Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-12-31


Cauolus M. Cl,y on the seeoaslou Questions
A letter from Cassius NJ. Clay, dated at
White Hail. Ky, Dec leth, 1890, was read
at Republican Union meeting in Indhn-
apolis the other day. Mr. Clay says:
The threatened dissolution Of the Govern
ment Of the United States of America, takes
noreaecting man by surprise.
He says tie cause Of this threat is neither
the personal liberty bills Of ihe North, nor
the refusal Of the Republican party to peEriit
slavery to go into the territories, nor the elec-
tion Of Abraham Lincoln TO the Presidency.
Hc sayS:
The South knows that Mr.. Lincoln Is
Kentuckian by birth, and has a Kentucky
born wife, and numerous slaveholding rela-
tves-tbat be is an old Henry Clay Whig--a
conservative by temperament, antecedens
aud Hvowals, and that all the ConsitutioAal
rights Of ths South wiH be by him thoroughly
protected In fact, the leading minds il the
secession movementnow abandon this ground
VI oifense.
What then is the cause of the disunion
move tits simply desire to rule or ruin
the old passion in the hearts of our humani-
ty, which we are told is as old as the race,
and aDtecedent to it in the devils of old.
.
Now, what shall Republicans do2
They can have piece by acquies ling in all
the demands of the slave power; but it is
peace ct he expense Of their equality in the
government, and the loss Of their Liberty
There may be some, who, like Rsop's tat dog,
/ will accept the terms; but ], who, like his
wolf have not only seen the marks, but feli
the collar, will par company here We
can have peace by allowing the government
to 20 into dissolution. Mr.. Lincoln can say
in his inaugural, whether issued from WASH
/ ington or Nsw York HAllthose States which
stand by the Union, come up and take the oath
OF allegiance to the Constitution Of the United
States of America, and the laws made in pur-
suanve thereof; and those States which choose
may peaceably file off to whatever new afini-
lies may attract them" But look at our
plains, our mountains, our rivers, our seas,
and say how long would such peace last I
And lastly, we can have peace by standing on
| the Constitution and the laws of our fathers
as it was, is, and shall be, and making Others
do the same-a peace which will secure US
safety at home, and respect abroad "a peace
which will continue the grandest develop.
meRtof civilization which the world has ever
seen; and which l trust the Providence Of
God designs shall be len thened out into the
tar centuries, when the sword shall be turned
into the pruning hook, and the lion and the
lamb shall lie down together foreverl
But suppose the time has come, when the
justice Of God shall be no longer withheld
IL.
owh destruction by dissolution of the Union
-peaceable or forceible-what then2 Shall
We give up all as lost2 Not atall. God rules
stll. Il the Cotton States go-they go to
ruin sooner or latter. The grain-growing
States may stand by us-give up their slaves
double at once their whole property By the
advance Of zeal estate-by immigration and
capital from the tree States and foreign ma
lions; or, if they prefer, keep their sla, es
| with the same-Or greater security in the
future than in the past-suhjecting their sys-
TEN to our economical laws, and advancing
| civilization, till such times as we shall be-
come homogeneous nation; and all will
still be we'll But if double madness and folly
shall send them off with the Cotton States
still would the Federal UEion stand, with
twenty millions of free hearts and free hands
to defend it at home aud abroad against a
| world in arms.
IL such case we would seek by friendly
negotiation with England, the Union OF tie
Canadas, which would more than compens-
ate us for the loss of the South, and in turn
We would stand 'he ally of England in her
contests with foreign Despotisms; and the
two carry on the progress aud civilizations Of
the nations in that Union of Sympathy, aud
race. aud freedom, which only now Slavery
forbids.
have thus hurriedly, ms friends given
you my thoughts as they arise, without fear
or concealment. Some have said that
| ought 70 u5 sIIent.
| Having Just recovered partly from long
period OF pecuniary embarrassment brought
on by my devotion to polities-with family
which now especially demands ali my care
| with prospects of place perhaps which for g
quarter of a century my principles have made
impossibie-I am invoked, in the language of
prudence to be silent. Standing in the van
guard of great and dangerous movement
| am told that leaders of revolutions rarely
survive them. may fall by the hands Of
| viOlence-may be driven into exile--and sui-
fer poverty, and die in obscurity. What
shall l say? What shall do2 listen,
hear the voice of conscience-ihe voice of
God-of the great dead =" The man dies but
his memory lives" S'Give me liberty or
give me deathp
Well, then, think old Ben. Wade's speech
in the Senate, is the true ground. Let US
stand with aud by him to the end. "The
Constitution-the Union and Laws-they
must be preservtdl' With old John Adams,
" living or dying, stand by the declara-
ton"
Your friend, G. NJ. CLAY.