, 1866-07-07
THE COPPERHEAD ADDRESS.
,Thc Philadelphia Convention Fal1y
EndoFAe&.

WAsHIN0ToS. July B.
70 the people Of the United States:
Dangers threaten the Constitution. The
cltadel Of our liberties Is directly nssaife1.
Tie future Is darE unless tue people viii come
to the rescue. In this hour Of peril " Nation
al Union u should be the watchword Of every
true man. As essential to national union we
must maintain uuimpaircd the rights, the
dignity and the equality Of the States, iaclud-
lug the right Of the reprssentatioo Il IN Com
control its own domestic concerns, subject
only to the Constitution of the United
States. After q uniform construction Of the
Constitution for more than half century,
10 the assumption of new and arbitrary pow
ers, the Federal Government l. subversive Of
our system md destructive OF liberty. 4 free
interchange Of opinion and kind feeling be-
tween the citizens Of all the States Is neces-
sary to the pcrpetuitY Of the Unlon. At
present eleven States are excluded from the
national council. For seven long months the
present Congress has persistently denied any
States, LAWS affecting their highest and
dearest interests hive been passed without
thcis consent and in disregard OF the funda-
mental principle Of free government. This
dentul ol representation has been made to all
the members from State, although the
State, m the language Of the President, prs-
sents itself not only ii an 1ttftude Of loyalty
and harmony, but in the persons ofrepresenta-
tives whose loyalty cannot be questioned un-
der any existing constitutional OF legal test.
The representatives. Of nearly one-th1rd Of
the States have not been consulted With ref
erence to The great question of the day.
There has been no nationality surrounding
the present Congress. There has been no in
tcrcourse between the representatives Of the
Two sections producing mutual confidence
and respect. In the language Of the distin-
gnlshed Lieutenant General: 1t is to be re-
GREETED that at this time there cannot be q
greater commfngllng between tha. citizens Of
the two ssetl9ns i;h ahd ,Is particularly o.
power. This state Of things should
be removed at ouce and forever" Therefore,
| 10 preserve the National Union, to rind1cate
| the sutilciency Of our admirable C0nstttn-
| ton, to guard the States from covert At
] tempts to d, priye them OF their true position
in the Unioa and to bring together those who
| national purposes only, We cordially approve
! the call ior National Union Convention, Ia
be held at the city Of Philadelphia, on the
second Tuesday, fourteenth day Of August
next, and endorse the principles therein SET
We therefore respectfully but earnestly
urge upon onr fellow citizens i1 each State
and Territory and Congressional District In
the United States, Ia the interest Of union
and in spirit Of harmony, and with direct
reference to the PRINCIPLES contained IN said
call, 10 act promptly In the selection OF Wise
modcrate and conservative men TO represent
them In said Convention, to the end that a.
the sta.es shall at once be restored to Their
practical relations to the Union, the Consti
tuition maintained, and peace bless the who'll
country.
staned by ". =. N,tlack, Anthony Thornton
VrideS. Thos. E. Noel. samuel ]. Randall, lex,
". Koss, stephan 1abeF, ]. ". Humphrey, Joh,
Hogan. b. 4. Boye1, U. F. Bs1gsn, :hss. Good
| yeag, Chaa H Wtunela> 4. q. Cofcoth, Lowell
fsousseau. Philip johnson, Chas. A. Eldr1dge
lohn l. nawsou. Revetd5 JOHNSON, Thos. A: Hs1
dsick., We. Wright, James Guthrie, ]. A. Ms
Uoasall, VIM. Radford, $. S. Marshall, Meye
Strou.e. Cna.. sitc1eares, s. E. Ancou1, E n
IIubae'l, F. =. Ri!tsr. A. Harding, Al; Glos:
Culi.neh, F G. L. Blond and ". F. Finex.
| Wasblbetpu july i. 1855, l. j. TRNpLE.