New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-05-06
TIE HON CHfBLES F. ADAMSS FARE
WELL ADDRESS.
To the People Of the Third Congregational D'trict Of Md"a-
chHstus - ,oc,

QUINCY, May /, 1861.
FeNo1r- Citizens Having obeyed the call OF the Gov
eminent of the United States into another field Of pub
lie service have this day resigned tue honor OF beng
your reuIeseutatiye How much l have valued II L
shal not venture 10 describe. That solicited
vour confidence Won all know. But when you volnn-
tarily offered it, you completely Tiled the measure OF
1ay ambition thrust that need not add leave You
with regret and in Difference 10 the opinions OF others
more than 10 my own Whatever may be the estimate
generally placed upon the value Of different public
stations know OF none which seems TO me more use
full and honorable than that OF representative OF the
people In that spirit have endeavOred 10 serve you
during The term which has Just closed And If, upon
looking back ] become senstle that have not done
oil the good that might AT least deve Some conso.
laton from the belief that have done nothing OF
which Won will feel ashamed. The period has teen
OIL of the most momentOus in American history. And
the record must for stand either 10 acqu or con-
denim every one of those VINO had any share Of the
responsibility in It's transactions.
At ore time il had been my wish TO lay before you,
somewhat at large my views Of the causes which have
led the country into s present painful situation CIR.
cunrtanCes have changed my POSITION and have inter-
posed objections 10 such proceeding. But cannot
take this final leave of you without IresentiDg, IA
briefly az possible two three considerations which
may serve to guide your opinions through these I'M
pending triss.
peril YOU escayed by your action of last year. No
rational Ian can now entertain n doubt OF the para
mount necessity then existing OF thorough reform in
the Administrative departments Of your Government.
Great the abuses then seemed 10 be- II may be con-
fdenly said that not the most eXtTavagant description
of the most violent Republican partisan, III the last can
yass ever approached The reality has since been
posed 10 public eye. Nobody imagined that treason
was Melting in tie very lighest pinnacle oil the Capitals
that corruption spreading its poisonous influence
through the subordinate places; and the violence
avey meditated against the very organization II the
| Government. Some Of your own servants appear
now by their deliberate admissions, TO have been la
boring TO betray you into the bands OF your elents
delay OF four yeas more Wo4ld probably have leit
you bound hand and foot for ever III the hands Of
military oligarchy You were clearly night therefore,
in the stand you took in favor Of general reform.
And that portion Of our tellow-citnens which per-
mitted its political strength for % long tine to be
used in unfolding policy which proves to have been
70 treacherOus, must by tins time have become
WINGED that no security was left but in charge
of rulers. And all Of us must zee that even
the evils which we are likely TO be called TO
encounter not comparable in their magnitude
with those which must have ensued from continued
and systematic decentralization under the old system.
Mr.. Cobb, Mr. Thompson, and Mr.. Floyd are bat
types of a general policy, which had for lis object to
snbvert the Government, established III l7oJ and
conducted by Washington and Jefferson in its true
spirit and to substitute III is place another, which
would have attempted the subsection OF your liberty
and your will to tie narrow and telhth purposes Of
slave extension Oh the continent OF America. The
love Of liberty abstract principle Of general APP
pcation, is evidently dead among this class Of men,
The spirit of ancient struggle has eyapOrated and
In its place has come the Determination to be masters
honestly if possible, but if not at any rate to be
tiers. With such tenn eT, demonstrated as il hse been
in all the acts of violence ana fraud which have since
been made patent to the world it is very plain that
SAT- y could be hoped from any further liberation Of it
within the departments OF the Government. What
else they may lose, TIE people Of these States
will at least congratulate themselves that they have
saved the right TO have rulers of their own choosing
vet under their control and ready faithfully TO reflect
their will. This consideration alone ought to conpen
safe in their minds for all the difficulties of the present
times. Ii have any regard tor the memory Of orr
fathers ii have any respect for the safety of
children, must zee TO II TO keep political nde
pendence sure.
That there can be doubt of the correctness Of this
view l thin cen be seen in the direction which has
been thus far given to the instruction in the slave
holding States. The basis upon which their attempt
reconstruction rests IL me TgM Of one man 10 raie
Oper aaOtherS 1ctH by force. With this exception,
very little change has Teen attempted in the frame Of
our Government. Tue forms have been generally
preserved with great The difference is mainly
il the spirit in which it is 10 be administered. Could
we have consented to continue that spirit at Washing
tor, there would have been no rebellion, and VIC
should have had Federal Government justifying the
sway Of force and fraud. We refused to DO slaves and
the consequence is that the experiment has been
transferred TO Montgomery In Alabama.
1t ought not then TO be overlooked by YOU that the
only public question Immediately before you for your
consideration Turns upon this point. The reyolted
States desire 10 establish reconstructed Government
upon their new basis. They hope to lie able to per-
them in such Union. The only difference il to be in
the eXpuncton Of the Declaration of Independence
and its grand pJstnlate Of human liberty Tint such
the true state OF the facts need only appeal 10 the
late speech of Mr. Alexander Stephens, the Vie-Pres
dent OF the new system, TO prove. Mr.. Stephens
himself originally advocate OF the separation
which has taken place. lie seems 70 have embraced
at Last rather from necessity than choice. His sent
nents not then, 10 be regarded us those Of
rene revouIionist, but rather coming from the |
moderate class. Yet, in this respect, II will be
rom the following extract which quote find ii in
! newspaper, that they go quite the length which
lave described:
The prevailing ideas entertained by jefferson and |
most OF the leading statesmen at The time Of the fora-
ion Of the OLD Constitution We're that the enslavement
)t the African was in violation of the laws IF naure
hat IL was wrong In principle, socially morally and
politically. IL WAS an evil they knew not well how
70 deal with; but the general opinion of the men Of
hat day that some how or other, in the order of
Providence, the institution would be eyaneecent and
,ass away. Tie ide0 though not incorporated IN tie
Gas the grer0'i1g idea al the time"
"Our new Government IL founded upon exactly the
opposite ideas. It's foundations laid, its corner
rests upon tie great truth that the negro is not
quail to the white man. that Slavery, sRbordiRation
tie superior race, has natural aud DlSral c0ads-
ion. This our new Government, is the first ia the
STORY Of the world based upon this greas physical
philosophical and moral truth"
l. comess o tbs, then. The Vice-Pitsident OF the
'-called Confederaey POUNDS his new Govemmsbt
pom single idea, and that ist ors And DO has ths