Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1866-02-24
WHOLE NUMBER s4S.

Declaration that all men are created equal.
that the sanction Of oil just goveruuient Il
the consent Of the goverped. Can sbesd
truths be roal I'D until each man has .
righ, TO be heard on ell matters relating
| to himself? s.a
Me-. Speaker, we did more than merely
to break OF the chains df the slaves. The
abolition Of slavery added four millioR
citizens TO the Republic BY the decision
Of the Supreme Court, by the decision Of
the Attorney General by the decision Of ali
tie departments of our qovernuient. those
men made free are. by the act of freedom.
made citiz us. As another has said. thav
must be four million dsfrauchisej. dsarmed.
untagpnt, isudess, thrittless, ponproducing.
non consuming, g-aded, men, or four
million aDd-holdDg. industrious, arms.
bearing. aud voting population. Choose
between, The. twof 80
II they are to be disfrancLised, Il they
are to have no voice in determining the
conditions under which they are to live and
labor, what hope Fave they for the futuref
IL will rest with their late masters, whose
treason they aided to thwart, to determine
whether negroes shall be permitted to hold
property, to enjoy the beuefts of education,
" enforce contracts, to have access to the,
courts of Jusice-in in short, to enjoy any of
those rights which give vitality aud valus
To freedom. Whs eau fail to foresee the
ruin aud misery that await this race to
whom the vision of freedom has been
presented only 10 be Withdrawn, leaving
| them without even the aid which the
masters selfish, commercial interest ID,
thor life aud service formerly afforded
shtml wiz these negroes, remembering
the battle fields on which nearly two hun
drcd thousand Of their, number have so'
braVely fought, aud many thousand have
herolcally died, tubmt 10 oppression as
tamely aud peaceably as in the days Of
-laveryI Under such conditions there
could be no peace, 10 security, no pros
perity. The spirit of slavery is still among
Us; it must be utterly des.r royed before We
shall be SAFE I,
| Gibbon has recorded au incident 10 the
which may serve TO illustrate the influence
Of slavery in this country. The Christians
Of Alexandria, under the lead Of Theophilus,
their Bishop, resolved as a means Of over.
throwing Egyptian idolatry. to demolish
the temple of Scraps aud erect on its ruins
a church in honor Of The Christian martyrs:
The colossal statue of Scraps was involved
| in the ruin of his temple aud his religion,
When the Christians entered the sanctuary Of
the god, whose majestic figure touched the
wallis on either side. they we're awe-struck, &hd
for u moment hesitated TO assail him. For
centuries it had been confidently affirmed that
If sny impious haud should dare to viclste tbs.
\ r.
| would instantly return to their original chaos.
An intrepid soldier. animated by zeal and
armed with q wsighty battle ak, ascended the
ladder. apd even the Christisn multitude ex-
pected with some anxiety the event of the
combat. lie aimed q vigorous stroke against
the cheek Of Serspis the cheek fell to the
grouud the thunder was still SILENT and both
the heavens aod the earth continued to pro-,
serve their accustomed order and tranquility.
Il. The victorious soldier repeated bis blows, tho
huge idol was overthrown and broken in pieces,
aud the limbs of Scraps were ignomlniousy
dragged through the streets OF Alexandria,
His mapgled carcass was burnt iu the amphir
} theater amid the shouts of the populace, and
msny persons attributed their conversion to
this discovery OF the impotence Of their tuts-
larry deity.
So sat slavery in this republic Ths
temple of the rebellion was its SANCTUARY,
aud seven million rebels were its devoted
worsbippers. Our loyal millions resolved
to overthrow both the temple and its idol
Gu the lst day OF January, 1863, Abraham
Lincoln struck the grim god on the cheek,
aud the fsithless aud unbslieving among %
expected to nee the fabric Vt our institutions
dissolve into chaos BECAUSE their idol had
fallen. lie struck II again congress aud
Z the states repeated the blow, and its uns
. slightly carcass lies rotting 10 our streets.
Fbe sun shiues in the heavens brighter than
before. lie, US remove the Carcass and leav9
not q vestige Of the monster. We shall
, never have doue that, until we have dared
= to come up to the spirit of the Pilgrim
covenant Of 1920. aud declare that ell nten'
!. shall be con ,ul ed in regard TO the disposi-
tion Of their lives. liberty and property.
Is this congress brave enough and vir-
. tuous enough 10 apply that principle to
! every eitzen, whatever be the color OF his
skin 7 The spirit of our Government do
, msuds that there shall be no rigid, hori.l
: z,ntal strata rluning across CDR political,
society. through which some classes OF
ctizsns may never pass up TO the surface |;
but il shall be rather like the ocean where
every drop cap seek the surface sndgiisten
in she SUI. Until we are true enough and
: brave enough to declare ,hs. in this coun-
. try the humblest, ths lowest. the meanest
. of our ci'iz ms shall not be prevented fr pm
. passing to The highest place he is worthy
0 ~ attain, we shall never realizs freedom in
! ell its glorious meanings I do moi expect
Z We can realzs this result immediately. IL.
may be impossible TO real.z, IL very soon =
T but let us keep our eyes fixed Ia that di-
!. rec,ion, and march toward that goal.
4 There is second great fact which We
1 most recognize, namely. that the seven
, million wh'e men. lately 10 rebellion. now
r stand waiting TO haze their Case adjadged
0 Ito have it determined what their stGfrs
. shall be in this Government. : Shall they
I be held under military power shall they
= be governed by deputies appointed by the
!, Executive or shall they sgain resume tho
] functions Of self government in the Usion---
| are some Of the q,esIions growing out os
this second fact
+ will proceed TO state. IN few words.
= | - ~. q - -