The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1866-04-28

States denying the doctrine Of separa
ton and secession / denied then, as
do now, that any State has the right Of
it's own will to separate itself from thu
other States, and the right to destroy
the Union, and break up the Govern
ment; and ! think ] have given some
evidence that ! have been sincere and
in earnest. And now ! want to know
why it is that the whole train Of Sian
derers and calumniators have beer
barking and swapping at my heels
| (Cheers.) Why is it they have arrayed
themselves against me? Is it because
stand on the side Of the people
And when l say the people, / include
sailors and soldiers. CHEERS. Why
is it that they are arraycd in traducing
and falsitying and eliminating me
Where were they during the rebellion
just ended? Iaver at home and in bed
(Laughtcr) In the Senate raised my
voice against it, and when it was be-
lieved that it would be to the interest
of the nation, and would assist in put
ting down the rebellion, did / leave my
place in the Senate, aplace of emolu'
ment, ease and distinction, and take my
position where the enemy could be
reached, and where mems lives were in
danger. CHEERS and cries Of "that's
sor') Whilst / was thus exposed per
sonally and publicly, some Of my pres
ent traducers and calumniators were
far removed from the foe, and were en-
joying ease and comfort. (Cheers and
laughtcr) But care not for them.
care not that SANDER, the foul whelp OF
sin, has been turned loose against me.
l care not for all that they may tell you
here to-day. Although pretty well adj
vanccd in life, ] feel that | shall live
long enough to live down the whole
pack Of traducers and slandercrs. Ap-
plause. They have turned the whole
pack loose to lower me in your estima-
ton. Verify, they cunt do it. Tray,
Blanche and Sweetheart" little dogs
and all, come along swapping and
snarling at my heels, but heed them
not. CHEERS.
The American people, citizens, sol
diers, and sailors, know that from my
advent into public life to the present
moment, | have always stood unwavcr-
ingly the advocate and defender of their
rights and interests. (Cheers.) We
are now in the nations third ordeal.
We are not yet through. We denied
that States could go out of the Union.
We denied the doctrine Of secession,
and we have demonstrated that we
were right. We demonstrated it by
the strong arm. Yes, the soldiers and
the sailors, God bless them, have dem,
onstrated, by their patriotism and
strong arms, that States have not the
power to leave the Union. (Applause.
What followed? The Confederate ar,
mics were overpowered aud disbanded
and there was willingness on the part
of the people Of those States to come
back in obedience to the law, and &C
knowledge the supremacy OF the Con
stitution of our fathers. For what
have we passed through this ordeal
1t was to prove the principle that nc
State had the power to break up the
Government. 1t was to put down the
rebellion. The rebellion has been put
down, and for whatY Was it to des-
troy the States? Verify, never Fol
what have all these lives been sacri,
feed, and all this treasure expended
Was it for the purpose of destroying
the States? No. 1t was for the pur
pose of preserving the Union of the
States. That, is what we have beer
contending for, and to establish th(
fact that the nation can lift its owl
head above and beyond internal wars
and treason and traitors at home.
When the rebellion in Massachusetts
was put down, did that put Massachu
setts out of the Union and destroy tn
SAate When the rebellion IN Penn
sylvania was put down, did that destro,
the State and put it out of the Union
So, enEthe recent rebellion was pu
down, and the Constitution and laws o
the country restored, the States Ell
gagged in the rebellion now constitute {
portion of these glorious and bright ga
aXy of States. In passing through thi
ordeal, what was done in Tennessee
Under the direction Of my lamcnte'
predecessor, we commenced the wor
of reform. We succeeded before
came here in restoring the relation
which had existed between Tennessee
and the rest of the Union, with one ex
ception-the relation Of representation
l came to Washington, and under eX
traordinary circumstances succeeded t.
the Presidential chair. The Congress
of the United States had adjourne'
without prescribing any plan. l the
proceeded, as / had done in my owl
State in reconstructing the Govern
ment, to restore the other States. AM
how did we begin? -
We found that the people had M
courts, and we said to the judges, dis
; trict attorneys, and marshals, "G'
down and hold your courts, the pcopl
need the tribunals Of justice to b
opened" Was there anything wron
in that? The courts were opened.
What else? We looked out and say
that the people down there had n
mail. They had been interrupted an
cut off by the operations of the rebe
lion. We said to the Postmaster Ger
eral, "Let the people have facilities 70
mails, and let them again begin to III
derstaud what we all feel and think
that we are one people.
We looked out again and saw tha
there was blockade; that the custol
houses were closed. We said, "ope
the doors of the custom houses and n
move the blockade, let the pursuits q
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