The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1862-07-12


= upon them. And why is this 2 Wha
great and lasting benefit is the human
family to receive by this awful sacrifice
4 What great results are to be attained b.
. the hre and the sword, that could no
nave been achieved by the quiet ant
r peaceful means of calm and patriotic coun
selsE Let us patiently and patrioticall,
walt Its termination. Let US hope, a
least, that some unforeseen result may We
be brought about that will not in val,
have cost the best blood ana preciou.
treasure of this people. The wise admo
nitlons OF our illustrious forfathers were
indeed uttered in vain if this dreadful
state OF things could not have been avert
ed by other means than the dread resor,
10 desolating wars, the end whereof nc
mortal man can see, and at the sight oi
Whieh angels may well weep in pity and
sorrow
When we refer to the warning voice oi
him who was At first in war, first in peace
and first in the hearts of his countrymen,
We have unmistakable premonitions OF
the rocky beach and troubled waters tha,
threaten to engulf US. Had we cherished
that cordial, habitual and immovable
attachment to our Union that he urged
/ upon us; had we accustomed ourselves to
speak of it as of the palladium Of our po-
lItical safety and prosperity; watching for
| Its preservation with jealous anxiety; dis
! countenancing whatever may suggest even
suspicion that 1t can in any event be
abandoned and Indignantly frowned upon
the nrst dawnIng OF every attempt to
ALLEVIATE any portion Of ouI country from
| the rest, or 10 eGfeeble the sacred ties
which link together the various parts :"
there might perhaps have been averted
| that which now so fearful.y atfl!cts this
/ people.
| The present Geplorable condition Of our
country is not the work OF q moment.
The storm has been gathering for many
years. Its distant rumblings have been
heard for a long time. The immortal
| " ashington clearly toresaw what might
| happen, and his only hope Of ayertlng II
consisted IN the cherished reliance, that
the love OF country and the patriotism OF
the people would in that dread hour. be
equal to the emergency. How feelIngly
he cautioned Us against spirit o! sec
tional jealou$y; how ardeut!y he portray
ed the mutuA! advantages to, ana depend
ence upon q ZACH other, Of the North, the
South, the Exist and the Vest, ana incul-
Gated the duty OF cultiyatiny a spirit of
friendship and iorbeagance with one an
aud thereby the whole power and integri-
ty of the Ia tion be preserved How he
has admonif fhed u Of the evils OF dis
ruption, and that, if it ever should occur,
how the hopes OF man and the Liberties OF
the world would perish. Not alone has
Washington pleaded with us a kind father
would plead with his children: but all
our great statesmen, in the early days ot
the Republic IL, spoke III the same spirit
and in the same warning voice. Turn
where you VIII in searching over the
records OF those early administrators o!
our government, and we lind the most
earnest aspirations in our behalf, and the
most feryent language caUtioH.ug u
against the snares that lay IN our path.
The great Jackson, also, y hose memory now
lives second only TO that of Washington
and who now quietly reposes at the Her
mitage amidst the din and strife O. the
battle field, where brother meets brother
in mortal combat and where the sicken-
Jag vapors of the fostering dead, that in
life should have joined hands in upholI!ng
our beloved Union, but ROW lie decayiuu
in the mid day sun, smell to Heaven
against this unnatural and uniOiy conflict:
the great Jackson-tkere he sleeps
undisturbed, let Us hope, by the clash Of
arms and the tramp OF arnlIes,-has left
his warning voice and patriotic counse!s
on record. ! shall read TO you Il brief
extract from his Farewell Address to the
American People At no period OF time
could it be more usefully remembered
than at the present y quarter 0! a cen
tury has el4psed since these burning
words were uttered Let Us still hope
that they may not be proved, in their en-.
tirety, to have been prophetic, though
I h.4Y Of h.a
result
1t is true that eases may be imagined
disclosing such a settled purpose OF uSur
patton and oppression, on the part of the
government, as would justify an appeal to
arms These, however, are extreme cases,
which we have no reason TO apprehcnd In
government where the power is in the
hands of patriotic people; and no citizen
who loves his country, would in any case
whatever resort TO torcible resistance un-
less he clearly saw that the time had come
when q freeman should prefer death to
submission; for If such struggle Is once
began. and the citizens Of one section OF
the country. arrayed in arms against those
of another in doubtful conflict, let the
battle result as it may, there Will be an
end OF the Union, and with it an end OF
the hopes OF freedom. The victory of the
injured would not secure to them the
blessings Of liberty; ii would avenge their
wrongs, but they would themselves share
in the common rum.
But the constitution cannot be main
tanned, nor the Union preserved, in oppo-
sition to public feeling, by the mere eXer-
ton of the coercive powers confided to the
general government. The foundations
must be laid in the affections of the people
in the security it gives to life, liberty,
character, and property, in every quarter
OF the country; and in the traternal at
tachments which the citizens Of theseveral
states bear to one another, as members OF
one political family, mutually contributing
to promote the happiness OF each other |
Hence the citizens of every state should |
studiously avoid every thing calculated to
wound the sensibility or offend the just |
pride of the people of other states and |
they should trown upon any proceedings |
within their own borders likely to disturb |
the tranquility of their political brethren
in other portions of the Union. In a
country SO extensive as the United States, |
and with pursuits so varied, the internal
regulations of the several states must |
frequently differ from one another IN i'm
portant particulars; and this difference is
unayoidably increased by the varying |
principles upon which the American colo |
nies were originally planted; principles |
which had taken deep root in their social |
relations before the revolution, and there |
fore, of necessity, influence their policy |
since they became free and independent
states. But each state has the unquestion-
able right to regulate its own internal
concerns according to its own pleasure; |
and while it does not interfere with the
rights of the people of other states, or the
rights of the Union, every state must be
the sole judge of that measure proper to
secure the safety ofits citizens andpromote |
their happiness; and oil efforts on the |
mart nf the neonle of other states to cast |