The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-08-08

| 1lCdIcu IL us unworthy OF feCOplliJlOn. 10
make this slight the more noticeable you have
taken pains to eulogize his political rival for
the Vice Presidency, Gratz Brown, as one
whom you 'haye known for years as most
| determined abolitiOnistr' 1t is an immensely
| exaggerated claim. Put a hundred men like
| GratZ Brown into one scale and Henry Will
son into the other, for anti-slavery service
rendered, and for reliable friendship for our
colored population, and they would violently
kick the beam. There is no comparison to
be made between these candidates as to trust
worthiness or meritorious character. The
nomination OF one so openly pronounced on
| all the leading refoImatOry movements of the
| age as Henry Wilson is a crushing reply to
the hollow charge that the Republican party
| Is without a mission and given over to cor
| ruptiOn.
Having at last decided to support Mr. Gree
| ley, (why did you linger so long, in view of
his extraordinary virtues and admirable Pres
idential qualifications p you naturally proceed
TO make the most OF him. /. she was born
to poverty" So were millions besides. What
then? Does Charles Sumner deem himself
unfortunate tor having been born to compe-
tence? 2. ''He educated himself in print
ing office" Thousands of others have done
the same thing; is it any reason why he or
they should be put into the Presidential chair?
3. HE started with nothing but industry
and a character" An every day occurrence
In all parts OF the country. 4. always be-
nefcent with the poor" Is that a rare trait,
and worthy of grave consideration in deter
mining who shall be the next President? 5.
IAN honesty which no suspicion has touched"
There is nothing peculiar in this. In the or
dnary dealings of business life, no doubt Mr..
Greeley is honest; he will neither cheat ror
pick your pocket. But in political manage
ment he has been and continues to be far
from upright, substituting low expediency
for answering rectitude. The great Ameri-
can compromiser, Henry Clay, living and dy-
ing, was alike his idol and model. He does
not find it difficult to believe that the end
sanctifies the means. To adhere to fixed
principle of right, come what may, he regards
as fanaticism; to sacrifice it for present at
talnable advantage is in his opinion states
manshlp. In the treatment of public affairs
he is unreliable, and without vision or judg-
ment. The latest exhibition of his slipperi-
ness is seen in his high protection dodge at
Cincinnati to reconcile free traders to his
nomination. He seems to be quite destitute
of moral sensblity, and when occasion favors
can easily be duped. He sees no good reason
why fire and grinpowder should always remain
at variance, or why light and darkness should
never coalesce 1t is only for Southern dis
loyalty to put on the guise of patriotism to be
accepted as proof of repentance and rcgen-
| Grafton. The Adversary, when dressed as an
angel of light, is not to be rerulsed or sus-
| pected, but it will be a Christian act to shake
hands with him, whether over 'bloody
chasm" or the bottomess pit! His clamor
for universal amnesty, and for total oblivion
OF the causes and consequences of the fatal
| dreadful war, is directly in the interest of
another Southern rebellion and should he be
| our next President, as he has repeatedly pro-
| claimed his belief in the right of secession if
| agreed upon by a controlling sectional major
| ity, there is reason for the gravest apprehen-
| sions as to what may transpire under his adj
ministration. There need be adduced no case
for greater distrust or stronger condemnation
| than is found in the fact that the great body
of Southern whites-loyal in form by necessi
] ty, not choice-are eager for his success, while
as large proportion of the Southern freed
men are trembling in fear of it; for they in
stinctively perceive what will be the sad
| consequences to themselves. They may not,
indeed, be again reduced to bondage; but
| short of this, there will be little regard to
their personal or political rights. For this
reason it is that they are feeling so alarmed
and indignant at the stupidity or perfidy of
| any of their number in voting for the Greeley
ticket; and well may wide margin of allow
ance be made for them, if, in any case, they
have attempted to prevent this by threatening
| personal violence. Their object is not
strike down freedom of choice, but to savo
themselves from a cruel betrayal. You can
shed no light on their pathway; for they have
much clearer vision than your own, and
| practical knowledge of men and things around
them that you do not possess. Talk not to
| them in disparagement of President Grant !;
tell them not of the superior virtues of Mr..
Greeley! As a matter of common sense and
| ordinary prudence, they only ask-thcy need
| only ask-on which side are their despisers
and prosecutors, ralying. Ku-Kluxes and all,
| to come to the sensible conclusion that their
| safety lies in an opposite direction. Yet it is
| Charles Sumner who is exerting all his pow
| ers to persuade them to the contrary! By
what witchcrait has this been brought about?
"Omalness of discourse,
| That cause sets up with and against ITSELF
| Bi-fold authOrityi where reason revolt
| Without perdition, and loss assume all reason
| Without revolt: this is, and is not, Cressid.'
The special point that you press upon the
| grateful consideration of colored voters is
| this: ''Horace Greeley, from early life, was
| earnest and constant against slavery, full of
| sympathy with the colored race, and dlcdyS
| foremost in the great battle for their rights.
am so much of a republican
that wish to see in the Presidential chair
| lifetime abolitiOnist' Here, again, as in the
| case of Gratz Brown, YOU make a claim that
cannot be substantiated. Mr.. Greeley never
was and never assumed to be an aboltionist.
He never denounced slaveholding as a mal,m
| an Sc, nor advocated the immediate liberation
| OF the slave, nor recommended direct as
| saut upon slavery itself, nor discountenanced
| all prO-slavery compromises, nor objected to
| slave representation in Congress or to the le-
| gal rendition of fugitive slaves, nor connected
himself with any anti-slavery organization, or
| sanctioned the abolition movement. He was
trimmer throughout the whole struggle, not
withstandng that he wrote and published
| much that was favorable to the cause of free
| dom. He was not even free-soiler, but al
ways Henry Clay whig, until republicanism
| supplanted the whig and free soil parties.
| Even after the slaves were set free under
| Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of Emanci-
| patton, he was in favor of paying those who
had robbed them of every right and rioted
| upon their unpaid toll, not less than four hun
| dred millions of dollars Far different was
the manner in which your friend, Mr.. r. w.
Emerson, regarded this pecuniary adjustment
between the slave-master and slave:
1IGve the owner compensation
| Fill up the bag to the brimi
Who is the owner? The Stare is Owneri
| And ever was! Pay him"
In fact, North and South, the Greeley move
nent is characterized by the grossest dissim
ulation. Read what the New York World
! says of your letter now under review: We
| suppose all Democrats irish to divide the col
| 0red cote, al detach a part of it from Grant;
and If they desire the end, they must consent
to endure the means. What if Mr.. Sumner
does assure the negro voters that the Demo-
cratic party have become converts to the
principles of the Republican party. He is
only adapting has Language to their dppre-
tensions and prejudices to''-i. e., he is only
attempting to play upon their credulity, and
so secure their votes for Greeley; for the
Democratic party have not become converts
to the principles of the Republican party
they are simply in masquerade! 1t is frank,
truthful, but audacious confession.