The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-07-15
THE ELOQUENCE OF HON. G.. Il.
VALLANDIGHAM 1esas

VALLANDIGHAM. aes
On the 10Th of October, 1855, Democrat
ic- meeting was hold in the City Hall, in Day
ton, and addressed by. Mr. Vallandigham at
length. The resolutions of the s'Compromise !
Meeting of 1851 were reafirmed. Mr.. VS.
spsech on the occasion is regarded as the most
valuable and important of his life. Of it we
only say that what was then prophesy is now
history. The following are some extracts: i
All this, gentlemen the spirit of Abolition
ism has accomplished in twenty years of ex-
hausting labors of every sert But in all that
time, not one convert has it made in the South;
not one slave emancieated, except by larceny
and In fraud of the solemn compacts of the
Constitution. Meantime public opinion has
wholly, radically changed in the So nth. The
South has ceased to denounce, ceased to con-
denim slavery, ceased even to palliate, and be-
gun now, almost as one man, to defend il as
great, moral, social and political blessing
The bitter and prescriptive warfare of twenty
years has brought forth its natura! and lep;ti-
mate fruit in the South. Exasperation, hate
ana revenge are every day ripening into full
lest maturity and strength, and throughout
her entire extent she awaits now the action of
the North to unite in solemn league and cove
nant to resist aggression even unto blood.
know very welfindeed Mr.. President, that
in the evil day which has befallen us. ali this
and he who utters it, shall be denounced as
'slproslavery" and already from ribald throats,
there comes up the slavering; driyeling, idiot
epithet of "dough-face." Again, be It So
These, Abolitionists, are your only weapons Of
warfare, and hurl them back defantly into
your teeth. l speak thus boldly, because I
speak in and for the North 1t is time that
that the truth should be known and he ird in
this age OF trimming and subterfuge speak
this day not as northern man, nor as South
ern man but God be thanked still United
States man, with United States principles
and trough the worst may happsn-though
all be lost, if that shall be our fate, and [
walk through the valley of the shadow of po-
litical death, l will live by them and die by
| them.
| If to love my country; to cherish the Union /;
TO revere the Constitution; ic to abhor the
madness and hate the treason which would
hit up sacrllegieus hand against either, if to
read that IN the past, to behold it in the pres
| ent, to foresee it in tho future of ahis land,
which is OF more value to us aud the world
for ages to come, than the multiplied millions
| who have inhabited Africa from the creation
to this day-if this is TO be pro-slavery, then
in every nerve, fibre, vain, bone, tendon, joint
and Igament, from the topmost hair of the
AASo>A i
all over and altogether PRO slavery man.
The true and only question now before you
Is, whether you will have Union with all its
numberiess blessings in the past, present and
future; or dis1nion and civil war, with all the
multiplied crimes, m;series and atrocities,
which human imagination.ever conceived and
human pen can never portray.
speak II boldly; aIow it -pnblicly-it is
! time to speak thus-for political cowardice is
the bane of this, as of all other republics.-
| 10 be true to our great mission and to succeed
In It, you must take open, manly, one sided
ground upon the Abolition question In no
other way can you now conquer. Let us
have, then, no hollow compromises no idle
and mistimed homilies upon the sin and evil
OF slavery, In a crisis like this; no double
tong1ed Janus faced, delphic responses at
your state Conventions. No; fling your ban
ner to the breeze, and boldly. meet the issue.
Patriotism above mock philanthropy the Con-
stitution before any miscalled higher law of
morals or religion and the Union is of more
value than many negroes.
| If thus, sir, we are true to the country true
to the Union and the Constitution true to
our principles, true to our cause and TO the
grand mission which lies before us, we shall
turn back yet the ferry torrent which is bear
ing us headlong down the abyss of disunion
and infamy, deeper than plummet ever sound
| Gu. DuI II IN tnis uay OF our trial we are
found false to all of these; false to our ances-
tors; false to ourselves false to those who
shallpcome after us; traitors to our country
and to the hopes of free government through
out the globe; Bancroft will yet write the last
sad chaper in the history of the American Re-
public. a
OF his speech, the Dayton Journal (Repub-
lican) said
The principal demonstration of Mr. VAL
landigham was against fanaticism and section
alisn, and here much that he said was just
to the point. He was anxious to meet and
repel every attempt to make the existence of
slavery in the South, or elsewhere, pretext
for the formation of sectional parties which
must endanger the perpetu;ty of the Union.
The Vallandigham Feeling i'm the
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