American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1864-04-13

ruined. 1t might be saved-it might be
saved. l have tried to save it, but can do
no more" Glorious words / betokening
the great heart of brave, clear, patriotic
statesman, who would have saved the coun-
try, the public property, and subdued the
rebellion had HE been President in place
of Mr.. Buchanan As he was not and
the President would do nothing, he left
the Cabinet. Yet my colleague indorses
Mr.. Buchanan and his policy, thus impli-
edly casting censures and blame upon Gen
eral Cass. I resent the imputation, and
appeal with confidence from his words to
the judgment of a free people, who ,ciu be
sared, ,despiteth theopen treachery of Buchan-
an, or the covert treache,y of his allies and
friends
| have alluded to the fact that the rebel
lion is not new thing in American his
tory; all remember how promptly Jackson
put down one, and Taylor nipped another
in the bud Lincoln has aroused the loy-
atty and patriotism of the country to sub
due the last and worst; and we who are
thus this day engaged, are but following
the teachings of those departed patriots
around whom united country threw its
protecting arms, and upon whose memories
it continues to. lavish its praise. "The
Union, it must and shall be preserved"
was the motto of jackson; it is the heart
work of Lincoln. The rebellion of 1882
was invoked against existing Legislation,
this, much less justifable, and more wick
ed, was inaugurated in the absence of Of
fensive, legislation in fact at the moment
when all legislation was not only harmless,
but harmonious on the late disputed terri
torial question, when by the confession Of
the ablest of their leaders, the slavehold-
ers of the South mad no cause to Justify
secession and when by the truth of his
tory, there was no actual grievance what
ever. This is most vigorously and clearly
presented by the following extract from a
speech of Alexander H. Stevens. deliver
ed in the secession convention of Georgia,
January, 1861:
"This step (of secession) once taken
can never be recalled; and all the baleful
and withering consequences that must fol-
low will rest on the convention for all
coming time. When We and our posteri-
ty shall see our lovely South desolated by
the demon of war, aohioh this act of yoars
aoiU iaee'tobH iRUite and'caN forth, when
our green fields of waving harvest shall
be trodden down by the murderous sol
diery and fiery car of war sweeping over
our land, our temples of justice laid in
ashes, all the horrors and desolation. of war
upon us, 11he bit this convention piU be
held responsible for Il? and who but him
who shall have given his vote for this un-
wise and illtimed measure, as | honestly
think and believe, shall be held 10 strict
account for this suicidal act by The pres
ent generation, and probably be cursed and
erecrated by posterity for all time to come,
for the wide and desolating ruin that will
inevitably follow this act you now propose
to perpetrate. Pause, | entreat you y
What right has tie North assaiied ? What
interest of the South has been invaded {?
What justice has been denied, and what
claim founded in justice and right has
been withheld? Can either Of you to-day
name one governmental act of wrong, de-
liberately and purpesely done by the Gov
ernment at Washington, of which the
South has a right to complain? / chal-
lenge the answer. t*
"We have always had the control of the
General Government, and can yet if we
remain in it, and are as united as we have
been. We have had majority of the
Presidents chosen from the South, as well
as the control and management of most
of those chosen from the North We have
had sixty years of Southern Presidents to
thirty-four, thus controlling the Execu-
tive Department. So of the Judges of
the Supreme Court, we have had eighteen
from the South and but eleven from the
North; although nearly four-ifths of the
| JuulcidI DuoiHecS Has dTlseH III the Tree
States, yet a majority of the Court has al
ways been from the South. This we have
required, so as to guard against any inter-
probation of the Constitution unfayorable
to us. In like manner we have been equ-
ally watchful to guard against our inter-
ests in the legislative branch of Govern
ment. In choosing the presiding presi-
dents (pro tenn. of the Senate, we have
had twenty-four to their eleven. Speak.
ers of the House, we have had twenty.
three and they twelve. While the major
ity of the representatives, from their
greater population have always been from
the North, yet we have so generally Sc
cured the Speaker, because he, to great
er extent, shapes and controls the legisla-
tion of the country -
Attorney Generals, we have had fourteen,
while the North have had but FIVE. For
| eign ministers, we have had eighty six,
and they but 6fty-four.
! We have had the princi-
pie embassies, so as to secure the world
markets for our cotton, tobacco, and su-
gar, on the best possible terms. We have
bad n ,,oot majority of Tho b;oL &c. IL