Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1863-03-05

no cause. | appeal to the history OF the
past for the truth Of this assertion, that
/ there never has been any great moral, So
cial or political revolution without some
cause more or less great, more or less
iusti6able. All Governments consider
revolution against their authority as with
out cause Were their judgments of the
rightiuness or wrongiulness ofresistancc
thereto by others admitted as the inialli-
bic rule, liberty could not exist; but des
potism would everywhere prevail. Ac.
cording to such standard of Judgment
the great English revolution was a stu
rendous crime No Bourbon could see
aught but criminaity in the French rev.
? olutlon. and the American struggle for
independence was regarded by the Eng
li>h king and ministry, and even by the
English people, with as great adherence
a. a wicked res>tencc to iightul author
ity as we affect to regard the resistance
OF the rcvoluted States to Federal author
ity The law Of the revolutions, or that
by which their character j. most generally
determined, is that might makes right"
that success is justification.
The impartial student of history, how
ever will be forced to the conclusion
that there have be n revolutions which
! have failed that ought to have succeeded.
and that there have been successful rev
olutions which ought to have failed. My
own opinion, sir is that this revolution
ought to fail unless You make that rightinl
in the conclusion which was wrongful in
the brginning--not because it was wholly
without cause, but because its causes did
not amount to n justification. No portion
OF a people have a ri Is ht, for light or trivial
canes, or Tor auprehended evil, and with
/ ont first eXhau>ting all reasonable and
, proper means to avert it, to plum G the
whole country into civil war. But, sir,
while believe the causes Of the present
; revolution were not sufficient to amount
to n Justification of it, and while, there
, fore, ! believe it ought not to succeed. |
am equally honest in my conviction that
it will succeed for all urposes--duIing
= this Administration, at east-unless this
o Administration and this Congress shall
change their policy, and be governed by
wiser counsels in the future than they
> have been i'll the past This may be con-
sideIcd plain talk in the American Senate.
r Some may oven object treat it, "a the
. honest warning OF Chatham in the Eng
r lish Pa liament was treated as disloyal.
Had the English Parliament listened to
and acted upon his advice, the colonies
hal been saved to the crown. Had
thi, Administration listened to and acted
> upon the advice Of those whom they, in
, their superciliousness and haughtiuess Of
r power have presumed to distruat instead
OF war and carnage, peace aud harmony,
would everywhere throughout the and
- this day prevail.
i THE CAUSE OF THE nEVoLUrIoN.
= The cause, Of revolution do not gen
1t orally lie on the surface of things. They
n are not usually what they seem to be. They
u are not so often Insulated acts of opprcs
is sion on the part Of Government as the
le assertion Of the right as a principle OF
ii the part Of Government to do them. L
m was not simply the imposition of tri
A. fling tax upon tea that caused the Ameri
DC can Revolution, but it was the assertion
sc of Parliament to tax the colonies wilhou
o. their consent 1t was n controversy hc
4? tween the crown and his ministers on thu
n one side, and the people Of the colonie
H. on the Other, in reference to the power
IN of Government undcrtho English Consti
We tuition, The imposition Of the tax an,
to the attempt to collect it were only thu
by occasion Of testing the right claimed by
ry force of arms. The student of histor
m will fad no difficulty in tracing the cause
ii Of our present revolution to a radical an,
Al,
II of our Government, and the limitation
We upon Federal or State authority. Is thi
ms Government, Of the people Of the Uni
Il ted States as n quasi political body, act
in ing righttully by force Of a popular nu
)n merical majority, the voice Of which ma
jority constitutionalIy decides the charac
n, ter of legislation, or is tia Government O
al the people of the States, representative i
v. its character. and limited in its powers
n. legislative as we'll as executive and judi
cinl, by the delegation Of authority eX
n. pressed in the Federal Constitution? Th
O. ndclivery of lugitivcs from service an
r. labor, the raid of John Brown into Nir
N ginin. the election Of Abraham Lincci
a> President, none of these were the cans
1t. in my opinion, oi this revolution; hnt
a, was the assertion Of the power and dut
ch of Congress and of the people of the ir,
~. States, to abolish slavery, orso Circun,
on scrhcd and limit it that the "publ
,re mind could rest in tho conviction of il
he ultimate extinction" 1t was the asset
,e. ton of the right to abolish, accompanie
. by such acts as cvinceG the purpose t
n abolish, that led to this revolution.
ot Mr.. LINCoLN's INDIFFERENCE TO IT.
me 1t must have been apparent to the Pre-
o' ident as it e,tainly was to everybody el,
rs after his election, that unless some meal
&c, of pacidcation were adopted, that an a
0' I, tempt at national disruption was ine
''H' table. Such an attempt he may ha'
oy regarded as unreasonable, as criminal
lot but neither it's unrcasonableness nor clir
Ne' inolily could excuse the jocular indille
III" cncc with which he seemed to regald
M lie had been victorious in the polite
W. race for power, and could have ailord
~ even to have been generous toward tho
tue laboring under apprehensions of evil
- themselves from his Administration. b
o'y sir. when he saw that the whole count
\a' was agtated and filled with alarm, a