Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-03-01

| on our 1eeC again. OHe JhlHR 10 CeiValn,
that bad humor, ill-temper, exhibited
either In restlessness or grumblinS, Will
not hasten it.
Next to this, another great duty we owe
| to ourselves is the exercise of a liberal spir-
| it of forbearance among ourselves.
The first step toward local or general
| harmony is the banishment from our
breasts Of every feeling and sentiment cal
culated to stir the discord of the past
| Nothing could be more Injurious or mischief
ous 10 the future of this country, than the dgItG-
tion at present OfqueSttOns hdtdtUtded Hte Peo-
pie anterior to, or during the existence o. the
| late tCdr. On no occasion, ana especially
| in the bestowment of office, ought such
differences of opinion in the past ever TO De
mentioned, either for or against any one,
otherwise equally entitled to confidence.
These ideas or sentiments of other times
and circumstances are not the germs from
which hopeful organization can now arise.
| Let all differences of opinion touching err
rors, or supposed errors of the head or
heart, on the part of any in the past, grow
| ing out of these matters, be at once In the
deep ocean Of oblivion forever buried. Let
| there be no ordinations or recriminations
on account of acts of other days; no cam
vassing of past conduct or motives.
Great disasters are upon us and upon the
whole country, and without inquirlng how
these originated, or at whose door the iaulC
should be laid, let us now as common shar-
ers of common misfortunes, on all occa-
sions, consult only as to the best means,
under the circumstances as we find them,
| to secure the best ends towards further
amelioration. Good government is what
we want. This should be the leading de-
sire and the controlling object with all;
| and need not assure you, II this can DC
obtained, that our desOlated fields, our
| towns and villages and cities now in ru-
ins. will sOon-like the PhGniX-rise again
| from their ashes; and all our waste places
will again, at no distant day, blossom as the
rose.
This view should also be borne in mind,
chat whatever differences of opinion existed
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 OBJ
iect of all-which was GOOD GOVERNMENT.
| Whatever may be said of the loyalty or dis
LOYALTY of any, in the late most lamentabIe
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 diSIOydhy to the
principles of the Constitution of the United
States-to that system of representative
governments; of delegated and limited
powers; that establishment, in a new phase
on this continent, of all the essentials OF
England's Mama Chdrtd, for the protection
and security OF life, liberty and property;
with the additional recognition of the prin-
ciple as fundamental truth, that all polit-
ical power resides in the people. With us
it was simply question as to where our
allegiance was due in the maintenance of
these principles; which authority was para
mount in the last resort-State or Federal.
AS for myself, can affirm that no senti-
ment of disloyalty to these great principles
of self-government, recognized and em-
bodied in the Constitution of the United
States, eyer beat or thrpbhed >in breast or
heart of mine. To their maintenance my
whole soul WIS ever enlisted, and to this
end my whole life has heretofore been de-
voted, and will continue to be the rest OF
my days-GOd willing. In devotion to
these principles yield to no man living.
This much can say for myself; may | not
saw the same for you and for the great mass
of the people of Georgia, and for the great
mass of the people of the entire South
Whatever differenceseX Xisted among 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 bettering our condi-
tion. instead of establishing our liberties
upon 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 illustrat-
ing the teachings OF history. Wars, and
civil wars especially, always menace lib
| thou caldOnn advance IT. while thew
usually end in its entire overthrow and de-
struction. Ours stopped just short of such
catastrophe. Our only alternative now
is either to give up all hope OF ofcOnstitution-
al liberty or to retrace our steps and to look
for its yihdication and maintenance in the
forums of reason and justice, instead of in
the arena of arms-in the courts and halls
of legislation instead of on the fields of bat.
tie.
lam frank and candid in telling you right
here that our sureSt hopes, IN n'y judgment, to
these ends are in the restoration policy Of the
President Of the United States. have little
hope for liberty-little hope for the success
of the great American experiment of self
goyernment-but in the success of the
present efforts for the restoration of the
States to their former practical relations in
common government, under the Consti-
tuition of the United States.
We are not without an encouraging exam
pie on this line in the history of the mother
cOuntry--in the history of our ancestors
from whom we derived, in a great measure,
the principles to which we are so much de-
voted. The truest friends of liberty in Eng
land once Gin 1642) abandoned 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.
Many usurpations had been checked; many
of the prerogatives of the crown had been
curtailed; the Petition of Right had been
sanctioned; ship money had been abandon
ed; cOurts-martial had been done away
with; hdbeas corpus had been re-establish-
ed: high courts of commission and star
chamber had been abolished; many other
great abuses of power had been corrected.
I and other reforms established. But, not
f., satisfied with these, and not satisfied with
the peaceful working of reason, to go on
v in its natural sphere, the denial of the SOW
ereignty of the crown was pressed, ty the
too ardent reformers, upon Charles the
First. All else he had yielded-this he
would not. The sword was appealed to to
& settle the question; civil war was the re-
D suit; great valor and courage were display
ed on both sides; men of eminent virtue and
patriotism tell in the sanguinary and frat
rieidal conflict; the King was deposed and
executed; Commonwealth proclaimed
d But the end was the reduction OF the peo-
pie of England to worse state of oppres-
| haY tbax hod hnan in tor I'm NJ