Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1861-01-26

vlctlOh, ana so intent In purpose, as we are
Is 1t mere chimera which suggests an ag.
gr0vation ofthsse horrors beyond endurance.
when, on either side, there shal! occur the
Intervention of an uprising ferocious Afri.
cOn slave population Of four, or six, perhaps
twenty millions
The opinions Of mankind change, and
with them the politics Of nations. One
hundred years ago all the commercial Eu-
ropean States were engaged 10 transferring
negro slaves from Africa TO this hemisphere.
To-day all those States are firmly set 10
hostility to the extension and even to the
practice Of slavery. Opposition to it takes
two forms one European, which is simple,
direct abolition, effected, If need be, by
compulsion the other American, which
seeks to arrest the African slave trade, and
resist the entrance Of domestic slavery into
Territories where It is yet unknown. while
1t leaves the disposition Of existing slavery
to the considerate action of the States by
which tits retained 1t is the Union that
restricts the opposition to slavery in this
country within these limits. IL dissolution
prevail, what guaranty shall there be against
the Full Development here Of the fearful and
uucompromisng hostility TO slavery which
elsewhere pervades the world, aud Of which
the recent invasion Of Virginia was on illus
tratiou
Mr.. President, I have designedly dwelt
so long on the probable effects Of disunion
upon the safety OF the American people, as
to leave me little time to consider the other
evils which must follow in its train But
practically, the loss of safety involves ev
cry other form Of public calamity. When
once the guardian angel has taken flight,
everything is lost.
Dissolution would not only arrest but ex.
tinguish the greatness of our country. Ev-
en- If separate coDfederacies could exist and
endure, they could severalIy preserve no
share Of the common prestige OF the union.
If the constellation is to be broken up, the
stars, whether scattered widely apart or
grouped in smaller clusters, will thenceforth
shed forth feeble, glimmering and lurid
lights. Nor will great achievements be
possible for the new confederacies. Disso-
luton would signalize its triumph by acts
Of wantonness which would shock and as
tound the world. II would provincialize
Mount Vernon, aud give this Capitol over
to desolntiOn at the very moment when the
dome is rising over oar heads that was to
be crowned with the statue Of Liberty
| After this there would remain for diSunion
no act of stupendous infamy to be commit.
ted. No petty confederacy that shall fol-
low the United States can prolong, or even
renew, the majestic drama of national pro-
gress Perhaps it is to be arrested because
its sublimity is incapable of continuance.
Let il be So If we have indeed become de
generate. After Washington and the in
flexible Adams, Henry, and the peerless
Hamilton, jefferson, and the majestic Clay,
Webster and the acute Calhoun, Jackson,
the modest Taylor and Scott, who rises in
greatness under the burden Of years, and
Franklin and Fulton, and Whitney aud
Morse, have all performed their parts, let
the curtain fall
While listening to the debates, l have
sometimes forgotten myself in marking their
contrasted effects upon the page who cas-
tomariy stands on the dais before me, and
the venerable Secretary who sits behind me.
The youth exhibits intense but pleased emo
ton 10 the excitement, while at every ir.
reverent word that is uttered against the
Union the eyes of the aged man are sufus-
ed with tears. Let him weep no more.
Rather rejoice, for yours has been lot OF
rare felicity. You have seen and been q
part of all the greatness Of your country,
the towering national greatness OF all the
world. Weep only you, aud weep with all
the bitterness of anguish, who are just
stepping on the threshold of life ; for that
greatness perishes prematurely and exists
not for sou, nor for me, nor for any that
shall come after us.
The public prosperity how could it sur
viye the storm Its elements are industry
in the culture eff every fruit mining OF all
the metals commerce at home and on
every sea; material improvement that knows
no obstacle and has no end invention that
ranges throughout the domain of nature /;
increase of knowledge as broad as the hn'
| man mind can explore perfection OF art ~
high as human genius can reach and social
refinement working for the renovation OF
the world. How could our successors pro-
secute these noble objects in the midst OF
brutaliziug civil conflict What guarantees
will capital invested for such purposes have,
that will outweigh the premium offered by
1
political and military ambitlonE What
leisure will the citizen find for study or in-
venton, or art, under the reign of conscrip'
ton nay, what interest in them will socie'
ty feel when fear and hate shall have taken
possessiou Of the national mind Let the
miner in California take heed ; for its gold
on wealth will become the prize Of the IA
tiou that can command the most iron, LIE
the borderer take care for the Indian viii
again lurk around his dwelling. Let thu
pioneer come back into the denser sottle
ments for the railroad, the post road, and
the telegraph advance not one fnrlonS farth
or into the wilderness. With standing arm
les consuming the substance Of our people
on the land aud our navy and our postal
steamers withdrawu from the ocean, ~ho
/ will protect or respect, or who will even
know by name our petty eoniederacles
The American man-of-War Is Q noble spec
tacle. / have seen Il enter an ancient port
In the Mediterranean All the world won
Ssred AZ Ia and talked Of il. Salvos OF ar
tiIIery. from forts and shipping 10 the har-
hor ssIuted its flag. Princes aud princesses
and merchants paid il homage, ahd all the
peopls blessed it As hsrbluger OF hope for
their own ultimate freedom. / imagine now
,ha came noble vessel again entering the