The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-08-12

Can dungeons, bolts aud bars cenfine thee.
Or whips thy noble spirit tame 2"
From this spot, and on this holy day set apart
an the calendar of time to the cause cf liberty,
solemoly warn the Executive and his
advisers, in candor and not in malice, that
civil war has but just commenced in this un-
happy country il they continue to pursue I'll g r
-Npfesent-eareer Of license and usurpation. BY
the shades of the mighty dead who died for
American freedom, we here swear to protect
- t1and preserve the great inheritance.
-eas ~ But all that / have urged to-day in behalf
etofthe integrity OF the Constitution, will be
see met by the ancient, venerable and odious plea
that a necessity exists for its subversion. Shall
@ this abomiratIon, in the sight of reason, be
ea-digui6ed by. an argument? Shall we pause
Isas to explode this thousand times exploded doc
Ftrine of despotism !? Is the experience of all
kas history lost upon the American mind Are
sisasw re deaf TO the voices that issue from the tcmbs
SsssHof ancient Republics 2? They all died from
military necessity. This is the story of the
l school books, and the children of the civilized
8 d world know it by heart. But in defiance of
ta@4 reason and experience the usurpers1 of the
= present hour have boldly intrenched themselves
ID zin the worn cut maxims of king craft, and
.ss demand the surrender of this last fortress of
/ ~ Constitutional liberty.
> = $50 spake the fend, and with necessity,
The tyranfs plea excused his devl'sh deeds
But let US try for a moment this defense,
e { false and dangerous as it is, by the results
a@f which have followed. What has been achieved
sfoin by resort to the doctrine of necessity ? The
z-5 people of the United States have been required
"a TO submit to the erection of this fearful stan
5as Edard as q rule of conduct in public affairs
SsstSUnder it newspapers have been silenced, flee
-ae speech denied, citizens of every grade and
x1s condition in life torn from their homes and
asvs Imprisoned, no sex exempted, childhood pun
~ ished, and all this has been borne without re-
20. volt. What have. the people received In eX
Ssea change for such unparalleled sufferings and
b - forbearanee Have they a country restored
se1s to the highway of national glory ? Has the
evil of secession been overcome Has this
sas7 rebellion been suppressed? Has the blessed
saihsBnion been restored Are we far on the way
toward that contamination so devoutly to be
cssa wished Docs the brilliant bow of promise
"a ssspan' the future 7? Is the sky clear and bright
. lover our heads 20 day Does the rising sun
sd ofsthis hallowed anniversary come to us with
SSH healing In its beams /? The rulers of this coun.
Ezyb try have had all everything even to the lives
ia and liberties of the citizen. All has been cast
essoa ttheir feet. Taxation without limit, a bank
5safking system: which absorbs and controls the
currency, an act of conscription which de-
I'd mands the life of the citizen, and a bill of in
Res! demniey for past and future crimes committed
I'D against his liberty, are the work of one Con-
.Sa.Esess, and constitute a measure of despotic
power, which 7 boldly affirm in the face of my
~ seeuntrymeu,h has no parallel this day in the
history Of civilized nations. And what has
0Ft not been given by ready legislation has been
- sseized by a bold hand. What are the returns
s9agfof aiFthis The ear has heard the promise,
-9-Etbut tneil0pe mas IOUnQ 1C-DrOken. ne Deau-
ess tifuisapple Of gold, set in pictures of silver,
bEH which you beheld so temptingly near at the
sfl opening Of this war, are. Dead Sea fruit ashes
* to the taste. Oh! what scalding irony the
s-T position Of affairs to-day casts upon the boast
Jury yam sgrUr1uus PrUpnsecTes OF rwU yvurs ago:
with supreme power, the members: of
all this Administration are now shaking with
= mortal terror, in.the midst of their official
-sss pfedictions that the war would restore the
Union IN sixty days. The people stand by in
zamazementi and horror, stunned by the evil
ss5 fortune which pursues us. Their confidence,
5i1loBg abused and now dead, bereft of hope;
q and. p~aralyzed by the want of a capable and
.ss honest head to the Government And this is
the result which has attended the unlimited
exercise of the doctrine of necessity Does
Il, however, surprise the student Of morals,
of history, and philosophy Can wrong, in.
Justice and crime, constitute the basis of sue
~ cess in a righteous cause? Has it ever been
so75 it to be so? IF such was the
: law of human action, then evil would have
stronger reasons in its favor than God ever
designed it should have. No. Away with
This noxious heresy. It is baneful In theory
SD and disastrous in results. Let us do right,
3 though earth and hell confronts US. Lat us
esfouow the principles of truth and liberty though
they should give us no wider home than the
grave. -
bias But need not confne my remarks on this
; = point to any one section of the loyal States
-osdfhey apply. equally to all-if4 not in extent,
at least in principle. Arrest, trial, .condem-
~ nation ana puniShmen1 VI eHizeua iIee IrOm
50 every faint of crime, all take place in the 81
lent chambers of one mind. Law, fact and
-Sssentence all exist alone in the will of the Ex-
secutiye. The person Of every citizen of Amer.
Cd lea, his wife and his child, is more at the mer-
3cv to-day of Executive caprice and tyranny
Il ethan the slave of Virginia is at the mercy of
his master. Written laws, regulate the con-
~ dition of the black mans serTitude. None
Sd exist for the protection of the white man.. In
.sazis letter to the Albany Committee on the sub
Il NJ
sAz ham, the President plainly aFows1 his indie
Sissuendence of and supremacy over all law in his
DEALINGS with the liberty of the citizen. He
an6ounccs that the public safety,is the only
sszlaw which he recognizes. In what the pub
sIicfsafety consists he alone will judge. what
ever conduces to the public safety, that he will
Efiado. and again he alone is to ndeterminc what
81 naysbe necessary to this end. This is his ar
. doameut. aud it absorbsa within himself every
,Hapossible power that the madaest tyraat ever
We coveted over life, liberty and property If
dsfiu the estimation of Mr. Lincoln the life of
observation-disclosures or any other citizen was in.
sd cousis tent with the public safety this reason
-.fnenWould produce. his death in any manner.
(which the Executive might see proper-to in
4sn35cs1e.1W will have to- turn back to the IA
seaznffliar and sedious nameseofthe worst 5despots
.4staa me eId world and of ancient daysssto find a
z1s,,t rs,le4 to this mofstrous assumption1tof pow!
6aasrYaTbe English house of Stuart ,wasl the
-e1cKsmpion oflihcrtyi in eenpaa ison. Louis Aif .,
sEa wbes Hercxclaimed eIam the StaIe,D did not
5rofane the world WHhaso fatal and bloody a
CEbcfesv as now stalks through this land almost
ss5Tifhout 1rebuke. ITiberius in his hour of
,sggyepeefnI solitude atoCaprea never nnenaced