The Cadiz Democratic sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1854-1864, 1863-07-22

Pierce. at Concord. EPW iEaInD-
shire, Ca fI,P 1th OF 5uiy, 1868.
Ny FuIExDs AHp Fellow CouNrKYMES (:
While l have come TO preside at this meet
ing, at your hidiiHg, permit me TO say that
10 commend le>s imperative than your wish
On Puch an occasion, would. have brought me
here: and | trust that IN view OF the great
aggregation VI personal relations which thir.
~ years Of uaahcod life have lormel be.
tNesn u. yoa will recognzs IN this act
warm Fec'prOcniun, On my part, OF the re
spect and aiitc'icn which, 10 all hat time,
have ntycT la:led TO ind ON yours. We NEE!
on the Anniyei sary of = day EalloWed by
solemn memories, and sanclEed as that OF
the birth Q. The American tniUn The / &C,
laration OF Independence lail The foundation
oil our political greatness IA The two luYda>
mental ideas oI the absolute Independence o!
the American people, and Of The sovereignty
OF their respective States. Under that stan
liard our wise and heroic loreh}hers iou.ht
the battle VI The Revolt. ion; uEier that thsy
couquefad In this spirit they established
the Uuon having the conservative thought
ever present 10 lheir minds, OF the original
sovereignty and independence Ol the several
States, all with their diverse institutions,
interests, opinions and habits, TO be main
tanned intact and secure, by tie reciprocal
stipUlatjons and mutual con promises OF the
Constitution. They were master builders,
who reared mp the grand structure OF the
JalCu, that august temple LcEellh whose
dome three geHrrations have enjoyed such
blessings OF civil iheI ~ us were never be'oTe
youchSafed by Providence to man; that tenn
pie before whose al,ars YOU and have not
only 10 aed with deVout and grateful hearts;
but " where, with patiiO.ic VOWS and sacrifices,
We have SO frequently c0nsecratcd ourselves
TO the protection aud maintenance OF those
lofty columns of the Constitution by which
it was upheld. [AppIause.l No visionary
enthusiasts were they, dreaming vainly OF
the impossible uniformity OF some wild
Utopia, OF their own imaginati0ns No teS
perate reormerS were they, uadly bent upon
schemes which, il cOnSuMmated, could only
result IN general confusion, anarchy, and
chaos. Oh! no; high hearted but sagacious
and practical statesmen they were, who saw
society as living fact, net as troubled
vision; who knew that national power con
siSts in the reconcilement OF diyerslties OF
institutions and interests, not their coat1'ct
and o6lerati0n and vino saw that variety
aud adaptation OF parts are the necessary
elements Of all there Is sublime Or beautiful
in the works OF art nr 0i nature. Majestic
were the solid iOuudati1 :, tie GassVe ma
sunry, the eolumned lotiDesS 0t that nagm
ticent structure Of the Union Glorious was
thc career Of prosperity, and peace, and
power, upon which, from lis very birthday
g the American Cnjun entered as with the
assured march OF the conscious offspring OF
those giants VI the Revolution. Such was
the L uion, as conceived and administered
bV Wash hington and Adams, by Jefferson,
and Madis1n, ard jackson. Such, | say,
teas tie Union, Gre the evil times be'el Us
ere the madness OF sectional hatredS and
aninosities possessed US Gre, in the third
generation, the all comprehensive patriotism
OF the Fathers had died out, and given place
to the passionate emotions of narrow and ag
Crlssiye sectionalism. The Eas ern States
covered the sea with their ships tie lanG
with their farms aud their malu actures; so
did the Middle Atlantic States, with aadi
ton Of their mineral wealth OF coal and iron;
while the Southern States, with their bright,
soft climate and congenal soil raised up
those grear staples OF cotton, tobacco, sugar,
rice, corn, which are the lie OF commerce
and ranutac ures; aud the vast regions oti
the West grew To be the granaries OF Europe
and America and still farther on WAS re"
vealed the lard Of gold and silver on the re !
mote shores OF lie Pacific. These wert the
material elements OF cur national power
each State with its difference OF interests,
CO operating with the others to constitute
one harmonious whole. And so the various
European races, co existing here, though
differing in blood, religion, temper, the
Protestant aud Catholic, the Puritan and the
Cavalier; yet, by their very differences OF
character, afforded the meLa and moral
elements Of the power OF the Union. Glori /
ous, sublime above all that history records o
national greatness, was the spectacle which
the Union exhibited to the world, SO long as
the true spirit of the Constitution lived in
the hearts Of the people, aud the Govern
ment was Government OF men recIprocally
respecting one aDothers rights, and of
States, each moving planet ike, in the orbit
OF its proper place in the hrmsnent OF the
Union. Then we were the model Republic
of the world, honored loved, or feared where
we were not loved respected abroad. peace
full and happy at home. No American citi ,
zen was then subject to be driven INTO exile
TOR opinions sake, or arbitrarily arrested and
incarcerated in military baste-even as he
NAV now be-not for acts or words o. i'm
1
lent sorrow over the desolaton Of his coun- /
tfy--L Lapplausel; no elnbattled hosts 0
Americans were then wasting their lives and
resources in sanguinary ciTi! strife; no Suicl
tlal and parrlcdal civil war then swept like
raging tenrest Of death over the stricken
honest steads and waiing cities Of the Union.
Oh! that such change should have come
over our country in day. as it were-as i
all men in every State of the UUiOn--Noith
and South, East and West--wefe Suddenly
gmitten with homicidal madness, and " the
custom of fell deeds' rendered as talnillar as
il it were part OF our iHbofn nature as if
an ayenging angel had been suffered hy
Providence 10 wave a sword OF flaming fire
above our heads, to convert so many millions
of good men, living together in brotherly
love, into nsensate beings, savagely bent on
the destruction OF themselves and OF each
other and leaving but smouldcrlng ruIa of
counagration and OF blood il the place Of
our once blessed Union. | endeayor, some
times, as | have no doubt you Do, to close
NV cars 70 the sounds, and my eyes to the
sights Of woa, and to ask myself whether all
this can be-to inquire which is true, wheth- !
er the past happiness and prosperity CT ms
country are but the fsttetng vision OF a
happy Sleep or its present misery and desc
lation happily the delu5ion fsome disturbed
dream. One or tie other seems incredible |
and impossible but, alas the stern truth |
can MT thus be Gispsiled rom our minds. -
Can you forget, ought especially be ex |
pected to forget, those not remote days in |
the history Of our country, wien its great
ness and glory she'd the reflection ct least Of
their rays uDou all our lives, ald thus ena |