New-York tribune., 1872-07-17
POPULAR MISUNDERSTANDING OF MR.
GREELEY
CARRLFSsNESS OF DRESS-QUERULOUS DISPOSE
TION-sECEssION AND PEACE PROPOSITIONS
--BAILING JEFF. DAVIS.
from The Cincinnati Commercial

CARRLFSsNEsS OF DRESS-QUERULOUS DISPOSE
TIoN-sECEssION AND PEACE PROPOSITIONS
--BAILING JEFF DAVIS.
from The Cincinnati Commercial
Eminently public man as Horace Greeley
is there are few men about whom as many M T "a
the popular impression that he Is extremely careless III
his troWsers inside his boots twisting his crayat under
his lett ear and all that sort Of thing The fact l Mr.
Greeley very well dressed man. His linen Is iautess
and while his cravat tic is elaborate, IL Is usually
In the right place. He attends dinner parties frequently
wearing dress coat and in the neatness OF his hands
and feet he noticeable Strange as may appear, his
boots are smarty polished, aud his hands
ing his wood chopping performances, are small ana
white, and in form symmetrical. Many hne lady
would be proud ~ have hands of their Wmteness ana
There is a notion abroad that Greeley does not eat
meat. The truth is, he does not discriminate against
ony wholesome fOal, and is hearty meat eater He
has not the enormous bulk that Mast continues TO place
exhibition in his oacatures put MS generous det'
with advancing years, give tokens OF liberal develop
ment There doubt about II that he Is strict te-
narnce man He never under any circumstances tastes
any sort of Intoxicating liquor enjoys his glass OF water
when the wine flows and disspates IN cup Of tea To-
bacco he detess, but, being philosopher, he sOme
times sits in a cloud of tobacco smoke with complacency
An impression prevails that Mr. Greeley Is cross
querulos quarresome man personally and that ne Is
rude in He is most genial man. animated by
genuine good will to men, HIS voice Is sharp ana tIlD
but exceeding penetrating ana MS aik Is as puhgent s
his writings, and no who has ever conyersed Win
him heard him in conversation VIII IAN 70 recoHec
striking sentence or curious ana lorcDe turn OF
expression He Is sometimes accused OF rudeness De-
he will on with what he has to do IN spite OF
idle callers, and he has been tempted 0ccasOnaly 10
speak fool st! lie calculated 10 astOnlsh II not 10
As % +.
his bearing and that OF the President IN the Bo
ton Coliseum very marked III community cdpaDie
Of judging fairly and was not Illuminating 10 tue nlehds
It is charged that Greeley original secesionist
The fact about Is he objected to war cries so long as
he had hope that the Union of the south could be
reused to active opposition to the SecessOmsts lie De
lieyed the Southern Union men would II gwen far pay
beat the secessonsts and he was anxious tha he ater
should not be afforded the advantage or nng tue SOUTH
heart by quoting Northern threats OF coercion lie
went so far as to say there were eonaos unaer en
would consent to dissolution or the Union those
very highly importance in that critical time of words
that were threatening. Perhaps he was unWise as
the Spaniards to-day who would be glad 10 acknON
edge the independence OF Cuba to avoid the terrible
rifces that the war demands .
go, shouted On 10 Richmond. He did neither the one
thing the other. When the hostilitles were com
mepced by the bOmbarlment OF United States fort, by
of the Provisional Government OF seeded and
conederated States, those who had sIlyen mos earnestly
for and who mad been willing make the greatest
sacrifices preserve IT, were not the least energetic IN
Urging The %i e MAR bnf b r MorS ID
right words. The imbeclty that divided our
army aud held half of it lettering at Harpers Ferry,
while the other half beaten at Ball Run by the
whole OF the COnfederates does not prove that
those who favored decided march upon Richmond at
that time wrong The Rebel veteran army that
afterwards contested for years the road 10 W rs
was which raw army would rst, aud the flight hap
pened to be toward Washington rather than toward
had appeared on Bea1regards flank the movement
would have been "on to Richmond" sure enough
And there Is story that Greeley, IN a pusiianmOus
way begged peace and embarrassed President LIN
n
public service Of value, and II greater attention had
been paid him by Lincoln he would have done better for
the country Here Is the case The Rebels assumed 10
be for peace, All they wanted, it Will be remembered,
WAS 10 let alone The Northern sympathlZers with
the Rebellion cried "Peace, peace, when there was no
peace" and their yocifeTauOn was that the war had
failed to restore the Union, and that must try and
restore 1t by peaceful measures.
AT this iuncture there the news that persons au
thorzed propose terms OF ON our borders
Greeley wisely and well advised the President that here
was an opportunity that must not be neglected The
thing TO do 10 whether the proposed or self
styled negotatOrs had authority and what they wanted
were unwilling TO negotiate for peace the basis OF the
restoration Of the Union IL quite certain that the
they would propose must be wholly inadnssibe.
Very we'll UndOubted evidence that there could be no
tOlerable peaceno peace on the basis or the Union
would practically unite the North The fangs OF the
Copperheads would be at once drawn Mr.. Greeley IN
sisted that great an opportunity should not DC thrown
away, and he was clearly right
Mr.. Greeley willing to talk at one time OF paying
S4OOOO0O0 for the emancipation Of the slaves Is was
the time when the country had been educated 10 the
point that tire must only rebuild the Union but
100000 600, so that Mr.. Greeey's plan had been
adopted freedom and union light have been established
and 100000 and many thousands OF valuable lives
saved. - ....
All but Greeley baed JEFF. Davis. SO he did, and
thereby let the country out OF an embarrassing situation
not been promptly when taken tried by courtmartial
and shot. Ii would not do TO try him before civil
court with Virginia jury. He had been two years
jail and cutitled 10 trial release The sugges
ton he should be taken from Fortress Monroe with
"a writ OF habeas corpus aud bail given Tor large sum
was made. That WOULD open the jail aud rid the country