Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-07-01

able contest, was falling to pieces from II
own weight. The central power was too
weak. 1t could recommend to the differ
ent States such measures as seemed best,
and 1t possessed no real power to legislate,
because 1t lacked the executive force to
compel obedience to tslaws. The national
credit and self-respect had disappeared, and
1t was feared by the friends of human lib
erty throughout the world that ours was
but another added to the long list of fruit
less attempts at self-government. The ma
tion was evidently on the brink of ruin and
| dissolution when some eighty years ago
many of the wisest and most patriotic of
the land met to seek remedy for the great
evils which threatened to destroy the great
| work of the revolution. Their sessions
were long and often stormy; for time the
most sanguine doubted the possibility of a
successful termination of their labors. But
from amidst the conflict of sectional inter-
ests, of party prejudices and of personal
selfishness, the spirit of wisdOm'and of con-
cilietion at length evoked the Constitution
unuer Whlch we nave livnd so long. Tt was
not formed in day; but was the result of
practical labor, of wisdom, and of the pur-
est patriotism. 1t was at last adopted by
the people of all the States-although BY
some reluctantly-notas being exactly what
all desired, but the best possible under the
circumstances.
1t was accepted as giving us form of
government under which the nation might
live happily and prosper, so long as the
people should continue to be influenced by
the same sentiments which actuated those
who formed it; and which would not be
liable to destruction from internal causes
So ecGS Sng % The 9eoRe preserved the reeo
nd A. =
constitution the progress of the nation was
unsurpassed in history. The rights and
liberties of its citizens were secured at
nome and abroad; vast territories were res
cued from the control of the savages and
tIle wild beasts, and added to the domain of
Ihe Union and civilization. The arts the
ffffaleshfHeSI HIS H6it ana @ commerce grew apace; our
our place among the great nations iYsH OF took ok
earth. But under this smooth surface of
prosperity upon which we glided swiftly,
with all sails set before the common breeze,
dangerous reefs were hidden which now
and then caused ripples upon the surface,
and made anxious the more careful pilots.
Elated by success the ship swept on-the
crew not needing the warnings they re-
ceived, forgetful of the dangers escaped at
the beginning of the voyage, and blind to
the hideous maelstrom which gaped to re-
ceive them. The same elements of discord,
sectional prejudices, interests and insti-
tutions which rendered the formation ofthe
Constitution so difficult, threatened more
than once to destroy it. But for long time
the nation was so fortunate as to possess a
series of political leaders, who, to the high
est abilities, united the same spirit of con-
ciliation which animated the founders of this
republic, and thus for many years the
threatened evils were averted. Time, and
the long continuance of good fortune, OBJ
liberated the recollection of the calamities
of years preceding the adoption of the Con-
stitution. They forgot that Cancellation,
common interests and mutual charity had
been the foundation, and must be the sup
tf6offs Sf ffYg. aSF feRg2fn, men appealed wlfn
abuse, sectional and personal prejudices
and interests, outweighing all considera-
tions of the general good. Extremists of
one section furnished the occasion, eagerly
seized as preteXt by equally extreme men
in the other, for abandoning the pacific
remedies afforded by the Constitution
Stripped of all sophistry and side issues,
the direct cause of the war as it presented
itself to the honest and patriotic citizens of
the North was simply this: ..-
Certain States, or rather q portion of the
inhabitants of certain States, feared, or pro-
lCoScu w ltdl, Judt INJURY WOuiu IOSulI W
private property from the elevation of
particular party to power. Although the
Constitution and the actua, condition of the
country provided them with a peaceable
and sure protection against the apprehend-
ed evil, they prepared to seek security in
the destruction OF the government which
could protect them, and in the use of force
against national troops holding national
fortress. To effaee the insult offered to our
flag, to save ourselves from the fate of the
divided republics Of Itlay and South Amer
lea; to preserve our government from de-
struction; to enforce its just power and
laws: to maintain our very existence as
were the causes which i'm
PEELED us to draw the sword. Rebellion
anst government e.lt lis Of sef-adjust-
ment and pacific remedy for evils, should
never be confounded with a revolution
against despotic power, which refuses re-
dress of wrongs. Such rebellion cannot
be justified upon ethical grounds, and the
only alternatives for our choice are its sup
preston or the destruction of our nation
ality.
CONCLUSION. s
At such time as this, and in such a
struggle, political partisanship should be
merged in a true and brave patriotism,
which thinks only of the good of the whole
country. 1t was in this cause and with
these motives that so many of our comrades
have given their lives, and to this we are all
personally pledged in all honor and fidelity.
Shall such devotion as that of our dead
comrades be of no avail? Shall it be said
in after ages that we lacked the vigor to
complete the work thus begun? That
after all these noble lives freely given, we
hesitated and failed to keep straight on un-
til our land was saved? Forbid 1t, heaven,
and giveus firmer, truer hearts than that.
Oh, spirits of the valiant dead, souls of the
slain heroes, lend us your own indomitable
will, and if it be permitted you to commune
with those still chained by the trammels of
hover around us in the midst of
danger and tribulation--cheer the firm,
the weak, that none may doubt
the salvation of the Republic and the tri-
umph of our grand old flag.
In the midst OF. the storms which toss our
ship of state, there is one great beacon light
to which we can ever turn with confidence
and hope, 1t cannot be that this great ma
tion has played its part in history; 1t can
not be that our sun, which arose with such
bright promises for the future, has already
set forever. 1t must be the intention OF the
oyerruling Deity that this land. so long the
asylum OF the oppressed, the refuge Of civil
and religious liberty, shall again stand forth
in bright relief united, purified, and chas-
tened by our trials, as an example and en-
for those who desire the pro-
gress Of the human race. 1t Is not given to
our weak intellects to understand the steps
Of Providence as they occur; we compre-l
hend them only as we look back upon them
l.; ~, n e, ~ M st. On n IL now Wacar-