The partisans of Reëlection dwell much on the position and character
of Mr. Greeley, insisting that he cannot be trusted in the
Presidency,--partly because helped into power by Democrats, and partly
from an alleged want of stability. It is difficult to hear these
barefaced allegations, in utter disregard of the prodigious testimony
afforded by his long career, without wonder at the extent to which
prejudice and invention can be carried. Had he been presented at
Philadelphia with the saving sanction of a regular nomination, the same
partisans who now seek to exhibit him as a tool or an imbecile would
dwell with pride on his eminent qualities, making him, by the side of
his competitor, an angel of light. Knowing them both, his superiority
I may affirm. To say that under him Slavery can in any way be revived,
or that the Rebel debt or the pension of Rebel soldiers or compensation
for slaves can find favor, or that the equal rights of the freedmen, to
which he is so solemnly pledged, can in any way be impaired,--all this
is simply atrocious. Nothing of the kind can be done without violation
of the Constitution as amended,--not to speak of the departure from
that rule of life which he has ever followed. There is no Democrat
sympathizing with his nomination who would not spurn the infamous
treachery. I dismiss the whole partisan extravagance to the contempt it
deserves.
The imputation that his election will be the return to power of
the old Democratic party is much like saying that he will cease to
be himself, and that his surpassing individuality, making him so
conspicuous, will be lost. They who make the imputation forget that
this old party, if it has not ceased to exist, is changed in character.
Standing on a Republican platform, and with a Republican candidate,
it may look the Republican party in the face, claiming for itself
the Future, if not the Past. Plainly it is not that Democratic party
against which Republicans have contended. If Democrats have influence
with Horace Greeley, it will be because they have sincerely placed
themselves by his side on a platform which distinctly announces all
that Republicans have ever claimed.
Against all pretended distrust I oppose the open record of his life.
By this let him be judged. And here it will be observed, that, while
sometimes differing from others in methods, he has never, at any
moment, ceased to be a champion, being always the same. Here is a
private letter, which has only recently appeared, being a gleam of
sunlight from his soul, which the dark days of the war could not
quench:--
OFFICE OF THE TRIBUNE, NEW YORK,
June 26, 1863.
MY DEAR SIR,--In God’s good time this is to be a land of real
freedom, where equal rights and equal laws shall banish rebellion,
treason, and riot, and all manner of kindred diabolisms. I hardly
hope to live to see that day, but hope that those who may remember
me, when I am gone, will believe that I earnestly tried to hasten
its coming.
Yours,