The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1862-03-07

difficulties, to cherish conscious responsi.
bility for the destiny Of republican liberty
On these principles the government which
makes us one people was put in motion,
while the foundations OF monarchy In France
were crumbling away, and the beams which
upheld the civilization of the Middle Ages
were falling in. During the half century
which succeeded France underwent more rev.
olutions than / can readily count up; Spain
had many forms of government in rapid sue
ceesion the dynasty Of Portugal was driven
for refuge in South America; the empire OF
of Germany went down in tho whirlpool OF
revolution Russia has been conyulsed by
fearful plot for insurrection Italy was many
times reconstructed the Popc lost and won
temporal power, and has been almost shorn
of It again the institutions of Great Brit
ain have been thrice essentially modified by
the annexation of Ireland, by the reform OF
Parlamcnt-which was in fact revolution
-and by opening the doors OF its two Hous.
es to men OF oil creeds.
Progres. .ofCorrupt Influences.
During all these convulsions the United
States stood unchanged, admitting none
but the slightest notifications in Its charter,
and proving itself the most stable govern
ment of the civilized world. (Applause. y
But at last 1--WE have fallen on evil days. -
"The propitious smiles of Ileaven"-such are
the words of Washington-"can never be ex.
pected on nation that disregards the cter-
nal rules of order and right" During elev-
en- years OF pcrversc government those rules
were disregarded, and 1t came to pass that
men who should firmly ayow the sentiments
of Washington, Jefferson. franklin and Liv-
ingston, were disfranchised for the public SER
vice that the rpotlcss Chief Justice whom
Washington placed ut the head 0l our SUI
preme Court could by no possibility have
nominated for that Office, or confirmed. Nay
tho corrupt influence invaded even the home
of Justice. The final decree of the Supreme
Court, in its decision on particular case,
must be respected and obeyed the prcsen.
Chief Justice has on one memorable appeal
accompanied his decision with an impassion.
ed defamation, wherein with profound i'm
morality which no one has as yet fully laid
bare, treating the peopleof the United States
as shrew to bc tanned by an open scorn Of
tho facts OF history, with dreary industry
collecting evidences of cases where justice
NAV have slumbered or weakness been OPP
pressed, compensating for want Of evidence
by confidence of assertion. with partiality
that would have disgraced an advocate, ne
clecting humane decisions Of colonial courts
and the enduring memorials of colonial stat
ute books in his party zeal to prove that the
fathers of our country held the negro to have
"no rights which the white man was bound
to respect" he has not only denied the rights
of man and the liberties OF mankind, but has
not LEFT O foothold for the liberty Of the white
man to rest upon. (Applause.)
Chief Justice Taney.
Tho ill-starred disquistion Of Taney, who.
I trust, did not intend to hang out tho flag
of disunion, is the fountain head OF this re-
bellion. (Applausc.) That oflense to the
conscious memory of the millions cOnvulscd
our country with the excitement which swept
over those of us who yainly hoped to preserve
q strong and sufficient though narrow isthmus
that might stand between the conflicting
floods. No nation can adopt that Judgment
as its rule and live; the judgment has in 1t
no element Of political vitality; will not
say it is an invocation OF the dead past ;
there never was past that accepted such
opinions. (Applause.) II wo want the
opiniods received in the days when our con-
s.itution was framed, VIC will not take them
second hand from our Chief Justice; VIC will
let the men of that day speak for themselves.
How will our American magistrate sink when
arraigned, as he will be, before tho tribunal
of humanity; how terrible will bo tho yer-
dict against him when he is put in compari.
san with Washington's political teacher, the
great Montesquieu, tho enlightened magiis-
trate Of France, in what are esteemed the
worst days Of her monarchy.
The argument from the different OF rnce
which Taney thrusts forward with passionate
confidence, as q proof Of complete disquali-
fcation, is brought forward by Mlontesquieu
as scathing satire on all tho brood Of des-
pots who were supposed to uphold slavery as
tolcrable in itself. (APplausc.) Therights
of mankind, that precious word which had
no equivalent in the language of Hisdostan,
or Judea, or Greece or Rome, or any anti
Christian tongue. found its supporters in
Washington and Hamilton, in franklin and
Livingston, in Otis, George Mason and Gads-
den, in all the greatest men OF our early his.
tory. The ono rule from which the makers
of our fret coniederacy, und then of our
national constitution never sweryed, is this
To fix no constitutional disability on: any
ono whatever might stand in tho way Of
any man from opinion, ancestry, weakness of
mind, inleriority or inconvenience Of any
kind, was itself not formed into permanent
Acknowledgement. The Constitution OF the
United States was made under the recognized
influence of "the eternal rule Of order and
right" 10 that as far as its jurisdiction ex-
tended, it raised ut once the numerous class
who had been chattels into the condition of
persons it neither originates nor perpetu-
ates inequality.
The PubiIc Service and Private Gain.
Il is another trait in Washington's char
acter, which may particularly interest this
opulent city, where enterprise and skill and
industry are forever producing and ainassing
wealth, that while he held the acquisition Of
fortune by honest ways q proper object ol
desire, he drew careful distinction between
the pursuits Of business and the service of
his country. He held that every man must
be ready to devote to the good Of his country
his ability, bis wealth and his life; and he
never suffered the public service to becometo
him source Of gain. 1t Is rumored that
men among us have known how to obtain
from the Government, for q moderate and
incidental and essentially irresponsible use Of
little else than their judgment, sums Of mon.
ey which exceed the whole direct tax levied
upon one of our smaller States. II this bc
30, while II implies shameful want Of pa
triotism in individuals, 1t implies also a
blamcable want Of sagacity in the executive
departments, which must have made sclec-