Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-07-14
Mr.. Mgyor and GentIem.n fthe Cty Council:

Had 1 felt at liberty to consult my own inclina-
ton alone. | should have asked you to excuse me
from taking part in the proceedings of this day.
At a much earlier period Of life I erjuyed the
distinction Of being placed on the long roll of
those who have successfully spoken to the people
Of Boston, at the bidding Of their municipal au-
thorities, on this. our national anniversary. At
this particular ~juneture, | could well have desired
to be spared from the performance OF any such
public duty l had prepared myself to bear
what is now upon US, in silence and Obscurity-
doing the infinitely little that | may, to alleviate
personal suffering, sustaining the hopes OF those
who are nearest 10 me. and endeavoring to cher
ish in nv own breast a living faith in the strength
and Perpetuity of our republican forms of gov
ernment.
But private wishes are nOthing-private tastes
are nothing-in the presence of great public
trials and dangers. We cannot, it we would, es-
cape the responsibilities which such trials and
dangers entail upon US. Ii we fly to the utter
most parts of the earth. the thought of our coun-
try IS with US there. IL we put on the robes of
the stole, or wrap ourselves in the philosophy of
the fatalist, the heIrt beneath will beat Tor the
land Of our birth [applausel in spite of the out
ward man. There is no peace, there is no hope,
there Is no happiness. in a state of Indifference TO
the welfare and honor Of our country. The
most sOrdid of men. whose sole delight consists
in laying, day by day, one piece OF gold upon his
already swollen heaps, has no more assured rest
from anxiety for his country, in times OF real
peril. than he whose sole beng quivers Yeneath
the blows which public disasters or disgraces in
fIct upon a refined and sensitive nature. To
love our country; TO labor Tor its prosperity and
repOse; to contend. in civil life. for the measures
which we believe essential to It's good; 20 yearn
for that long, deep, tranquil flow OF public affairs,
which We iOndly hope is to reach and bear safely
on its bosom those in whom VI are to have an
earthly hereafter; these are the nobier passions
and tie higher aims which distinguish the civil
lied from the savage man. Even ii did hot
feel such emotions deeply, how could | bring
here at such a time as this, the doubts and mis-
givings OF one fearful for himself? The thickly-
crowded memories of the iar-Off dead. who have
fallen in the bitter contests OF this civil war ad-
mOnish me of the insigmihcance of such fears.
Who shall bring "a thought oil the e~xertiOns, the
sacrifices or the responsibilities OF public dis
course into the presence of the calamities OF his
country.
! am here for a far other purpose. l come to
pie ID tor the Constitution of our country. lAp-
plause / am here To show YOU, from my own
earnest convictions, how dangerous it may be to
fOregO all care for the connection between the
political past and the political future. / am here
To state To you, as | have read them on the page
OF history. the fundamental conditions on which
alone, as | believe, the people OF these Siaies can
be a nation and preserve their Liberties. / am
here to endeavGr to rescue the idea OF union from
nCJt~tcc dc QtctItCtihG US NIt OirOIEtuiLtuE dilu
justly reprObated heresies of secession. | wish to
do what l can to define to rational and intelligent
minds the real nature and limits o. the national
supremacy; and to vindicaie it from the cOrro-
ding influence OF doctrines, which are leading ms
away from the political faith and precepts of a
free people.
d. you say that there is no need of such a dis
cussiOn2 Reflect for a moment, / pray you, on
what has already crept into the common uses of
our political speech. We hear men talk about
the cold Constitution; as if that admirable
frame of government, which is not yet older than
some who still live under its sway, and which has
bestowed on this nation a yigor unexampled in
history, were already in its decrepitude. or as if it
had become suspended from its functions by gen
eral consent. to await at respectful distance the
advent OF some new authOritF, as vet unknown.
We hear men talk of the cold" Union; as if
there were u choice about the terms on which the
Union can subsist, or as il those terms were not
To he taken as having been fixed, on the day on
which Washington and his cOmpatriOts signed the
Constitution OF the United States. Applause.
You will not say that this tendency-this appar-
ant willingness to break away from the past and
its obligations, and 10 throw ourselves upon a
careless tempting OF the future-doesn not demand
-four sober consideration. / beg you also to call
before you another symptom of these unsettled
times. With an extravaganza partly habitual to
US. and partly s%priBging from the intense exer-
tons of the year which has just passed, we have
encountered the doctrines OF secession and dis
union with many theories about the national unity
and the Federal authority, which are not founded
in history or in law. Are you not conscious that
there has been poured forth from hundreds Of
American pulpits, platforms and presses, and on
the floors of Congress, a species of what is call
ed argument, in defense of the national suprem
acv, which i'll BELTS the nature of our republican
institutiOnSI When / hear one OF these %cOurtier-
like preachers or writers, for our American
sOvereigns, resting the authority of our Govern
ment on a doctrine that might have gained him
promotion at the hand OF James of Charles Stu
art, | can not hep wishing that he had liyed in an
age when such teachings, if not actually believed
to be sound, were, at all events, exceedingly use
full tD the teachers Ms friends, ] can not belr
the thought of indicating the supremacy of our
National Government by anything but the Just
title on which il was founded; and [ will not de
sert the solid ground Of our republican, constitu-
tiOpal liberty for any purpose on earth, while
there is a hope of maintaining it. Applause
i know of no just foundation for the title OF
government in this country, but consent-that
consent which resides in compact, contract. slip
ulatiOn, cOncessiOE-the do ef cORced0" of pub
lie grants. Give me a solemn cession of politi-
rai sovereign powers evidenced by a public trans
action md u public charter. and you have
gwen me u civil contract, to which | can apply
the rules of pubic law and the obligations Of
Justice between man and man; on which | can
separate the legitimate powers of tive Govern
ment from The rights OF the people; on which |
can. with perfect prOprety, assert the authority
of law in the halls Of criminal iurispf udence, or,
IL need be, at the mouth o: the cannon. But
when you speak of any other right of one coliec
ton OF people or States to govern another COL
lection OF people or States; when you go beyond
a public charter to create "A rational unity and a
duty OF loyalty and submission independent; of
that charter; when you undertake to found Gov
eminent on something not embraced by a grant
Il understand. you TO employ a language and
ideas that ought never 70 he uttered los an Amer
lean tongue. and which. IL carried out in practice,
will put an END to the principles or which your
liberties are founded. Applause
For these and many other reasOns-most ap-
p~rOpriate for our consideration this day-let US
TccuF 10 certain indisputable facts in our history.
shall nuke no apology Tor insisting on the pre-
cedents OF our national history. No nation can
safely lay aside the teachings. the obligations or
the facts of its previous existence. You can not
make a f0bata Tasa OF your political condition,
and write upon IL a purely original system. with
no traditions. no laws. no cOmpactS, no beliefs,
no limitation, derived from the generations who
have gone before You, without ruinously failing
TO improve. Revolutionary France tried such a
proceed Bg. and property. life. religion. morals,
public order and public tranquility went down iuto
a confusion no better than blrbarism. out of
which society could be raised again only by
the strong hand Of a despot. We are Of a race
which ought to have learned by the experience
Of a thousand years that reforms improvements
progress, must be conducted with a fixed refer
ence 10 those antecedent facts which have nj
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