Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-03-02


spirits while dcnounce a measure which surren-
dcrs back TO the hands of power all those grand
achievements in the of human freedom
which have rendered their names immortal
Sir. we live in the midst of storm and revolu-
ton. a memorable epoch in history is trans
piring in our view. The air is dark with the ele-
ments of strife and of change. The commissions
which have signaIized the past are being repro
duced in the present. The murderous roar OF
cannon, the sanguinary crash Of war, and the
pallid. appealing faces of the dead mark our
time and country they have marked all
climes and ages heretofore. History Is beng
rewritten: and what man has done man Is doing
again. | see nothing new in the ca,amlties which
now assail the destiny 70 which We aspire. We
are treading over again the footsteps Of genera
tions which have passed away Mutation and
change Is the order Of the world. Stability and
pernanence in the works of human hands Is the
Utopian dream Of abstract speculation. The
different forms which Governments have assumed
to redeem society from chaos constitute no ex-
ception % this remark. On the contrary, all
history stands as awful witness to the fact that
no Government has ever vet been established
which has been exempt from the fierce blasts OF
human passion and human ambition.
But instability and tempestuous struggles do
not necessarily roll backward, or even check e
wheels of progress. Great principles are i'm
they are encased may perish and decay TO dust;
but like the liberated soul truth puts on new
glories in every phase of her existence. Our
course is onward, like the mighty river, to the
ocean of destiny. / believe in the steady adj
vancement and ultimate civilization of the world
by the benignant power of higher and purer
gospel than that of hate offorce. The trinity
which presides over my belief is composed of
those handmaidens of God-liberty charity and
f,.t -, 81 tbo
pie. though assailed BY those painful commissions
which no nation ever escaped, though desoated
and heavy in heart, and weeping over departed
glories and JOYS, NAV vet look off across the
dark and angry face of the waters, and in the
distance behold the star of peace and honor, and
around it clustering the heavenly constellation OF
individual and national happiness. But if this
people refuse, from this time forward, 70 be led
BY these principles, an abyss of horror awaits our
speedy entrance, a. terrible TO the upright soul
of free-born American citizen as the flaming
depths where the lost angels writhe in agony.
The world it is true will not stand STILL some
other people more worthy the high trust will
take up the cause of constitutional government;
but we will he dropped in gloom and despair by
the wayside.
Sir, times like the present are always full OF
danger TO the rights of the people In an hour
like this if we expect TO retain the Institutions OF
quired. For when the elements of political or
ganization are in commotion, and disorder per-
vades the whole face of affairs, bad men in au-
thority unbridle the spirit of tyranny in their
breasts and leap over the walls of constitutional
restraint Such periods in history have been the
rich harvests of despotism. When the thunder
rolls along the sky and midnight gloom increases
the terrors of the storm, the savage beasts of
the desert go forth and raven for their prey.
= q Il
min was ravening wolf, and stands as the en-
blem of unlawful and sanguinary power. Sedi-
tons and civil wars are the unhappy occasions
for the exercise of this baleful propensity which
high official station generally begets in the
heart of man. And, Mr.. Speaker the mournful
evidences are thick and fearful on every hand,
whichever way we turn, that the public confu-
sion which now rcigns in our own once peaceful
land has brought with it 10 us this pernicious
evil in It's most friehtiul and aggravated forms.
Disaster has followed disaster in terrible and
startling rapiditv to q people who two short
years ago had never tasted the cup ofhumiliation
or sorrow. Our territorial grandeur has been
torn ana disputed by the sword, homes have been
desolatcl ard iled with the bitterness e death
debt and taxation tower up like gloomy spec
ter in our midst and cast an appalling hadow
ov = the hopes of the present and of fu.u5f gen.
erssions o. labor for more than hundred wears
heart of E,sccutiye authority, tempered lie insa-
table lust of personal domination, or stayed the
hand of official trcspass and oppression any
more in tie administration of the American Re
public than thew have in the administration OF
Governments of former ages. The usurper seizes
the moment when the Constitution of his coun-
try IS weakened by some deadly peril to assist in
breaking it down. he watches the opportunity
when the laws unsettled 10 trample them I'M
der his feet and substitute his own imperious and
unhallowed will in the place of their welldefincd
and peaceful operations.
Mr. Speaker, on the oath dav of last Septem-
Der the President of the United States, in few
brief lines published in the newspapers and STYLED
proclamation, declared that the people of this
country were under martial law, and that all
civil rights and remedies touching their personal
liberties were suspended. The blow was sud-
den quick. and radical 1t was a piece of the in
eviable logic of Executive encroachment. W
rannv has its rules of action as well as other svs-
TENS of wrong. Chicanery fraud, and subtle
obscure false-dcaling characterize its attempts
when ii does not feel secure in more daring eff
forts. But this act of the President and his Cab
met is the unblushing assumption of power which
has ceased to respect or fear tie Constitution or
laws which the people have made and which
these servants of the people have to sup
port. 1t throws aside all disguise, tears off its
Nal anu ul>nlaNS the nOHiDle features OF teS-
potism to American citizens. Will anv member
of this House dispute the correctness of the
terms which l employ! Let us dvest ourselves
of all passion and resentment let us take a
calm view of facts and principles, history will
do, and, by the steady light of truth and reason
LEI Us examine and discover. if can, what the
Administration now in power has done in be-
half of the Constitution of the fathers. and in
behalf of the for which this Republic was
founded
The object for which our ancestors revolted
from the British empire, and enacted that sub
lime tragedy of history the American Revolution
TO secure TO the citizen more liberty and per-
sOnal security than he possessed under the uris-
diction of the British crown Their complaints
were not against the Constitution of England
but against a weak king and wicked ministry
who violated it in order TO Cypress the subject
They studied the dangerous nature of lawless
executive during seven years of grief. of bitter
ness, and of blood When day dawned on then
independence, the great secret of free government
was no longer a secret to them. They had learned
IT, and learned ii forever in the high and holy in
spiration of battles fought for the inherent right
to govern themselves Their wisdom then sue
ceeded their swords, and the American Constitu
ton became the offspring of the American Revo
ton. and inherited all its ideas In immediate
view of the unparalleled struggle which had lust
closed. and of the causes which produced it, the
Constitution of the United States came forth
from the hands of Its framers, the great mission
airy of freedom 10 the citizens of this chosen land