East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1864-07-20


result VIZ must lose even the common
law. That body of law-the source
of the rights of property and person,
the nursery of freedom, the origin of
'suffrage--exists only by reason of the
distinct sovereignties of the States
II ever the national powers shall COM
pletely overcome those sovereignties,
the common law viii disappear.
No more awful spectacle can be
contemplated than that of q great.
powerful and energetic nation, who
have no rule Of action but the rule of
a written Constitution. and who have
lost their fidelity 10 its requirments. -
We have been 50 situated, through
three whole years of civil war that ID
has been in the power of extreme and
violent men to denouncs q pure and
high regard for the limitations Of our
fundamental law as treason to the
Union. The moral cowardice which
has made Us shrink from defending
the unquestionable rights Of the State
from fear of being charged with COM
plicity in rebellion, has deprived the
nation, in its utmost need, Of the coun-
sells and thoughts Of many Of its best
citizens, and has made many man
in public station yield his assent TO
measures which his reason aud con-
science disapproved. We must correct
this evil, or we shall have no means
left to us by which we can rescue our
country from the laws Of ruin. Pa
thence, moderation, obedience to law,
whilo it romans law, and fidelity to
the Constitution forever, are the vir-
tues on which our salvation depends.
But this solemn theme, reaching into
the impenetrable future, extends be-
yond oil the limits Of public speech
appropriate to such an occasion as
this. We have priceless Inheritance
70 defend, and / will not say that un-
der present circumstances. the exist
ing military struggle can be discon-
timed. But it must be conducted by
power that will respect the funda-
mental civil conditions of our nation
al existence, or its exertions will be
utterly fruitless of any good. We all
know that there is a sword, which
was drawn at the first, i'll defence Of
the Constitution, and which can never
be used for its subversion. Let him
who wears that sword, whether he
is reserved by the government for
one or another emergency, whether
he is TO be called by the people to one
or another public position-receive
the confidence which his character
and your own welfare alike demand
at your hands. Guard his reputation
as you would guard one Of your dear
est possessions.
1t is no light thing that, at so early
an age, such capacities and such a
character as his should have become
developed among us to the full statute
OF soldier and statesman, and
should have become known through
out the land for the purity and eleva-
ton that have married. from his first
appearance in this stormy, this peril
Gus period of our national history. I
am no solicitor, in his behalf, for
mems sufirayes, to place him any
where; and l know well how gravely,
how truly, how conscientiously, as one
should upon trust for the public
good, he looks upon all that abund-
ant measure of admiration and appro-
baton which flows to him from the
hearts Of his countrynen. / know
that you cannot call him to assume
any responsibility concerning which a
noble sense of duty will not be the
sole ground of his determination, and
the sole spring of all his acts; and l /.
also know, if l am capable of know
ing anything that concerns the well
fare of my country, that to him, or to
men like him, the American people
must look, hereafter, if they would
preserve that system Of constitutional
government without which all power
and all dominion will be like
Dead-sea fruits,
Which tempt the eye,
But turn 70 ashes on the lips.