Council Bluffs bugle. [volume] (Council Bluffs, Iowa) 1860-1868, 1863-02-04
sRRAr sPgkca oF THE e
HON. { / IIlLINDIfHlH
Oh THE Tta @Fh@
5GE - 44 ,is@&8. EGt TE,A TfS
CIVIL WAR I'M AMERICA,


% dofgeu ag the recent election within d
same district for whirh I still hold a "a
% on this Door, by majority four aim
greater than ever befnxe, speak TO- a,
: In tie name and BY the authority OF h
n people VINO, for six iysars, have fnsrus
ed me with the oasce Of Rsprsssatasiy
' Loyal, IN ths srne and highest ggnse
3 the word, 70 the Constitution and ii
! Union, they have pro Fsd themselves a,
. yotedly attached 20 and worthy Of Il
: liberties to secure which the Union an
: the Constitution wers established. Wit
| candor and freedom, therefore. ain the;
, Representative, and mnch plaInhess q
speech, but with tbs dignity and decenc
due to TO this presence, proposs to con
slider the STATE or THE Usros to-day
TO inquire what the duty is of every pub
lie man and every citizen In this the YER
crisis Of the Great Revolution. IL F"t2
1t is now two years, sir, since Congress
assembled soon after the Presidensia
election. 4 sectional anti slavery part,
hal then just succbeded through th,
forms of the Constitution. For the frs
time q President had been chosef, upos
platform of avowsd hostility to an in.
stisusien peculiar TO nearly one halss tht
States Of the Union, and who had him.
self proclaimed that there was an ire
pressihle conflict because of that lnstitu-
tlon between the the States and that tbs
| Union could not endure f'uart slave and
part Free" Congress met, therefore, in
the afdst of the proSoundest agitation,
not here only bat throughout the entire
| South. Revolution glaFed upon as. Re-
| peatsd efforts for consultations and com
| promise were attempted in Congress and
ous OF ii. All wererejected BY the par
| ty just coming into. power, except only
the promise in the la8t hours of the SEES
sion, and that, Congress the Exec
usive-should never be authorized to
abolish or interfere with slavery in the
States where it existsd. South Carroll
MIA seoeded; Georgia. Alabama, Florida,
Mississippi, Louisians and Texas speedi-
| ly followed. The confederate governs
mena vas established The other slave
States held back. Virginia demanded
peace congress. The commissioners met,
and, after some time, agreed upon terms
OF knaf adjustments. RuE neither in the
Senate nor the Hoase were they allowed
even respectful consideration. The
president elect left his home in February,
and joarneyed towards this capital, Jest
ing as be came proelaining that the
crisis was only artificial, and that s'uo-
body WAS hurt.n He entered this city
under cover of night and in disguise. On
the 4th of March he Was fnaugurated,
surrounded by soldiery; and, swearing
TO support the Constitution of the United
States, announced In the same breath that
the platform Of his party should be the
law unto him. From that moment all
hope of peaeeabla adjustment fed. But
for little while, either With unsteadfast
sincerity OF in premeditate deceit, the
policy Of peace was proclaimed, even 10
the evacuation Of Sumptef aud the other
Federal forts and arsenals in the seeded
States, Why that policy was suddenly
abandoned, time will fully disclose. Bot
just after the spring elections, and the |
secret meeting in this city of the Gov
eFnors Of the several northern and wes-
tern States, aeet carrying large nun
Der of men xas sent down ostensibly TO |
provision Fort Sumter. The authorities !
of South Carolina eagerly accepted the |
challenge, and bombarded the fort into |
surrender, while the feet fred not gun,
but, Just so soon as the flag was struck. |
bore away and returned to the North. It |
was Sunday, the l4th of April, 1861; |
thas day the President, in fatal haste and |
without the advice or consent Of Con- /
gress, issued bis proclamation. dated the |
next day calling out seventy FIVE thousand
militia for three months, to repossess the
forts, places, and property seized from
the United States, and commanding the |
insurgents to dispsrse in twenty days
Again the gage was taken up by the South
and thus tue flames of a civil war, the
grandest, bloodiest, and saddest in histo-
ry, lighted up the whole heaYeps, Yir-
ginia forthwith seeded. North Carroll
MIA, Tennessee, and Arkansas follow
ed; Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and
were in blaze of agitation,
snd within week from the pFoclama-
tion, the line of the Confederate States
was transferred from the Gotten States to
the Potomac, and almost to the Ohio and
the Missouri, and their population and
lighting man doubled,
lathe North and West, toe, the storm
ragged with the fury Of hurricane. Never
iBhistory was anything equals it. Men,
women and children, native and foreign
born, Church and State, clergy and lay
men, were all swept along with the cur
rent. Distinction OF age, sex, station,
party, perished Ia an instant. Thousands
bent before the tempest; and here and 1
there only was one found bold enough, {
enough it may have been, to {
bend not, and him IL smote fell IS con- 7
sunHiBg Gre. The spirit Of persecution |
Tor opinions sake, almost extinct in the 7
Did World, now, by some mysterious /
appeared incarnate In
he New. Social relations were dissolV-
ID friendships broken up; the ties of 7
'amily and kindred snapped asunder.- |
Stripes and hanging were every where
threatened, sometimes executed. Assas- 1
Iination was invoked; stander sharpeued
ais tooth falsehpod crushed truth to the
.arth reason fed; madness reigned.- /
Not justice only escaped to the skies, bat +
,eacc returned to the bosom Of God, &
whence she came. The gospel of love G
hate SAT enthroned, and the t
acriEses Of blood smoked upon every d
.ltar. {
But the reign of the mob was inaugn- {
ated only to be suppEanted by the iron t
dominion of arbitrary power. 0onsti- g
utioHal Limitation was broken down; B
lGbeas corpus fell; liberty Of the press, .
II speech, of the prison, OF mails, OF I
rayeI, OF ones own house, and Of reli- d
Iioh; the right to bear arrps, due pro-
ices Of lag, tgdicaal trial, trial by fury, !
rial as all; every badge and monument 9
II freedoms In republican government or Z
singly governmens-a NIL went down at q '
Ifcw and the chief Law oiiicar Of the G
irown- beg pardon, sir, bqt IL IL easy .
iuw to fall into this couvtlg language /
he Attorney General, first Of MI men, .
lrarIained In fha limited Ekafas kha mar. I