The New era. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1865-1871, 1866-09-20
IN ADMIRABLE ADDRESS.
.LoQUENT & PATRIOTIC COUNSEL.
VOICE OF WISDOM AND SENSE.
&beecH q RICHARD OfGORNIA,
S4E'sq., Of Nee York. ct Aep Rocheite,
n UcstcheSter county, on WondGY,
IA SepteHber 3, 1866.

lhave been taken in by Your worthy
Ehairman. ! had 4 sort OF tacit under
otanding with him that I was not to be
called to make a speech tonight, and
That might present to you, as it were,
In andFess, such thoughts as came upper
most in my mind. / confess, much as
admire the hereditary fidelity Of the
good county of Westchester, and the
Rood town of New Rochelle, / was UNI
prepared for SO grand q meeting as ] see
Before me tonight; but, as it is, you
must take me as | am, and YOU must
boar With nae, when lsay to you frankly,
blainly, and without any varnish, as
becomes friend talking to friends, such
&houg hts as occur to me on the crisis OF
4he day.
n Citizens, am beginning to lose conf
Dence very much in what are called elO-
&uent speeches and eloquent leading ar
ices. For the most part they tend to
ilenee reason and excite passions. They
often darken counsel by words without
knowledge; and | am coming TO think
That the instructive craftsmanship of
HE people is worth all the eloquence Of
Orators, and all the guidaneeship Of
eaders. l believe in the people, and l
trust the people; they may err, they
hay be deceived, but they are never
dishonest and they never deceive. Po-
3itieal leaders cry war, and talk about
war; the people think war, and they
6ght, and die i'll the war; one is talk,
TIE other is earnest; one is mere words
Dn the part of the leaders, the other is
the eternal fidelity OF the people; and
how, citizens your time has come. We
have had enough OF party, enough Of
Rnger, enough of prejudice, enough of
passions, enough OF blood--the war is
Over. For four years the cry of war has
echoed through the land, and the North
determined TO fight the quarrel out, and
Ut has fought the quarrel out; it has
gWon the fight. The South lies at its feet
conquered, wounded, faint and feeble,
almost hopeless OF prosperity, or even
life, unless in the justice and in the
and wisdom of the North
ern people. Citizens, the power Of the
people in these United States is not in
its mere physical force it is not in the
bullet or bayonet, but it is independent
thought and in the ballot.
The time has come for you, the people,
to take your servants to task, to pass
their conduct in review before you, and
10 say whether you are satisfied with
the past, and what kind of ideas and
what sort of men you desire to govern
this nation in the future. Now, how do
we stand. We fave had four years of
war; we have spent incalulable thous-
ands; we have spent thousands and hum
dreds of valuable lives. We submitted
to part with what was dearer to us than
treasure or life we bore to see even our
liberties for a time invaded, because we
hoped that by allowing that 10 happen
j,,r :. t;,aa wa would SnniIrn thnln inr.
ever. All this we bore, all this for
what? In order to secure the eternity
OF this Union that the fathers of the
American Republic bequeatlcd to us.
Did we go into that war for conquest:
No. citizens. Did we go into it ior the
purpose of subduing the South, and
trampiing their rights under foot? Not
so, citizens. The Congress Of the United
States proclaimed this to you, and on the
faith OF that promise you left the pillow
and the anvil and the desk, and took up
arms and went to the war, and shed
Your lives in the war, and now you have
Won the fight. The two issues that were
before the nation prior to tie war have
been settled. Secession never can be
more. Hundreds Of thousands of men
have shed their blood to prove such II
thing impossible. Slavery has passed
from the earth; it can be no more re-
newed than the life of the mastadon, or
any monster of the antediluvian world.
The two issues have been decided; the
great trial Of arm has been had; these
things are doue and passed forever, and
the question is: What policy is neees-
sary to be adopted to govern the nation
for the future. There is q party in the
United States. and that party unfortu-
hately is in the majority in Congress.
speak of what is called the Radical party
in the United States, and they say i'll
effect that, Notwithstanding the war,
Notwithstanding the final settlement of
these great questions, the Union shall
not be re-established, but the gulf which
civil war has dug between the North
and South shall remain open and UNI
closed forever. | know we'll that if the
people once could see the real question
at issue, they would deal with it sensibly
and wisely. There is an effort made to
throw fog about it; there is an effort
made to delude you, and to spread false
issues before you. But, citizens, the one
real question is, shall we have Union
and the Constitution, or disunion, subju-
CATION, Capitalization, and the loss OF the
Republic: The majority in Congress
say that the Representatives from the
i s..AN hn