Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-01-24
NUMBER l77.aan

friend of the Union and of the rights ofthei
States. He is base libeler who says 0ther-it
wise! HOpelessly7 severed by rivers Of
blood, Its old allies its enemies, weakened,
but not broken as National party by no
want OF patriotism in the great body OF itsr
members, 1t arose amidst the blaze and
thundefs OF war to give Mcclellan. in 1884,
over one million six hundred thousand
votes! True, we are in a minority in Con-
gress and In the States; but If my voice
could reach them, would say to the S0ath.h
Behold this array 1t was not victoriOus,s
but by your aid 1t might have been, can be,
and will be !! AS the greater body-indeed,
as the regular organization, never broken
save by your defection--we ehtreat, you
would be rid of your present disabilities, to-
consider your future alliances. You have
as yet asked no amnesty from MS. We de-
sire no humiliation from you.l You know
us now to have been your friends Of old,
when you left us to your enemy and ours
We spread the mantle of oblivion over
the past. lift be in your power 10 help, It,
Is In ours to forgive. Ifyou have the spirit
to accept, we have the spirit to tender the
offices of kindnees. III in your hearts you
can kiss the old flag, and reverence the DIDO
Constitution, you are Democrats againlu
We ask no further. The Democracy is then
rehabilitated, and you are then reconstruct
ed. We ask no test oaths, and will not
trouble you to consult Mr.. Thaddeus Ste-U
yens or Charles Sumner. Your home shall,
be ours; your country ours. No dead !,
States. There shall be nothing alien to US u
which is not foreign to you. Nothing do
mestlc with us which shall not be at home
to you. We will help you plant again the
seed whose perfect leaves, flowers and
fruits shall be yours, with ours, to enjoy.
Let this be done In a spirit of kindness and
faith, for these are greater than power, andd
bring more happiness than all the symbols
ofrank. - -
"Howeer it be- itseems 10 me,
'Tis only noble 90 be good; -liHA ta -a
Kind hearts are more than cnrOnets, f.y ,frr
And simple faith than Norman blood"
You have had Affections; they may be so
divided between us, as to be, il not Invisible
at least to become iDsensible. You have
been your own Atropos, but we will help
you to take up the severed thread and to-
gether we will twine its tissues into new
and happier national life. AS In sadness
your best friends mournfully, but firmly
drew the sword to sustain the Government
you strove so rashly to destroy; SO now we
will initiate, In so far as we can, the Divine
goodness, which the Chief Magistrate has
taken as the model of his aets-and while
doing you no injury, do ourselves none by
revenge, which is the worst of injuries TO-,
him who cherishes it. If the uncharitable
votes of the present Congress drive You
from the door, to which the President calls
you, and strives still further to wreak its
wrath on you, we will stand by the Execu-
tive between you and further harm! We
will keep the compact, which the good Sir
Thomas Brown made with himself: "Let
not the sun in Capricorn go down upon our
wrath; but let us write our wrongs in ashes.
Draw the curtain of night upon injuries
shut them up in the tower of oblivion, and 2
letthem be as though they had not beens---if
To forgive, yet hope God Will punish them.
Is not to forgive enough. To forgive and
nOtpray God to forgive, is partial piece Of
charity. Forgive thine enemies totally and
without any reserve.n -.#.rI 1u .l.ut.,If
This shall be our revenge for your treat
ment of us as your allies in Democracy. 1t
shall be sweet, for it has in it the beatitudes
OF the Savior. If our arrows fall short or
be aimed like those of Jonathan, to fall be-
side the mark, they shall, when gathered
up, be found feathered with the dove of
peace, or from the wing of that eagle that
used to soar in our oratory and yours.
In this spirit the Democracy present the
hand of friendship and the symbols OF con-
cord. Providence has given us the Presi-i
dent from the South, and the issues of pOlit-
ical government are so forming themselves
thatyour interest will be with our inclina-
tion, in the line OF duty to our whole coun-J
try. We may unite on the principles laid
down in President Johnson's message that
the Union shall be perpetual, the Constitu-s
ton our guide that it has within itselft the
resources for its own preservation and re-l
form; acquiescence in the legally expr,ss-l
ed will of the majority; the State Cow
ernments, North aud South, to
be protected in all their rights; no
renouncing by State of its place in the
IAin hNyN l;fo a
perpetuity of the States bound up with that
of the Union; no conquered territory held
by military power; no dead States; no po-l
litical suicides; the States to be restored
and the powers of local self-goVernment toI
be exercised without abridgement or usur-,,
patton by the Federal central power. Thus
made strong at home, in our foreign rela-
tion all will be eager to attain our right
ful majesty and strength as power in the
world. .... ....,.. .'~,...l. So.
Thus united, the misguided ideologists
who are again striving to embroil the sec
tions, may soon be entombed. Prosperity,a
the handmaiden of contentment, will make
the South smile again with its old cultiya-
tion. If you of the South can shake hands
with us on these teuets, the sectional enemy
will disappear from our politics; and IL he
does not, we can unite to hurl him from the,
battlements. The Democracy, which cour-,
aReOuSIy lOr years, amidst local prejudceS
aud reproaches, kept the national policy Of
the Government, and which. during these
years of war, never failed 10 protest against
the eclipse ofliberty Empower; who, intimes
past assumed the burdens, and exulted In
the glories of nationality, who are to-day
arrayed against the Improbable contention
concerning the black race, and who look TO-
the white race for the welfare and greatness,
OF the country-that party ever hOnored
In this Hall, as the party Of Constitutional
Liberty, and whose love had no bound save
the limits of the Republic, will again arise,
and put on the beautiful garments. Itsin-,
huence will give new blood and fresh inn
pulse to International Frame From oceautoi
ocean, from lake 10 gulf from the gold
bearing sierras and silver yielding lOdes Of
The Pacific to, the, fruitful valleys Of the
Mississippi, and the rich marts of the AT
lantic, its footsteps from State to State VIII
be those of Demi-god on pathway Of
stars. In the majestic strength ot aunited
nation, with the calm energy Of Democratic
Iorce, the great Republic, launched under,
the auspices of our party, sailing under
our shipping articles, only becalmed and
staggered by the storms of our adversafies,i
may move In her career, uncOnquored and.
sublime to its destiny among the nationsiI
-f5a1l elL LIoME III ~ TdW7T ~ T-T-7-77T