Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1861-09-20
SPEECH OF HON. DANIEL S. DICK
KNSON,
ar ITHIca, N =, ON THE 7TH INST.


Ma. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
That there should be Free Government found
ed upon this continent wherein no kingcraft
should bear sway, and where the people them
selves should be sovereign, ourifathers pledg
ed their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
henor. They staked ell upon great issue,
and stood tbe hazard Of the die. They assert
ed the great, the simple, and the sublime truth
that men we're created free and equal, and en-
dowed by theIr Creator with certain inaliena-
ble rights; aud that among their rights were
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
After having evolved that great idea, so easi-
ly understood by all, they marched barefoot
over frozen ground that they might establish
and defend and maintain the liberty and fIees
dom that they hsd asserted. Go back with me
to the history OF that great period-not meres
ly in the history of ibis continent, but in the
history of the world, such as man has never
seen-and there we 6nd that they laid the
foundations of this Government broad and
deep, aud adorned il with all the learning and
statesmanship of modern times, and especially
Taught that man is sovereign being. They
denied the lmpious divine right of kings; they
alleged and maintained that every people
should govern themselves. And, after having
asserted this truth, they went forward upon the
worlds wide sea to establish tue great exper.
ment-i was az experiment and hope to them;
il is realization and fruition to us. The great
fact has been established, aud it sped far be-
yond what they had anticipated or imagined.
The little cloud gave the sound Of abundance
of rain. The sparse colonies that struggled
along upon the Atlantic slope have grown to
be more than thirty free and prosperous States,
not by any means con6ued to the limits which
even those great men aud greater minds be
lieved would be prescribed, leaped over the
Mississippi, which had been established as a
westerly boundary, scared the eagle from his
crag on the Rocky Mountains, and have only
paused whore the Paciic's wave rolls on the
golden sands of California; on the north and
east it stretches to the limits of monarchy,
and has gone down to the south where teopic-
al bleezes breathe their gales of perpetual
fragrance. Yes, this tree Of Liberty, whioh
was planted by our fathers, has shot up-its
roots have struck deep, its trunk has reached
high, and so wide spread are its branches, that
al the children of the earth may come aud
subsist on its fruits, or refresh themselves IN
its shade:
ssWoodman, spare that tree
Touch net single bongh
In youth it sheltered me,
And IN protect it now.''
[Cbeersl
These institutions, established in such dis
interested heroism, with progress that has
astonished the world, and wruDg from it unwll-
ling admiration, now threatened. These
institutions are now mepsced with destruction
Is it by foreign foe9 No; il has stood the
thunderstorm and defed the world In arms,
aud now it is to be destroyed, if destroyed it
must be, by the insiduous worm of ambition
that is gnawing at its heart. Those who have
been reared uLder this Government, who have
been pampered at its treasury, upon whose
brows have been wreathed the choicest laurels
are tearing its heart, corroding its very vitals
And we are told that they are brethren, and
that there must not be any contention with
them. Yes, they are our brethren. But
shall we stand tamely by and see them bathe
their hands in the blood of our venerated
mother! No. she must be defended at all
hazards from these murderous parricides.-
And the crime is the greater and more heinous
because they brethren. If they we're res
morseless savages, or prowling Arabs, they
might have a better apology to offer. But
they are attempting to overthrow her who gave
them existence, and nursed them on the lap of
indulgence, and dandled them on the knee,
and who uursed them aud fostered them, and
placed arms in their hands to defend her, with
which they attempt TO destroy her. Yes, they
are our brethren. But they are not the first
beings who have rebelled. ECheers aud Laughs
teri There was rebellion even in heaven
blind, needless, naughty, dark ambition caus-
ed Satan to rebel there. For just about the
same cause as this rebellion. Laughter and
cheers. And the end Of this rebellion will
be the same. Renewed laughter and cries of
rbo 49,. - Ill L.
hurled down to darkness and chains forever by
an indignant and outraged people. When
this rebellion reared its snaky head, Tlaughterl,
the whole American people trembled. We
felt the earth throb and heave and beat as
with the conVulsion of mighty volcano
found it perhaps more difficult than any indi-
.Vidual 10 the Uuited States, if not 10 the
world, so far as personal convenience or con.
sidsrstions we're concerned, and personal and
political friendships, and domestic relations,
and kindred associations could influence, to
take grou1d against this rebellion. Many
years in the Senate of the United States,
friendships had grown up, and the course of
public affairs had clustered around me Souths
cru sympathies which gave me a position IN
the Southern States that no other man in the
North or South held. For myself, therefore,
found it more difficult for these reasons to
sever these ties than any other one could have
done; but, 10 patriotic sense, did not find
it difficult at all ICheers.l With the very
first booming OF the gnn that fred upon Sum
ter, declared in moment that was 10 the
held against the rebellion. [Cbeersl The
first news told me that there would be a meet
ing IN New. York | few there as on The
wings OF the wind, to declare my principles,