St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1861-02-21

for Senators to conclude their speeches
with an appeal to their political oppo-
ncnts to come forward magnanimous-
ly and save the country, on the prin-
ciplc, | suppose, that it is easier to
call on Hercules to lift the load, than
to pnt their own shoulders to the
wheel, make an appeal to the De
mocracy for manifestation of patriot
ism. You appeal to us as a rising
party, with the glttcring hopes of the
future, to come forward and surrender
our principles and save the country.
appeal to you, declining power,
with a mention of the lessons of the
past. What are these lessons of the
past? shall not go far back. Eight
years ago, when the people placed
you in power, we were at peace with
all the world. Our armies had Just
returned victorious from foreign bat
t!c-ficlds our navy was triumphant
on every sea our commerce was
whitening every ocean, lake, and riv-
or; our tonnage cqualcd that of the
greatest maritime Powers our poo
pie at home were prosperous in every
! industrial pursuit our genius had
placed us, in the development Of the
applied sciences, among the nations
of the highest cultivation domestic
strifcs had been buried by the patriots
of the times, in the adoption of the
finalitics Of 1850, and our stars and
stripes commanded the respect of all
the civilized nations the hand Of in
dustry was receiving its highest re-
ward, while the Treasury was over
flowing with millions of revenue. You,
as Il party, had the opportunity, not
only to inauguratc, but to carry out
your policy Of completeness. You
controlled the President and the head
of every Department you had ma
jority in this body overwhelming, and
a large majority in the other branch
Of Congress, and a majority of politi-
cal friends on the Supreme bench.
Now what have you achieved? You
have cmptied the Treasury of the Uni
ted States and destroyed the credit of
the Government, until your bonds
have to 90 begging in the money mar
kct of the world. You have disintc-
grated and destroyed the old Wing
party, in which so many of the great
men of the nation were Graded, and
in whose ranks they served their coun-
try so well. Coming here five years
and more since, from frontier State,
| expected to vote and affiliate with
the two Senators then here from Ten
ncssee, Mcssrs. Bell and Jones :; the
two from Maryland, Mcssrs. Pcarce
and Pratt j the Senator then here
from Missouri, now no more, Mr..
Gcyer :: the Senator still here from
Kentucky, Mr.. Crittcndcn j the Sen.
ator from Louisiana, Mr.. Benjamin j
the illustrious Senator then here from
Delaware, Mr.. Clayton, now gone to
his long and last reward. Need | add
others! Where are they to-day? The
living are standing on the sectional
platform of the Democratic party, or
are superseded by their political OPP
ponerts all gonc--all swept away
as by pcstilcncc from this Chamber,
except the venerable Senator from
Kentucky, who stands here solitary
for time like a primeval oak Of the
forest, after all his peers have been
Frustrated by the fury of the storm !;
and while the heart of the nation
would call out, woodman, spare that
tree" he too bends and yields to its
power. A sectional Democrat in Il
: few weeks is to take his place. Yes
you have destroyed the old Wing par.
| ~. Swept away has been that great
and noble party by the policy which
you have inauguratcd, SO offensive to
the millions of frccmcn from the cigh-
teen States Of this Republic.
What else have you done ? You
have divided your own party by Ma
son and DiXon's line from the Atlantic
to the Pacific ocean. You have re-
snscitatcd buried sectional contro.
versy, and arrayed the people i'll fra
tcrnal strife, and now, as last
Achievement would that truth would
spare me the anuounccmcnt-yo pro-
pose to seize on the columns that sup
port the temple Of liberty, at whose
affairs you have been administering,
and drag it down as you leave its por-
tails. You must rule or you must ruin.
You say to us that you distinctly all
nounccd your purpose long ago You
admonishcd the people of the free
States, if they did not acquicscc in
your policy, and indorse your political
dogmas, you would commit this act,
which | refrain from naming here
Yes, you would destroy the Govern
ment that you had sworn to support,
and we disrcgarded your threats. AS
men of observation, could you have
anticipated any other result? Have
you 50 long contemplated US a degra-
dcd people that you have come to think
us all slaves? If not, then | ask You
to refrain from the longer use of the
argument of the outlaw on the high
way Dissolve your moral support Of
the flag of treason-thc palmetto and
the snake-and return to your ale
glance to the flag under which you
have lived so long, and prospcrcd 50
well. ! hope that civil war, and car
mage, and bloodshcd, and disaster, so
eloquently portrayed by the Senator
from Virginia, may never come but
that Senator, and his colleagues on
that side of the Chamber, may drag
it on themselves by violating the fun
damcntal policy on which our laws
rest-the right of a majority to rule.
Nor do ! believe as an individual,
(and | speak only for myself that
the people Of the Free States Of the
North, and the awakening patriotism
of the people Of the South, will suffer
you to consummatc that fearful act.
Senators sometimes talk as if they
supposed that the destinies Of this
country were in the hands of poll
ticians and diplomatists alone; and
they have occasionally denounced cit
liens who take all interest in politics,
whose avocations were different from
/ ~