Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1861-08-28
The Administration and the Slavery
Question.
[Ftom The Pl,ouidenee Press. ]

Hen. Caleb b. Smith, Secretary of the In.
terror, having visited our State for day, for
a brief respite from his severe official duties,
yielded at late hour yesterday afternoon
to the desire Of Gov. Sprague and other prom
inent citizens, that he would address a Proyi-
dence audience in the evening. on the solemn
issues now thrust upon the American people.
meeting was accordingly extemporized in
very briefspace. Mr.. Smith, on advancing,
was received with tumultuous cheering, and
in a clear and with an eloquence of manner
that instantly secured admiration, proceeded
IN few Introductory remarks to speak az
follows:
Tile theory of this Government as that the
States are soUeyeign arithin their proper sphere
TIE Government Of tie United !St0tes has no
more right to interfere teith tie institution Of
Slarery it South Carolina than 1t has 10 me
teifeFe ioiM tie 2eeeniary Institution Of Rhode
Island aotose benefits l Hace enjoyed to-day.
My friends, / have known the President
long and well. 1t has been my fortune to be
selected as one of his constitutional advisers.
| have the honor of being connected with tho
Administration since its commencement, and
l tell you to night that yoH cannot find IN
South Cdr0ilRG q man more anxious, religious.
ly, and Sc'UpuJ0usly, to observe dUthe features
Of the Constitution relating TO Sdcery, than
dbrGham Lincoln Had the people of the
South been willing to wait and see whether
he would regard that oath which in the pres
ence of the assembled nation be had taken,
they would have found that no Administra-
ton ever organized in this country would
have more concientously regarded and pro-
tected the rights Of the South than this
Administration would have done. | know
| speak the sentiments Of the President and
his adVisers-of those who have controlled
the AdP:inistraticn.
But these people, however, were not willing
to wait until this test could be applied, and
no sooner was this President inaugurated
than the tocsin Of war was sounded through
every Southern State. and the armed strength
of the people was summoned to drag down
the Administration, to undermine the foun-
dation Of the Government, and TO crush in
ruin this fair fabric of our republican insti-
tutions. What, / ask you, could the Admin
/ istration have done? One after another Of
the forts of the United States had been taken;
one aler another had the possessions of the
Government been seized State after State
had renounced its allegiance to the nation;
IN State after State the glorious flag of the
nation had been trampled in the dust, and to
its place had been lifted the emblem of the
pirate and the traitor. What was the duty
OF the Administration in this emergency
should we stand by and see, one after anoth-
er, the pillars of our glorious fabric disrupt
ed and broken? or should We appeal to the
patriotism of the American people to sustain
the institutions of their fathers? If Mr..
Lincoln had not pursued the course which he
has, would he not have been unworthy of
the confidence that has been so generously
placed in him? lie has adopted this course,
and he has appealed to you, the people of
the States, to rally round the standard of our
country. and teach the world that Republican,
ism still lives upon this continent. My
friends, zee make no car on Southern inStitu-
tons. We recognize the rights of South
Carolina and Georgia to hold slaves if they
desire them. But, my friends, we appeal to
you TO upheld the great banner of our gloE-
ious' country, and to leave the people of that
country to settle these domestic matters accor-
ding to their own choice, and the exigencies
which the times may present.
do not inroAe you to engage IN this arar as
aoar against Slavery. We are gagring for
different principle But there is an old
adage brought down to US from the sneients:
That whom the gods would destroy, they iirss
madden" They are afflicted by that madness