The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-07-23

tract and mslcad the judgment, in order
that calmness, sobcrness, solemnitv, ana
carnestness may characterize reflection,
discussion, and action; for by these influ-
cnces alone can our country be saved from
certain, speedy, and irretricvaoie rum.
In the halcyon days of the Republlc--ttiose
good old DAYS of "virtue and liberty, and
independence the political questions
which engaged the attention Of the people
were multiiarious.
Questions ot revenue, OF finance, the
improvement of harbors and rivers, the
distribution of the proceeds Of the public
lands among the States, and the occupa-
ton Of those lands by white, sturdy pio-
ncers-my fellow citizens, these questions,
and many others of like import, were once
regarded Us possessing vital interest for the
people Of our once glorious old Common
wealth. Alas. they no longer possess an
interest for You. As when a great CO,
lamity casts its gloomy shadow over our
individual household, all minor evils are
forgotten in the anxiety occasioncd by the
one overwhelming aiiliction so this nn-
| spcakablc calamity which has visited our
national household has driven from our
minds all thought of those legitimate 60
vcrnmental questions whose very discus
sion was the best indication of peace, con-
tentmcnt, happiness, and prosperity, such
as no other people under the broad canopy
of Heaven were ever permitted TO ENJOY.
No, my countrymcn-no. one question
alone is worthy of your dclibcration now.
| Ii is q question that frccmen are asking
one of another with kindling eye and
throbbing heart: What cau be done to rescue
from the grasp Of despotic porer tie prm-
ciplss of our revolutionary tdtherS-he
priceless ieud of constitutional bTty !!
, This is the vital question that towers IN
colossal proportions above all others. Upon
Won. nv fellow citizens, rests the respon-
sibilitv of rescuing and preserving that
priceless Jewel to the latest posterlty.
Let rs then, frecmen, resolve, by all the
;nspiripg memories of the past, by all the
imperilied interests Of the present, by all
our anxious hopes in the future, that the
Constitution, the laws, and the rights of
the States shall he maintained against trca-
son in every form. Is it not amazing that
so many Of the honest ycomanry of the
country can be SO blinded by party prcju-
dice, 50 trammelled by party discipline as
still to array themselves under banner
that for thirty years has had emblazoned
upon its folds, in characters so plain that
none need misunderstood, those very doc
lrines of dsunion and discord which are
now SO falsely charged upon the true
friends of the Union, civil and re-
ligous liberty. Although the rank
and file of all political organizations
are honest and wcll-mcaning, they are
liable to be cajolcd and misled by willy, sell.
fish, and INSCRIPTIONS dcmagogues-made
willing victims OF their own destruction.
While history records some examples OF
voluntary surrender of liberty by the pco-
pie under the balcful teachings of artiul,
ambitious men, its pages will be searched
in vain for a parallel to that scll-stultiiica-
ton, moral blindness, prejudice, ianati-
cism, or by whatsoever name 1t may be
called, through whose maddening influence
a large portion Of the free citizens OF TINS
enlightened aud most favored land are at
this very moment celebrating how to
rivct the manaclcS Of dcSpotism upon their
own free limbs. The Radicals clamor for
an unconditional support of the Govern
nent, meaning two-thirdS OF the two
Houses of Congress. The Democrats con-
tend for an unconditional support oi the
Government, meaning the Constitution
and the laws passed i'll conformity to 1t.
Radicals argue that the Administration,
for the time being, is the Government.
Democrats deny the correctness OF TINS
propositon. They contend that the Con-
stitution of the United States, embodying
in its provisions the will of the sovereign pco-
ulc. is per Sc the Government of the United
States. That Constitution provides for its
own administration in the election by the
people OF agents, with power to those agents
TO appoint subordinatcS, the official titles
of said principal agents, their terms oil
office, their duties, and their salaries, being
fixed and designated by the people i'll
their Constitution. And whenever and
by whomsoever addition TO or subtraction
from that fundamental law is attempted
in ever so minute degree, save in the
manner written and provided therein; or
whenever or By whomsoevcr another law
is attempted to he substituted for this su.
preme law, the person or persons 50 OIL
Tending are guilty Of treason to the sovc-
reign people. The Constitution OF the
United States, in the fifth article, states
that whenever two-thirds of both Houses
shall deem it necessary, they shall propose
amendments to the Constitution and the
same article declares that, without its con-
sent, no State shall be deprived Of its
equal suffrage in the Senate. And
inasmuch as this grant to Congress
to propose amendments to the Constitu-
ton is embodied in the same article that
prohibits the United States Senate from
depriving State of her representation in
that body, the clear meaning OF the NTH
article is that no amendments shall be pro-
posed cyccpt when all the States are re-
presented in the Senate and all the Scna-
tors permitted TO vote on the amendments.
If the Constitution, as our immortal wash
i,tyton and his compatriots made it, is not
good enough for the Radicals, let all sec
tons of the country have avoice III chang
ing it.
But before we attempt to improve upon
that great compact which has bound these
States together for more than seventy
wears, let us go back in memory to the
city of Philadelphia, and see who the men
we're who met in Independence Hall on
the nth of May, 1887. Read the immortal
record James Madison and John Blair, Of
Virginia; the two Pinckneys, OF South
Carolina Langdon, OF New Hampshire
Sherman, of Connecticut; Alexander Ha-
milton, of New York; Livingston, of New
Jersey; Franklin, Mitiiin, lngersoll, the
two Morriscs, and Clymcr, of Pennsylra-
MIA Dickinson, of Delaware: Carroll, OF
MARYLAND; Williamson, of North Carolina
Baldwin, of Georgia. These are some OF
the names. And then We read the name
of one presiding over that august conVcn-
ton who, even amidst that noble band,
stands majestically prominent, the peer