Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-02-14
which has declared, that i. will resist;

Nov, when these armed bodies come
together in hostile collision, is not that
battle? is not that war? Are we to be
told, if j may paraphrase the language
used by Mr.. Fox on an illustrious occa-
sion, when, on the day after the battle,
amid the gore Of the dead and the groans
Of the dying, some stranger should in
quire what all this means--are we TO be
told, sir, "This is not fighting; this is
not war; this is not coercion; these men
have no cause Of quarrel with each other;
there is no harm nor cruelty nor blood
shed in it whatever; this is only peaceably
enforcing the laws?" Sir, the enforce
ment of your laws within a seeding
State, in opposition to its will, is coercion
Of that State, and coercion by armed force
is war. These terms. COLLECTING the rev.
enue," enforcing the law" "maintain-
ing the Union" captivate our people
They smack Of law ard order; to which
our people are very much attached. They
are not unknown in American history
Our fathers heard them used in the same
tone and spirit, and for the same purpose,
as we hear them now. In 1868, when
the Colonies were rejoicing in the repeal
of the stamp act, Charles Townsend,
then a member of Lord Chatham's cabin
ct, pledged to conciliation and peace, rose
in the House Of Commons and declared
that it was expedient to collect revenue
from America, and that he would himself
bring in bill to accomplish that result.
His declaration was received with tumult-
uous shouts of applause. The next day
he was called to account by his colleagues
in the ministry for that infamous breach
of their avowed policy. He replied,
with exultation, al appeal to you, wheth-
er the House is no: bent on obtaining
revenue of some sort from the colonies"
He became the lord fthe ascendant, and
introduced his revenue bill. 1t assessed
taxes on goods at the American ports
The regulations of trade reduced the price
of tea, with duties added, to less than it
had ever been. But our fathers saw the
poison in the golden chalice, and put it
far away from them. George III was
not so anxious to collect revenue, but he
was intent on enforcing the law. He
would have been willing at any time, to
repeal the revenue act, if he could have
brought his conscience to the point of
conceding to men who resisted the en-
forcement of the law. For seven years
the British reSorted to parliamentary ex-
pedlents. They had their Boston port
bill; they had their commissioners of GUS
toms; they had their armed vessels sta
toned in the harbors to sustain the COM
missioners and assist them in performing
their duty. Al failed
They then prosecuted the enterprise by
iS.eTen l-'',r e7e.sf sa-, They enforced
the laws at Lexington and Bunker Hill;
they enforced the laws at Princeton and
Trenton; they enforced the laws at Eutaw
and Cowpens, and Kings Mountain and
Yorktown; until King George, wearied
with his success, thanked God that He
had put it iuto his heart to forget his an
cient diilerences-with whom? With
revolted colonies? With rebellious sub
.iects? With Yankees who would not
submit to the enforcement of the laws?-
No; with the United States of America,
whose independence he acknowledged,
and with whom he made treaty of peace.
In ITO, Boston had only sixteen thou
sand inhabitants. 1t was situated on an
inhospitable and barren and imperative
ly sparsely populated coast. Against
that little town the king and all his min
listers, the Lords and Commons, the Army
and the Navy and the people of Great
Britain were combined, to collect from it
the revenue, to enforce in it the laws, and
to maintain its unequal union with the
imperial crown. They collected the
revenue; but it was at the expense Of
thousand pounds for every dollar. They
enforced the law; but by breach of every
guaranty Of freedom contained in the
British Constitution. They maintained
the union only in consummating the loss
Of the finest colonial empire in the world,
and three millions of hardy, patriotic,
and enterprising subjects.
Gentlemen. l pray you learn prudence
from the heroism of your ancestry. |
pray You learn wisdom from your roun-
try's history. Fifteen States of this I'm
ion come to You to-day with their com
plants. Hear them. They tell you
they have grievances. Redress them
They say they have fears for their safety.
AIlay those fears They say they have
opprehensions ofwrong. Assuage them.
Gentlemen, remove every cause of agita-
tion and irritation, however unfounded
you deem it. They may have committed
acts Of passion and wrong. Apprehensive
Of armed coercion, exasperated by sense
Of domestic insecurity, they may have
seized our forts and arsena!s, taken pos
session of our arms, and in some cases
have treated harshly our citizens. These
acts are wrong; but forbearance, equa-
nimity are fitting attributes ofpower; and
moderation in victory is the test of that
wisdom and worth which deserve it.
Remember that the men who come to you
are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh;
they are lellow-citizens and our brethren.
Whether Justly or uniustly' their diseon-
tents have taken deep hold of their hearts.
Let me beg of you to grant all their
reasonable demands. You can do it
now without loss of pride, without loss
of elfrespect, without loss of power
| beg you, in Gods name do it! Do a
patriotic duty! Give MS peace instead of
discord! Maintain this Government,
and preserve the unity of our confeaerat-
ed empire! My voice to-day is for con-
ciliation; my voice is for compromise,
and it is but the echo Of the voice of my
constituents | bep you gent lemen,