The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-02-05

gentlemen. Their patriotism is doubtless
true, and shall certainly go unquestioned by
me at least. speak only Of tho position of
Governor Magoflin and his friends, who,
believe. were in sympathy, il not in direct
completely with the rebellion.
Under these circumstances. Mr.. President,
arrests have been made and warfare, Bit
ter and unrelenting in its character, system
attic in its conduct, commenced among the
people, has been transferred to both Houses
Of Congress, and, instead Of bending our
energies to the suppression of the rebellion,
we are engaged IN crticislng the acts Of the
President, and in paralizing the national arm
in this hour of difficulty. But, sir, the
country will withstand these assaults, and
the President will withstand shem. He
stands erect in the conscious honesty Of his
purpose, the purity of his intention, the
loftiness of his patriotism, and he will stand
as the granite cliff repcls and beats back the
wild waves of the ocean. SO far, the Presi-
dent, if he has erred at all, has erred upon
the side Of mercy.
Why leave New England out in the cold
to use the expressive warning OF the gen.
tleman from Kentucky? What is her
crime Love Of liberty. love Of sConstitu-
ton that she has stood true to the tradi-
tons, true to her teachings, true to those
God given instincts of human liberty which
have always marked the Yankee wheresoev-
er you find him? Why leave New England
ont? Because, forsoo,h, her churches, her
school. houses, her lyceums her press, her
great patriotic heart, can never be brought to
fraternize with treason or with traitors
Leave New England out of the Confederacy
in any reconstruction, and force Indiana. the
State Of my adoption, into the foul embraces
of the Southern Confederacy Can that
thing ever be accomplished Before Indi
ana shall be forced into the Southern Con-
federacy, the flames Of civil war shall swscp
that State from tho Lakes Of the North to
pished, her hundred thousand brave yolun.
teers now in the field will stand as wall of
| fire between their cherished institutions,
their loved homes and tho footsteps of the
| invader.
Sir. this war has not begun. when gentle
men talk of a settlement of boundaries of
giving US the navigation of the Mississippi
under the guarantees of the Southern Con-
stituton and the Southern Confedcracy y
We have the rish, to that navigation now,
by higher, a higher right than the Con-
federacy can ever confer upon as. We have
it guaranteed by the physical geography of
the country, one Of the great outlines mark,
ing the existence Of a united people, laid
down upon the map of the country, and
traced by the finger of God himself. We
have it in the Constitution of the United
States. 1t is ours. We ask it as no boom
We demand it as right, and more than
million Of free brave hearts in the West are
ready to die IN defense of that right. Am
to be forced, against my will, upon recon-
struction of the Union, into the Southern
Confederacyp Nc, sir, we will fight; and
if we may not find security ,der the flag,
we shall at least find immunity from wrong
and oppression in the sacresness Of the
grave. The contest will be fearful contest.
Whenever an attempt shall be made TO force
the people of Indiana, into the Southern
Confederacy, and it shall be saccsssful--a
catastrophe which hope God, in his infinite
mercy may avert from me and mne--I shall
seek residence still under the old flag, and
in the old Republic. Where liberty is, there
is my hcme. I will seek a residence in the
most obscure village in New England, where
still floats one shred of the old flag, and
there shall leave my honss-dying with
the proud consciousness, mo tyrant shall
! ever tread upon my ashes"
But, Mr.. President, it is idle to say, it
would be untrue to say, that the President
may not have made mistakes in the exercise
Of these high powers it may be that occa-
sionally there may have been cases of ndi
vidual hardship and individual wrong; but
his higher and greater duty to preserve tho
liberties of the whole people, would justify,
at least the risk of infringing the liberty Of
an individual to accomplish that great and
good object. So il seems to me. Our cleo
tions turned upon no such question. If the
policy OF the Administrator had anything
on earth to do with the result of our cleo
tions. it was that the people were disenheart-
ened they were doubtful. they were fear
ful Of the policy Of delay they thought the
Administration had not prosecuted the war
with sufficient vigor. The march of your
armies did not keep pace either with the just
expectations or the impatience Of the people.
They thought that something was wrong.
that more vigor should have been infused in
the conduct Of your arms. | thought So
too; and yet know how easy it is to crit
icise the movements Of your military COM
mandars. know how dangerous it is to
uncharitably eriticse the movements of our
armies. We must trust somewhere. The
President is President for two years to come.
If the country is to be saved--upder Provi
dence it must be through him and his Adj
ninistration. The great book Of books, the
Bible, assures US that individuals are saved
by faith" by faith are ye saved )" and so
of nations. Trust your President, trust
your Congress. trust your Generals in the
field, and, above ALL trust yourselves and