Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1872-10-05

pTccIHN erection MdUlleSUN inc
South wonld at once be instigatcd 10y
bis sentiments to agtate the question
Of compensation for their slaves,
their debt, aud their pensions, and
with the fiery elements thus famed
into flame, the agitation would
naturally end in our being obliged to
recall Grant and the army to put
down another insurrection. The peo-
pie Of the North, and those of the
South, like Longstrcct and Mostly,
who have had fighting enough, d,sl't
wrnt to 90 over that ground again.
Neither do they want dis s;cnsion and
disturbance. have Ucen an agita-
TOR, but never without necessity. Now
the necessity for agitation has ceased,
and We want peace. If it does not
involve rebellion, the agitation Of the
Southern claims means cnntrOver-
sy over another constitutional amenl-
ment for striking ont such part Of the
Fourteenth Amendment as NAV
stand in the way of those claims. 1t
means nothing less than the renew
al of excitement, irritation and strife;
the revival of the murlerOus Kuklnx;
the crncr persecution Of the freed
men and Union men at the Sonth
the disOrganiza'ion Of Southern Ia
bur, ard general arrangement Of
business. The cause of humanity
unitps with all the material interests
Of the country in protest against the
election of Il man whose triumph
. would nee 'ssarily open 50 danger
ous an agitation. Obvionsl V no such
man cIuld be Nominated for Presi-
dent by the RepubI CAT party. When
he was satisfied of that, then, and
not till then, lie left us.
That is one scriuns aspect of Mr..
Greelcy's cass; and if in addition to
his perversc opinions upon this mo-
mentions question Of American ma
tipnalitv, you take into the account
his excessive vani'y, weakness AMI
vlcilIati,n. his flbby and vie ding
moral natrue, his eccentric temper
and inordinatc hankering for Office,
you have, ! think, full explana-
tiun of his present Ian. entab,e course.
Mr. Summers case il measurably
plain to those who, like myself, have
had better means of knowing the
man than is afforded by public
speeches.
Mr.. Sumner was not, as has been
claimed for him, among the earliest
of our anti slavery champions. Mr..
Garris N, Mr.. Phillips, Mr.. Gerritt
Smith, Mr.. Giddings and others an
tedate Mr. Sumner by many years in
their espousal of the cluse of the
slave. But | bear cordial witness
that, he was among the most earnest,
faithful and persistent Of the friends
of freedom.
! entered the Senate four years be-
fore Mr.. Sumner, and enjoyed his
personal intercourse and friendship
from his appearance there in 1851
up tu the time | went to Europe in
1865. | appreciate, as highly as
any man can, the invaluable service
he has rendered to liberty, hut can
DIR cUrnI : me to say that, from the
outset, his influence in the Senate
was greatly impaired by an over
bearing egutism, and all arrogance
of manuer well nigh intolelahle. His
arbitrary and dicta ori Il nature ren-
dcrs Him peculiarly liable to substi-
tute his own haStv impulses for con-
victiQns and principles Of public pJl-
ley. can, therefore, readily I'M
dcrstand that Mr.. Sumner might | e
betrayed by his wounded vanity and
imperious temper into temporary
misjudgement. But that he could,
under the influence of personal irri-
tations, he so blinded or 50 dishon-
est as to deliberately and persiStently
counsel the colored men of the ma
ton to use their newly-acquired rig lit
of suffrage to reinstate their lifelong
enemies and oppressors in the control
of the government, is to me the
strangest phenomenon of these latter
d IS.
That privilege which he advises
them to put To such tlagraut misuse
has been acquired by and for them at
intimate cost of life and treasuse. Its
hestowal has been resisted by the
Democratic party, step 10y step, in
the halls of legislation and on the
field of battle. 1t has been well
pointed out 10y Mr.. Blame in his let
ter to Mr.. Sumner, even to the last
session, the Democratic party voted
solid in Congress, again and again,
in opposition to Mr.. Summers own
efforts to secure and perfect the civil
aud political rights of their freedom.
Notwithstanding his absurd claim
that great light has suddenly shone
round about the whole Democratic
party, and brought them from dark
ness into a marvellous illumination,
every man in his senses knows that,
as whole, they are absolutely un-
changed and unrepentant, and as
II stile to the Acknowledgement and
elevation of the celOred race to-day
as they were at the beginning of the
rebellion. The Ltterances of their
prominent men and leading presses
afford abundant evidences of this,
and any man may satisfy himself of
its truth by inquiry of the first score
of Democrats he meets. This being
notoriously so, the blindness of po-
ltical infatuatien and ungovernable
rage for personal atlronts, fancied or
real, are barely sufficient to explain
Mr.. summers advice TO the colored
people to did in restoring these met
to power. Happily, all the signs of
the times show that the colored men
are in no danger of being deceived
by the sophistries of their special pat
ron; if they could be, and thus be