The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1866-02-27

The result was the formation of extreme
parties-one especially in the South
which reached point at which it wa.
proposed to dissolve the Union of the
States, for the purpose, it was said, o
securing and preserving that peculiar in
stitution. There was another portion o.
our countrymen who were opposed to that
| institution and who went to such al
extreme that they were willing to break
up the government, in order to get clear
of that peculiar institution of the South
l say these things because / desire tc
talk plainly and in familiar phraseology
I assume nothing here to-day beyond
the priv ilege of a citizen, one who has
been pleading for his country and fo1
the preservation of the Constitution
Immense cheering These two parties
say, were arrayed against each other
and stand here before you for the Union
| to-day, as I stood in the Senate of the
United States in 1860 and 1861, met
there those who were making war upon
the constitution, those who wanted to
disrupt the government, and denoun'
ced them in my place, then and there,
and exposed their true character. L said
that those who were engaged in the
work of breaking up the government
were traitors. have never ceased, on
all proper occasions, to repeat that SEN
timent, and so far as my efforts could go,
have endeavored to carry it out Great
applause have Just remarked that
there were two parties, one OF which
was for destroying the Government and
separating the Union. in orderto preserve
sla, ery, and the other for breaking up
the Government, i'll order to destroy sla-
very True, the objects they sought TO
accomplish were different, Sc far as sla-
very was concerned, but they agreed In
the desire to break up the Government,
tho precise thing TO which | have al
ways been opposed; and whether disu-
nionists come from the South or the
North, ! stand now as l did then, vindi-
eating the Union of these States and the
constitution of my country. ITremen
dous applause. When rebellion and
treason manifested themselves in the
South, l stood by the government. l
said then, that was for the Union with
slavery, | was for the Union without
slavery; in either alternative was for
my Government and its Constitution -
The Government has stretched forth
it's. strong arm, and with its physl'
cal power it has put down treason
in the field The section of the
country which then arrayed ITSELF
against the Government has been put
down by the strong arm, What did We
say when this treason originated We
said, No compromise. You yourselves
in the South can settle this question in
eight and forty hours said again
aud again, and l repeat it now. Dis
band your armies in the South, acknowl'
edge the supremacy Of the Constitution
of the United States, acknowledge the
duty of obedience to the laws, and the
whole question is settled" Applause.
What has been done since Their ar
mics have been disbanded, and they
come forward now i'll proper spirit, and
say, 1--WE were mistaken. We made an
effort to carry out the doctrine OF seces-
sion, and TO dissolve this Union. In that
we Lave failed We have traced this
doctrine to its logical and physical re-
suits, and we find that we were mlsta-
ken We acknowledge the flag Of our
country, and are willing to obey tue
Constitution, and tOyield to tue suprem-
acy Of the laws" [Great applause. i
Coming in that spirit say to them,
When You have complied with the re-
ujuirurnvuty. tLo O~.--S.S..S.-.., ughen
You have yielded to the law, when yOu
have acknowledged your allegiance to
the Constitution, will, so far as can,
open the door of the Union to those who
had erred and strayed from the fold Of
their fathers for a time. Great ap-
plause.
Who suffered more By The rebellion
than / have2 / shall not repeat the
story of the wrongs and sufferings in
fiicted upon me- The spirit of revenge
is not the spirit IN which to deal with
whole people know there has been
a great deal said about the exercise OF
the pardoning power So far az your
Executive is concerned, there IS no one
who has labored with more earnestness
than myself to have the principal intel
ligent and conscious traitors brought to
Justice, the law vindicated, and the great
fact iudicially established that treason
is crime Applause But while con
scious, leading and intelligent traitors
are to be punished, should whole com
munities and States and peoples be made
to submit to the penalty OF death | no,
no" | have perhaps as much aSpeflty
and as much resentment as men ought
TO have, but we must reason IN great
matters of government about man as he
is We must conform our actions and
our conduct to the example Of Him who
founded our holy religion. Not that |
would make such comparison on this
occasion, in any personal respect. came
into this place under the Constitution of
my country, and by the appreciation ol
the people, and what did find? found
eight millions of people who were, in
fact condemned under the law, and the
nenalty was death Was | TO yield to
the spirit of revenge and resentment,
and declare that they should all be anni-
hilated and destroyed! How different
would this have heen from the example
set by the holy Founder of our religion,
the extremes Of whose divine, arch rest
upon the horizon, and whose span EN-
braces the universe He who founded
| this great scheme came into the world
and found man condemned under the
| law. aud his sentence was DEATH what
was his example Instead Of putting
| the world or even nation to death, he
died upon the cross, attesting by his
wounds and his blood that he died that
mankind might live. Great applause
Lst those who have erred repent let
them acknowledge their allegiance let
them become loyal, willing supporters
aud defenders of our glorious stripes and
g ha nj