Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-08-15
SIDNEY PERHAM,
The Meeting Saturday Night.


His very earnes;ness carries I
to the audience that he believes .
what he saws. Such men are never hypo- .
critics. though their impetuOsity may lead 4
them in the wrong oaen. There i danger I
also that this class of minds will cling to |
the past until the present has left them
high and dry The history of the Repub- /
lican party in the past. is the meat the
speaker feeds on and the theme of hi,
impetuous eloquenee in the main.
He commenced his addre>, in the iden-
teal language OF his speech at the Port
land State Convention in lS6S. As citi-
zen of America appear before you. 20
discuss the issues which agitate the citizen,
OF my country" and then after Il fine
exordium he proceeds to discuss the he.csy
of Stale Sovereignty, or local State GOV
eminent which is one resolution in the
Cincinnati platform. the speaker could
hardly find words strong enough with
which to condemn this dogma. He argued
agains, it with ability and great earnest
ness. But the difficulty here i, that some
of the ablest men and papers on the Re
publican side, those that support President
Grant. believe in the Cincinnati resolution
ald clamor for State rights just a. far A.
the Greeleyites 90. The Evening Pos i a
noted example Of The journals. 30 while
W. listened 20 the argument OF the speaker
with interest. aud perhaps profit. we could
not ignore the fact that he was combating
a theory of our Cover lment. or a dogma
of class ofc'iizcu> which now finds favor
with men in both uai les. and with class
of men who supported the war. while he e
was one TO the fullest extent. We haze all
seen that when the nation i, ia peril that
all these hne-spuI ;heorie, yield to the
necessities of the hour: aAd il President
Grant and Horace Greeley today were 10
define their views on Stale Sovc ci.n,y. the
:-eat bugbear of Judge Bingham. we be-
lieve that not ten men in his audience on
Saturday night could detect any difference
wuas tne numpiesr- citfzen OF the whole
country possesses. This proposition no
one will question.
After the discussion of this point. the
speaker became earnest. and descended TO
hard words and TO calling names. He
frequently classed JEFF. Davis and Horace
Greeley together. lie spoke of Greeley
as leading the van and JED. Davis a, bring
ing up the rear three several times.
Where is the necessity or the truthiulne,s
of this: Three Northern men signed
Davis h9il-hAnI fxra.i.,- a
and Cornelius Vanderbilt. the latter two
now support Grant. and Smith was one of
the Vice Presidents of the Republican Ma
tional Convention. while JEFF. Davis. a.
We saw it stated in a Republican paper
has gone back on Greeley. Now all
attempts TO make out that Greeley i not a
patriot. Is not honest. vast earnestly for
the war while there was one. should be left
for cheaper class of men than JUDGE
bingham, Tor every man who read, the
IrttHHe. and many man never heard of
the speaker only through is columns.
knows that all such talk i the mete>t elan
trap. Horace Greeley. a. we see mar
erred in judgment in some par. .cular.: and
want OF success OF the Union armies. and
at the seeming want OF earnestness and
activity of the Administration in pusbinr
forward the war. and the hardness and
reluctance of the President 10 meddl. win
slavery. Almost all the leading Republi-
cans III and out OF Congress complained of
President Lincoln. at one time. a. well ~
the tribune. Even Vice President uamlin
1t l. SAID, neglected visiting the White
House TO. long months because of his wan,
OF sympathy of the way aud manner of
conducting the war. Ii We mistake not
Mr.. Bingham was OF the class of fault-
finders. We recollect in few weeks visit
at the Capital during the dark DAYS OF the
war, TO have been surprised at the extent
OF tnls complaint. Now none of ibis is
recoilected- by the very men who were
thus exercised, except what was written
and printed in the Tribune II these men
who now charge Horace Greeley with being
"a hindrance to President Lincoln had had
newspapers to edit we should now have a
record against them that would put Horace
Greeleys in the shade. We heard some of
these men condemn the dead Lincoln wbep
ne was IN his sorest trials in language that
would not be polite to print here.
Max you, gentle reader. that the cri,i-
cism Is not made against any rebel. nor |
against any anti-war Democrat. nor against |
any one whose course during all the war |
was e4uivoeal or exceptional. but is made |
against Horace Greeley. whose voice and
pen did as much to fire the Northern heart
to patriotism. as any dozen of his assail-
ants. Is ii any wonder. then. that scores
OF men who have always believed in the
tribune. fire up with anger. when their old
chief is thus assailed! Fair play is said to
be jewel; but such usage as this. and
such electioneering is the merest pinch
,eck.
We have written thus much. not to prove
iorace Greeley fit man for the Presi.
ency, nor to excuse any error of iudg-
leht, or act OF his that now seems. when
lewed by the light of subsequent events ,
have been wrong, but to show how dis
onestly is this campaign being conducted
portion Of our public speakers. and a 1
ortlon OF the press of the country. 6
The speaker had much to saw about l
shaking hands across the bloody chasm.'' {
eerlng at the author of the sentence. and {
ndemning its spirit. And one would
ink that to forgive the guilty was the un- L
rdonable sin spoken of in scripture. u
Nv one SO cultivated, and educated to be t,