Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-08-28

protectioDlst whig, until the whig party
broke up in general wreck in 1856. In
1881, when Mr.. Summers election to the
Senate was pending and the friends of free
dom throughout the land were anxiously
watching the changing fortunes of the ballot
IN the Legislature for weeks and months. and
every influence was needed, nothing could
make Mr.. Greeley commit himself in Mr..
Summers favor, either in the Tribune or in
social circles, or even in private converse
ton.
" He adhered to the Wing party after it
had accepted the Fugitive Slave law and the
compromises of 1880, and after it had re-
pudiated the Wilmot provisio and all at
tempts to exclude slavery from the terrific
ries by national legislation. The language
in which the late Theodore Parker spoke of
Mr.. Greeley course on the slavery questions
as late as 1858 Suppressed IN the American
edition of his wOrks,) though marked by
verbal asperity, is not in substance unde-
served Mr. Greeley s vacillating and pu-
sillanimous course in 1860 and during the
war has been SO recently and clearly exposed
to you that need not recall 1T to your
attention He has, indeed, expressed many
sentiments and done much with his pen
which have been useful to the cause. For
these, all thanks. But we must look to his
acts, for it is the executive Office to which
he aspires. If the rest of the professed
anti-slaverY men of the North had done as
he did from lS48 to 1868, or as he counseled,
there would have been no organization OF
abolitionsts no freesoil party, neither Sum
ner nor Hale would have been in the Senate.
and there would have been now an empire,
with slavery for its corner stone, stretching
from Ohio to Mexico, where four millions
of your race would have been held as chat
fols ~ br,t ba Ial. M
the people of the free States. This is the
man whom you are asked to support, as
life time abolitionist.
- do not at all agree with some who say
that the personal question is of little account
IN this contest. The personal characteristic
of the President of the [ nited States are
always of the greatest Importance, even when
well-OrgauIzed parties arc clearly divided on
recognized ISSUES But now, when both par
ties profess the same purposes, and 1t l. IN
certain how the questions of the future viii
present themselves OF what they may be, the
character of the candidate Is of the utmost
consequence. His qualities will tinge with
their color the remotest riIls of patronage and
influence, and even, like the turbid current
Of the Mississippi, be felt far IN the depths OF
international relations. 1t is not from a
gossipjng spirit, or a love of personalities that
the mental and moral character of the new
candidate is 50 freely and eagerly canyassed
by our people. Ii Is because they feel its
importance.
- So much for the personal ques-
ton, as relates to the new aspirant. II We
turn to principles, professions and organizA
tiOns. we again encounter the personal ques-
tion on vast scale Many see, on the pol
shed surface Of the Cincinnati and Baltimore
platform, signs Of a trap door, through which
N. o hot Ia
But it is claimed that all the platforms are
substantially alike. Assume it to be 50. Ii
both platforms profess and promise the same
things we are driven u ask-Whlch organi-
zltlou, which body OF supporters Is most like
liz 70 carry them ont, This Is the personal
question again. applied u millions. Ii
seems to me 70 be fast solving itself. Ii Is
becoming a question almost OF natural his
t1ry-ol elective afHnlties BY natural
instinct ut the south, the Union men and the
col0red races, and those who accept rvcOn-
strucJIOn IN good faith, wishing for order and
equal rights, are going for Grant. Those
who cherish the lost cause. It's passions and
hopes. repeat their despiriny cry OF ls6f and
I~o5 Anything % beat Grant. At the
North. rebel sympathlzers and the hali-heart
"a patriots Of l>0u-b5 gruvItaue toward
Greeley. while toward Grant are turned the
ewes OF the Old abJltiOnist7 and irees0ilerS
and the men OF color, and the unconditional
mon men of the war. l observe, too, that
those English journals which cheeTcd on the
rebellion and deride1 the mon are express
Ing their fears that Greeley Will fail, and with
him the last hopes OF what they are pleased
% call the rights of the States. There are
Of course. exceptions d this distribution Il
the North and. in New England, gone from
close at our side, one Illus .rIJus exception.
Ttlr. "a .rq and bn1,ru-
iug isolated When new lines are suddenly
drawn through a crowd, some men viii find
themselves By accident, mistake OF surprise.
where they ought not 90 he. Some VIII be
wrong by their own fault or misfortune.
But as % the great body. this elective affinity
is setting the nature oil the contest we are u
expect l. It possible that YOU can hesitate ?
NJ, indeed. ii is not. After the signal calls
of danger from the familiar voices of CARR
son, Phillips and your own Douglass, and
the cry of surprise and alarm from your own
people. borne on every breeze from the south
II would be assumption no me 10 say much
o.. A. To President Grant. purpose 20 speak
with frankncss, and not 70 enter upon pane.
rvric IN early life be was not politician,
but. against all the influences at West Point
and IN tue army in favor of the democratic
party. he remained, like Mr. Greeley, WING.
Once. under the effect OF thsJ dislike and DIS
trust which the army felt for Fremont he
voted the democratic ticket That as sol
der. beginning modestly in the lower grades,
he was forced 10 the top by his own achieve
mcnts, and there broke the rebellion and saved
the Union. i- history. 1t that does not speak
TO You in "a tone 10 thrill your hearts, may
well be silent. The people. IN INtS, called
HIM to Office he did not seek and was
reluctant to accept lie found its duties
novel and painfully difficult, and made more
embarrassing by the arrogant assumptions of
senators, and the ephemeral and irresponsible
elements 10 the lower House lie has shown
qualities in a high degree which arc essential.
and others that are, useful in that Office. Ia
some respects, he has disappointed those who
looked for certain very desirable results. But
DO II let Us be misled bv his opponents into
comparing him with an ideal President that
were day-dreaminy and mere faulty. We
know the worst OF President Grant, If we ever
do Of any man. There Is not a fault he has,
and scarce one he has not, which has not been
charged to him. But we see IN him mOdestv.
patience, will, civil courage, a practical fac
ulty, ruling sense of justice, and a notion
that laws are made TO be executed. We may
weA be thankful that we can secure all these
qualities, and escape the perils of such chief
magistrate as Mr.. Greeley, anu such a combi-
nation as would use and control him. Presl.
dent Grant will be elected and surrounded BY
those forces Of society which, with his power
tut aid. have saved the Union, abolished
slavery, extended equal rights to freedmen,
enacted and enforced laws against barbarsm
at the south, secured the debt from repudia-
ton, preserved the public credit. done Justice
to the Indians, avoided foreign war with
honor, and gwen new scope and dignity TO
arbitration among nations.
To sum up all, my friends, this Is a Wa
Of clements. Platforms, professions, prom