The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1863-09-16

of great national interests, of terrific pub
| lie dangers, and of resulting influences
| upon the destinies of the remote future.
for millions Of unborn human beings, new
er before existed But he was unequal to
the great occasion; he misunderstood, or
disregarded the high, the awful trust com
mitted to his charge. Instead of disarm-
ing the rebellion by discharging his duty
to the aohole country and the phole peo
pie, he added to its strenth, while he
crushed out the remaining union senti-
ment in the South, by calling around him,
as his constitutional advisers, men of the
most violet sectioal views, and who were
the prime movers of that fatal controversy
which at last arrayed the sections in un
dying hostility to each other. That ia
tai littleness of mind, that narrow and
mere partisan survey of the troubled po-
llticalfeld before him, and the subsequent
adoption of policy so clearly cendemed
and deprecated, long in advance of the
anticipated crises, by Hamilton, by Madi-
son by Adams, ,land by Edmund Randolph,
have vastly contributed to our difficulties,
and have been a fruitful source of all our
national woe. God only knows gentlemen
of the Convention, what is to be the final
issue of the fiery ordeal through which
free institutions on this continent are now
passing. 1t is possible they may come
out the purer and brighter from the fierce
alembic of civil war. 1t is possible, and
| only possible, that this once great con-
federated Union of free and independent
sovereignties, now prostrated like the
pillars of GAIA by the Sampson of civil
strife, may again be reconstructed, to give
hope, and peace, and security to the
American people. But we have no fixed
assurance, no reliable guarantee, that it
will be so. We only know that it is the
high and conservative mission of the
Democratic party here in the North, to
stand as shield to our national Consti-
tution-to present its shaken but still
unbroken front as break-water around
It's holy citadel, against the despotic as
suits of an Administration who seemingly,
propose to sustain it, by breaking down
every barrier erected for its protection.
In this great calamity which has thus
befallen our common country, porten-
Gus alike to the liberties and great inter-
tests of the American people, believing
as honestly did, that the clearly indica
ted mission of the Democratic party was
what I have stated it to be, l had no hes
itation in uniting my destinies with it,
prepared to stand OF fall with its organixa-
ton. Feeling all its responsibilities, pre-
pared to discharge all its duties, and rec
ognizing all its inst claims upon me, L
have felt no compunctions of conscience
for that determination. So long as it
shall matain it's present constitutional
and conservative position, 1 intend to
share its fate for aosal or for aooe; and
shall meet ALT vituperation and abuse
which may be heaped upon me, if not
with all the forbearance and meekness of
a christian, at least with all the dignity
and manners of gentleman.
In the dark valley of the future which
! lies before US, whose impenetrable gloom
no human intelligence can penetrate, let
us walk with firm tread and unfaltering
hearts, neither foolishly seeking nor cow
ardly avoiding difficulty but feeling that
no sacrifice will be too great, if dedicated,
to the preservation of the Constitution
as it is, and the restoration of the Union
as it was, And if at last that glorious
Union of States, cemented by the richest
blood ever shed on the battle field, shall
be severed and destroyed bya phrenzy
1 the most insane that ever maddened the
4 human heart, let us have the proud, the
self-sustaining consolation that ne mad
fanaticism of ours has contributed to the
mighty calamity. Nay gentlemen, let us
seek consolation in another possible con-
tingency. If in the inscrutable ways of
Providence, through the madness of dcs-
potic power and in a system of terror in
augurated by anarchy, and the widest
/ passions of men unrestrained by law or
religion, we should become the victims
of fierce persecution for political opinion
let us bear in mind the lofty sentiment,
that the end of that man euer come too soon,
who falls in defence of the peace, the
happiness, and the liberties of his country!
Amid all this wild convulsien of the
social and political organism-under the
most despotic tyranny which oan or may
be fastened upon us by the creatures of
mere political accident let us still be
able to say :
"Thy spirit, Ind spsndence, let us share,
Lord of the Lion heart and Eagle eye;
Thy steps we'll follow with our bosoms bare,
Nor heed the storm that howls along the
sky !" a
Thank God that spirit still lives in
the Democratic party | love it because
, of that spirit | love it for its untempo-
rizing boldness in the assertion of what is
right. love it for its principles. | love it
for the indsmitable courage with which it
maintains its organization, against all the
/ despotic efforts to put down and stihe its
| utterance. love it for its single minded
, and unalterable attachment to the Unioni
the idol of its political worship, for. the
: Legitimate maintenance of which it leads
t the column of brave hearts now striking
. for its defense l love it, because it has
2 nobly resolved to "sink or swim, live OF
: die, survive or perish WITH TIE CoNsTI-
e TUITION AND LIBERTIES oFTHE COUNTRY
a aea. When Abe Lincoln was Member
: of Congress he voted against giving the
A soldiers who served in Mexico one hun
e dred and sixty acres ofland. On the 2stt
: of February, 1862, c. j.. Vallandig han