Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-09-13

/ claTaliOh mace by that Convention is a Sc
cond Declaration of Independence, Tcheers1,
and history will so record it. It is the second
proclamation of emancipation /; it emanci-
pates while men as well as colored men.
lCheers.l Then, fellow-citizens, in concIu-
SION, permit me to say that in being invited
here and IN accepting your cordial and
spontaneous welcome, / come bringing with
me the flag Of your country. Geheersl, con-
tanning thirty-six, not twenty-five States.
cheers I; l come with the Union intact. with
the great magic circle which binds together
these States unbroken. / come with the
Constitution, and place it in your hands.
with the charge, that you must protect and
defend it. lShouts-''We will do it'll
come here To-day, and if it were posi-
bic, to erect an altar in our midst and to
| lay them all upon it, and with upturned
faces swear by our God and our affairs that
the Constitution, the Union, and the flag
shall be preserved. [Cheers.] Let us do
this--let Us forget the party hatred and the
Ill-wIil that has grown out Of this rebellion;
let us rally around the Constitution of our
country unattached TO party. The time has
| come when men in the South, the North, the
East, and the West all over this Union,
should lift themselves above party, and
stand for country. [Cheers. We should
be for our country first and our country
last and trust in God that the day will soon
come when reconciliation, harmony, pros
perity and peace shall again pervade the
whole land. [Cheers. Let me ask here,
as have asked elsewhere, are you prepared |
again to open the bleeding wound? f''Nop] |
Are You prepared to again unstay |
the bleeding artery, 10 set man upon |
man, to Lift his hand in the name |
n .nA L., r. l.
fellow? "Neverw1 Are you prepared to |
see these fertile fields again devastated? |
Are You prepared to see this land that |
gave brother birth again drenched with a /
brothers bloodp Never" Then let US
have peace. Wea all of the same family. |
The North is kin TO US, and we are kin to |
them; they are bone Of our bone and flesh
of our flesh, and we are all one people, and
let Us trust in God that the full return of |
peace shall come, when our country shall
resume her course of prosperity and great
ness, and that since the baleful planet Of fire
and flood has been chased away, and the
benignant star Of peace is now in the ascen-
dant, and that the day is not far distant
when we shall have peace on earth and good
will toward men. Cheers. Then, my
countrymen, please accept my thanks for
the cordial welcome you have given me,
and invoke the best blessings Of heaven
upon you. Loud applause.
This truly noble, statesmanlike, and pa
thetic speech was received with irrepressible
shouts and approbatory ordinations. At
its conclusion, Mr.. SEWARD was Justify
called for. On being presented by Mr..
GUTHRIE, the distinguished Secretary of
State spoke as follows:
SPEECH OF SECRETARY SEWARD.
FELLOW CITIZENS: 1t is the first time in
my life that / have ever had the honor to
address a portion of the people of the State
of Kentucky. do not disguise from myself
the pleasant fiattery that | am received by
You with kindness and respect. | confess to
you that although this is the beginning of
new personal acquaintance, yet | never in
my life was more free in speech, free in
thought, and free in heart than | am on the
present occasion. A voice, That's Louis
VILE" and cheers feel that l am well
coined by the State without which my early
knowledge of political events reveals to me
that the United States would have been I'M
able to go through a second war Of Ameri-
can independence; without the valor and
heroism of Kentucky the United States
would have gone down cheers in the
war of 1872. All my later knowledge
and experience bear testimony to me
that, COMPOUNDED as Kentucky was
by the beginning of the late civil war, divid-
ed as she was by the institution of slavery,
which she had so long cherished and main
tanned, torn as she was by the kindred |
drawing her in opposite directions, and inn
PEELED headlong as she was, by some of her
precipitates, and may / not say unprinci-
PEELED statesmen, yet | am able, from the
Cabinet of ABRAHAM LINCOLN at Washing
ton to declare my firm belief that but for
the loyalty which Kentucky did exert, and
the bravery which her soldiers and sailors
did put forth, the last rebellion had possibly
been a success, and the United States now a
divided people. Cheers. Am l not then
at home in Kentucky? [Cries, "yes."1 l
who never suffered, as Kentucky suffered,
the thought of diaunion to overbalance in
my judgment the great interests and integri-
ty ofthe Union of these States. Cheers.
Fellow-citizens, want to acknowledge
your welcome, to thank you for it; and
l mean to say here to-day what / would say
elsewhere. [Cheers.]
There are some circumstances disclosed to
me on this visit which will enable me- l
hope, TO dispel some of the delusions, and to ]
overcome some Of the preiudices and pas
sions of the people amongst whom is my own
personal residence. l am able now, after
having Travelled with the President of the :
United States from the seat of Government
through a portion Of the Keystone State,
through the great State of New York, from ,
sea coast to the lakes, along the lake coast
through Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Hi
nois and into the State of Missouri, and
back again through the States of Illinoisand
Indiana, to drop in just for moment ard
look upon the border of the State of Ken
lucky, lcheers, to declare here now in your
presence, and in the presence of the whole
people of America-aye, / suppose that !
what l say esen here may be heard across
the Atlantic and the Pacifc--I declare be- I
fore the world-that while the people Of the /,
late free States-no longer exclusively free
are divided as 10 the consent for the restora-
ton of the Republic the people of this
late slave State of Kentucky-and / infer 4
from it the same as TO all the rest of the
slave States-are unanimous for the resto-
ration Of the Union. Cheers and cries of
"Union."] Ay, more; l wanted no such
evidence as this; / knew it intuitively.
knew that fifty years of debate is not
allowed to any people upon any question
that is not enough TO bring the mind of
any reasoning, rejecting, and enlightened
people TO a conclusion upon the matter
that has been debated. We have had fifty
years Of debate on this question Of slavery.
What is il all worth now, after you have +
accepted the abolition Of slavery, and de- {
clared for the freedom of the whole race, 9
what has the debate been worth if your '
sincerity in making that resolution is Q
to be questioned? Nay, more. I know :
another thing which am confirmed in
by the spectacle around me, and it is this,
that whatever distrust, or jealousy, or preiu-
dices, OF passions may have been heretofore
in this State, or in any State !
south of us against the Union of the United
States, or whatever ambition may have ex-
listed among the people, whatever hallucina-
tion may have led any portion of them into
the rebellion, pronounce here the convic- !
ton that the people of this State, and Of all I
the lately insurrectionary States, have be- b
come sound in their loyalty, and are TO be A
trusted just as faithfully as the States that i
have stood by the Union. ICheers.] This =
is found on reason also. What on earth
does Providence allow the scourgss Of war {
and the shedding Of human blood for, if it il
is not that through trials Of war we shall
reach the conclusions which reason and hui