Middletown transcript., 1875-10-30
Published by request Of the Author.
TIE Next President.

tlme-n0nored journal 10 the occasionai
discussion Of subjects which involve
the public veal and the politics Of the
country. We proposes; this ime TO offer
few remarks touching Gle succession
70. the Presidency Of the gnited- States,
the FIRST Office in the gift Of the Ameri-
can people, Hwere puerile TO take up
the time Of your readers with any obser-
vations relative to the paramount inn
portapce, al this grave era in our ma
tional life, of the most careful selection
Of the person tossbe placed upon this
high eminence, from which for years
he is to guide and direct the destinies
Of a great people, now proudly chal-
slenging the attention Of the civilized
world to their experiment Of sef-gov-
ernment on q scale Of imposing and
startling grandeur. II
Without the slightest personal disre-
spect to late occupants Of The Presiden-
tial chair, it will yet hardly be main
tanned, even BY their warmest admirers
that they have either elevated or adorn-
ed that position. To BE- successful
President Of the United States the
Chief Magistrate must be distinguished
for something more than a keen relish
for questionable1jdkes, and aAdecided
ability to retail the same Nor can in
domitable will and pure self-assertion,
accompanied though they may be by
the most astonishing proof Of self-made
progress and ACKNOWLEDGMENT, satisfy
the Just demands Of the American peo-
pie. And day by day we are made
more clearly to see with what scorn and
aversion they turn from the exhibition
Of gross sel6shness which prostitutes
rewards Of high Office, and metamor-
phoses the cares Of State into a series Of
airy and jovial junketings- We take it
that hereafter this nation will require
that its President be something more
than costly 6gure-head-a synonym
for horse and cigar. Surfeited with
the article they have on hand, they de-
mand, with even exceptional vehe-
mence. that their next ruler shall be a
statesman with views as comprehen-
sive as the Union over which he is
called to preside; that he shall have
been educated in civil affairs, with a
mind well developed and trained in
their administration. and that he shall
have heart, too, open to the needs
and distresses of his countrymen, from
whatever section Of broad land they
may happen to come. At this Centen-
NAL era. with minds aglow with the
recollection of their patriotic sires. who
from Georgia to Massachusetts Bay.
united to obtain the priceless boon of
freedom, they turn with loathing from
the idea Of fratricidal strife, and from
the man whose red right hand is deeply
imbued in the hearts blood Of his bro
theirs, with chorus Of voices that shake
the selid earth they swear. /"
mo more the thirsty Erinnys Of this soil
Shall daub her lips with her own children )
No more shall trsnching war channel her
fields,
Nor bruise her fowrets with the armed hoofs
OF hostile forces: those opposed eyes
Which like the meteors OF troubled Heaven,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock
And furious close Of civil butchery, ~
Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks
March all one way and be no more oppos'd
Against acquaintance, kindred and allies:
The edge Of war, like an ill-sheathed knife,
No more shall cut his MASTER" 2ss
This we take to be the Cat Of reso-
lutte people, notwithstanding the sinis-
ter intim alton of the President that
there is yet in store for this groaning
land that scourge Of all scourges, re-
iigious war, in which, with horrid bias
phemy, taking upon our lips the blessed
name Of the Prince Of Peace. we are to
let loose npon the suffering sons Of
men, our brothers, all That wild food
of passions and Of sins which it was his
hallowed mission TO still and to atone
Absit Omen will be the prayer Of all
good men to this ghastly prediction or
threat Of the President .
The country gladly turns from such
bloody instructions and from the party
who believe 10 them, which party the
President has 30 dwarfed that he has
become its alpha and omega, its Caesar
or no one, to that conservative and pa
triotic organization under whose ben
e6cent sway II enjoyed SO many years
Of power and greatness, Of the triumphs
Of peace and Of smiling plenty. Re
verting to those halcyon days before
the ringman and the bondholder had
eaten up the substance Of the people, it
hiss determined again to give the helm
to the hands that have heretofore so
successfully steered the ship of State.
It has become. then, the bouneen duty
at this time, of the thoughtful men Of the
Democratic party, Of those who have at
heart its permanent success, to make
the best possible selection from its SER
ried ranks Of the man who is to vindi-
cate its time-bonored, time-crowned
principles and policy. not only before
his countrymen and on the arena Of his
native land, but at this centennial Pc
riod, before the world which looks with
ill-veiled cynicism and in6delity upon
the vaunted American experiment Of
self-government. which. short-sighted
enough to regard only the faults, the
blunders and the crimes Of the Repub-
lican party. it has confidently pro-
neunced to be failure Pointing to
Louisiana as another Poland. it regards
the President as but an Emperor in
disguise. Happily. as we believe, it is
reserved for the Democratic party to
reverse this verdict, to rehahilitate the
American republic. and to renew to the
oppressed Of all nations that invitation
and that welcome which have hereto
fore alone sustained their dropping
hopes and their sinking hearts. 7al 3
Among the many good men and true
among the many Democrats who have
deserved we'll Of their country and Of
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