Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-08-01

hour when the people intended to submit
to the overthrow of the Union. Their
moderation and forbcarance became the
great occasion; and init see the evidence
of an unwavering purpose, the anchor of
enduring hope. If in this emergency the
administration bad hesitated, the storm of
public indignation, irresistible as sand
storm on the Lybiau desert, would have
swept it away. If questionable powers
have been assumed, it was ut the demand
of public opinion, The overwhelming ne
cessity, the safety of the capital, the safe
ty of the public honor, the safety of the
Union, aud above all, the safety of the
public liberty, may be urged at least in
extenuation. For it is an ancient maxim,
older than the Constitution, that 'rhis
safety of the people is the supreme law"
agree with the gentleman that the
measures of compromise submitted by the
venerable statesmen of Kentucky ought to
have been adopted, not because their adop-
ton would have restored to the Union the
seeded States, but in Difference to the
wisdom and experience of the great states
man, II living type of the better and purer
days of the Republic; in Difference, too, to
the wishes OF the loyal States of the bor-
der; and, above all, to illustrate the con-
servRtive wisdom and forbearnnce of the
people, their devotion to the Uuion, and
their anxiety to save it without the efFu-
sion of fraternnl blood. But l am conf
dent that no compromise would have
nvailed. South Carolina, Florida, aud
Mississippi declared the separation to be
eternal. 1t was not an apprehension of
encroachment on their constitutional rights
that induced secession; for, from the very
beginning of the Administration, the OPP
position would have controlled every
measure of its policy. No, sir, the triumph
of the Republican party was not the cause,
but the pretence and the occasion for dis
solving the Union.
Thus, by the incorporate ambition of
the leaders of public opinion in the South,
war became inevitable; for upon the part
of the secession leaders it is war-war
with all its violence and hatred, and ma
lignity and bitterness. What then, sir, on
the part of the loyal men of the nation,
is the object of the war? The gentleman
from Kentucky (Mr. Burnctt) has just
asked the question. Why did he answer
it, sir, by producing the speeches eff men
who represent but mere faction of the
North2 Why did he not answer it, sir,
by the expressions of Statesmen who are
the known representatives, of the opinions
OF the millions of the North2 Why quote
from Northern finaticism, which, with
Southern tanaticism, has involved us in
these misfortunes, and forced upon the
nation the woe and bitterness of intestine
war2
What is The object of The tcar? 1t is not
vengeance; for, in the midst of these vast
preparations, the public indignation at the
wanton wickedncss of this attemptto over
throw the Constitution, is softened by
shame and sorrow, and the very bitterness
of grief. 1t isl not fox the purpose of con-
quest or subjugation; nor to enlarge the
powers of the Government, or increase its
territorial limits nor to establish the su-
premacy of the one section of the Union,
or to diminish the social or political rights
of the other. But l say, sir, here in my
place, in the presence of the representa-
tives of the people, on the authority of a
well defined public opinion, that the sole
and only purpose of the people of the
United States in this appeal to arms, is TO
MAINTAIN THE UNION UNDER THE CONTACTS
AND SAFEGUARDS OF TUE CONSTITUTION
The popular instincts are not to he decciv-
ed. But for this high purpose not a farmer
would have left his field, or q mechanic his
shop; not n sword would have been with
drawn from its scnbbard. Not only has
this single purpose summoned your Army
into the field, but if it were possible
that any other purpose should be de-
veloped-as the invasion of any consttu-
tional right, or the usurpation of political
power-your army would either, with ire
sistible fury, hew down the new enemies
of the Constitution, or, overwhelmed with
grief, abandon tue tented field in despair.
tell you, sir, that the men who have
abandoned their homes and braved the
10 HHs Is Of l,a Gnl1 m Y10o
tain the Constitution, will not on any pre-
tence, however specious, consent that the
reserved rights ofany State, or the constitu-
tionalrights ofany loyal citizen ofnny State,
shall be invaded, for, in purity of purpose,
unselfshness ofpatriotism. intelligence and
cutivntiOn-numbers considered-the ar
my of the Republic may challenge the his
tory of the world for parallel. They
have taken up arms to defend the Consti-
tuition as their fathers made it, as the only
ark of safety for their own liberties and
the liberties of their children; and, with
their blood, they will defend it against the
naked sword or the secret and stealthy en-
croachments of the usurper.
cannot as yet donbt, sir, that the pur-
poses of the Government are in harmony
with those of the people, and that tue Gov
ernment and the people, one and the same,
inspired by the same lofty purpose, will
join in the same rallying cry, "the Union
not the Union shorn of its strength and
proportions and beauty, but the Union as
established by the Constitution-must be
preserved"
To maintain, then, the authority of their
Government, the Constitution as it is, the
Union in its integrity, the reserved rights
of every State, and the constitutional rights
of every loyal citizen of every State, is the
purpose, and the only purpose, which has
called more than quarter of a million of
freemen into the field.
American people in this effort to sustain
their Government is almost without Il par
aIlel. The sacrifices of life and fortune of
the men who established the Government,
were not greater than the present genera
tiou are willing to make to sustain it. If
the hope OF the enduring benefits of I'm
ion of the States inspired the heroism of
one. "A full knowledge of its blessings and