The Portland daily press., 1865-08-23
THE AMBNDB HoNoRABLp.

X
THE AMBNDB HONORABLE.
The series of resolutions adopted by the
late Democratic State Convention, among
others contained the following =
O. ResoE0ed, That wewiil saerealy cherish, the NAM
ory Of the countless DEAL who have fallen the great
struggle f5r Constitutional Government, and with
grateful hearts, will do honor to the living who have
perineihfe and fortune In the same great cause
The general spirit and tone of that august
Democratic convention, render the above reso-
luton somewhat ambiguous 1.-THE memory
of the countless dead who have fallen in the
great struggle for Constitutional Govermaent,p
was cherished by the convention. At frs
we supposed this resolution referred to the ii
lustrious dead of the linton army, but the
second sober thoughtp teaches that consist
ency and logic alike forbid such an interpre-
tation OF the resolution. MAJ asgaaa s,t
Haven't the Democratic conventions Of the
last four or five years, insisted that the war OF,
the part of the United States Government
was unconstitutional; that the Government
was fighting not to uphold, but in contrayen-
ton Of the Constitution; not to. aid the cause
of Constitutional Government" but simply
to benefit the "nigger' /? EH 4 ,al.sGW
Now II the United States Government has
been fighting against the Constitution, in yio-
lation of it, and not to uphold Constitutional
Government, then the most natural Inference
is, that JEFF. Davis and his armies hace bee,,
fighting to uphold it, to uphold the Constitu-
tional Government created and put in opera-
ton at Montgomery They are the constitu-
tional party; and il must be their countless
dead" whose memory is cherished, and whose
living heroes are "honoredv for 9perilling life
and fortune in the same great causew
We ask pardon of our Democratic friends
for misunderstanding and misrepresenting
them. We thought they had been inconsist-
ent. Inconsiderately we said so, the other
day, and minated that, under the mesmeric
influence of Messrs. Bradbury and Rice, they
had been made to swallow thisresolution with
out fully approaching its import. @
We should have known better We should
have remembered that, only one year since, at
Chicago, the Great Sanhedrim of the party.
in national convention solenmly- ~
Resofued That this convention, does erpt;c,,,, ne
clare, as the sense of the American people that after
Joar years ct Jqihtre to restore the Union by tie
ezgrHaeato OF tel during which, under preteiise Of
military necessity or power higher than the
constitution, The constunt,on has been dl@egdrded
rights alike trodden down, justice, humanity liber-
ty and the public welfare demand that immediate
Efforts oe made for cessation Of hosthties" &c.
We should have remembered that a party
which could enunciate such an explicit de-
claration" as ''the sense OF the American peo-
pie" could not, consistently or logically, in
one short year, "sacredly cherish the memory
of those who had fallen in such a struggle
against the Constitution, and against liberty,
justice and humanity, nor could they honor
those who had perilled life and fortune in such
a cause. sons qF aa7ila .a.iifs Is irl sdi gll
Nor should we have lost sight of the fact
that only four years since the Democracy of
Maine, in State convention, iemphatically de-
MED the Constitutional power of the General
Government to use sufficient force to maintain
its own authority, and to suppress an armed
rebellion. OF course, no soldier engaged in
such an unconstitutional struggle would be
entitled, dying, TO have his memory cherished,
or living, to be honored for perilling his life
and fortune In such a cause. iT1lsae IS
Neither should we have forgotten that only
one year since, the Democratic Convention at
Bangor nominated man who was ayouched
Tor by the Bangor Democrat as having "ever
oeen opposed to the present acar," and as hav-
ing uniformly been peace Democrat in the
broadest sense of the term.' of course. TAX
ing an opponent of the war for. standard
bearer, the Convention could NOT consistently
cherish the memory of those slain in such
war, or honor those who had perilled life and
fortune in its sanguinary conflicts. anna
In addition to all other considerati ons ai,l
we not know that Judge Howard nominated
for Governor by this very Convention. onlv
last September was one of the first, if not the
first in his ward, to cast ballot deayifaq the
soldier in the field, who was daily perilIing
life and fortune, the right to cole for his own
civil rulers This was all fresh in mind, and
it is past explanation how we could, even for
one moment, have so far lost sight of consis-
tency, as to suppose judge Howard or his
friends, could "sacredly cherish the memory
OF fallen heroes to whom he had denied the
rs9ht Of suffrage, or do honor TO the living
whose Flght TO vote for their own rulers he had
oeIsoerotety dttemptedto veto
In view OF all these facts and considerations
we scarcely know how mako ,ts,o;on+
amends to the party for Inducing The s,,rrol
sition that, in the resolution at the ho,d &c
this article, they referred to the dead and ~
ing heroes Of the Union army. We taIra ="
the implied charge of inconsistency. The ' ,N
ty stands by its old landmarks 1t is f;ot.;n
it out on the same line. "Abe Lincoln,s ,va,s, I
for conquest and the Niger, is over Count
less numbers have fallen OF the sons of the |
DemocfGJ &c South, in their efforts to resist this
unconstitutional war of fanatics, and the Dem
ocradc Convention of Maine Hsacredly cherish
their memory" and not only do this, but, with |
grateful hearts, do honor to the living who
have perilled life and fortune in the same
great causev e9FTf A59kEFs
we trust all Southern papers like the Mobile
fltai8lm. -