The Cadiz Democratic sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1854-1864, 1862-01-08
agrinst iIs own Liberties, no nation has ever

agrinst its own liberties, no nation has ever |
made expiation bat in the agonies Of revolu- |
tion; without the shedding Of blood there is
no remission OF this sin. You cannot make
nation Jealous OF its rights. You cannot
increase It's manhood or its constsncy, or
make it sensa i've to dishonor, by teaching
that in times Of danger it must rely not on
its own virtue and courage, but on the power
and good will of its rulers.
No free people should ever hsteI to this ar
gnment oi State necessity. lts history IS
maj ked by the wreck Of popular liberty and
free institutions, by The sad tokens Of human
hop $ destroyed and noble aspirations bligh'
, ted. As we look back upon its pathway Of
desolation, anl trace it even to cnr ewa
tunes and country, we may easily imagine
that the very spirit Of American liberty this
| day hovers over us AMI teariully prnys that
it may not be added to the list of victims -
| This argument is always used by the posses
SorS of power; it il voice which Issue; al
ways from the throne, ond il not Instantly ST
iencsd, II is answered. ere long, in the wall OF
| natlon.as it surren1ers its liberties in submis-
sion to arbitrary power. We have seen its
! effect in our day. An iinperilisl throne built
upon the ruins OF republic and a presiden-
/ cy; built upon the ruins of oaih' broken,
rights violated, liberties despised, and na-
ton oppressed, is but the familiar story with
whl3h we close one page of the history oi
state necessity" a -
We are told that iu times Of great public
danger the people should strengthen the
hands OF their rulers by confidence in the
integrity oi their motives, and in the wisdom
OF their measures. Yes, truly! Strengthen
them with the confidence Of the people SO
as they conflne themselves to the powers
granted by the Constitution, but paraliza
them with dist~ot when they begin the
work OF uSurpatiOn. DemoSthenes, is his
divine philppic," told the Athenisns that
",he strongest fortress oi free people against
a tyrant is distrus,." They needed not hi;
warning, and thenceforth Grecian iLdepen.
ience and Grecian liberties were but name
William the Silent taught the same lesson
to the northern Netherlands when Philip
sought their confidence. They needed its
wisdom, aud gories clustered for two hun
dred years around the Dutch republic.
do not speak to day in behalf of these
memorialistS alone-honorable upright as
believe them to be-deprived OF their coDsti.
tutional rights as think they certainly are -
l speak in behalf Of the Constitution, in be-
half Of the liberties of the nation, OF the
rights of my constituents, OF the rights o
every citizen in the land; and in behalf o
them all, now say that this claim of the
executive department of the right to suspend
the privilege Of the habeas corpus, to seize and
detain the citizen withaut regard to the pro
, visions and processes of law, is utterly I'm
! tenabe; and that it becomes this House
every member Ct it; the Chosen Represen'a a.
, tives OF the people-as we'll in virtue of the
oath we have taken to support the Constitu-
ton as of the position which we hold in the
= framework Of the Government, solemnly-
aye, solemnly-before God and our country
men, to protest against it.