The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-07-01
salsis~..}} sEH s VOL X.-Ne. 15.-WHo11an OLE No. 483.

to dispose of these difficulties as they spring
up IN our midst. Let us trust that in the end
we will be found as true to the great interests
OF the country, and succeed as well in dispos-
lng OF them as we have done with the diff
culties of the past. f~5.-. ,-9s-,.f.
My main desire, my friends. TO-DAY, has
been to satisfy you that there was but one
duty OF obligation for every man to take upon
himself and fulfill in the state of the coun-
try at the present time. l may, have failed,
and if so, let me make suggestion to my po-
htlcal friends as to Iarty, and / wish you to
bear it in mind. Go back to the record for it,
and take care that you do not make the same
mistake. Its that no party ever made oppo-
'sition to war that was not rent in. twain and
torn to pieces thereby and you can not blot
the record out; you may try it, hut it will
stick to you, and L am not going along w4th
you In your opposition now, The old tories
of the revoution-they are all gone now, but
their records remain, and the odium belonging
to them attaches even to their deseendants.-
The old members of the Hartford Cenyen-
tion are hardly spoken of with decent re-
spect, and l know of one case, where the OBJ
ioquy, though less than that which should
result under present circumstances. descended
to the individual of the second generation,
keeping from places of honor and trust SIM
ply because his father was member of that
Convention; the disgrace clnng to him like
the shTrt,of Nessas. Inthe war with Next
co we Democrats proclaimed 1t to be the du-
ty OF every man to stand up forzit whether
we believed it right or wrong [ did so, for
l printed the Cincinnati Enquirer about that
tinle9 A voice 81 wish you printed It
now."l Well,I don't, if it advocated the
same principles as now. Hew I poured hot
shot lnto those who opposed the ,wari How.
hred whole broadsides at Tom Corwin and
where is he now The brightest intellect
the noblest man the old Wing party. ever had
In Ohio-they hardly own him now. having
showed him off to Mexico-a striking coinci-
dence: the very country whose cause he
chanpioned. A brighter light never went
out than Corwin's, when he and whole iheca-
tomhs of Wings fell, under their opposition
to the natiofs war. DON'T let us reverse, the
record to-day, and place ourselves in the un-
fortunate position our political opponents then
occupied 1 tell you you can not pursue this
hostility to the war without bringing reproaeh
upon yourselves as a party and as individuals.
Let me say to you, young men. who are
fighting in the ranks Of the Democratic par,
ty to-day, beware how you tread on that plat
FORM. 1t is unsound, and the reproach viii.
follow you in all your future years. You can
| not wipe it out. 1t will be said of you, and
to your children, and to your chidren's chill
dren, that man was opposed to putting down
the most wicked rebellion the world ever
knew; and when that brand q is put upon
YOU 1t will mark, you as an. enemy to- your
country. Young man, let me beg of you,,
turn back; go with that party no longer
which adopts such a reasonable policy Let
your energies go with and for your Govern
ment in putting down. the war. Dou't cover
yourself with infamy, by taking, upon your
self the reputation of trying to strike down
the efforts of the Government in suppressing
this rebellion. his7.asF SAD 10 i7sa taf -Tss
You must conquer this rebellion, or submit
to a recognition of the Southern Confederaoy
You can do but one of two things it is folly
to attempt any, thing else, for there cam not
exist slave Confederacy and a free Confed-
eracy, side by side on this continent They
could not live together. Nay, more than that
l ferventiy believe that the great God him
self intended but one nation should occupy
this country. He gave US the lakes for our
northern. boundary, and the rivers stretching
to the seas, upon whose waters are borne our
commerce to the nations of the world : while
man has done all that can be done by science
to bind us together, by means of railroads
which extend like mighty links over aIl9the
land, Y You mustconquer the, whole country,
or abandon the whole country; you must pre-
serve this as one Government or see it rent
into twenty or fifty different factions. .7se6i
have not proposed to-day to argue with
you the question of secession, but say to you
| that, that dogma, so destructive ofi'every
principle upon which this Republic is based
mnst be crushed out or there will be no unity
orznational9life hereafter. 1 think old Jack
| son settled the question of secession w when= he
knocked Calhoun and his argument down
with his proclamation. think every man in
this land will deny the right of secession !;
but I had talk with an old friend this morn
ing, whom I saw here few moments ago
! said to him: Do YOU admit the right of a
| State to secede ? f'"'fNo, sir, I DON'T" DO
you admit the right of Washington County
to secede from Ohio ...'No.'' Suppose she
does it ? "I will try to coax her back" Sup
pose she won't be coaxed back f'I will use
gentle force to bring her back, But sup
pose she has stolen all your arms and asks
you to come on and fight? a. 81 will just. tell
her, wayward sister, go in peace o These
We're John Van Buren's words, but he repen-
! ted of them. Now take that principle and
] apply it to the State How long-but it
would be folly to ask, how long would the
] United States hang together-how long would
there be two States pulling together ? How
!, long before you would be cut up into clans,
with more chieftains than the Roman Enl-
pire in the days of its dissolution? How long
would you command the respect of other ma
| tons, or of yourselves When YOU talk to
me about not coercing anybody, l reply that
we coeree men for all the crimes they COM
| nit. We coerce men to the Penitentiary for
stealing a horse; and why. on earth shall we
not coerce man for trying to break up this
Government To say nothing about con-
1 stitutional argument, common sense forbids
| the idea. Now you may talk till you are
! hoarse, we have got to continue one Govern
ment-one united people-or be divided into
i factions each subject to danger from every
other,in theland. aa5Gla. .ge.f zEfq-I.1eff sl.f
| rThenlis there any doubt in the mind of any
man, as o his duty in this contest? There
can not be. We must settle this matter, and
again build up this country as God Almighty
designed tito be, and as we have been trying
to make it.. ti5zGia5 s5fEg5sii '71i ai@5ss'" -
| This.country, my friends, is the last hope
of yfreemen throughout the world.E 1t is the
field upon which civilization has fourished,
and science begun to accomplish its great pur-
poses. The nations and people of the Old
/ World are marking its progress from day to
day, as, it enfranchises man from every servi-
tude. Are ,yougoing to give it upi - Young
man, can you afford to give to your .posterity
a heritage worse than that your father gave to
you If you can, you are faithless, not only
| to your own manhood, but to your Cod
You are bound to have one country, one flag,
and one destiny And what country shall
that be i?27 What but the country you had be-
/ fore the rebellion raised its paricidal hand to
strike it down? That country, with the in
cubus of slavery wiped away-a country that,
like weary man who has lain down by the
| roadside to- rest. has risen again. and is