Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1863-07-14

upon us and upon our rights, II you refuse t
listen to such an apreslf Is II not revolutio
which you are thus creating when you say tha
our persons may be rightfully seized. our prop
etty confscAted, our homes entered2 Are yol
not exposing yourselves, your own interests, b
90 great peril ss that with which you tbreatel
us2 Remember this, that the bloody and revo
lutIonaFy doctrine of public necessity can b,
proclaimed by mob as wella by government
| (Applause.) Remember all the teschings Of his
tory; aud we implore you, with regard to you
own interests, to stop and inquire II you are no
dbing yourselves and your families, and all tina
you hold dear to you, an infinite wrong wheI
pou sustain propositions that tesr away from
them, as we'll as from us, all the projections
which the Constitution Of your country hal
thrown around public liberty. (Great ap-
plause.) FE
Can you tell when ambition, love Of plunder
or thirst for power, will induce bad aud danger
ous men to proclaim this very principle Of pub
lie necessity, as reason why they should tram
pie beneath their feet all the lava Of our land
and the institutions Of our yountry2 | ask YOU
again to think If measures like these give pow.
ct, dignity, or strength to our Government /
ask you, on the other hand, II these govern
ments have not lived out the longest periods,
which, In times Of public danger, instead Of
shrinking back from the principles of liberty and
the barriers of order, have raiaed aloft these
great principles, and battled under them, and
thus given strength to the hearts Of the people,
and gained the respect Of the uorld7 Gap.
plause.) ask you If Il Ia not en- evidence Of
weakness, defeat and discontinue, when, in the
presence Of armed rebellion, the Administration
is compelled to assert that the very charter by
which II holds its power has ceased to have a
virtue that can protect citizen In his rights?
Suppose We accept tois doctrine, what will be
the consequences to this Government To day
the great masses Of conservatives who still bat
tie for time-honored principles--for chartered
principles Cf government, amid denunclation
aud contumely, and abuse, are the only barriers
that stand between this Government and its own
destruction, II We accept to morrow Its teach
ing-if we to morrow should acquesce In the
doctrine that in times of war Constitutions are
suspended, and laws have lost their force, then
we should accept doctrine that the very right
by which this Government administers It's DOW
er, has lost Its virtue, and we would be Brought
down to the level Of rebellion itself, having an
existence only by virtue of material power
Would not vital blow be struck to liberty
II we should accept this doctrine, what would
be the consequence When men accept des-
potism, they may have choice to who the desc
pot willbe The struggle then will not be, shall
We nave constitutional liberty. But having ac.
cepted tho doctrine that the Constitution has
lost It's force, every instinct of personal ambi-
tion, every instinct Of personal security, will
lead men to put themselves under the protection
OF that power which they supposed mos. COM
petent to protect their persons. And then this
Administration would fOd that, In putting mill
tary ruleRs.over US they had made military mas
tiers for themselves; for this war teaches us that
the General who will betray the liberties of the
people for the purpose Of gaining the favor of
power, will when opportunity occurs, seize power
itself. (Applause) l..4,e... ..
came here to-day TO appeal to you, who may
be politically opposed to US. Don't do your
selves wrong. Don't dO'your own administra.
tion a wrong, and push us from that position
which we are trying to hold. Do not use abuse
and contumely against our persons, and threats
against our property, because we stand up to
say that you, and we, and all shall have our
rights; because We stand up TO say, your houses
shall be sacred; because we stand up TO say. the
family circle shall not be entered, and, in Eng
lish parlance, every man's home shall bo his
castle, within which he is safe from intrusion -
(Applause.) Why, what is the glory of peo.
pie aud the glory Of nationP Ii is nOt the
magnitude Of its power; IL is not the extent Of
its dominions. II 10 the fact that the humblest
home is safe under its protection. The proud
eat boast ever uttered by Bfitain's proudest
statesman was this-not Of martial achieve.
ments---not of the triumphs upon the fsld-not
Of that wonderful dominion upon which the
sun never sets-no, Il was this: that the British
monarch could never enter without permission
the humblest home in the land, although its
broken ceilings might give but scsnty shelter to
its humble inmates. (Great spplause.) Fur
what are governments constituted but for this
Not for dominion, not for grandeur, but In Or
der that these great ends might be reached; that
every man should enjoy the rights OF person and
security of home, aud freedom OF conscience
and the enjoyment Of his property, subject TO
the laws. These are the great objects OF gov
ernment; and any government and any system
that comes short Of this, fails 10 its objects;
and any declaration that assails or endangere
these great objects is treason against human
rights. (Applause } ss.
But 1t is said there 10 law Of necessity that
In times like these suspends our Constitu ton
that war is unfavorable to liberty Il is not
true. Liberty was born in war, 1t does not die
in war. (Great spplause.) Liberty Was wrought
out in the battle field. That wonderful people
Who founded this great State--the HollAnders
who for eighty yearsbattled against the martial
laws and martial powers Of Spain--msde it O
principle which sustained them during that long
contest, and enabled them 10 rende, their his
tory glorious insthe annals OF mankind. Were
personal rights and personal liberties suspended
BY our own iofefathers during our Revolution
ary contes.2 You heard the. words OF thai
Declaration of Independence which said thai
men had o right TO trial by jury; shat the mill
taryl authority should never be exalted above
the civil jurlsdietionj that men shouId not be
transported abroad for rial--(tPemendous ap-
plause) )-ihat they should have all the rights
and privileges kno wn to English Jurisprudence
aud EngAsh law; aud yet to-day We are told
that the men who put forth that declaration oi
rights and of Independence amid tho roar Of
bI tile, when our nasi0n, was struggling iGto ex-
istence in all It's weakness, who declared--snC
they made their declarsiions good by their CON
duct through that ooltest-shst these righsG
we're to be held sacred IN war, that these men
VINO uttered this declaration in war made Con
btitution that dies and shrinks away in war -
that men learned in the perils Of revolution had
t6rmeda government, under which we live, tina
was not equal TO the very highest purposes fol
which governments are constituted. / tell yor
Il ID u libel upon our fathers. (Great applause
So far from ID being true that thoae who formed
tails Constitution contemplated that these pow
ers should be suspended, you fad in all these
provisions particular care tor all the dangers
and the exigencles Of war: you find numerous