Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1865-04-20

q more enduring basis than ever be-
fore. { Cheers. But. my friends,
in what has the great strength of this
Government consisted Has it been
in one mans power2 Has it been in
some autoerat, or in some one man
who held absolute government Nol
| / thank God have it in my power
to proclaim the great truth that this
Government has derived its strength
from the American people. They
have issued the edict; they have ex-
ercised the power that has resulted
in the overthrow of the rebellion, and
there is not another Government
upon the face of the earth that could
have withstood the shock. (Cheers.
We can now congratulate ourselves
that we possess the strongest, the
freest, and the best Government the
world ever saw. {Great applause
Thank God that we have lived
through this trial, and that, looking
in your intelligent faces here to day,
1 can announce to you the great fact
that Petersburg, the outpost of the
strong citadel, has been occupied bv
our brave and gallant officers, and
our untiring inviEcible soldiers
(Great cheering. J And not content
with that, they have captured the
citadel itself, the stronghold of trai-
tors. Richmond is ours, and is now
occupied by the forces of the United
States! Tremendous cheers Her
gates have been entered, and the
glorious stars and stripes, the en-
blem of Union, of power, and of su-
premacy, now float over the enemy's
capital (Great cheering. In the
language of another, let that old flag
rise higher and higher, until it meets
the sun in his coming, and let the
parting day linger to play upon its
ample folds. CHEERS. 1t is the
flag of your country, it is your flag,
it is my flag, and it bids defiance to
all the nations of the earth, and to the
encroachments of all the powers
combined (Renewed cheering 1t
is not my intention to make any i'm
prudent remarks or allusions, but the
hour will come when those nations
that exhibited toward US such inso-
lence and improper interference in
the midst of our adversely, and, as
they supposed, OF our weakness, will
learn that this is government of the
people possessing power enough to
make itself felt and respected
(Cheers. In the midst of our re
ioicing, we must not forget to drop
tear for those gallant fellows who
have shed their blood that their Gov
ernment might triumph. We cannot
forget them when we view the many
bloody battle-felds of the war, the
new made graves, our manned friends
and relatives who have left their
limbs, as it were, on the enemy's
soil; and others who have been con-
signed to their long narrow houses
with no winding sheet save their
blankets saturated with their blood.
One word more, and l haze done. 1t
is this: am in favor of leniency; but,
IN my opinion, evil doers should be
punished (Cries of That's so!' J
Treason is the highest crime known
in the catalogue of crimes; and for
him that is guilty of it-for him that
is willing to lift his impious hand
against the authority of the nation
/ would say death is too easy pun
ishment. loud cheers.) My no.
ton is that treason must be made
odious, that traitors must be punish
ed and impoverished, their social
power broken, though they must be
made to feel the penalty of their
crimes. You, my friends, have trai-
tors in your very midst, and treason
needs rebuke and punishment here
as well as elsewhere. 1t is not the
men IN the field who are the greatest
traitors. 1t is the men who have en-
couraged them to imperil their lives.
while they themselves have remained
at home expending their means and
exerting all their power to overthrow
the Government. Hence 1 say this
the halter to intelligent, infuen-
tial traitors Loud cheers. } But
to the honest boy, to the deluded
man, who has been deceived into the
rebel ranks, l would extend leniency.
I would say, return to your allegi-
ance, renew your support to the
Government, and become good cit
izen; but the leaders 1 would hang.
(Great cheering) 1 hold, too, that
wealthy traitors should be made to
remunerate those men who have sui
fered as consequence of theircrime
Union men who have lost their
property, who have been driven from
their homes, beggars and wanderers
among strangers. 1t is well to talk
about these things here to day, in
addressing the well informed persons
who compose this audience. You
can, to very great extent, aid In
moulding public opinion, and in CIV
ing it a proper direction, Let us
commence the work. We have put
down these traitors in arms; let us
put them down in law, in public
Judgment, and in the morals of the
world lGrsat cheers. Permit me
now to propose three cheers for the
capture of Richmond"
------> 49, =
sss-George Burns has been sentenc-
ed to work ten days on the -fortiica-