Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1863-09-03

the same common object--the dissolutio,
of the Union and the destruction O
American nationality. This collision
between fanaticism and treason at las,
became painfully manifest to the Ameri
can people. They both conveyed to th,
same common center: rupture Of tn,
political relations which had becom,
alike irkSome TO 6oth. The one exhibited
its ultraism in the nomination of geo
graphical candidates, and the adoption o.
a sectional platform against the explici,
and solemn warning Of the Father of bis
country; the other blew the counter. bias,
of treason, and boldly proclaimed the
doctrine Of secession as the rightful
remedy for such abuse of political power
In this state Of feeling, and in such a
controversy, Abraham Lincoln became
President Of the United States. In such
a crisis; with such field for the exercise
of broad minded patriotism, and with
such an opportunity fer great, and good,
and wise counsels, to sustain the Union
sentiment in the South and save the
border slave States, what destiny fol
himself and for his country, lay before
that single man! The world never wit.
messed such a conjunction of time and
opportunity for good. Such pivot
point oigreat national interests, of terrific
public dangers, and of resulting influences
upon the destinics Of the remote future,
for millions of unboin human beings,
never before existed. But he was un :
equal to the great occasion; he misunder.
stood, or disregarded, the high, the aw ful
trust committed to his charge. Instead
of disarming the rebellion by dscharging
his duty to the whoie country and the
whole people, he added to its strength,
while he crushed ont the remaining union
| sentiment in the South, by calling around
him, as his constitutional advisers, men
of the most violent sectional views, and
who were the prime movers of that fatal
controversy which at last arrayed the
sections in undying hostility to each
other. That fatal li,tleness of mind,
that narrow and mere partisan survey of
the troubled political field before him, and
the subsequent adoption OF policy so
clearly condemned and deprecated, long
in advance OF the anticipated crisis, by
Hamilton, by Madison, by Adams, and
by Edmund Randolph, have vastly con.
tributed to our difficulties, and have been
a fruitful source of all our national woe.
God only knows. gentlemen of the Con
veDtion. what is to be the final issue Of
the fiery ordeal through which free insti-
tutions on this continent are now passing
1t is possible, they may come out the
purer and brighter from the fierce alembc
Of civil war. IT is possible, and only
possible, that this once great confeGerated
Union of free and Independent sovereign
ties, now prostrated like the pillars of
GAIA 10y the Sampson OF civil strife, NAV
again be reconstructed, to give hope, and
peace, and security to the American peo.
pie. But we have no fixed assurance, no
reliable guarantee, that it will be so.-
We only know that it is the high and
conservative mission of the Dem ocratic
party here in the North, to stand as
shield to our National Cons,itution-to
preseni its shaken but still unbroken front
as break water around its holy citadel,
against the despotic assaults of an Ad-
ministration who seemingly propose to
sustain it, by breaking down every barrier
erected for its protection. In this great
calamity which has thus befallen our
common country, pretentous alike to the
Liberties and great interests of the. Ameri.
can people, believing, as honestly did,
that the clearly indicated mission of the
Democratic party was what | have stated
it to be, | had no hesitation in uniting
my destinieS with it. prepared to stand
or fall with its organization. Feeling
ali its res onsibilities, prepared to dis
charge all its duties, and recognizing all
its just claims upon me, | have felt no
computations Of conscience for that de.
termination SO long as it shall main
tain its present constitutional and conser-
vative position, | intend to share its fate
for meoi or for aeoe,; and shall meet all
the vilnreration and abuse which may be
heaped upon me, if not with all the for
bearance and meekneSs of christian, at
least with all the dignity and manners OF
u gentleman.
In the da'k valley of the future which
lies before us, whose impenetrable gloom
no human intelligence can penetrate, let
us walk with firm tread and unfaltering
hearts, NEITHER oolishly seeking or coward.
ly avoiding difficulty; but feeling tha, no
sacrlhce will be too great. if dedicated to
the preservation of the Constitution ss it
is, and the restoration of the Union as it
was. And il Mt last. that glorious Union
OF States, cemented by the ichest blood
ever shed upon the battle field, shall be
severed and destroyed by a phrenzy, the
most insane that ever maddened the hu-
man heart, let us have the proud, the
Sustaining consolation that no mad
fanaticism of ours has contributed to the
mighty calamity. Nay, gentlemen, let
MS seek consolation in another possible
contingency: If. in the inscrutable ways
of Providence, through the madness of
despotic power, and in S, stem OF terror
inaugura,ed by anarchy. and the widest
passions of men unrestrained by law or
we should become the victims
of a fierce persecution for political opin-
ion. let us bear in mind the lofty senti-
ment. that the end of that man neper can
come too soon, who falls in defense of the
peace, the happiness, and the libertiee OF
his country! Amid all this wild convul-
sicn of The social and political organism
under the most despotic tyranny which
can or may be fastened upon US by the