Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1866-02-26

been favored by me under his Aamlu&F /
tration, when / was appointed By MIN 70 7
q particular position for that very pur
pose. An inscrutable Providence saw
proper to remove him from, this to, / |
think, a better world, and Ifcame into
his place but there is not a principle of
bis IN reference to the res Grafton of the /
Union, from which have depaEsed, none
This, war is not simply upon nae but it Isl
upon my predecessor also. Il havetfieds
to do my duty. I reckon some are ens
-vious, and jealous of the White House !
as having attractions for the President; !
let me say 10 you the charms of the
White House has as little influence upon
any individual in this country, and
much less upon me than upon those who
are talking about it. The little that II
eat and wear does not amount TO much,
and the difference between what is
enough to sustain me and my little
family, it is very small, for Z am not kin
to many folks by consanguinity, though
by affinity I am akin to everybody. The
proud and conscious saiisfsction Of
having perform ed "a dutyta my country 4
to my children and to the American
people is all the reward ask. Great
applause. sas1ssg b
In conclusion, let this vast concourse,
this sea of upturned faces, to come with !
me, or I will 90 with you and stand
around the Constitution of our country;
it is again imperiled.. Tbs people are
invited to read and understand, to sus-
tain and maintain It's provisions. Let
us stand by the Constitutions of eur
fathers, though the heavens themselves
should fall Though faction may rage,
though taunts and peril mey come,
though abuse and vituperation may
be poured out in the most virulent
form, / mean TO be found standing by
the Government. M -
know that some do not attach as
much peftance 70 tbs point as = do,
but / regard it as fundamentals One
principle !. that carried us through the
revolution was that there should be no
taxation without representation, ! hold
to that principle which was laid down
az fundamental By our fathers. Ii was
good then, it is. good now. If it was
worth standing by then it 10 worth
standing by now It is fundamental,
and should be observed as long as free
government lasts. I am aware THAI 10
the midstoE the REBELLION itwas,said 81
some that the Constitution had been
rolled up as a piece of parchment and
laid away; and that in time of war and
rebellion there was no Constitution.
We know that sometimes IN great neces
stiles, under great emergencies, uDcon-
stitutional things must sometimes nee
essarily be done 10 order 10 preserve
the Constitution itself ) but if while The
rebellion was going Oh, Che Constitution
was rolled up and laid away, if it was
violated in some particulars, in ordsr. to
save the Government5 all may be iex-
cused and Justified, because, in saving
!the Government you really saved the
Constitution.
Now that peace has come, now that
the war is over, we want again the bene-
fit of written Constitution, and say
the time has come to take the Conssitu-
ition down to unrayel it, to reFead ito
understand lis provisions Thoroughly;
and now in order to save the overn.
ment, wegmnst pernse the Constitution;
our only safety is in asstrict adherence
and preservation of the Constitution of
our fathers. II is now unfolded, it must
now be read, 10 must now be digested
and understood by the American people.
| am here to-day making these remarks
to vindicate the Constitution, and .to-saye
it, as do believe. I have ever resisted
encroachments npons the Constitution,
and ! stand prepared to resist them to-
day, and thereby preserve the CoHstit1s
ton and Goysrment of the United
States Cheersl 1t isnow time of eace,
and let Us have peace; let us enforce
the Constitution; let US live under and
according to'its provisions; let it be pub
lished and printed in blazing characters,
though il were in the heavens and pune
tured by the stars, so that all can read
and all can understand; let us consult
that instrument and be gnided By its pro-
visions; letus understand them, and nm
standing them, abide by them. tell
the opposer of this Government, care
not from what quarter they come, East
or West, North or South, you who are
engaged in the work of breaking up the
Government, are mistaken. The Con-
siitution of the United States and the
principles of free government are deep
ly rooted in the American heart, and all
the powers combined cannot destroy that
great instrument, that great chart of
freedom. Other attempts, though they
may seem to succeed, will be futile.
They might as we'll undertake to lock up
the winds or chain the waves of
the ocean and confne them with
in limits, as undertake to repeal |
the Constitution and indeed it
seems nov to be Supposed that il can be
repealed BY coneutrent reports, laugh
ter, but when the question is submitted |
to the popular judgment, and to the mass
of the people, these men will find that |
they might just as we'll introduce res
olution to repeal the law of gravitation. |
The attempt to keep this Union from be-
ing restored is just about as feasible as
the resistance to the great law of CRAWL
tation which binds all to common CEN
ter. The great law of political gravita- |
tion will bring back these States, and |
replace them in all their relations to
the Federal Government.E Ciques and
cabals, conspiracies and Vaccinations,
North and South, cannot prevent this
great conservatism. Trem endous APP
plause All that is wanted is time. Let
the American people get to understand |
what is gong on, and they will soon
manifest their determination. Here,
by way of explanation, let me say, that
wish to God the whole American people
were assembled here to-day, as yon and /
wish there were O vast amphitheatre here,
capacious enough to contain the whole
thirty millions, and they could witness
the great struggle that is going on to
preserve the Constitution of their faith
ers, they would soon settle the question;
if they could once see how things are;
if they could see the kind of spirit that
is manifested in the effort to break up |
the raal. principles of free goVernment,.
when they come to understand who was
for them and who was against them, and
who was for elevating them and preserE
ing their government. If the combat
ants should stand before them, and there
could be a. regular SET to between the
respective gladiators, in the first tilt you
would find that the enemies of the coun-
try would be crushed. and the people
Il