Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1861-09-26
The Hon. Geo. N. DaiIas ON the
WnH


At The celebration of the adoption ol
the Federal Constitution IN PhiIadelphia,
on Tuesday last, the Hon. Geo. NJ. Dallas,
the oxtor of the day, said:
LIN the first place, then, fellow citizens,
fraokly be i said, there cannot be. found
in the sacred instrument on which my
comments have been made one word Civ
ing warrant bv any process for its own-ex-
tinction. 1t was not born to die. No
functionary, no. State, no Congress- no
combination Of communities or individuals
is authorized to mulilate the Union, or kill
the Constitution. That is crime which,
like parricide in Solon's day, is treated as
inconceivable. We hear of conventions,
consultations, conferences, and compromi-
ses: they are the vague and futtering de-
vices of anxious philanthropy; but, unless
the fifth article had been strictly pursued,
which we all know now TO be impossible,
these expedients are utterly inapplicable
and fruilless. For, remember, this pro-
vision-not, in fact, designed TO destroy,
but to streDgthen-enunciates the necessi-
ty, before the slightest alteration can be
attempted, that, first, tgo-thirds of both
Houses of Congress shall unite in propo-
sing it.. cr,,second that The. Legislature, of
tsco-thif6 Of the several ,States shah .ap-
ply for a Geseralt Convention; and, third,
that whatever change may be contempls-'
ted, whether by tvo-thirds of both Con-
gsessional Chambers, or by two-thirds of
the. State Legislatures, must wholly fail,
unless it be subsequently ratified BY the
Legislatures Or Conventions Of Hree fourths
ofsthe States. The mere recital shows
lhe futility, If not impracticabilily, into
which the lempestuous course of events
have paralyzed Ibis article. MOI fellow
citizens, You hare not The power TO aban-
don your Constitation.
q Bat, if you had that power, what
then ? Need l say tbat, without being rec
reant TO all your 61teesdents, its exercise
j, ,precluded~ by. the beaslsd attitude and
arrnor Of those who demandit? The tow
eiing front of armed and contumelious re-
bellion is not the presence in which con-
cession is possible. Give up the Constilu-
ton, rupture the Union, burn the archives
of your glorious history, and open wide
the flood gates Of disaster upon the couu-
Try, if such. can be your ,choice,g but nes er
do. il in subservient neekness to enveaom-
ed opprobriupl,or. while listening to the
roar of our eneniys cannon. The stigma
of an act SO groyeling, dastardly, and de-
generate asthat-so utterly un-American
would cover us for ages as with a poi
soned pail Fellow Citizens: There are
formidable batteries frowning at Manassas;
behind them CLEAN, undisctimintaing ha-
tired and scorn, sharpening every sword
and Speeding every bullet; we would cease
10 be men if we crouched TO ether
8. In this war, then, there is really no al
ternaiivc for loyal ConstitutionaIists. In
.hs explicit language Of the unanimously
adapted resolution Of Mr.. Crttenden, it
was forced upon the Government of the
United States. Retrospective narrative,
would be alike tedious and use
less. Ii is on our hands. We see it, hear
il, feelit. Our fathers, brothers, and sons
are failing in hecatombs, sacrificed 10 its
fury. Every breeze comes laden with its
,han ging incidents, its alarms. its hopes,its
gloom, lis taunts, its cheers, its covert slay-
ne, and its open struggles The gal es of
Janus are expanded wide. SNoroom now
left for diplomacy of any sort; none for
words sof sremonstrance. Fight
We must; fight Eoutrance, those whom
we have heretofore fostered and taught how
10 fight, drive them from their infatuated
and parrieidal purpose of destroying their
,wn country; and pause only when that
country, its Union and Constitution, are
inaccessible to outrage.