Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1863-01-16
politital.
SPEECH
RICHARD T. MERRICK,
Before the Young Mems Democratic
Invincible Club, Chicago, Decem-
Der IL, 1862.
CONCLUDED, }

in the plenitude of its usurpations, has
already violated the rights and trampled
upon the laws and the constitution Of this
State, and, defying the power of its local
authorities to protect its citizens, has
seized and exported them without war;
rant. imprisoned them without accusa-
ton, and released them without trial =
Trihing in wanton caprice with the most
sacred rights of the citizen. it seems to
have manifested its power only to test,
by series of practical experiments, the
extent of the forbearance and patience of
the people. tits the duty of the Exeeu-
tive of a State to protect its citizens, and
the Federal authority in its attempts to
seize any one of them not in the military
service Of the United States, without due
process of law, but upon an order from
the President or one of his Ministers,
should be resisted, and, if necessary, re-
sisted by the loyalty of the State in arms
Immense and continued applause, And
for citizen to kill an individual thus at
tempting to restrain his personal liberty
with view to his deportation and i'm
prisonlnent without the authority of law,
is, in the law, and by the law, justifaJle
homicide. immense applause.
This proclamation Of emancipation
and that other, and more Ubiquitous, and
equally uujustifable aud unconstitutional
proclamation declaring martial law, the
arbitrary arrests of citizens in States
where the courts are open and the laws
administered by their appointed minis
tiers, and according to the prescribed
forms, and where justice can pursue, I'M
disturbed, its usual course, and the or
der directing the Importation of free ne
groes into this State, are all of the same
class Of Executive usurpations, aggran-
dizing the Federal authority at the ex-
pense of the rights of the States, and
showing the progressive development of
centralized and despotic power.
| have stated that the war was justified
on the ground that forcible resistance to
the lawful authority of the United States
is instruction, and may be constitution
ally suppressed by the military power of
the Federal government; but this prin-
ciple has its correlatiye, which is, that any
attempt on the part of the Federal 60
vernment to take from any of the States
their reserved rights under the constitu-
ton, or crush domestic institutions ex-
clusively subject to the political control
of such States, is revolutionary in its
character, and should be resisted by the
people everywhere throughout the land.
A defensive war may become an aggressive
War,-a Just war may become an unjust
war,-a war commenced to suppress an
insurreetiom may become war to sup
port usurpation, and resistance to ty-
rants is obedience to God" Immense
and continued applause.
This Executive decree is, therefore,
clearly beyond the constitutional powers
of the Executive. And, if there are any
gentlemen of abolition proclivities within
the sound of my voice who are not salts
fed with the course of reasoning | have
adopted, nor convinced by the argument,
| beg to refer them to light which they
respect, and which may have led me
astray upon this subject.
On the 22d day Of April, 1861, Mr..
Seward, writing to Mr.. Dayton, our
Minister at the court of the Emperor Ma
poleou, and treating of the subject of the
present rebellion, said
90 need not further elaborate the PROPOSE
ton that the revolution is without cause it
has not even pretcxt.
+" 1t is just as clear that ii is without an OBJ
iect Moral and physical causes have deter
miued infexibly the character Of each one Of
the Territories over which the dispute has
arisen, aud both parties after the election har-
moniously agreed on all the Federal laws re-
qurcd for their organization. The Territories
will remain inall respects the same, whether
the revolutionHhall succeed or shall fail. The
condition of slavery in the several States viii
remain just the same whether it succeed or
fail There is not even pretext for the COM
plant that the disalfected States are to be con-
duered by the United States il the revolution
fail for the rights Of the States, ana the con
dition Of every human being in them, will re-
main subject to exactly the same laws and
forms Of administration, whether the reyolu-
ton shall succeed or fail. In the one case the
States would be Federally connected with the
new Confcderacy in the other they would,
AZ now, be members Of the United States; but
their constitutions and laws CUSTOMS habits,
and institutions in either case.will remain the
same.
alt is hardly necessary to add to this in
contcstible statement the further fact, that the
new President as well as the citizens through
whose suffrage he has come into the admins
tration, has always repudiated all designs,
whatever and whenever imputed to him and :
them, of disturbing the system Of slavery as
IL exists under the constitution and laws. The
case, now, would not be fully presented il
were to omit TO say that any such effort on bis
part would be unconstitutional and al his ac-
lions in that direction would be prevented by
proper authority, even though they were as
scented 10 hy Congress aud ihe.peopc"
Could anything be more clear and dis
tiuct than this ayowal, made BY the Sec <