The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1864-03-31
PLYMOUTH, INDIANA, THURSDAY, MARCH 81, 1864


pray that gentle pence, like the dews OF
Heaven, may descend upon our wounded
= distracted country, but to declaim. in
strains, in Tie face ofthe Almighty
II. delight which they feel in the IN
fiction of human agony. They have re-
versed the order of the millennium which
the Christian world has looked forward to
since the days of the prophets. The one
which they hail in fond antici patton is that
in which every plough share shall become
sword, and every pruning hook a spear;
in which conscription, slaughter and taxa
ton shall go hand in hand, ''when the
keepers Of ihe house shall tremble and the
strong man shall bow themselves. and the
grinders cease because they are few. and
those that look out of the windows be tar-
kcned, and the doors shall be shut in the
streets when the sound Of the grinding is
low; < because man goeth to his
long home, and the mourners 90 about the
streets
/ To these men much ofthe sorrow which
now overshadows our homes Is properly
attributable. they have ever been. and
are to-day the foremost enemies Of domes-
tic tranquility. agitation en- matters per-
tanning to civil government has been their
element. Sedition against laws which con-
tiict with their ignorant and selfish bigotry
has been their i,yorite calling in all coun-
tries and in every age. They have a high
er law than the sermon on the mount and
the word Of God is made to fit the Pro
crustean bed Of their blind and furious
pre- judices, which they mistake for con-
science. Si-, here proclaim as a fact to
which all history aiicsts. that wherever in
the tide of time Tie ministry Of the Moss
High have assumed as part Of their du-
ties the control Of affairs of state and the
policy Of nations they have appeared as
the advocates of dospotsm, the friends of
high prerogative, the defenders Of oppres-
sion, the allies of tyranny-obstacles in the
pathway & progress. enemies to popular
rights. and extortioncrs Of the poor and
laboring masses. might dwell on the
evidence which the cid and the new world
furnish on this point. :: :: =
Sir, upon this question of negotiation,
concession, compromise. and Union, ap-
peal for approval to my own conscience.
1t sastains me with all the force OF a bur
ming conviction Of duty. BY it I am lif-
ted beyond the reach OF partisan malice
The voice and humane instincts of honest
nature viii plead my cause in their hearts
ut their hands | fear no evil for the coun-
try. They are just. and will appreciate
plain ana inherent element Of right. lap
peal tn future years. When candor. rea-
son, and Christianity sit in judgment on
this struggle, every line which records the
history OF war or peace in all former ages
tells me that their verdict will be in favor |
Of the principles which | advocate. seize
ths hour Of future triumph by anticipa-
ton That it Will come | entertain no
more doubt than | do that breath the |
air OF lie this moment. appeal, finally. |
to God before whom I stand and into |
whose presence we all hasten to answer for
our conduct and our motives. In that aw-
fdi hour ! humbly trust and believe that
my feeble efforts to turn aside the deyour- /
ing edge Of the sword; 10 stay The hand of
the great reaper, Death; to pause in the
horr.d work fosending souls to heir eternal
account without repentance or pardon; TO
stop bereavement, woe, and tears around
every iireside; to brighten the mournful
face of lhe land with the radiance ofpeace;
to reconstruct and restore a iraternal and
harmonious Union, will meet with the ap
proval of the Father and so far towards !
relieving the newly liberated and tremb-
ling spirit Of the terrors which surround
il.
But, Mr.. Chairman, what other dcclar- /
ed purposes OF the Constitution, for the
accomplishment of which this government
was established have been carried out by
the policy and administration of the party
now in power? Do they proD'ote tie gener-
~ sce!t;trc? With the principles of just
ice everywhere suppressed, the blessing of
liberty annihi!ated throughout all our bor-
ders, and the domestic tranquility utterly
destroyed. ii is almost needless 10 inquire
what is left TO constitute the general vel
fare. But it IS my painful duty on :his
occasion, not only to show that the princi-
pies OF free government are dying, rapid
" dying before our faces, but that the ma
terial prosperity, the absolute physical re-
sources Of the country are pcrshing also
The welfare, the strength and glory of a