Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1861-02-13

: look about us, not to bemOan the dissolu.
r ttiOn of the Union, but to reckon up what s'I
! we have left, and see what resources we -
r possess with which to meet the storm s,
cannot agree with my friend from Delaware,
(AIr. JOnes) who yesterday said of our
t country that there was now 'none so poor &c
to do her reverence While the Union
J was unbroken it was well enough to speak
/ of disunion as destruction, for by encOurag- -
] ing that mode of thought, the disposition
to rebellion might be weakened; but now
2 that We have need TO summon up our o.
strength and our courage we should take -
another and truer view of the matter -
| Ohio weak and poor, Sir She stands to-
) day nearly as pOpulOus and more powerful
, than the whole of the old thirteen colonies s
together, when they pledged their lives, s..z1
: their fortunes, and their sacred honor to
the struggle for liberty Is New York -
weak and poor? Is New England? Is
there no strength or wealth in the great -
] west? Twenty millions of free people SD
north Of Mason and Dixon's Line may Sc
laugh at fear. With common origin, a
common language, common interests and
ties and systems of thought and education
we are and must be one great nation. 1t .-alt
is impossible to divide US, and IN greatness zoE
no nation or power on earth will hesitate -
to call US peer Whv, Sir, for more thaE ~
a dozen years the world has been looking j
on at tie struggles of the divided people -
of Italy to fern that union which common 80
blood and tongue impelled them TO- The sGf
feeling that they were in fact one race, has 90
made them flow together at the first oPpOr-,u,e.
tunity as naturally as drops of water.--.~--.
From Piedmont to Sicily the cry of United
/ Italy has made their hearts leap. Are We e-l7t
less alive to patriotic impulses, less proud la4a
Of our descent from revolutionary fathers9 sgzz
/ No. Sirl There-has been but one element -.
of discOrd among US. A barbarous insti-
luton has had its demoralizing effect upon -
portion Of the country and has produced .iaE
its legitimate fruit of disunion: but when f
those states which have committed them ;----
selves to a retrograde civilization have torn.
themselves away. the inherent strength and
elasticity of our institutions VIII be seen.
We possess every element of nationality -
in wonderful power, and whatever may be
come of the rebellious secessionists, the
United States Of America will still be known q
the world over, as leading the van of na-
tiOns in enlightenment, in freedom, and II.
power.
Yet, sir, have no disposition to deay
tha grave evils and dangers must follow =
dlsunion. War may come with all its hor-I %
roTs. before the settlement of the terms on ,--
which we are to live with our neighbors.-
Evils like these are to be avoided if we cam
do 50 with honor, but to Il free people there
may be worse evils than war. But havesszt
alrca dy said all on this point that desire
to say and will only remark that frmness
and dignity in the assertion of our own
rights, and the most absolute determination
not to compromise the principle that the
majority shall rule, are entirely consistent
with all courtesy and forbearanee toward
our neighbors. The Union and the Con-
stitution are good enough for US as they
have been, and VIC stand by them hoping
that returning reason viii bring our south
ern brethren before long to the same opin-
ion, and satisfy them that they have more
to lose than 20 gain in abandoning them
1t would be worse than folly for US to
hold out to the South the hope that We
may "re-educate ourselves" as Georgia
Senator recently said we must Our eivi-
lization knows no retrogressiOn. The sysl 6
tenn Of slavery will always be hiddeOus to Us
and still more to our children. If We be-
tray our trust and consent to new eonstitu-
tional guarantees to extend that terrible
curse, We may make ourselves the laugh
ing stock ofcoming generations, but the tide
of the worlds progress will still roll on,z
and Will continue to roll as long as there
is God who eoHtrols the destnies Of na-
tons. The determination of the Northern
people is fixed. Legislatures and Congresses
may embaTrass but cannot change them
They have determined that civil liberty
based upon free labor shall control this
Government For that they have labored
Ind educated, and FROM Plymouth rock to
he Pacific the whole Northern people WHO
lave been educated into New England no
lens oflberty and equality. are still ready
% labor and endure. Looking into each
'thers faces as they recall the storms and
rials through which their fathers passed
rom the time when, for the sake of liberty,
hey first left the mother country, they
eel natural confidence that they have
lot been brought so far in order that civil
reedOm should now suffer shipwreck In
he words of the old poet they exclaim:
20 Iassi grayioIa dabit Deus his quoque
ncml''
o ye who have come through sore trials,
iod will bring these also to an endl
With that faith they are ready to meet
atiently and firmly the troubles Of to-day,
oDfdent that to abandon constitutional
berty. and give new power and spread tothe
lave system. would only prolong bitterness
nd strife, and begueath to the next geu-
,atiOn fereer struggle than any which
IN now be necessary to settle our dificul-
es.
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