Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1866-08-21

! on your behalf, we who are here assembled
have undertaken to perform
For the first time after six long years of
alienation and Of conflict we have come to-
/ gether, from every State and every section of
our land, as citizens of common country
under that flag, the symbol again of a common
/ glory, to consult together,how best to cement
and perpetuate that union which is again the
| object of our common love, and thus secure
the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posteritY. ss-
In thezfrst place we invoke you to remem-
Der always and everywhere that the war is
ended, and the nation is again at peace. The
shock of contendiug arms noionger assails the
shuddering heart of the republic. The in
| surection against the supreme authority of the
nation has been suppressed, and that authori-
| ty has been again acknowledged by word am,
act in every State. and by every citizen Nth
In its Jurisdiction. We are no logger res
| CURED or permitted to treat eaci. other MS on
emies. Not only have the :.cts, of war been
discontinued and the Weapons of war laid
aside, but the stat, of war no longer exists:
and the sentiments, the passions, the relations
OF war have no longer lawful or rightful place
anywhe.e throughout our,broad domain. We
are gain people of the United States-fellow-
! citizens OF one country, bound by the duties
and obligations of common patriotism, and
I having neither rights nor interests apart from
a common destiny. The duties that devolve
| upon us now are again the duties of peace,
and no longer the duties of war. We have
assembled here to take counsel concerning the
1 interests OF peace; to decide how we may
most wisely and effectively heal the wounds
the war has made, and perfect and perpetu-
| ate the benefits it has secured and the bless
ings which, under wise aud benign Provi,
| QencR have mn in re
This is the work not of passion, but of calm
and sober judgment; not of resentment for
past offences, prolonged beyond the limits
| which justice and reason prescribe, but of
liberal craftsmanship which tolerates what it
cannot prevent, and builds its plans and its
hopes for the future, rather upon a commu-
nifty of interests and ambition than distrust
and weapons of force. In the next place, we
call upon you to recognize, in their full sig
niticance, and to accept with all their lcgiti-
mate consequences, the political results Of the
war just closed. In the most important par
ticular; the victory achieved by the national
government has been final and decisive
{. First, it has established beyond all further
controversy and by the highest of all human
sanctions, the absolute supremacy of the ma
! tlonal government as defined and limited by
the Constitution of the United States, and
the permanent integrity and indissolubility of
! the Federal Union as necessary consequence
And second, it has put all end, finally and
forever, to the existence of slavery upon the
soil or within the jurisdiction of the United
States. Both these points came directly in.
vOlved in the contest, and controversy upon
both was ended absolutely and finally by the
result. In the third place, we deem it of the
utmost importance that the real character of
the war, and thevictory by which it was closed
should be accurately understood. The war
was carried on by the. government of the
| United States IN maintenance Of its own au>
thority and in defence of its own existence,
| both OF which were menaced by the insur-
rection which it sought to suppress. The
| suppression of that instruction accomplished
that result The government Of the United
States maintained by force Of arms the su-
preme authority over all the territory and
over all the States and people within its ju-
| risdiction, which the constitution confers up
| on it. But it acquired thereby no new pow>
err; no enlarged jurisdiction no rights either
Of territorial possession or of civil authority,
which it did not possess before the rebellion
broke out. All the rghtful power it can evcI;
| possess is that which is conferred upon it.
either in express terms. or by facts and nc
cessary implication, by the constitution of the
| United States.
| 1t was that power and that authority which
the rebellion sought to overthrow, and the
| victory of the federal arms was simply the
defeat of that attempt. The government of
the United States acted throughout the war
on the defensive. It sought only to hold
possession of what was already its own
Neither the war, nor the victory by which it
was closed, changed, in any way, the cousti-
tuition of the United States The war was
carried ON by virtue of its provisions and un-
der the limitations which they prescribe, and
the result OF the war did not either enlarge.
abrldge, or In any way change or affect the
| powers 1t conters upon the federal govern
ment, or release that government from the
restrictions which it has imposed The con-
stitution of the United Suites is to-day pre-
| clsely as 1t was before the war, SHE supreme
TAO oEthe Ldnd, anything in the constitution
| or laws of any State to the contrary notwitb
standing" And to>day, also, precisely as
before the war, 'ali powers not conferred by
the constitution upon the general govern
ment, nor prohibited by it to the States is
reserved to the several States, or to the peo>
pie thereof"
This position is indicated not only bv the
essential nature of our government, and the
language and spirit of the constitution, but bv
all the acts and the language of our govern
ment in all its departments and at all times.
| From the outbreak of the rebellion to its final
overthrow, in every message and proclamation
of the Executive, it was explicitly declared
that the sole object and purpose of the war
was to maintain the authority of the consti-
tuition, and to preserve the integrity of the
! Union. And Congress more THAI once re-
iterated this solemn declaration, and added
the assurance thatwheneverth this object should
be attained the war should cease, and all the
| States should retain their equal rights and
dignity unimpaired, 1t is only since. the war
was closed that other rights have been as
serted on behalf of one denartment Of the