Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1862-04-05

feet OF Kentucky. He recognizes the Con.
stitution. He recognizes the fact that in
war the Constitution is the root of the pow.
er of the Government, but its branches
| spread beyond all constitutional limits.
That when the emergency of the State re
quires 1t he can do anything. lie can in.
terfere With Slavery to any extent. He
can trample it under bis feet, or he can buy
! il ont.
The President In his Message has open.
ed the door Of Emancipation a foot, and il
he holds out and continues in the right.
soon will be able to drive right through,
with a coach and six. und William Lloyd
Garrison as driver. That is, the President
recognizes what believe 10 be the const-
iutional right of the Government, to do
anything TO save the States He recognizes
the right to throw cargo overheard TO
save the ship. In other words, il was
heretofore believed that he hadn't emigrut.
ed from Kentucky, that be hadn't got his
eyes opened yet, any wider than would en-.
able him o see the limits of the State Of
Kentucky alone That Message proves
that lie takes 10 the whole Union that he
sees the necessity Of the hour. In other
words, he lays himself open to the suspicion
Of saying "Gentlemen il may be posi-
BILE that we cannot conquer with the can
patton (applause and 1 Abraham Lincoln,
announce that it that exigency comes upon
me am ready to adopt it." Applause
He treads as fur on the thin ice as be dareS
TO. Let us assure him that the ice is thick,
and bid him go ahead. / have Travelled
through the cities of the North,
and find there is from Democratic, from
Old Line Whig, from Bell and Everett,
and from Republican, the same welcome OF
the Presidents Message.
i value the Message not because Mr.
Abraham Lincoln speaks, for be can Meth
er preserve Slavery nor kill it. II does not
lie in the power of any single individual to
do either. 1t lies in the Government, in
the public. He is nothing without the
approval and support of the public.
What desire is to impress you with
deep conviction of the RESPONSE
billy which rests upon you as part of the
100000 You cannot expect the Presi.
dent to do this work alone. We are his
right hand and his left. How much will
you do ? He has come out from the Cabi
lie, and he'd oui his hand To bow much
will the people respond ? /, for one, say,
go on, ole man, l am with you" Llugh-
ter and applause. Now, how much will
you say
SEVERAL. YoIcEs-All that.
think that we are too much accustom-
cd to make light of the crisis. We think
the South is broken aud battered out. She
doesn't draw much water. Laughter
Donelson and Henry have been surrendered,
and the troops are moving backward. We
begin TO regard them as powerless and
foolish. Yes So l used to read The
Herald aud Tribune in regard to the Mer-
rimnc, that she was SO severely battered out
and loaded down with iron that she wouldn't
float. Southern foley had made the same
mistake in science that she has in the
craftsmanship. sta They tried to establish a
Confederacy, but it wouldn't float and
now they had vessel that was in the
same condition. But one day she steamed
down to Fortress Monroe, and frigates lay
in wrecks on either side. What stayed her
destructive progress ? Being way down
here in the trenches, / know but little of
the doings of the Cabinet but think if
we had depended solely upon the defense
that was provided from the White House
or the Secretaryships, we should have been
very badly off. But the people sent down
The little Monitor. Loud applause ]
They got her up and paid for her themselves
despite the Administration [applanse] and
flung her right into the face of the Navy.
She went down and came ont victorious.
1t is q significant fact-it is repre-.
sentative fact. 1t is the people coming up
with their impuTSive, instructive and ready
common sense, making up for the deficiency
of the Government. And l believe the
Anti Slavery sentiment of to-day is like the
round house on the Monitor. 1t spreads
itself on all sides, and nothing can get out
of reach That is the meaning Of the Presi.
dents Message.
So to-day, as an Abolitionist, with this
evidence of the willingness of Government.
with this response of the more than willing
ness of the people, with this rebuke of
"Cotton is King" with this education Of
the North TO the crisis believe that the
back of Slavery is broken. Gen. HaIleck
may refuse to receive fugitive slaves there
is some work so dirty that it not only
ought not TO be, but it cannot be done,
and so l think with regard to this treat
ment of the slave population by the arma'
ment of the u S. Whether you think the
Stars and Stripes meau liberty or not, the
slaves knOiO that such is their meaning.
IVoceiferating applause. And when Gen.
Sherman went to South Carolina, and bar
red his doors against the slaves. they came
1000 strong, aud broke them open. And
so will it be everywhere The slave will
recognize 10 that old flag the emblem Of
freedom, and Aocking to It's standard, will
refuse to be driven from beneath its folds.
As an Abolitiouist, therefore, have no
considerable interest in this war. The only
interest | have is as citizen, as man
with some responsibility for the institution
of the 10 States. 1t is as such that speak
TO you tonight. 1t is as such that l survey
the operations of Government connt and
scrutinze them in regard 10 their influence
on the issue of this war. think there ore
two paths leading out of it. One is the
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