The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1860-10-31
Words OF Sohtrnr-. a.,,i 'rru,h.
EN-GoN THOMAS, \ vETsK,N DEMOCRAT OF MARY
LAND. SPEAKS.


Gov. Thomas. long in the public service O,
his State, as its Chief Magistrate, and as Rep
resentative IN Congress. addressed Democrat
ic meeting at Hagerstown. Nd. on the lsth
inst. We subjOin extracts which will be read
with interest and instruction:
He said he had come before us in his grey
hairs, not to accomplish q sinister purpose or
to aggravate party spirit, but TO speak the
words OF. truth and soberness. He had come TO
lift his voice against the dsmemberment OF his
party, and to denounce the Seceders as the
hatchers of notification and Of treason against
the Government
Could he have had his choice, he should not
have preferred either of the three candidates.
now most popular in the South He would
have chosen James Buchanan before them all.
Notwithstanding he had been drawn into IA
tai error. in reference to the LecOmpton Con
stitutlon Mr.. Thomas regarded that as a
gross fraud, and had be been citizen OF Kan
sas. he would have resisted it to the last. Mr..
buchanan told him he had upheld it in order
10 keep Georgia, Alabama. aud Mississippi in
the Union. Ii was dangerous, however. 10
comprOmiSe with treason: hemp was the best
medicine for that
MIR. Douglas was, beyond doubt, the regular
nominee OF the Democratic party. and no man
ha'i uuIe more Tor the South. Their rights
were perfectly secure under him. as he had
agreed TO abide by the decision of the Supreme
Court, and TO execute the laws OF the land
The principles of the Secession party orig-
mated with John {. Calhoun, who was defeated
for the Presidency. and then resolved to break
up the Union. They had now withdrawn un-
der the lead OF iancey and Rhett, who boast
hot
men of this character in the South, who desire
the re-Opening Of the slave trade, which they
know they can never obtain within the Union
The shareholders have already more rights
than anybody else. They are few in number
and yet Congress wasted all the time in dis
cussing their interests. He thought that the
rest OF us had some rights, too. and that it was
line TO turn our attention to internal concerns
1t was ungenerOus to cry diSuniOn, when the
South had gotten all she could ask. Disunion
was no remedy for instructions and Abolition
plots. If these could arise inside the Union.
they would happen ten-iold more frequently
without Maryland had stood by Jackson in
'33, aid she would declare against notification
and diSuniOn now
We have nothing to fear from the election
Oi Mr.. Lincoln. All formerly stood upon his
platform. None ever doubted the right of
cared not what man's abstract opinions were;
we had had many free sOilers in the Presiden-
tlai chair. Jefferson was a rank free-sOiler-
Madison and Monroe were both free-sOlers
Mr.. Thomas spoke of the incalculable evils
OF disuniOn, the enormous deterioration OF prop
erty in consequence. He cited us to the down
fail of the Roman Empire. 1t cost Europe the
bloody struggle OF centuries to balance the
powers of her different kingdoms and to this
day she grOans under the insupportablc weight
OF standing armies. which devOnr the substance
of her people.
In the event of a dissolution. MARYLAND would
he the chief sufferer. Her land would glitter
with sparkling bayOnets. Baltimore would be
annihilated. The burden of her trade is from
the great Northwest Maryland had sent her
sons to hew down and cultivate the Western
wilderness, and would never consent to be sep
araied from them
Mr.. Thomas spoke for two hours and a halt,
and was exceedingly eloquent throughout He
said that the aspirations of his youth were
gone. His locks were silvered with the frosts
OF sixty winters, and he lOnged for retirement
as the hunted hart for the water-brOok
With him the hurry burly's done,
Wlih him The battles lost or won.
He had come to denOunce a party which the
experience of his past Congressional life had
taught him. was plotting the dissolution of this
glorious Union.