The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-01-01

guilt according to law. That was a busI =
ness to which you say, with truth, "he
had au' aversion" He set himself to the
task, more congenial to his TASTE" OF
Kissing up popular prejudice against
these who were known to be innocent A
faction was organized which became To-
cauy powerful He worked himself to
the front of it, and was elected State
Senator
The managers of this political enter
prise seem to have had no sincerity. They
professed to believe that the country
| could not be safe until every Freemason
was excluded from Office and stripped of
his influence; but as soon as they could,
they transferred themselves and their fol-
lowers, without reservation Of body or
soul, TO another party, which John Quincy
Adams described as "a base compound of
Royal Arch MasoRs and Hartford Con-
vsntion Federalisis, held together by no
bond bat that OF common hatred for
better men thaa themselves They fos-
tered the growth of anti Masonry until it
was large enough to SELL Ist as a dealer
IN live stock faLtens a calf until 1t is
ready for the market, and then lets it 90
for what il will fetch. That Mr. Seward
had any faith in the anti-Masonic creed is
rendered extremely doubtful by the slac-
rity with which he entered the service Of
the "base compound" and the rewards he
took for doing so. If his indignation was
actually excited by the abduction of Nor
gan, he must have got bravely over it be-
fore he boasted to Lord Lyons of his own
exploits IN the kidnapping line. The just
and reasonable as well as the charitable
conclusion is that, on these, as on other
subjects affecting the rights OF his fellow
citizens, he had no convictions whatever.
You are out IN your chronology when
you say that anti-Masonry made him
Governor Of New York for two terms, ,un-
less you mean 10 credit anti-Masonry with
what Whiggery did in pursuance of the
bargain and sale. But, In fact, Mr.. Saw
ard before his election as Governor had
shown the fiexiblhty of his political prin-
ciples by supporting Masons as hearty as
he had ever opposed them. 1t cannot be
said that he was not true to the Wbigs as
long as be was with them and of them or
that he did not earn the promotion they
gave him. de went through thick and
thin for tariffs, banks, internal improve
ments OF the general Governmsnt, distri-
button Of surplus revenue, all their super
stitions, and in 1910 he kindled in the
general blaze of enthusiasm fer hard cider
and coon skins. He never once broke
ialth with them by dIscountenancing any
partisan SANDER which would weaken the
Democracy in its desperate struggle to
preserve, protect, and defend the Consti-
tuition.
There is no evidencs that he ever con-
taminated his fingers with base brites
put into his own pocket the wages of any
special iniquIty, but Mr.. Welles's state
ment is undeniably true that he was in
tlmately associated with the leaders of the
most corrupt rings at Albany ard Wash
ington and devoted much of his parlia-
mentary skill to the promotion Of their
schemes, while they in return were the
most efficient supporters he had for the
Presidency. As public debater he was
distinguished almost exclusively by elab-
crate efforts to propagate those hcentlous
doctrines which have since demolalIzed
the public service and put common hon
esty out Of eountepance. -5-
One instance you mention which Is so
characteristic of you, and him both that
it must be adverted to. In 184S ths Bnf-
falo Convention nominated Mr.. Van
Buren and You as candidates for President
and Vice President, against General Tay-
lor, the Whig, and General Cass, the Dem
-oeEatie candidate. Mr.. Seward pIofessed
to believe most devoutly in your anti
slavery platform. Nevertheless he voted
and spoke for General Taylar, "a planter
holding many slaves in one of the richest
cotton probing States" You were aston
ished and grieved at this Inconsistency,
which Seemed at first blush too prepos-
ferrous to be countenaneed for a moment"
You have puzzled over this mystery ever
since, In the belief that some solution
might be given creditable to his patriot
ism and sincerity; and your explanation
is still very far from clear one. You do
not go the right way about. Your mis-
take consists IN looking for the motives of
his conduct among those high public con-
sideraJions which would have influenced
your own in similar situation. the
riddle is easily read. You have only to
enough TO make him a Senator in Congress,
for which he was at that tame candidate,
while you could do nothing for his person
al interests. Would be go out empty-
handed from party which was able and
willing to give him his back pay" for
the SAKE of uniting his fortunes with a
forlorn organization like yours Would
he leave that mountain TO batten on tbis
moor Y' Was 1t not ''DreposterOus" In
you to expect such sacrl6ee2 You
thought, like Othello, thst be should be
honest :" be believed, with Iago, that he
shOnld be Wise for hOnesty's a fool.
That knows not what il works for,
1t is now more than time that we turn
to his achievements IN the Geld of nation
al politics, and especially to his deSiings
with the Southern States on the slavery
question. Thanks to your researches and
your candid accont OF the result, we are
at no loss to understand the character of
these measures or the animus with which
he advocated them.
You inform us that long before he be-
came Senator he made a speech at Au-
burn in which .'the deliberate clam of
right in the Federal Government to eman-
cipate slaves by legislation was not less
than the naiscaLeulGtiOns of
the force of the passions which led the
South, in the end, to the very step that
brought on the predicted consequences"
The miscalculation you speak of was thus
set forth by Mr. Seward himself IN the
speech from which you quote. The |
South" said he, will HeVeT, IN moment |
Of resentment, expose themselves to a war |
with the North while they have such q
SI6db QOL-coSAC pOpalab4oH u SSN0cc ACaNl L
to embrace any opportunity to assert |
their freedom and infiiet their revenge" |
In other words, Federal legislation on the |
domestic concerns Of the Southern States, /
however unjust it might seem to the |
Southern people, would be quietly sub
mitted to by them for fear of Northern |
war accompanied by negro 1nsurrsetion
and massacre THIS brilliant and humane |
WINS your approval, and proves,
in your opinion, that Mr.. Seward had a 4
special genius for administering govern
ment in q country Of laws.
With these views he came into the ma /
tlonal councils, and made 1t known with
cut delay that the experiment was to be
tried incontinently. At the very outset
of his career IN Congress be began to press
the bloody cup to the lips Of the South.-l
AS soon as he had voice in the Federal |
legislation be announced that emancipa-
ton was near and inevitable It might be /
peaeeable or violent, and every effort to /
hinder and delay il would tend to the 1
of violence" He would /
hear of no compromise and offer ne terms
to the South. For them there was bat
ore alternative submission or death. |
This mode of beginning his Senatorial du-
ties, persistentlY followed up, made him
your beau ideal of a great statesman far