Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1866-04-26

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our free Institutions. [Applause.
then stood in the Senate fthe United State
DENYING the doctrine of separation and seces
sion. | denied, then as deny now, that an,
State has the right, Of its own will, to separate
itself from the other States, and thereby desiro,
the Union and break up the Government; an'
I think have given some evidence that have
been sincere and in earnest And now wan
10 know why il is that the whole train OF sian
derers, calumniators and traducers have beer
barking and swapping at ny heels. Cheers.
; Why is il that they array themselves against
me? Is il because / stand on the side of tht
people, and when say the people, include
the sailors and soldiers. Checrs.] Why isit
that they are arraycd in traducing and vilifyine
and calumnating me? Where were they dn-
ring the rebellion? voice" Home in bed,
laughtcr.] In the Senate raised my voice a
gainst it, and when it was believed that il
would be TO the interest of the nation, and
would assist in putting down the rebellion, did
/ not leave my place in the Senate-a place OF
/ emoument, ease and distinction-and take my
position where the enemy could be reached and
where mems lives were in danger? Cheers.
| and cries Of :. that's so.
1
! publicly, and in every way, some of my present
traducers and calumniators were far removed
! from the war, and were enjoying ease and COM
fort. Cheers and laughter.] But care not
! for them. care not that SANDER, the foul
whclp of sin, has been turned loose against me.
care not for all that; and let me tell you here
to-day, that although pretty well advanced in
life, feel that shall live long enough to live
down the whole pack of traducers and SANDER
crs. [Applause.1 They have turned the
whole pack loose to lower me in your estima-
ton. Voices" They can't do it.'l ! say,
Blanch and Sweetheart, little dogs and all
como along swapping and snarling at my
heels but | heed them not. Cheers. The
American pcople-citizens soldiers and sailors
know that, from my advent into public life
to the present moment, have always stood,
unyieldng and unwavering, by the advocates
and defenders of their rights and interests
Cheers.
We are now in the Nations third ordeal; we
are not yet through it. We said that States
could not go out of the Union. We denied the
doctrine Of secession, and we have demonstra-
ted that we were right. We demonstrated by
the strong arm-yes, the soldiers and the sail
ors, God bless them !-have demonstrated, by
their patriotic hearts and strong arms have de-
monstrated that States have not the power to
leave the Union. [Applause.l What follow
cd? The Confederate armies were overpower-
ed and disbanded, and there was willingness
on the part Of the people of those States to conc
back, be obedient 10 the laws and acknowledge
the supremacy Of the Constitution OF on" fi tbs
third ordeal II was 10 establish the principle
that no State had the power to break up this
Government. 1t was to put down the erebellion.
The rebellion has been put down, and for what?
Was it to destroy the States Voices, " new
cr.p1 For what have all these lives been sac
ri6ced, and all this treasure expended? Was
it for the purpose of destroying the States p
No. it was for the purpose of preserving the
States in the Union of our fathers. Cheers
1t was for that you fought. 1t was for that
toiled-not to break the Government, but to
put down the rebellion and preserve the Union
of the States That is what we have been con-
tending for. and to establish the fact that the
Nation can lift itself above and beyond intestine
foes, and treason and traitors at homo. When
the rebellion in Massachusetts, was put down,
did that put Massachusetts, out of the Union
and destroy the State ? And, when the rebel
lion in Pennsylvania was put down, did that
destroy the State and put it out of the Union
So when the recent great rebellion was put
down and the Constitution and laws OF The
country restored, the States engaged in It stood
as n part of the Union The rebellion being
crushed the law being restored The Constitu-
ton being acknowledged, those States stand in
the Union, constituting a part Of the glorious
and bright galaxy of States Loud cheers.]
In passing through bisordeal what has been
done? In Tennessee, under the direction Of
my lamented predecessor, we commenced the
work of restoration. Wehad succeeded, before
| came here, in restoring the relations which
had existed between Tennessee and the rest of
the Union, with one exception, and that was
the relation of representation. | came TO
Washington and under extraordinary circum-
stances ecded to the Presidential chair. What
then? The Congress Of the United States had
adjourned without prescribing any plan. /
then proceeded. rs had done in my own State,
under the direction of the Government, to re-
store the other States, and how did we begin
We found that the people had no courts, and
we said to the Judges, the District Attorneys
and the Marshals, Go down and hold your
courts the people need the tribunals of justice
10 uc OptDtl W ~ ttItlS liiiiiS "AchS 80
that? The courts were opened. What else ?
We looked out and saw That the people down
there had no mails They had been interrupted
and cut off by the operations Of the rebellion.
We said to the Postmaster General, Let the
people have facilities for mail communication,
and let them begin again to understand what
we all feel and tbink-that we are one people"
We looked out again and saw that there was a
blockade; that the Custom Houses were all
closed. We said: "open the doors of the
Custom House and remove the blockade; let
trade commerce., and the pursuits Of peace be
restored, and it was done. We thus travelled
on step by step, opening up Custom Houses,
appointing Collectors, establishing mail facili-
ties, and restoring all tie relations that had
been interrupted by the rebellion. Was there
anything undertaken 20 be done here that was
not authorized by the Constitution. that was
justified by the great necessities OF the case,
that has not been clearly consonant with the
c institution and with the genius and theory OF
our Government [Cheers What remained
t. be done? One other thing remained TO de-