The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1872-05-21
THE Popular Qualities of Mfr,
Greefey.
from the st. Louis Republican,

The chorus of forced laughter with
which the Radical party saluted the
nomination Of Horace Greeley has
ceased as suddenly as it began, and the
inmates Of Grants breeches pockets
find themselves confronted with a very
palpable and very disagreeable fact
which is, that the Cincinnati Convention
has selected candidate whom it will
be exceedingly difficult to beat. "Prin-
ciples, not men, is good motto, yet
in government resting solely upon the
popular will the popular choice must al
ways depend to a great extent upon per-
sonal characteristics and antecedents
lof the nominee. 1t is difficult, if not
impossible, to bring the masses to sup
port man whose ideas and actions
prove him not in sympathy with them
selves-who is either above or below
the people, not one of them. The peo.
pie are the real rulers of free country,
and they have right to, and do de-
mand that the person to whom they
delegate executive authority shall be
closely allied to them in feeling as well
as in name. This is pre- eminently the
case with Mr.. Greeley indeed, we do ubt
whether there is another prominen. in
diyidual in the land who combines with
which 60 to make up sn available can
didate in the best sense of that much
abused phrase.
He is self-made man. Commencing
al the lowest round Of the ladder, with
out the aid of friends or money, he has
climbed slowly and steadily to the top,
and stands to day the acknowledged
head of American journalism. No ed
itor living or dead has exercised such a
profound and lasting influence upon the
public mind, or contributed 80 much to
the shape and color of public affairs as
Horace Greeley. The political history
of the United States for the past thirty
years may be traced through the col
umns which he has controlled, and that
history owes much Of its pith and pur-
pose to the doctrines which he has in
culcated. The pen which he wields with
such signal ability is recognized pow
era power that neither Presidents nor
Congresses .are willing to defy. The
poor printer boy has grown into giant,
and the victories which he has won in
the domain of thought, are not only
purer but more enduring than the blood
stained triumphs Of the sword His
career is noble example to American
youth, teaching them that neither pow
erty nor adverse circumstances are a
barrier to indomitable will, persistent
industry, systematic economy, and hon
orable ambition.
He is an honest man. Differ as We
may in regard to his opinions-not one
Of which he has ever attempted to con-
ceal-none can deny him the credit of
being thoroughly sincere and unselfsh
Time and again he might have increased
his popularity and his cash by drifting
With the popular current instead OF OPP
posing it: but whenever any policy,
State or National, has seemed to him
wrong or unwise, he has never hesitated
to fight it, no matter how desperate the
odds, or how doubtful the result Oc-
eupying position where he had only
to wink at iniquity to secure share OF
the spoils, not even his Interest enc,
mics have ever dared accuse him of the
smallest faint of corruption. His hands
are clean, and every dollar he possesses
is the fruit of honest toll
Heis Democrat in the broadest mean
ing of the word A child of the people,
he believes in and works for the people,
and entertains healthy dislike for aris-
tocratic Institutions at home as well as
abroad He always iias been and always
will be the determined foe OF those an
ii republican tendencies which manifest
themselves more or less in all the great
centres of wealth snd population. He
insists as 'strenueusly as Jefferson did,
upon "equal and exact justice to all, and
exclusive privileges to none;" and the
rings and monopoies which have gain
ed such firm foothold through State
and federal legislation have found in
him an antagonist who can neither be
bought nor frightened. The reforms of
one kind and another which he has ad
vocated in years gone by, did not spring
from a vague dissatisfaction with exist
ing usage, but rather from sn earnest
desire to improve the condition Of So
ciety, and leave his fellow beings better
than he found them We may smile
sometimes at philanthropy based upon
too high an estimate of human nature,
but it is impossible not to respect and
love man of generous impulses and
nnbcunded faith, who is willing to face
ridicule and abuse in the hope of bene
Citing mankind Ii is through the eff
orts of such vigorous thinkers and bold
experimenters that the world fiuds ma
terial for substantial progress.
The Democracy Of Mr.. Greeley
shows itself too, in a profound defence
for the popular viii, legitimately ex-
pressed Whatever may be his own
views and however iea!ouslv he has ur
ged them, he has always been really to
yield cheerful acquiescence to the de-
cisons of the hallot-box The hayonet
business, North and South, he has stig'
matizcd as it deserved, and declared
that political victories gained by militia
ry interference, were infinitely worse
than defects for the party which sane
toned them. If elected President, he
will be the executor, not the maker of
laws; the chief magist rate Of a sever
eign people, not weak combination of
all the vices of royalty with none of its
virtues.
The traits we have mentioned require
no proof; they are recognized and ap-
preciated by every man, woman and
child in the country, and they have Civ.
en- Horace Greeley a hold upon the pop
ular heart which wilfroll up a mountain
of majorities for him next November.
The Prospects I'm Connecticut.
The Suns New Haven correspondent
says: "The Greeley Republicans are
making a gallant fight against the Gus
tom house, the power OF the monster,
the tyranny of the party, and the pop