East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1866-03-07

Il thSHl't ~, Wuilb iucl uSuuhJ ohu III
4 its entire overthrow and destruction.
j, Ours stopped just short of such Gu
tastropho. Our only alternative now
/. lis, either TO give up all hope of Con-
! 3stituiional liberty, or 10 retrace cur
i steps and look for its vindication and
maintenance in tho forums Of reason
4 aud justice, instead of in the arena oi
arms---in the courts and halls of legis-
lation, instead Of on the fields oi
battle. 4 Wg
n am frank and candid in telling
you right here, that our surest hopes,
in my judgment, to these ends, are in
the restoration policy of tho Presi-
dent Of The United States. have
little hope for liberty---little hope for
the success of the great American ex-
pertinent Of self-government---but in
the sudess of the present Efforts for
/. the restoration of the States to their
former practical reinuons IN q com
mon royernnient, under the Constitu-
ton sr the United States.
We are not without an encouraging
oAan.ple in this line in the history oi
4 the njother country--in the history OF
our ancestors-4from whom we derived
Z in n great measure, the principles to
which we are so much devoted. The
truest friends of liberty in England
once, in 1912, abandoned the forum,
of reason, and appealed, as we did,
to the sword, as tho 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 princi-
pies. Many usurpations had been
checked; many of the prerogatives OF
the Crown had been curtailed I; the
Petition of Right had been sane
toned Ship-money had been aban-
doned'; Court-martials had been done
away with; Habecs Corpus had been
re-establshed; High Courts of Com
mission and Star-chamber had been
abolished many other great abuses
of power had been corrected, and
other reforms established. n But not
satisfied with these, and not satisfied
with the peaceful working Of reason,
to 90 on in its natural sphere, the de-
NAL of the sovereignty of the Crown
was pressed 10y the too ardent reform
ers upon Charles the First. All else
he had yielded-this he would not
The sword was appealed to, TO sett o
the question civil war was the re-
suit; great valor and courage were
displayed ON both sides men Of en-
inent patriotism fell in the sanguinary
and fratricidal conflict the King was
! deposed and executed a, Common
wealth proclaime /. But the end was
the reduction of the people of Eng
land 20 worse state of oppression
'L-n thay hnd heen IN fnr inniiirias
They retraced their steps, After
nearly twenty years of exhaustion
and Blood, and the loss Of the greater
portion of the liberties enjoyed by
them before, they, by almost unani-
nous consent called for restoration.
The restoration came. Charles the
Second assembled the throne, as unlim-
tied Il monarch as ever ruled the en-
pire. Not pledge was asked or a
guarantee given, touching tho conces-
si"ns of the royal prerogative that
had been exacted and obtained from
his father.
The true friends of liberty, of re-
form and of progress in government,
had become convinced that these were
the offspring of peace and of enlight-
ened reason, and not of passion nor
Of arms. The House Of Commons
and the House of Lords were hence
forth the theaters of their operations,
and not the fields of Newbury or
Marston-Moor. The result was, that
in less than thirty years, all their an
cent rights and privileges which had
been lost III tho civil war, with new
securities We're re-established in the
ever-memorable settlement of 1868,
which, for all practical purposes, may
be looked upon as bloodless revolu-
ten, Since that time England has
made still further and more signal
strides in reform and progress. Blu.
not one of these has been effected by
resort to arms. Catholic emancipa-
ton was carried in Parliament after
years OF argument, against the most
persistent opposition. Reason and
justice ultimately prevailed. So with
the removal of the disability of the
, Jews7-so with tho overthrow of the
Retten-borough system so with the
eStension of franchise so with the
modification ut the Curn-laws aud ro-
strirtions on commerce, opening the
way TO the establishment of the princi-
pies OF free trade--and so with all the
other great, reforms by Parliament
! which have so distinguished English
history for tile last half century.
May We not indulge hope, even in
the alternative before us now, from
this great example of restoration, if
all but do rs the friends of liberty
there did? This is my hope, my only
hope. Il is founded on the virtue, in
telligence and patriotism of the Amer
Ican people. 4 have not lost my faith
IN the People, or in their capacity for
selfrgovernment. But for these great
essential qualities Of human nature TO
be brought into active and efficient
exercise, for the tufillment of patri-
otto hopes, it is essential that the pas
sions of the day should subside; that
the causes of these passions should
not now be discussed that the em-
bers Of tho, late strife shall not be
stlrred. ,.f, .r
Man by nature is ever prone to
scan Closely the errors and defects Of
his feliow man :, ever ready 70 rail at
the mote in ,lis brothers eye, without
considering the beam that is in his
own. This should not be. We all
phayel our notes or beams. We are
oil frail; perfection is the attribute of
nome, DreIudico, tr pre-ltldUmenf