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

W nav "OIUS oiIN otat
counsels have we here! How truly h.
says that causes may ''be imagined, disclos
ing such settled purpose of usurpation
on the part of the government, as woul.
justify an appeal to arms" Truly hav,
those now in rebellion against our GOV
ernment only imagined that their right
were impinged upon by the government
| Whatever may have been the threatened
purposes of a mere handful Of people il
the North-and whatever may have beer
| the indications of even a large. nlajorit,
Of the people of the North, no violen
hands had been laid upon their rights a;
| citizens or their equality as members Of
| this confederacy. True, much has been
said by our orators aud the press that
| might as we'll have been left unsad but
in governments like this, subject to the
popular WILL there was no great danger oi
these wild and foolish threats being sue
cessfuly executed, or of being even
countenanced by the great mass of the
people. Perhaps we may have erred in
not more severely visiting with our con
demnation such men as have publicly
proclaimed that, ION certain conditions
they were willing to let the Union slide. "
or in having cOuntenanced such wrelches
as have publicly and boastfully proclaimed
that they had devoted nineteen years of
their lives in endeavoring to overthrow
the government" Those fiery and i'm
petuous men Of the South should have
remembered the imperishable words Of
the great Jefferson, the author of the
Declaration Of Independence just read in
your hearing, when he said "T Mere be
any among US ,ck0 .coaH ,c,sk 10 dissoivs HtS
Laioa, or 10 chanys IT'S republican to,,a, let
J
safety wiA eoh,ch error Of optnioH may Dc tois
rated tcheye reason is lett free 10 con.Jdt IT,
They should have remembered that they,
too, were more than doubly guilty, and
had III their midst as vile wretches as
civilized ard christian people ever tolc
rated The wholesale assassination of
individual citizens for the uIere utterance
OF political opinions differing from their
master spirits in Congress on Senate: in
his seat; the vile epithets OF mud sils,
" dastardly northern towards = and the
application of tar and feathers to those
who they fancied were not admirers of
their local governments or intitutions, are
living evidences of their infamous base
ness, and will live in history as the most
brutal acts ever committed by one civilized
community against another And should
this war, with all its horrors, in any man
ner abate this cruel and barbarous system
Of torture, it will not have been in vain.
But, fellow citizens, all of these things
dark and damuable as they are, do not
implicate the great mass of the people
either in the North or il the South. The
violent political agitatious Of the day,
have in many instances thrown to the
surface the yiiest scum Of our nation
Like the heayiug billows Of the mighty
deep, the waters have been agifated and
the sediment which had lon. settled Of
its own gravity to the bottom, assumed
vitality. aud the froih and scum hoatcd
for brief period on the surface! Men,
in both sections of our country, have been
with the power to make and
execute our laws, who never would
have been thus honured had not
party spirit stirred them up from
jhe depths of society, and for
Instances Of this, FLoyD, the Secretary
who stole the nation property. and con
rerted il into an engine to destroy its
very existence; yet IN the midst of his
booty and by hi. own friends. is convicted
OF cruelty, and disgraced for hi. cowardicc.
SIMMONS. a Senator, c!amorous and boast
ia. for The risht~ of man and the Nation,
quietly plundering the National treasury
10 fill his own purse Which of the two
deserves the Severcst curses of his fellow
men i not for me 10 say. The one steals
II benefit his confederates in crime, and
is not censuraOle for selfish theft; the
other TO feed in pampered luxury his
nest Of squalid offspring on the treasure
Of nation now replenished from the
honest sweat and hardy toll of the pro.
duciug industry of our country. Forts
and prisons are not converted their proper
use, if such wretches long fail to pass their
iron jaws. Beautiful examples OF those
placed in power to guide and control the
dcstiuies of 4 great and powerful latiou
Well may we mourn at the awful deceue-
racy TO which we have descended, and
with weeping eye the corrup-
tons of the age.
Are the days of this nation numbered?
1t cannot-it must not be SO! Ii is true.
that the struggle has begun, whereof
the lamented Jackson speaks but yet
Hope kindly whispers that ali may yet
be well What, this glorious Union.
under which we have lived and prospered
As never nation prospered before, TO be
rent in twain, and 1t fragments strew the
path Of civilization with wreck and ruin , !
No, never! No right minded man, who
has the love of country at heart, can be a
calm and d!sinterested spectator of the
unholy efforts now put forth TO overthrow
il. No treason to mankind, since the
organization of society, is equal in atrocity
to that of him who would lift his had 10
destroy it, lie would overthrow the
noblest structure of human wisdom, which
protects him and his fellow man in all
that makes government great and good
He would stop the progress of free go
sernment, and involve his country either
in anarchy or despotism. He would ex-
Iinguish the fire OF liberty which warns
,nd animates the heart OF happy millions,
and invites all nations of the earth to
initiate our example. If lie say that error
md wrong are committed in the admins
.ratiou of our government, let hIm remem-
Der that nothing human can be perfect;
and that under no system of government
.eyealed by Heaven or devised by man,
las reason been allowed so free and broad
l scope to combat error. Will the sword I
Of the despot prove to be a safer or surer
of reform i'll government than
reason? Can we expect to
ind among the ruins of this Union hap
bier abode for our swarming millions than |
We now have under 1t? Every lover of
lis country must shudder at the thought |
,f the bare possibility of its dissolution,
md will be ready to adopt the patriotic !
sentiment: =" Our Federal Union-it must be |
PRESCRIBED"
We should all remember that we are |
human, and full of imperfections, and, in !
exciting times like these, it requires more
han ordinary vigilance to conquer our
own prejudices. Men may be placed in
power as rulers over US, against whom we /,
nave warred with all our might and in |
iuence; yet this furnishes no ground for
apathy or indifference when the govern. |
nent itself is assailed. When we elevate !
o power good rulers and wise cousellors,
We share all the blessings of their wisdom
md calm deliberations; and in like man