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


addressing, I will not undertake "a
say. / have no hesitancy, however
in saying that the general principles
announced by him are good. Let
them be adopted by us as far as prac-
ticable. No harm can come from il,
much good may. Whether the great
barrier of races which the great Gre
ator has placed between this, our in
ferior class and ourselves, shall pre-
vent success of the experiment now
on trial, of peaceful, happy and
prosperous community, composed OF
such elements aud sustaining present
relations toward each other, or even a
further elevation on on the part Of the
inferior, if they prove themselves fit
for II, let the future, under the dispen-
sations Of Providence, decide. Let
us do our duty now, leaving results
and ultimate consequences
To that divinity which shapes our ends,
Rough hew them bow We will
In all things on this subject as in all
others, let our guide be the admirable
motto of our State. Let our counsels
be governed by wisdom, our measures
by moderation and our principles by
justice.
So much for what I have to say on
this occasion touching our present du-
ties on this absorbing subject and
some of our duties in reference to a
restoration of peace, law and order !;
which unless needed, all must sooner
or later, end in utter confusion, anar-
chy and despotism, have, as l said i
should, only glanced at some general
ideas.
Now as to the future and the pros
poets before us On this branch of
the subject l can add but little. You
can form some idea Of my views of
that from what has been already said
Would that l could say something
cheerful but that candor, which has
marked all that l have said compels
me to say that, to me, the future is
far from being bright. Nay, it is
dark and impenetrable. Thick gloom
curtains and closes in the horizon all
around us. Thus much 1 can say -
My only hope is in the peaceful es-
Enlistment of good government and
its peaceful maintenance afterward
And farther, the most hopeful pros
pect to this end now is the restoration
of the old Union, and with it the
speedy return of fraternal feeling
throughout its length and BREADTH
These results depend upon the people
Reconsideration the people of the
North quite as much as upon the peo-
pie of the South-upon their virtue,
intelligence and patriotism. 1repeat,
/ have faith in the American people,
in their virtue. intelligence and pat
riotism. But for this l should long
since have despaired. Dark and
gloomy as the present hour is, 1 do
not yet despair of free institutions
Let but the virtue, intelligence and
patriotism of the people throughout
the whole country be properly APP
pealed to, aroused and brought into
action, and all may yet be well. The
masses, everywhere, are alike equally
Interested in the great object. Let
old issues, old questions, old diGeren-
ces and old feuds be regarded as fos-
sils of another epoch. They belong
to what may hereafter be considered
the Siiurian period of our history
Great, new, living questions are be-
fore US. Let il not be said of us in
this day, not yet passed. Of our coun-
try's greatest trial and agony, that
"there was a party for Caesar, party
for Pompey aud party far Brutus,
but no party for Rome"
But let all patriots, by whatever
distinctive name heretofore styled,
rally, in all elections everywhere, to
the support of him. be he who he may
who bears the standard with "Consti-
tutional Union emblazoned on its
folds. President Johnson is now, in
my judgement, the chief great stan
dard-bearer of these principles, and,
in his effort at restoration, should re-
coive the cordial support of every we'll
wi.her of his country.
In this consists, on this rests, my
only hope. Should he be sustained,
and the government restored to its
former functions, all the States brought
back to their practical relations un-
der the Constitution, our situation will
be greatly changed from what it was
IL nd 10 fol
change, as has been stated has been
made in-that organic law. We shall
have lost what was known as our "pe-
culiar institution" which was so in
tertwined with the whole framework
of our State body bolitic Weshall have
losthalf of the accumulated capital Of
century. But we shall have still left
all the essentials of free government
contained and granted in the old Con-
stitution, untouched and unimpaired
as thoy came from the hands Of our
fathers. With these, even if we had
to begin entirely anew, the prospect
before us would be much more en-
couraging than the prospect was be-
fore them, when they fled from the
expressions of the old world and
sought shelter in this then wilderness
land. The liberties we begin with
they had to achieve. With the same
energies and virtues they displayed,
we have much more to cheer us than
they had. With climate unrivaled
In salubrity; with soil unsurpassed
in fertility; aud with products une-
equaled in value in the markets of the
world, to say nothing of orr mineral
resources, we shall have much still to
wed us to the good old land. With
good government, the matrix from
which alone spring all great human
achievements, we shall lack nothing
but our own proper exertions, not