The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1866-03-09
TEE PRESTDENT's SPEECH.


On the first page OF this issue will be /
found the speech of President John
son. delivered on the twenty second Of
February, TO a meeting of his friends
assembled at the White House. There
are some points in this speech which
are calculated to do great good in the
work of restoring peace and unity to
our distracted country. The President
declares that it i time 10 take the Con
stitution from among the musty tones
of forgotten lore in the Executive De-
partnent. where it was hid away by
the late administration, and that that
sacred instrument must be unrOllad,
once more to become thechart by which
we are to be guided in navigating the
stormy ocean of national politics. Nel-
ther the Higher Law, nor the Necessi-
ty or No Law, doctrine is TO prevail a.
nv longer III the administration of the
government. The little bell' in the
State Department is TO be deprived Of
its clapper; the scaholding on which
Military Commissions have had their
little rehearsals of tragedies founded on
incidents in the French Revolution,
is 10 be taken down; the judge on the
civil bench is to he allowed to furbish
his spectacles 50 that he can once more
read IRag1aa Cta12o and perceive in the
fundamental law the right Of the Hc-
6ea& Corpus; in short, we are to have
a streak of that gala sunshine Of iber-
ertv which streamcd in glory from the
doctrines and deeds Of the Republican
fathers. Besides, the President comes
back to the position occupied by the
true friends of the Union ever since the
agitation of the negro question became
an element in politics. Our readers
will remember how faithfully we al
ways clung to the doctrine that the
Abolitionists and SeceSsionists were t.
uually in the wrong, how earnestly We
insisted that they were both alike the
enemies of the Union. This WaS al
ways the position Of the Democratic
party. The President returns to thi.
point, when he declares that there were
two factions which were willing to
break up the government, the one for
the purpose of maintaining theinstitu-
ton of slavery, the other for the pur
pose of destroying it. The former, he
tells US, has been OverthrOWn by force
of arms; the latter, Sat the other end
of the line" isnOw engaged in making
war upon the Government, because its
fanatical purposes have not been fully
accomplished. In order that the pub
lie NAV not misunderstood the allusiOn
of the President TO the persons "at the
other end Of the line" he designates
some of the principal ones, telling Us
that Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sum
ner and Wendell Phillips are the men
who now lead the ranks of the Disun-
ionists. Thus we have the Executive
of the Republic, pointing the finger Of
warning to the leadership Of Stevens,
Sumner and Phillips. They are the
men who for years have given tone to
the sentiments Of their party. To-day
three fourths of the ''Repubiican" Sen
ators and Representatives in Congress
follow their lead and do their bidding.
No man, therefore, who would be a
true Union man and an honest suppor-
ter of Andrew Johnson, can remain in
the Republican" organization. The
question must now be answered, viii
YOU endorse the men whom the Presi-
dent of the United States has denoun
ced as Disunionists, or will you sepa-
rate from them and unite with the
friends of Union and Peace?