Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-10-14

the orchestra and the Mannaerchor were, as
| usual, well executed and well received. At
eight o'clock the Rev. NJ. D. Conway appeared
upon the stand and was greeted with man-
testatons of applause. He said: The subject
upon which am to speak tonight is one of
Almighty Gods own selection. II is one
| that need not be announced TO those who
are in the habit of looking beneath the sur
face of events and treasuring up the lessons
| which they teach. Every man has a right
to bear within himself the spirit of the age
in which he lives. The very rock that is on
| our coast marks where the glacier went, the
| formation of the soil and the limestone be-
meath our feet records where every fern leaf
| grows, and man, the crowning being of all,
should not pass away aud leave no trace
| where he lives. We have a right to grow,
and know each day more than we knew the
day preceding. know there are some who
sail over seas Of knowledge, travel over con-
tinents Of experience and settle down, know
ing no more than they did before.
Every eye has its special voice; some inn
portant lesson, some great pivot around
which events revolve. We are making his
tory to-day.
The speaker here referred to the temple in
which he was speaking, and the great people
who had built it. He had great respect for
that mighty church that was growing up
here. Referring to himself he said although
he might bear in their midst the mark of
heresy and unsoundness, he was man ofthe
people, and, as such, would speak. He would
take occasion TO correct statement that had
been lately made concerning himself, which,
| If uncorrected, might stand in the way of
| proper hearing and understanding of what
he should say tonight. He did not say, as
had been reported by at least four newspa.
pers in the city, that he would rather have
| his right arm struck from his body by the
,rbk of 4hov 20 GobE kho
Union with slavery in 1t. What he did say
was, that be would rather his right arm
should be withered than 1t should ever strike
blow to perpetuate slavery, even if the
Union were linked with it. But he believed
| the Union would survive after all this had
! been cast off If that be treason, make the
most of it. He had long been a traitor to
human oppression-to slavery. He could
remember sitting in the lap of aged persons
who could recollect hearing Washington
called rebel, and Mr.. Pitt a traitor, and he
remembered how Pitt Illuminated against
slavery. "Sir," said that great man, who
did more for American independence than
any other man of his age, Il do not under
stand this complimentipg away the rights of
| human beings"
| He referred to the pleasure he had expert.
enced few evenings before iu seeing the
| Rev. Archbishop Purcell in this house after
his return, and the patriotic McGroarty aud
| Green, whose wounds attest their devotion
to the Union, all Of whom had been reared
in the bosom of this church. l seem to see
the history Of that church for eighteen GEN.
turies rise before me. seem to see by my
side Hermes, who celebrated the resurrection
OF Christ by liberating one thousand two
hundred and fifty of his slaves; Dasnasus,
who under Dielitian emancipated one thou.
sand four hundred, saying: "Those who are
children of God ought not to be slaves oil
men," Sactantius, who said in the church
there can be no slavery; st. Ambrose, who
ordered the golden vessels to be sold to ran
som slaves, and Gregory the Great, who did
the same. | seem to see those and more
lowering around mo, and with them the he
roic Mulligan and Corcorsn side by side with
Rosecrsns defending liberty 10 the passes oil
Virginia. These draw around me the sacred
presence Of your church when 1 speak for
liberty.
am a firm believer in the maxim, "Peace
hath her victories not less renowned than
war" But there is a kind of peace that car
ries with it the sting of war-a peace of the
grave, and frozen peace like that which the
army of Napoleon felt in passing the Alps
who became so cold as to have disposition
10 do nothing but sleep, but every man who
slept awaked no more. Peace does not &c
with pusillanimity, cowardice. True peacG
must be more heroic, bolder than war. Such
peace is always ready when man is ready
10 work for it. Is there any such peace fol
us? Any sign for such victory? l believe
there is.
In this war, it is popularity said, eighteen
millions are fighting against eight. We
have, by our peculiar policy, made that eight
millions twelve. We are going to declare
that four millions of blacks must fight us tC
be free. They must kill our soldiers if they
l 81 L,z g. 81 4 l -
from Western Virginia to Cincinnati, aud
can prove that he killed Rosecrans, or some
other Of our men there, he is confScated aud
becomes free. If Floyd told him to do it
and he slipped around in any way and did
not do it, we say to him, "My dear sir, 20
back ~ Thus we are making the path OF
four millions to liberty over our dead bodies.
So we have managed, by considerable inge-
nuity, TO get them all against us
We have free society; we have awak-
ened wants, intellectual, manufacturing and
| others, so that we are compelled to keeI
two-thirds of our able bodied men at homt
to prevent us from starving. This is q grea
deal more than in the South, where society
ie scarcely more complex than an oyster
They can leave their negroes to cultivate
tue fields, with a patrol for every fifty tt
shoot down the first one that rebels, and car
bring all the rest of their able bodied me1
into the field. Were we to adopt their mode
and bring incalculsble misery upon ourselve:
by drafting, get the Greeks and the Ohero
KEGS to help us, have no doubt we could &c
down there aud whip them. We have held
back our free negroes.
Slavery has challenged liberty to a duel
and, according to the code of honor we have
a right to choose the weapons. Suppose, iu-
stead of choosing the weapons of slavery, we
choose liberty's weapons, what will be the
consequence If we say TO every man that
comes North TO assassinate us his slaves shall
be free men, he would think twice nay, twenty
times, before he would come, and then stay
at home. Even during the one week this
plan was tried, Sterling Prices men went
back, and took Lexington on their way sim
| ply because they were able to take two thou
sand. That weapon has been tried with sue.
cess iD history. We have the same right to
| adopt 1t that a ship has to throw ever q pari
of her cargo in storm.
Martial-law is go called because it is mo-
civil. Had it not been for the presence o
mind of the President in violating the hqbea
corpus law, we should have been fighting
Secession with cold steel in Maryland to
day. If we have a right to kill men withou
due process of law, we have a right to kill al
institution. There never was an institution
as sacred as q man. If we can imprisol
men without due process of law we can fre'
them.
Is it Christian Hereupon the who'll
matter hinges There is a banner hghe
than even the Star-spangled Banner, ol
which is written, $40 unto others as y
would they should do TO YOU" "LoVe you