Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1863-08-06

our once Dlesseu Union. enueaVOr
as have no doubt you do,
10 close my ears TO the sounds, and my
eyes to the sights of woe, and to ask
myself whether all this can be--to in
luire which is true, whether the past hap
piness and prosperity of my country are
but the nattering vision of a happy sleep,
or its present misery and desolation haply
The delusion of some disturbed dream.-
One or the other seems incredible and
but alas the stern truth can
not thus be dspellcd from our minds
Can you forget, ought | especially be
expected to forget, those not remote days
in the history Of our country, when its
greatness and glory shed the reflection at
least of heir rays upon all our lives, aud
thus enabled us to read the lessons of the
Fathers, and CT their Constitution in the
light of their principles and their deeds?
Then war was conducted only against the
foreign enemy, and not in the spirit and
purpose OF persecnting non combatant
populations, nor Of burning undefended
towns or private dwellings,, and wasting
the fields of the husbaudmen, or the
workshops of the artisan, but Of subduing
armed hosts in the field. Then the Con
gress of the United States was the great
/ Council of the whole Union and OF all
| its parts Then the Executive Admins.
tration looked with impartial eye over
| the whole domain Of the Union, anxious
to promote the interests and consult the
/ honor and Just pridc OF all the States,
seeing no power beyond the law, aud de-
voutly obedient to the commands Of the
/ Constitution. How is all this changed! !!
And why? Have we not been told, in
this very place, not two weeks ago, by
! the voice Of an authoritivo eXpositor?
Do we not all know that the cause Of our
calamities is the vicious ietermeddling of
too many Of the citizens eff the Northern
States with the constituti )nal rights of
the Southern States, cooperating with
the discontents Of the people of those
! States? Do we not know that the disrc-
/ gard of the Constitution, and of the Sc
curity it affords to the rights of States
and Of individuals has been the cause oi
the calamity which Our country is called
to undergo? And now, war! in it's dlrest
ahape---war such MS makes the blood run
cold to read of in the history Of other ma.
tions and OF other tmes-war, on the
scale of million of men in arms--wai
horIid as that of the barharic ages, RACES
in several of the States of the Union, rs
its more immediate field, and casts the
llurid shadow of death and lamentation
athwart tho whole cXpausc, and into
every nook and corner of our vast 60.
main. Nor is that all; for in those Of the
States which are exempt from tho actual
lavages of war, in which the roar Of the
cannon, and the rattle of tho musketry,
and the groans Of the dying, arc heard
but as faint echo Of terror from other
lands, even in the loyal States, the maileC
hand oi military usurpation strikes dowl
the liberties of the people, and its foo
tramples desecratod Constitution. -
Applause, Aye, III this land Of fre
thought, free speech and free writng-il
this Republic OF free suffrage with liber
ty OF thought and expression as the yer,
), i essence OF republican instiiutons---eve
here, in these free States, it is mad
> criminal for citizen soldier, like the gal
lunl IAubtllN VI ANGN lluHlDbulltt " WI
" according to his conscience; or, like tina
. noble martyr of free speech, Vallandig
' ham, to discuss public affairs in Ohio
y applause aye, even here, the tempoIa
= ry agents of the sovereign people, III
u transitory administrators of the Govern
> ment. tell MS that in time of war the mel
= arbitrary will of the President takes I'll
. al ,f tha 4, al ,l,, D,,. 10;
dent himself announces to us that it
> roasonable to speak or to write Other
wise than as he may prescribe; nay, br
it is reasonable even to be silent, thong
, wo be struck dumb by the shock Of tn
calamities with which evil counsels, in
competency and corruption have over
whclmed our country! (Applause.)
not say this without referring to the AT
thority upon which rely. In his ettc
of juno II. 1868. addressed to Erastu
Corning, and other citizens of tho Stat
of New ork the President makes use o
the following extraordinary language:
"lndeed, arrests by process OF courts, an,
arrests in cases OF rebellion do not proceed al
together upon tho same basis The lormc
is directed ut the small percentage of ordinar,
and continuous perpotration of crime whil
the latter is directed at sudden aud extensiy
uprisinps againsts tho Government, which n
> most, will succeed or fall in no great lengt
OF time. In tho latter case, arrests arc made
4. not SO much for what has been done ps (,
IA what probably would be done. Ilaught
and applause Tho latter is more for Il
d preventive and less for the yndictive than Il
u former, In such cases the purposes OF me
10 are much more easily understood than in cas-,
n of ordinary crime. The man who stands |
and says nothing when the peril of his Coy
ernment is discussed cannot be misunderstood,
Laughter.l If not hindored he is sure
n help the enemy, much mere IL he talks an
o biguously talks for his country with but
!. aud 'iis' aud 'ands''
70 1t is seen by this letter, at least, thu
d there is no longer doubt as TO where til
m responsibility for these unconstitution
10 acts of the last two years, perpetrated /
d subordinate officers of the Federal Go'
= crnment, both civil and military, prcpe
n ly attaches; but who, ask, has clotht
10 the President with power to dictate
s. any one of us when we must or when Y
o may speak, or be silent upon any subie
n and especially in relation to the condu
l. of any public servant? BY what rig
:. does he presume to prescribe formu
& of language for your lips or mine?
D. seem incredible, and even with this a