Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1861-01-24

: renew, the majestic drama of national progress
Perhaps 1t is to be arrested because Its sublim
ity is incapable of continuance. Let it be S,
l if we have, indeed, become degenerate. Afte
Washington, and the inflcxible Adams, Henry
and the peerless Hamilton, jefferson and tn
, majestic Clay, Webster and the acute Calhoun
jackson, and the modest Taylor and Scott. wh
rises In greatness under the burden of year,
: and Franklin, Fulton, Whitney and Morse, hav
all performed their parts, let the Curtain fall
While listening TO these debates, have some
times forgotten myself in marking their con
trasted effects upon the page who customaril,
stands on the dals before me and the venerabl
Secretary who sits behind him. The youth ex
hlblts intense but pleased emotion in the excite
ment, while at every irreverent word that is ute
ed against the Union the eyes of the aged MAJ
are suffused with tears. Let him weep no more
Rather rejoice, for yours has been lot of rar,
felicity. You have seen and been part of al
the greatness of all the world. Weep only you
and weep with all the bitterness of anguish
who are just stepping on the Threshold of life
Tor that greatness perishes .prematurely and ex.
lists not for yOu not for me- nor for any that shal
come after us.
The public prosperity! how could it survive
the storm! Its elements are industry in the
culture OF every fruit; mining of all the metals
i commerce at home and on every sea; material
improvement that knows no obstacle and has DC
end: invention that ranges throughout the do
main OF nature; increase of knowledge as broad
as the human mind can explore; perfection OF
art as high as human genius can reach; and So
clal refinement working for the renovation OF
the world.
How could our successors prosecute these no.
bic objects in the midst of brutalizng civil con
fietF What guarantees Will capital invested
| Tor such purposes have that will outlay the pre-
mium offered by political and military ambi-
tion? What leisure will the citizens find for
| study. or invention art. under the reign Of
cOnscription; nay, what interest in them will So
ciety feel when fear and hate shall have taken
possession of the national mind? Let the miner
in Cali iiornia take heed, for its golden wealth
will become the prize of the nation that can
command the most iron. Let tie borderer take
care; for the Indian will again lurk around his
dwelling. Let the pioneer come back into the
denser settlements; for the railraad. the post
| road and The telegraph, advance not one furlung
| further into the wilderness. With standing ar
mics consuming the substance of our people on
| the land. and our navy and our postal steamers
withdrawn from the ocean, who will protect or
respect, or who will even know by name our
petty confederacies? The American man of
war is Z noble spectacle. have seen it enter
an ancient port in the Mediterranean. All the
IT,
OF artillery, from forts and shppings in the har-
Dor saluted ills flag. Princes and princesses and
merchants paid 1t homage, and all the people
blessed Ii Us a harbinger. of hope for their own
ultimate freedom. l imagine now the same no.
BILE haven. The flag of thirty hree stars and
thirty -three-stars and thirteen strips has been
hauled down. and in its place signal is run up,
which fiaunts the device of lone star or pal
metio tree. Men ask "who is the stranger that
thus steals into our waiers?" The answer con-
temptuously given is, 'she comes from the OBJ
scure Republic of North America. Let her
pass on"
Lastly, public liberty. our own peculiar lib
erty, must languish for a time and then cease to
live. And such a liberty! free movement ev-
erywhere throughout our own land aud through
out the world; free speech. free press, free suf-
frage; The freedom OF every subject to vote on
every law, and for or against every agent who
expounds. administers, or. executes. Unstable
and Jealous eoniederaeies constantly apprehe ld-
ms assaults without and treason withil form
idable only to each other and contemplate to
all beside; how long will it be before, on the
plea of public safety, they will surrender all
this inesiimable and unequalled liberty, and
accept the hateful and int0lerable espionage of
military despotisn?
And now, Mr.. President, what is the cause
for this sudden and eternal sacrifice of so much
safety, greatness, happiness and freedom? Have
foreign nations combined, and are they coming
In rage upon us? No. so far from being enemies,
there is not Il nation earth that is not an in
terested. admiring friend. Even the London
Tunes, by no reans partial to US. saws:
1T Is quite possible that the problem of a
Democratic Republic may be solved by its over
throw in few days in 4 spirit of folly, selfish
ness and short-sighiedness
Has the Federal Government hoco,,o +rro,,
ncal or oppressive, or even rigorous or unsOund9
Has the Constitution lost its spirit, and all at
once collapsed into lifeless letter? No! the |
Federal Government smiles more benignantly, |
and works te-day more benefcieptly than ever |
The Constitution is even the chosen model for |
the organization of the newly rising confedera-
cies.
The occasion is the election of President of |
the United States. who is unacceptable to por- |
tion of the people. | state the case accurately
There was no movement of Gisunion before the |
ballots which expressed that choice, were cast. |
DIsuniOn began soon rs the result was an
The justification it assigned was |
that Abraham Lincoln had been elected, while |
the success OF either one of the three other can
dida'es would have been acquiesced in. Was |
the election impeachable. Is the candidate per-
sonally offensive? No; he is man of unblem-
ished virtue and amiable manners. Is an elec-
ton of Il President an unfrcquent or extraordi-
nary transaction? No; we never had a Chief
Magistrate otherwise designated than by such
election. and that form of choice is renewed ev-
Fry four years. Does any one even propose to
change the mode of appointing the Chief Mag
strale? No; election by universal Suffrage, as
modified by the Constitution. is the one crown
ing franchise Of she American people. To save
It they would defy the world. Is 1t tapprehend-
ed that the new President will usurp dispotc
powers? No; while he is of all men the most
he is. by the partial success of
hose who opposed his election, subject TO such
restraints that he cannot. without th ir consent,
appoint minister. or even police agent. ne
5ollale treaty. pr procure the passage of n law,
md can hardly draw a musket from the public
irsrnal to defend his own person.
What. then. is The ground of discomfort? 1t
S that The disunionists did mol accept rs con-
elusive the arguments which were urged in be-
lalf of the successful candidate III the CANVASS
This Is all. Were their arguments against him
more satisfactory TO his supporters? or course
hey were moi; they could not be- Does the
Constitution, III letter spirit. require or imply
hal the arguments of one party shall be saiis-
;lciory to the other? No! that is impossihle.-l
W hat is the constitutional remedy for this nev-
table dissatisfaction. Renewed hebaie and ul-
innate rehearing in asubsequent election. Have !
he now successful majority perverted power to
ofoppression? No; they have never be-
ore held power. Alasl how prone We are to {
lndervalue privileges and blessings. How glad {
y, how proudly would The people of any nation /
n Europe, accept. on such terms rs we enjoy il, /
he boon of electing Chief Magistrate every $
our years by free. equal and universal suffrage ,
low thankfully wonld they cast aside all their s
,yvn ..f /