Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1866-03-14

: opinion in the past ever to be mentioned
either for or against any one, otherwis
equally entitled to confidence. Thes
ideas or sentiments of other times an,
circumstances, are not the germs from
which hopeful organization can now arise
Let all differences of opinion, touchin
errors, or supposed errors, of the head o
heart, on the part of any, in the pas
growing out of these matters, be at once
in the deep ocean of oblivion, foreve
buried. Let there be no elimination
or denominations on account of acts o
other days. No csnvassing of past con
duct or motives. Great disasters are upor
US and upon the whole country, and with
out enquiring how these originated, or a
whose door the fault should be laid, le
US now as common sharers of common
misfortunes, on all occasions, consult only
as to the best means, under the ciTcum
stances as we find them, to secure the
best ends towards future amelioration.-
Good government is what we want. Thii
should be the leading desire and the con
trolling object with all; and l need not as
sure you, if this can be obtained, that oul
desolated fields, our towns aud villages
and cities now In ruins, will soon-like
the Phenix-rise again from their ashes
and all our waste places will again, at nc
distant day, blossom as the rose.
This view should also be borne in mind,
that whatever differences of opinion exis.
ted before the late fury of the war, they
sprung mainly from differences as to the
best means TO be used, and the best line
of policy to be pursued, to secure the
great controlling object Of all-which was
good government. Whatever may be said
of the loyalty or disloyalty of any, in the
late most lamentable conflict of arms,
think | may venture safely to say, that
there was, on the part of the great mass
of the people of Georgia, and Of the entire
South, no disloyalty to the principles ot
the constitution of the United States. To
that system of representatives government;
of delegated and limited powers; that
establishment in new phase, on this
continent, of all the essentials of Eng.
lands Magma Chdrta, for the protection
and security of life, liberty and property;
with the additional recognition of the
principle as fundamental truth, that all
political power resides in the people. With
US it was simply a question as to where
oar allegiance was due in the mainten-
ance of these principles-which authori.
ty was paramount in the last resort
State or federal. As for myself, can af
firm that no sentiment of disloyalty to
these great principles of government,
recognized and embodied in the constitu-
ton of the United States, ever beat or
| thFobbed in breast or heart of mine. To
their maintenance my whole life has
heretofore been devoted, and will contin-
ue to be the rest of my days-God will
ling. In devotion to these principles, 1
yield to no man living. This much can
say for myself; may 1 not say the same
for you and for the great mass of the peo
pie of Georgia, and for the great mass of
the people Of the entire South? Whatever
differences existed amongst US, arose from
differences as to the best and surest
means of securing these great ends, which
was the object of all. 1t was with this
view and this purpose secession was tried.
That has failed. Instead of lettering our
condition, instead of establishing our lib
critics upon a surer foundation, we have,
in the war that ensued, come well nigh
losing the whole of the rich inheritance
with which we set out.
This is one of the sad realizations of the
present. On this, too, we are but illustra-
ting the teachings of history. Wars, and
civil wars especially, always menace liber-
ty; they seldom advance it; while they
usually end in its entire overthrow and
destruction. Ours stopped just short of
such a catastrophe. Our only alternative
now is, either to give up all hope of con-
stitutional liberty, or to retrace our steps,
and to look for its Vindication and MAIN
tenanee in the forums of reason and JUS
tioe, instead of in the arena of arms-in
the courts and halls of legislation, instead
of on the fields of battle.
l am frank and candid in telling you
right here, that our surest hopes, in my
judgment, to these ends. are in the res
toration policy of the President of the
United States. have little hope for lib
hope for the success of the
great American experiment of selfgov-
in the success of the pres
ent efforts for the restoration of the
States to their former practical relations
in a common government, under the Con-
of the United States.
We are not without an encouraging ex-
ample on this line in the history of the
mother oountry-in the history of our an
whom we derived in a great
measure, the principles TO which we are
20 much devoted. The truest friends of
liberty in England once, in 1912, aband-
Oned the forum of reason, and appealed, !
as we did, to the sword, as the surest
means, in their judgment, of advancing
their cause. This was after they had |
made great progress, under the lead of
Coke, Hampden, Falkland and others in |
the advancement Of liberal principles
Msny usurpations had been checked !
many of the prerogatiVes of the Crown |
lad been curtailed the Petition of Right !
lad been sanctioned; Ship-money had been
abandoned; ouIts-Martial had been done |
lway with Habsas Corpus had been re-
High Courts of Commission /
md Star-Chamber had been abolished /; |
many other great abuses of power had /
leen corrected, and other reforms estab-
ished. But not satisfied with these, and |
Tot satisfied with the peaceful working
# reason, to go on in its natural sphere,
he denial of the sovereignty of the
Jrown was pressed by the too ardent re-
ormers upon Charles the First. All else
le had yielded-this he would not. The
word was appealed to, to settle the ques-
ion civil war was the result; great val
II and courage were displayed on both
ides men of eminent virtue and patri-
itism fell in the sanguinary and fratricidal
onhict; the King was deposed and ex-
cuted; a Commonwealth Proclaimed
Sut the end was the reduction of the peo-
lie of England to worse state of oppress-
On than they had been in for centuries.
hey retraced their steps. After nearly
wenty years of exhaustion and blood, and
he loss of the greater portion of the lib
rites enjoyed by them before they, by
lmost unanimous consent, called for res
oration. The restoration came. Charles
he Second assembled the throne, as uniim-
led a monarch as ever ruled the empire.
Tot a pledge was asked or guarantee
iven touching the concessions of the
loyal prerogative, that had been exaeted
nd obtained from his father.
The true friends of liberty, of reform
nd of progress in government, had be-
ONE convinced that these were the off
pring of peace and of enlightened reason,
nd not passion nor of arms. The House
f Commons and the House of Lords were
enceforth the theatres of their opera
ans, and pct the heids OF NewherrY or
Larston- Moor. The result was, that in