Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1872-12-04
Horace Greeley.


country mas known that he was not in health
that the exhaustive labor Of the campaign
had Frustrated him. that the recent sickness
and death of his wife had added the burden
Of terrible sorrow to the anxiety and intel.
lectual strain Of the few past months Of ex.
element; but it was not prepared for this
sad and quick termination Of so remarkable
and eveutful life The news of his death
has come upon us,--so close is it on the heel
Of the rough political tempcsts that have
been filling the country with their wild tur-
bulcnce, like the sound Of tho voice Of God, |
rebukiug the tumult Of the people and say.
ing to the passions that are yet suleny roll
ing like the waves of the leaden sea after
storm, Peace be still
Concerning the cause Of Mr.. Grceley's
death there can be but little doubt The
strength of constitution, never weakened by
any excess or indulgencies gave way under
the pressure Of undue excitement and over
work. The brain became so sensitive aud
irritable that he lost his mental equipoisc
lost his lifelong amenity aud courtesy; his
selfcontrol aud presence Of mind aud the
/ Inflammation passed to such an extent that no
rest could come 20 quiet its iitful ievers, and
no anodyne Of human art could be found to
bring 1t to the needed rcposc. Mr. Greeley
had great heart; his veins we're full Of
blood, and his bones Of marrow, and his breasts
Of milk. lie was ardent, enthusiastic, i'm.
pusiye; a mighty intellectual warrior, and a
chivalrous humane, generous lover. His ma.
ture was many sided but versatile as he was
in resources, intrepid and relentless as he was
in controversy, adventurous and terrible as he
was in every intellectual conflict in which be
engaged he yet had the heart Of little
child; was sympathetic as a woman, and re-
sponded to the least throb Of the suffering Of
others in every nerve Of his being 1t was
this warmth Of impulsiye emotion, this sensi-
A, bility and passion, that led him into many Of
the enterprises and vagaries which a cooler
heart would have denied. His brain was
4 clear aud cool enough but the blood that was
in him sometimes rushed in tides of surging
emotion through it, and forced him into ac-
tions that more unimpassoned man would
never have committed. This quality made
him great journalist a great relormer
the unyieldlng foe of slavery, aud uncompro
missing friend of the slave the eager advo
cate Of every cause that promised better
social life, or a purer civil state but it was
incompatible with the perfect balance and
equipoise Of the mind, and the hard, compact
T. 6rmness that are the essential qualities Of a
r great statesman. 1t made him noble, beauti
y full, attractive the master Of human sympa
thies by as much as his own heart was strung
j. to them; but it made him sensitive also
sometimes petulaut like a child; sometime.
variable in his temper and judgments anC
= unable to influence and control the temper
> aud judgments of other men.
= Mr.. Greeley was "a man consistent alway'
with himself or to use an expression more in
telligible, he was always true to himself L
was this intense individuality and sincerity
u that kept him from being absolutely true tc
: any party or to the ideas of any party. Mer
; called him untrue and inconsistent when he
turned against the old Wing party, which he
more even than Henry Clay, or any other
man, had brought into power, and did more
than any other man to dismember and destroy
and bury but however inconsistent with hi:
party, or with the ideas Of other men with
whom he had worked, yet he deserted it be-
cause he could no longer sustain it and be
true to the blood that was in him, to the in
. brain. When the compromises Of the party
Il came athwart the convictions Of the man
i Horace Greeley left it, lie fought agains
> it when its ideas were contrary to his, as h
: had fought for it when they squared with his
+ with all the ardor OF his nature.
So it was in respect to the rebellion. Mr.
Greeley had never put the Union above JUS
tice and mercy. lie always thought anC
taught that liberty and righteousness wer
greater than the United States, He was
republican too, and believed that government
rests on the consent of the governed an,
it go. Let US not bind ourselves to unoi
with slavery on the one hand, nor break tn
: essential principle of popular government oil
" the other. lie looked upon secession as fur
nishing the solution of the pcrplexiDg mora
and political questions which had been agita
= ting the country for half century, solu
ton too that should be just to all concerned
But when it was decided to maintain tn
Union by force, he then bent all the power
- Of his hot blood to the destruction Of tina
system, which, interlocked with the Union
had made it in his judgment compact witt
unrighteousness and an agreement with sin
With slavery destroyed, with the slave eman
cipated and given a voice in the government
he would consent to the Union and to igh
"A LOT IL. ANA When the war was over ana sla
. very abolished he was as generous to forgive
y the South as he had been anxious to over
throw the system Of the South. His was
y heart that nurtured no enmity. 1t was toe
big, too sincere to indulge the rancor of spit'
after it had got the victory His hatred o.
slavery was secret of his willingness to lei
the South 60, of his willingness to 6gh
: after it was determined not TO let her go, and
now that slavery was gone be had nothing tc
> fight for and he welcomed the South back
without slavery as he would have welcomed
New England back TO the Union if she had
rcbelled. That was the reason why he signed
, = the JEFF. Davis bail bond. All enmity was
" slain out of him, and patriotic love, not hate
or fear had come sWeeDing hack its great A.