The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1864-07-15
Letter from Hon. James W. Wall, Of New
jersey.
Rrp11Ncrnv m 4 Inne En-

Nicholson, Cooper, Bill and Others, Sacienas;
GESTIENEN-I have this moment received
your kind invitation to attend the celebration
by the venerable Tammany Society of the an
niyersary of our National Independence. Ow-
ing 10 pre-existlng engagement it will not be
| In my power TO accept.
Recognizing the sincerity of your patriotic
efforts and desires, must confess that | am not
animated by the same hope, that appears to
glow in the bosoms of the sachems of old Tam
many upon the subject of a restored Union.
/ fully appreciate the spirit that induced the
! patriot jackson to utter the famous watch word,
! ''Ihe Union must and shall be preserved, you
have placed so pre-eminently at the head or your
card of invitation but it Ia clear to the most
ordinary comprehension that he meant only in
the constitutional way, and not through the CO.
erclve military agencies Of the Government
/ He distinctly declares in his Farewell Address:
~ sach struggle rs once begun, and tie citizens
ot one section Of tae country arTayed against those
Of another, let tie battle 90 as 1t mag, there 1clH
be an end Of the Uiion
| He believed with Washington, and so assert
ed--''that the foundations Of the Union mast be
La'd IN tie affections Of the people, and therefore
could never have acquired the illogical idea,
that the strength of the superstructure could be
increased, or ITS permanency secured by means
tending directly to undermine these foundations.
! Rely upon 1t, the only hope now, if indeed
there IS any hope left, Is an Immediate cessa-
ton of this hellish slaughter and a speedy peace.
and even then, the restoration Of the old Union
VIII have TO be the work of the healing hand Of
| time, that must obEterate the fierce and savage
/ memories that this fraternal strife will have
evoked. The man who looks for the old Union
to arise beautifed and glorifed from the yet
warm ashes of desoiated Southern homes, from
] the blood OF kindred, shed In civil strife, from
the fierce hate that the dying shall breathe forth
| as legacy to those who survive them, most
surely lmagines vain thing. One of the gra-
vest delusions In an age aboundng with them,
IS that which urges the citizen 'to sacrifice the
last dollar and the last man. in a blind idola
/ try for what is called the Union. | have as
strong love for the old Union, as high an ap-
preclation oil lis benefits its glorious origin, and
/ It's iiustrlous memories rs any man. nay, more
than this, was iaboring to preserve 1t, when
love with it, were willing ''to let It stade, aye,
denouncing it, as "a league tcih hell ana a core
nant ,rah DEATH" / anu nor, however, fanatical
enough to permit q mere sentiment to blind me
to facts, and deaden my sensibili,ies to the exis
L
/ will always put liberty before Union. The pres
ervation of the absolute rights of the citizen,
and the sovereignty of the States, are of ihin-
/ itelY more Importance to me than mere breadth
! OF territory, if that territory must be occupied
| by white slaves; more important than Federal
/ power, If that power is TO welded By usurper
and tYrant. Liberty we must and will have;
its possession is essential to the lite of every free
, a Il
less associated with the first. Of what value
( is Union to the citizen who finds all his guar
anteed rights in the amendments TO the Consti-
tuition entirely gone? His right to free thought,
/ tree speech and free press gone, or swallowed
up i'll the maelstrom of Il grand consolidated
military despotism A Union is a very good
thing to have and to hold but il in order to
SecGre that Union must be content to see the
| Constitution overthrown, the reserved rights of
| the States and the people annihllated, the war
power one Of the attributes Of the Executive,
and myself gazing at it through the barred and
bolted windows of Lincoln's bastes; then /
would trade off thousand such Unions for one
little San MaTino among barren rocks, where
the rights secured by Magma Charta were re-
spected, and where oppression and usurpations
are unknown. But supposing the Union could
be restored, how long, surrounded by the me-
moriais of the past struggle here at the North
would it endure? Certainly every thoughtful
man must admit that The craftsmanship which
suggested inscribing the regimental colors,
symbols commemorative of their having been
borne triumphant in our fraternat bloody con-
ficts; or of erecting monuments as memorials
of our bloody struggles, could never have con-
templated permanently restored Union. The
Il Il
buried in oblivion before permanently restored
Union can be secured. The heathen rulers and
statesmen understood this principle in human
nature apparently much better than the pro-
fessedly enlightened Christians of this noon OF
the nineteenth century. It was Tiberius who,
when the Roman Senate proposed erecting an
altar to vengeance 20 commemorate the death
of Piso replied, ''ihdt public monuments should
commemorate foreign cOnqaeSS, not domestic calan'-
ttes." Caesar on his return from his African
campaigns after his great victory at Thapsus,
upon celebrating his Four Triumphs, wisely
and carefully avoided all illusions by banner:
or otherwise, to what, perhaps, were the mos
brilliant of his achievements---hts ,qctor1es ore'
h:s o,on couatypaen. In Spain and ThessaiY h'
had routed the disciplined legions Of the Ro
mans; ''but their dejeat," he most truly said
brought no dcceSSons OF ho'aoF 10 Ae fepuo1c
TIE gl0iy Il reflected the rctorS Was but dabiou
and barren This Christian nation should hay
learned wisdom from the example OF heather
rulers and statesmen.
IF the settlement of this question reduces i
self TO separation or Southarn subjugatiop, the
| I am for separation thoueand times: becaus
the demoralizing influences and usurped power
that must be evoked to execute such flendis
!. Judgment, would establish at the North des