infrmity of purpose" Such man may be
the best available instrument of the Southern
extremists, who made General Blair his asso-
ciate on the ticket but he is certainly not
qualified to guard the interests and uphold
the honor of the country in its great emer-
genCY.