The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1863-01-22


poor, who had suffered by the war
And [ shall now leave you with the
proud consciousness that l carry with
me the blessings of the humble and 10y
al under the roof of the cottage and in
the cabin of the slave, and so am quite
content to incur the sneers of the salon.
and the curses of the rich.
found you trembling at the terrors
of servilo insurrection. All danger of
this have prevented by so treating the
slave that he had no cause to rebel.
l found the dungeon, the chain and
the lash, your only means Of enforcing
obedience in your servants. I leave
them peaceful, 'laborious, controlled by
the laws of kindness and justice.
have demonstrated that the pesti
lence can be kept from your borders.
L have added q million of dollars to
your wealth in the form of new land
from the batture of the Mississippi.
have cleansed and improved your
streets, canals and public squares, and
opened new avenues to unoccupied
land.
have given you freedom Of elections
greater than you have ever enjoyed be
fore.
have caused justice to be admins
tered so impartially that your own ad
vocates have unanimously ,compliment.
ed the Judges of my appointment.
You have seen, therefore, the benef
of the laws and justice of the Govern
ment against which you have rebelled.
Why, then, will you not return tc
your allegiance 10 that Government
not with lip-service, but with the heart?
q L conjure you, if you desire ever
to see renewed prosperity, giving
business to your streets and wharves-
II you hope to see your city become
again the mart of the Western world
Ted by its rivers for more than three
thousand miles, draining the commerce
OF country greater than the mind OF
man hath conceived-return to your
allegiance.
lfyou desire to leave to your chill.
dren the Inheritance you received of
your fathers-a stable constitutional
Government; if you desire that they
should in the future be portion of tho
greatest empire the sun ever shone up.
on-return to your allegiance.
There is but one thing stands in the
way.
There is but one thing that at this
hour stands. between you and the Gov.
ernment-and that is slavery.
The institution, cursed ofGod, which
has taken its last refuge here, in Hi.
providence will be rooted ont as The
tares from the wheat, although tn,
wheat be torn up with it.
L have given much thought to tbi,
subject.
L came among you, by teachings. b,
habit of mind, by political position, b,
social affinity, inclined to sustain Won
domestic laws, if by possibility the,
might be with safety to the Union.
Months of experience and of obser
Vation have forced the conviction tha
the existence of slavery is incompatible
t with the safety either of yourselves o
of the Union. As the system has grad
, ually grown to its present huge dimen
sions, it were best if it could be aradu
ally removed; but it is better, far bet
ter, that it should be taken out at ono
than that it should longer vitiate the so
cial, political and family relations o
your country. I am speaking with n,
phiIanthropic views as regards the slave
but simply of the effect of slavery or
the master. See for yourselves.
Look around you and say whether
this saddening, dcadoning influenc,
has not all but destroyed the very frame
work of your society.
am speaking the farewell words o
one who has shown his devotion to hi.
country, at the peril Of his life aud for
tune, who in these words can have nei
ther hope nor interest, save the good o.
those whom he addresses; and let m,
here repeat, with all the solomnity o.
an appeal to Heaven to bear me witness
that sufh are the views forced upon m,
by experience.
Come, then, to this uneonditiono
support of the Government. Take in.
to your own hands your own institu
tionsi remodel them according to tn,
laws of nations and of God, and thu,
attain that great prosperity assured ia
you by geographical position, only q