The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-02-04

holding back solemn proclamation tome
world that tue onion Of these States was I'm
ally and formally dissolyed. They have llth
10 US every motivc and every chance for re-
union and if that has been the purpose of
England especis.y-ourSriyaf so long, inter
the Consequent Weakening of our grcat-navnl
aud commercial power, and suffering, too, as
she has suffered, go long aud severely because
of this war; d not hesitate to say that she
has performed an oct of unsel6sh hcroisnl
without example in history. Was suck in
deed her purposey Let her answer before
tho impartial tribunal of postcrity. In-any
.tesent, after The great reaction in public scnti-
next in the North and West, to be followed
after some time. by a Ii e reaction in the
South, foreign recognition now of the confcd.
crate States could avail little to delay or pre-
vent final reunion if, as / firmly believe, ro-
union be not only possible but inevitable.
Sir, l have not spoken of foreign arbitra.
think it impracticable, and fear it as danger
Gus. The fery Powers-cr any other Power
which have hesitated to aid disunion direct
ly or by force, might, as authorized arbiters,
most reaaiiY pronounce for it at lastHXer
grand, indeed, would be the tribunal l-eforc
which the great question of the Union oil
Efhese States and the final destiny of this con-
Itincnt for ages, should be heard, and historic
through all time, the ambassadors who should
argue It.. And If both b~elligcrents consent,
let the subjects in controversy be referred to
Switzerland, or Russia, or any other impartial
and i~ncorruptiblc Power or State in Europe.
But at last, cir, the people of these several
States here, at home, must be the final arbiter
of this great quarrel IN America; and the
people and States of the Northwest, the med.
itators who shall stand, ike tbs prophet, be-
twixt the living and the dead, that the plague
of disunion may be stayed.
Sir, this war, horrible asst is, has tanghtus
all some f. the most important and %sal1tary
LESSONS wh;eh.eycra people learned.
First, il. has, alnihilatcd; in twenty months,
ailfhe false and pcrnicieus theories and teach
ings of aBolitionism for thirty years, and which
q mere appeal to,faets and argument could not
have untaught in half a century. " have
that the South IS not weak dependent,
unenterprieing, or ~eorlupted by sll~eiy, luxu-
~, and idieness;1 but powerful, earnest, war
like, enduring, selfsupporting, full of energy
and inexbaustible in Resources We have
been taught, and now confess 1t. openly. that
african slavery, instead of beinga source of
weakness 10 the South, is one of her main pels
ements of strength; and honces the "nilitary
Necessity, 2 we are told, of abehshing slasery
HI 0IAeIEtO SUPPLIES liz ~ W Y AosOs
ie~arnedoalse, that the nen-slaveholding white
men of the South, millions in number, are
jhmoyably attached to- the institution, ana;are
ts1ehief support ;and abolitienists have found
ont, tes their iEfnife surprises and disgust, that
the slave is not porting for freedom, nor
pi1j1g4in silent butcreyepgefm grief over.
cruelty and oppression Inflicted upon him, but
happy, eentented, attached deeplyt to his mas
ter, AID unwiIliug-at least not eagcr-to ac-
eept the precious boon of freedom ~avhiehsthey
have pr6fered him. I appeal TO thegPresi-
dent for the proof. I appeal to the fact that
fewer slaves have escaped, even from Virginia,
in now nearly TIVE years, shan ArBold and
Cora wallis earriedt.%syy 10 shz, months aof in
vasion m 37S1- Finally, sir, We have learnod,
and the South, too, what the history of the
world ages ago., and our own history might
have +areht ns,thatkserRileiaserreetspnlush9
lcast of the dangers to which she is exposed.
Hencc In my deliberate Judgment, Africuu
slavery, sas an institution will come out of tins
conflict ff.y fold stronger than when tho war
The South, too, sir, has learned most i'm
portant lessons and 7among them, that per
sonal courage in a quality common to all sec
tiohs, and that, is battle, the men of the North,
and especially Of the West, are their equals.
Hitherto there has been . mutual and most
mischicyous mistake-en both sidcs AFhe
South oyersafued its own personal courage,
andundervalued ours, and We too readily con-
septed but at the same time she exaggerated
our aggregate strength and resources, and un.
der estimated her own; and We fell into the
same error and hence the original and fatal
or vice of the military policy of the
North, and which has already broken down
the war by its ewn weight-the belief that we
could bring overwhelming numbers and power
into the field and upon the sen, and crush out
tie South ara blow. But twenty months of
terrible warfare have corrected many, errors,
and taught us the wisdom of a century. And
now. sir, every one of these lessons will profit
us all for ages to come; and if we do but re-
unite, will bind us in a closer, sfrmcr, more
durable union than ever before. ii- ss asa
q I have nov, Mr.. Speaker, finished what I
desired to say at this TING, upon the great
question of the reunion Of these States. I
spoken freely and boldly-not wisely, it
may be, for the present, Or for myself person
ally bit most wisely for the future and for
my country. Not courting censure;I yet do
shrink from it. sly own immediate per-
sonaI interests, and my chances just now for
more material rewards of ambition again
as Hostage IS to that GaEAT nEREAF-
the echo of whose # otsteps already 7
hear along the highway of time. Whoever,
here or elsewhere, believes that war can restore
the Union of2these States whoever would
Have q war an for the abolition Of slavery, or dis
dnion and he who demands southern indie
pendence and 6naf separation, let him speak.
him i have, offended. Devoted to the
Ubicn from the beginning,I will not desert it
this The hour of its sorest rial
Sir, it was the dpg4dTeam of my toyheod,
the cherished. desire Of my heart in youth,
that i might, live to see the bundredth anni-
lvgersary of our national independence, and, as
orator of the day; exult in the expanding
.glories and greatness of the still United States.
That vision fingers yet before my eyes, OBJ
ihdeed by the clouds and thick dark
ness and the blood of civil war. But, sir, if
the mon, of this generation are wise. enough to
Profit by the hard experience of the past two
years; and will turn their hearts now from
bloody intents to tie, words and arts of peace,
tb.t davSwill find us again the United States