Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1863-04-16

of soil, constitute the life OF this nation?
No, sir; immortal liberty is its life; the
soul which animates the body, and with
out which the mere form Of our Govern.
ment will be cold and lifclcss corpse. -
| We are asked to make war on this vital
principle, and submit to its destruction, in
order to preserve the Union. You might
as well ask me to drive the dagger into my
own heart in order to preserve my life. l
recognize no such monstrous folly. The
| Constitution is my country, and have no
country ousido Of its provisions. When
you require me to destroy it, or consent to
its destruction, in ordor to save my coun-
try, you require parodox which is tho
natural offspring OF that unreasoning
fanaticism which shares so largely in the
origin of our menancholy national disas.
ters.
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. It has passed into proverb, and
has the sanction of universal human ex-
perience But in close connection with
this familiar house hold word of Star
Chamber oppression, another and kindred
maxim of unlimited monarchy has been
thrust upon the country by the supporters
of the Administration now in power. 10y.
atty has received new definition. Tho
doctrine of the Tudors and the Stuarts has
been revived, and now once more struts
forth in the habilments of royalty on the
stage Of man. A prominant citizen Of my
own State, occupying temporarily high
official position, has announced that 10y
altJ to the Government no longer consists
in obedience to the laws, in support of the
Constitution, and in devotion of the flag,
but in blind, abiect, unquestioning, and
unreasoning obedience to the measures of
those who are in power. He fails to per-
ceive how an American citizen can be
faithful to his allegiance unless he comedies
the principle that the king can do no
wrong. He has studied this heresy, doubt.
less, in European courts, and desires to
transplant it to these shores. And if it
should bloom here, it would be os tn
; deadly upas tree, under whose blighting
shadow every green and beautiful thing
dies All civil rights would perish. The
courts would stand adjourned to meet nc
more. The scales of justice would be bro
ken and thrown away. The temple OF
Janus would stand wide open, and war,
the sport of kings and the ruin of the peo-
pie, W ould waste the country forever
The sovereign voice OF the masses would
be silent AMI stiiled in their throats. 1t
would be dangerous to think, and children
; would no longer bo educated to enlighten
their minds. but simply to develop their
muscles, with which, as slaves to work
for the tax galhcrer, or as gladiators to
enter the arena Of ambitious wars. The
prison house woui overflow with all who
dared to remember that they were once
free, and death, in its most appalling as
poets, would hold high carnival on the
gibbet. And over all, and supreme above
all check, restraint, or responsibility
would reign the sovereignty of one man.
Sir, need | ask whether the public mind
Of the conn try is ready to receive calmly
and submit to the plain and inevitable con
sequences of such astounding principles?
Are American citizens ready to surrender
; all, all, absolutely all that renders life a
blessing and redeems their citizenship from
} being a byword and a rcproach? will
, not insult the proud ancestry from which
VIC sprang; will not mock the mem ory o
the dead who have died for liberty on both
hemisphercs; | will not impeach the puri
, ty Of tho blood which flows in American
veins by retcratiug this question. 1t has
, been answered more than thousand times
/ already ia council and in the field, by the
D great race to which we belong, and the
, American people are ready to answer il
again. Our remote ancestors beat down
the walls of Rome and humbled the pride
of the world's mistress into the dust. They
| brC Ike the Roman yoke which Caesar plac
: ed on their necks, and turned aud tramp
led to death the nation which had pene
trated their misty regions, and awakened
, them to n sense ofthcir power and destiny
! Their defendants for two thousand years
in all the wonderful vicissitudes of histo
ry, have chaicd under and resented and
, resisted the insolent spirit of encroach
ment, invasion and usurpation agains
/ their civi! and their religious liberties
They have met the degrading demands o
| of Executive tyranny at their throshholds
in whatever forms they have been advanc.
ed. Sir, this is the race OF liberty. sol
} emnly and earnestly commend the study
OF its glorious and exalted history to
: those who are this day trining with the
majestic principles of personal independ
ence which it has secured to tho world by
its wisdom and its blood. 1t has stood
as the iron mailed champion of Conetitu
tional Government, it has borne the ban
ners of the cross and planted Christian
civilization on every shore and beneath
every sky; it has poured the beams of the
useful sciences into the dark and waste
places OF the earth; it has carried the refine
ments OF the arts to the savage forests,
and caused the wilderness to be transform.
ed into the abode of learning and genius
it has throngci every ocean with com,
mercc; it has spoken the great emporiums
ftrade into existence; it has defed every
barrier IF nature to resist its adventurous
spirit it has played with the fiery ele-
mcnts of the physical world, and used
them as obedicnt servants in the grand
march of its gigantic progress; and in the
midst of all this, and under all circum