Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1863-08-02

dlspelled from our imlndss Can you forget
ought especially be expected TO forget, .th1sa
NOT remote days In the history Of our country,
WheWis greatness and glory shed the reelection
at least OF their rays upon all cur lives, and
tbus enabled Us, 10 read the Lessons Of TIE
Fathers andIoftheir Constitution 10. the light Of
their principles and their tdeeds2 Then war
was conducted only against the foreign enemy,
and not in the spirit and purpose of persecu-
ting non-combatant populations, nor Of burn
ing undefended towns or private dwellings, and
wasting the folds Of the husbandmau1 or the
workshops Of the artisan but Of subdping armed
boiis in the field, Then the Congress Of the
United States was the great Council Of the
whole Union and of oil Its parts, Then the
Executive Administration looked with Impair
tlal ssye over the whole domain of the Union,
anxlous to promote the interests and consu ! the
no power beyond the law, and devoutly obedl-
ent TO The commands of the Constitution. How
lie allthis ohangsd2 And why2 Have We not
been told, in this very place, no.two weeks ago,
by the voice of an authoritative expoBitor; do
We not know that the cause of our osiamties
.is the vicious intermeddling of too many Of the
citizens of the Northern States with the oOn-
stitutional rights Of the Southern States, % op.
Grating with the discontents of the people Of
those Siateef Do We not know that the disFe-
gard Of the Constitution, and of the security 1t
affords to the rights Of States and Of indvidu-
ais, has been the cause Of the calamity which
our country is called TO undergo2 Aud now,
war In its ditest shape--wsr, such aH u m lkes
the blood run cold TO read of In the history Of
other nations and of other times-war, on the
scale OF o million Of men In arms-Har, hor-
rid as that Of barbaric ages RACES In several
of the States of the Union, % It's more imme-
,diate field, and casts the lurid shadow Of ts
death aud lsmentatlon athWaTt the whole
expsnse, and 10 every nook and corner
of our vast domain 9 Nor Is that all;
for In those of the States which are ex-
empt from the actual rlvsges Of war, In which
the roar of the csnnon and the rattle OF
the musketry, and the groans of the dying, are
heard but as faint echo of terror from other
lands, even here in the loyal States, the mailed
hand Of military uAurpation strikes down the
liberties Of the people, and its foot tramples
desecrs.ed Constitution. [Applause Aye,iu
this land Of free thought, feee speech and free
wrlting--ln this Republic Of free suffrage, with
liberty Of thought aud expression as the very
essence of republican insIi.utons-even mere,
In these free States, II is made criminal Tor q
oit ksn. soldier, like gsllsns Edgerly, of New
Hampshire, to vote according to bis conscience;
or, like that noble martyr Of free speech, Va.
landighsm, to discuss public affairs In Ohio !
fapplluse;l aye, everywhere, the temporary
agdats of the soyereign people, the transitory
adminis,rators Of the Government tell US that
In time Of war the mere arbitrary will Of the
Pfesident takes the place Of the Constitution,
and the President himaelf Announces TO us shat
1t is reasonable to speak or to write otherwise
than as he may prescribe; nay that 1t Is season-
able even to be silent, though We be struck
dumb by the shock Of the ca'amities with which
evil counsels, incompetency and corruption have
overwhelmed our couatry. lApplause. win
not cay this without referring to the authority
tpou which | rely. Ia bis letter of June IL,
1868, addressed to Erastus Corning, and other
cisizens of the State Of New York, the Pres
idens makss use of the following ext'aordlpary
language; .,..t 49,, -.
Indeed, arrests By process Of courts, and arrests 10
same basis, The former 10 directed ct The smal per,
oentage OF ordinary aud Continuous perpetratIon OF
crre while tho latter b d eced ct sudden and extsn.
Will succeed fail In no great length Of time II the
latter ose arrests are made not 40 much for chat has
been done, as for what PROBABLY would be done. Laugh.
I've and lsss for the yndctiys than the former In suoh
cases the purposes OF men are much more easily under
Stood than In cases Of ordinary crime, The man who
snds py and says nothing when the peril his Govern
II not hindered, he 10 sure 70 help the enemy much
more II be talks ambguousy for his country With
fpbutsn and 'tf5, and "ands.p f suibi1 Eull IasII
Itisseen by this letter, at least, that there Il
mo longer doubt as to wherc the responsibility
for those unconstitutional acts of the last Two
years, perpetrated by subordinate officers of the
Federal Government both civil aud military
properly attaches; but who, j ask, has clothed
the President with power to dictate to any one
of rs when we must or when we may speak, OF
be silent upon any subject, and especially Ia re.
tldtion to the conduct Of any public servant2 By
what right does he presume to prescribe for
mula Of language for your lips or nine7 IL
eeems incredib e, and even WITH this authenti-
Gated paper before us, is e,.szing, that any such
sendmens should have found u..eraucs from the
elected Representative of free Government like
that Of the United Statss, MY friends, let those
obey such behests who will; you and have
been nursured here among the granite bills, aud
under the clear skies, of New Hampshire. Into
no suoh servile temperement.I IAppsuse. +
True II 10, that any Of you, that myself, may
be the next victim Of Unconstitutional, arbisrs-
.ry, irresponsible power, But we, nevertheless,
are free men, and We resolved to live, or If ii
must be. to die, such. FAlssr who may, We will
never cease TO hold up on high the Constitution
of the Union, though torn to shreds by the sac.
-riligious hands of Its enemies.O [Appsause. 4.
How strikipgly signifcant, how suggestive to
US, on thisoccasion, Is the contemplation of that
august spectacle Of the recent Convention at
Indianapolis, of seyenty.Hve thousand citizens
calmly and bravely participating In the diacus.
sion Of the great principles underlying their
sacred rights as fresmen 4-neither swed BY csn.
non frowning upon their liberties, nor provoked
by threats into retaiiatofy violence. would
ssy 10 you Sfellow oitizsns, emulate the .exhibi;
tlon of wisdom and patriotism Be patient, but
sesoluteI Yield nothing Of your rights; but
bear aud forbear. Let your action chow 10 the
world that, with courage TO confront deapotisn,
you have also the discretion to avoid inconsid-
crate action in resisting its advances George
Washington and Samuel Adams, Matthew
Thornton and Charles Carroll, George Reed and
Roger Sherman, Philip Livingsion end William
Hooper, Benjamin Franklin and Edward Rut,
ledge. George Walton and Ricbasd Stockton
With their associates of ell the thiteen then In
dependent sosereigns siates, stood eighty. sever
years ago to day, ID that simple but most mem
0Eahle room, where she DeclaxasIonsW was signed
like the people Of the States whom they repre-
sented with the esolemn grandeur Of hig hresolvc
If apparently weak, yet with thsiE srmor On AM
their helrts strung for the contest Of civil llb
erty.. II We cannot be joyous and exultsnt o.
this anniversary Of thaI days IL may do us goo,
| 10 remember that joyiand exultstion were fsI