Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-02-09
The uaioa Z. q vvas,'' ana as 1t OUGHT

Lno - Union a. - Mu8,1 and as IL Ought
To BE.
One Of the most eloquent speeches of the
present session, Of Congress, was that Of
Hon. Horace Maynard, Of Tennessee, de-
HYered in the House on Saturday last.
Whatever differences may exist between
thatgenteman and other Union members,
no ons can fail to admire his unsullied
character and unsinching patriotism. Be-
low we give the concluding portion of his
speech:
{" But the Union ss it was is a catch
word Of the hour The Union as it was
when? When Washington, to suppress re-
belliOn, sent into Western Pennsylvania
1 fifteen thousand men, under the command
Of his neighbor and friend, General Lee
General Lee, who, could he leave the
ebodes of glory, would smite and con-
found his traitor son? When Webster
and Clay rallied to the support Of Jack
son, and sent treason, whipped and abssh-
ed 70 its lair When 1fillard Fillmore,
called to account for the dispositionIof his
fleets in the harbor Of Charleston, replied
that he was not responsible for his official
conduct to the Governor Of South Caro-
lina7 Or as it was in the waxing and
waning days Of a later Administration,
when treason sat
-'s squat like toad
at the senile ear Of executive power, and
Matched its mischievous plot in the very
corridor Of the Presidential Mansion2 As
itswas in the day Of its glory and might,
or as it was in the night Of its weakness
and shame? As it was when s rong, hon.
est men gave direction TO its councils, or
es it was when turpitude claimed and took
precedence of decrepitude in the conduct of
its affairs For upon this inquiry must
largely depend the real significance of this
rallying cry-Whether it means re-es-
tablishment of the flag and a re-assertion
of the national authority over every rood
of our domains, or is but an empty formu-
la, to be interpreted to suit any occasion.
"The Union as it was say, rather the
Union as it viii be when, the Constitution
maintained in all its spirit and vigor, even
its very forms preserved inViolate, pesoe
restored upon the basis of our indivisibil-
ity the self-protecting power of popular
government asserted, our multiplied mil
lions shall present to mankind an example
of government mightier, freer and happier
than the world has ever seen. Then will
be realized the conviction of a great Eng
lish statesman, who rising above the mists
of prejudice and traditional enmity that
have beclouded so many of his country
men, has asserted the justice and hopeful
ness of our cause in words contrasting
most gratefully with the ribsldry and
cynicism by which we have been so con-
st2ntly assailed:
"'I cannot myself believe in such fate
befalling that fair land, stricken thought
now be by the hand of war; cannot be-
lieve that civilization in its journey with
the sun will sink into endless night to
crafty the ambition Of the leaders of this
revolt who seek " to wade through slaugh-
ter to a throne, and shut the gates Of mercy
on mankind" l have another and far
brighter vision before my gaze. Itmay be
but vision, but will still cherish it.
see one vast confederation stretching from
the frozen North in one unbroken lire to
the glowing South, and from the wild bill
lows of the Atlantic to the calmer waters
of the Pacific main, and see one people and
one law, and one language, and one faith,
and over all that wide continent the home
of freedom and refuge for the oppressed
Of every race.