Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-07-27

NIAeARA Falls, CANADA WEsTl
July Is, 1863.
Arrested and confined for three weeks in the
United States, q prisoner o. State; bauished
thence to the Confederate States, and there held
as an alien enemy and prisoner of war. though on
parole, fairly aud honorably dealt with and given
leave to depart, an act possible only by running
the blockade at the hazard of being fired upon by
ships flying the flag of my own country. j found
myself first a freeman when on British soil.
And to day, under the protection of the British
flag, / am here to enjoy and in part to exercise
the privileges and rights which usurpers inso
lently deny me at home. The shallow %contriv-
ance of the weak despots at Washington, and
their advisers, has been defeated. Nay, it has
been turned against them; and 1. who for two
years was maligned as in secret league with the
Confederates. having refused when in their
midst, under circumstances the most favorable,
either 10 identify myself with their cause or even
so much as to remain, preferring rather exile in
a foreign land, return row With allegiance to my
own State and Government unbroken in word,
thought or deed, and with every declaration and
pledge to you while at home, and before l was
stolen away, made good in spirit and to the very
letter.
Six weeks ago, when just going into Danish
meut. because an audacious and most cowardlv
despotism caused it, 1 addressed you as a fellow
cetizen. To-day, and from the very place Sc
lected by me, but after wearysome and most
perilous journeyings for more than four thousand
miles by land and upon the sea; still an exile,
though almost in sight of my native State, i
greet you as your Representative. Grateful Ger
tainly | am, for the confidence in nv integrity
and patriotism, implied by the unanimous nom
nation as candidate for Governor of Ohio, which
you gave me while | was yet in the Confederate
States. 1t was not misplaced; it shall never be
abused. But this is the last of all considerations
personal wrong. No; it is the cause of ~constitu
tional liberty and private right cruelty outraged
beyond example in a free country, by the Presi
dent and his servants, which gives public sigui6
cancy 10 the action of your convention. Yours
was, indeed, an act of Justice to a citizen who.
for his devotion 10 the rights of the States and
the liberties of the people, had been marked for
destruction by the hand Of arbitrary power. But
it was much more. 1t was an example of cour
age worthy of the heroic ages of the world; and
it was a spectacle and a rebuke to the usurping
tyrants who. having broken up the Union, would
now strike down the Constitution, subvert your
Government and establish a formal and pro-
claimed despotism in its stead. You are the re
storers and defenders OF constitutional liberty,
and by that proud title history will salute you.
congratulate you upon your nominations
They whom you have placed upon the ticket with
me are gentlemen of character, ability, integrity
anu lfleu 0ueIllN 10 tue OOUStIluilOu, TIE ODlOU,
and TO liberty. Their moral and political cour
age-a quality always rare, ard now the most
valuable of public virtues-is beyond question.
Every way, all these were nominations fit to be
made. And even jealousy, / am sure, will now
be hushed. if / especially rejoice with you in the
nomination Of Mr.. Pugh as your candidate for
Lieutenant Governor and President of the Sen
ate A scholar and a gentleman, a soldier in a
foreign war. and always a patriot; eminent as a
- - 81 a.
man, | hail his acceptance as an omen of the re-
turn Of the better and more ~virtuous days of the
Republic.
| indOrse your noble platform-elegant in style;
admirable in sentiment. You present the true
issue, and commit Yourself to the great mission
just now of the Democratic party-to restore
and make sure first the rights and liberties de-
clared yours by your constitutions. 1t is in vain
to invite the States and people of the South to
return to a Union without n Constitution, and
dishOnored and polluted by repeated and most
aggravated e~xactions of t%yrannic power. 1t is
base in yourselves and reasonable to your pos
terity, to surrender these liberties and rights to
the creatures whom your own breath created
and can destroy. Shall there be free speech,
a free press, peaceable assemblages of the PEG
Pile and a free ballot any longer in Ohio p
Shall the people hereafter. as hitherto, have
the right to discuss and condemn the prii ciples
anu lOtky VI NhC "a tt-tnC AnCug
who, for the time, conduct the Governmeot-to
demand of their public servants a reckoning of
their stewardship, and to place other men and
another party in power at their supreme will and
pleasure2 Shall order Thirty eight OF the Con-
~stitu;ion be the supreme law of the land? And
shall the citizen any more be arrested by an
armed sOldiery at midnight, dragged from wife
and child and home, to a military prison; thenes
to a mock military trial; thence condemned and
fhon hapi-hnd NJ a fol0n fnr tho axarcica af hr
rights7 This is the issue; and nobly you have
met it. 1t is the very question of free, popular
government itself. 1t is the whole question:
upon the one side, liberty; on the other, despot
ism. The President, az the recognized head Of
his party. accepts the issue. Whatever be wills,
that is law. Constitutions, State and Federal,
are nothing; acts Of legislation nothing: the Ju-
dietary less than nothing. In time of war there
is but one will supreme-his will; but one law
military necessity, and he the sol. judge. Mill
tary orders supersede the Constitution, and mill
tary commissions usurp the place of the ordinary
courts of justice in the land. Nor are these mere
idle claims. For two years and mere, by arms,
they have been enforced. 1t was the mission of
the weak but presumptuous Burnside name
infamous forever in the ears of all lovers of con
stitutional liberry-to try the experiment in
Ohio-aided by a Judge whom | name not,
because he has brought the most foul dis
iOhOA ABO ttt AAC vi III GOuuNN \. al NOuE
hands now, Jmen of Ohio, is the final Issue OF the
experiment. The party of the Administration
have accepted it. BY pledgIng support to the
President, they have justified his outrages upon
liberty and the Constitution; and whoever gives
his vote to the candidates of this party, commits
himself to every act of violence and wrong on
the part of the Administration which he upholds;
aud thus, by the law OF retaliation, which is the
Law of might. would forfeit his own right to lilo
Il ertV. DerSOual and DOliliCal whPnSDpypr other
men and another party shall hold the power.
Much more do the candidates themselves. SUI
fer them not, i entreat you, to evade the issue;
and by the judgment of the people we will abide
And now, finally, let me ask, what is the pre-
text for all the monstrous acts and claims of ar
bitrary power which you have SO nObly de
nouDcedf Military necessity" But Il, indeed.
all these be demanded by military necessity,
then, believe me, your liberties are gone, and ty-
ranny is perpetual. For, if this civil war is to
terminate only By the ssbjugation of the South to
to see the end of il. No, in another way only
can it be brought to a close. Travelling a
thousand miles and more. through nearly one
half of the Confederate States, and So
%jOurning for 4 time at widely different
points, | met not one man, woman, or child.
who was not resolved to perish rather than yield
10 the pressure OF arms, even in the most des-
perate extremity. And whatever NAV and must
be the varying fortunes of the war, in all which
/ recognize the hand OF Providence pointing
visibiy to the ultimate issue Of this great trial of
the States and people of America, they are bet
ter prepared now every way to make good their
inexorable purpose, than at any period since the
beginning of the struggle. These may indeed
be unwelcome truths; but they are addressed
only TO candid and honest men. Neither, how
ever, let me add, did | meet any one. whatever