The mountain Democrat., 1863-06-20
The Plea OF Tyrants.

|
| W.. Voorhees,, Of Indiana:
will not stop here to denOunce this
argument Of necessity as the uniform plea
/ Of tyrants who have sought to destroy
/ liberty in all ages Of the world. The chill.
dren in our schools are familiar with this
truth. 1t has passed into proverb, and
has the sanction of universal human ex-
perence.
But in close connection with this famil-
lar household word Of Star Chamber. op-
preston, another and kindred maxim>ef
unlimited monarchy has been thVuSt GP0H
the country by the supporters of the Ad-
ministration now in power. Loyalty has
received a new definition. The doctrine
of the Tudors and the Stuarts has been
revived. and now once more struts forth
in the habiliments Of royalty on the stage
Of men.
A prominent citizen Of my own State,
occupying temporarily high official pO-
sitiOn, has announced that loyalty to the
! Government 10 longer consists in Obedi-
ence to the laws, in support Of the Consti-
tuition. ard in devotion to the flag, but in
blind, abject, unquestioning, and unrea.
son,ng obedience to the measures Of those
who are in power. He fails to perceive
how an American citizen can be faithful
to his allegiance unless he comedies the
principle that the king ca do no wrong
He has studied this heresy, doubtless, in
European courts, and desires TO transplant
! it to these shores. And if it should bloom
here, it would be as the deadly upas tree,
under whose blighting shadow every
green and beautiful thing dies. All civll
rights would perish. The courts would
stand adjourned to meet no more. The
scales OF justice would be broken and be
thrown away. The temple Of Janus would
stand wide open, and war, the sport OF
kin.S aud the ruin Of the people, would
waste the country forever. The sovereign
voice of the masses would be silent and
Stiird in their throats. 1t would be dan
gerous to think, and children would no
longer be educated to enlighteu their
minds, but simply to develop their mus
clcS, with which, as slaves, TO work for
the tax gathcrer, or as gladiatOrs to enter
the arena Of ambitious wars. The prison
houses would overflow with all who dared
to remember that they were once free,
and death. in its most appalling aspects,
would hold high carnival on the gibbet.
AID over all, aud supreme above all check,
restraint, or responsibility, would reign
the sovereignty OF one man.
sir, need ask vii, thtr the public mind
o! the country is ready to receive calmly
aHd submit To the plain and inevitable
cunSrYutnceS Of such astounding princi-
p.e,, Are American citizens ready to
surrender all, absolutely all that tenders
llic blessing aud rrdeeinS their citizen
ship from being hywufd and uIcproach:
vii! not insult the proud ancestry from
which We sprAug; | will not mock the
N mory Of the dead who have died for
ihcIty Ga both heInisphcrc> | will not
III Zach the putty OF the blood which
iiuHs in Amctican veins y reiterating
a thisgn-silon. II has been answered more
tnau thousand times already in council
and IL the tle'd, by the great race to which
we be!UI:., aud Tie American people are
ready ~ si,swcr IL again. Our remote At
ccsuur< beat doAn the walls Of Rome and
humhled the pride Of tue worlds mistress
INTO The dust.
They sund,rcd the RoWan yoke which
Caesar placed un th,r necks, and turned
and trampled TO death the nation which
had penetrated their misty rvgtDS,s, aud
awakened them 10 a sense Of their power
and destiny. Their descendants for two
thousand years, in all the wonderful viciS,
studys Of history, have chaf,d under and
resented aud resisted the in>olent spirit Of
cncroachncnt, invasion and u>urpation
against their civil and their religious Ito.
critics. They have met the degrading de-
mandS OF Executive tyranny at their
thresholds, in whatever forms they have
been advanced. Sir, this is the race Of
liberty.
solennly and earnestly commend the
study of its glorious and exalted history
TO those who are this day trit1ing with the
majestic principles OF personal independ.
ence which il has secured to the world by
its wisdom and its blood. 1t has stood as
the iron mailed champion Of constitutional
government; it has borne the banners Of
the cross and planted Christian civiliza-
ton on every shore and beneath every
shy; it has poured the beams of the useful
sciences into the dark and waste places Of
the earth it has carried the refinements
Of the arts to the savage forests, and caus-
ed the wilderness to be transformed into
the abode Of learning and genius; it has
thronged every ocean with commerce it
has spoken the great emporiums of trade
into existence; it has defied every barrier
of nature to resist its adventurous spirit;
it has PLAYED with the fiery elements of
the physical world, and used them as obe
dent servants in the grand march of its
gigantic progress; and in the midst Of all
this, and under all circumstances, it has
waited on the fortunes and espoused the
cause of liberty with the unmeasured de-
votion of knight-errant of chivalry, and
the undaunted courage of the Lion Heart
Such a race will take no step backward.
1t will submit to no diminution of its glo.
ry. 1t will surrender none of its high
prerogatives. Revolutions and changes
may retard its progress for brief season,
but they can no more defeat its ultimate
success in all that is great in conception
and sublime in execution, than the storm
which lashes the waves into fury, can an
initiate the ocean.
My faith, which brightens the future to
my eyes, is founded on the blood which
the American people have inherited from
this lofty race. 1t will never bend the
servile knee TO executive dictatOn. II
wears an erect port and an elevated crest.
1t has detied ths insolence of power in
every age Of its history. and it defies it
now. Yes, sir, the American people have
suffered the outrages of Executive usurpa-
tions, aud they have solemnly and dehb.
eratelv uttered their de6arce. The voice
of the Barons, the voice of John Hamp-
den, and the voice Of Patrick Henry, cry
ing, "give me liberty or give me death. "