Maryland free press., 1866-11-22
The Next Civil War-vallandingh In CHAN
Opinion.

-
cent speech of Mr.. Vallandingham's:
The late war is over-the next is to
c'mc!-Sl'all I digrcss moment to tell
you how? 'Tis easily told. They have
proclaimed it already-Bingham, Wade,
Stevens leaders of the Republican
purity, everywhere. Under pretence of
impeachment of the President, they mean
to depose him.
do not say impeach that is a mild,
gentle, constitutional worl-though it is
absurd in the extreme to talk ofimpeach-
ing President for supporting the eonsti-
tuition and maintaining the Union. They
will depose him by violence, though under
the pretended violation of law and let me
here say very emphatically that upon the
fundamental 4nsxim of Lineula's admins
tration they have perfect right to do so.
WHAT was ii? Tie boldly and repeated
ly proclaimed. and morcilcssIy acted upon
1t from the beginning to the enl, AMI sus-
TUNED all his underlngs everywhere in ex-
ccutins it, thst he had right, and that il
WIS his duty to remove every obstacle, of
whatever kind, humrn or material -,mcn,
things, or inst;tutions-whicl he believed
stood in tho say Of the successful achieve
ment of what he called patriotic purposes.
AMI in this monstrous claim hc was SUP.
ported in the beginning by the great mass
OF the people in the States North and West
and throughout by majority of them
with recllessness anil bitterness, anil n
severity, too. never before exhibited by a
free people in any aye. .-
Now. upon precisely this same maxim.
thus vigorously praoticcd upon, the R,di
Gals have right to remove sthe President
from his Office, and to imprison, exile, or
even put him to dcath-upon the protext
that he is believed to be an obs stscle in the
way of the successful execution of their
plans and policy for whit they choose to
call the public gool. AMI do not know
that any one who, in Lincoln's time, gave
sanction to the exccrablc doctrine, conld
have any right to complain.
would have that right. The Demo-
cratic party would have it-and here and
there solitary wayfarcr, marching out Of
place with the Republican hosts. But no
mstter, let mc warn all concerned, that
this pretended impeachment, this intended
deposing of the President will be resisted
to the last extremity. He is President
under the Constitution, and has precisely
the Same right to exercise the duties of
the Office to the end of his term, March 4,
1860, that tho members of the Senate or
House, or any other of the officers of Gev-
ernment have, and these will find million
hearts Of oak aud arms Of steel 10 defend
him in the enjoyment Of that right. We
want no more wir-above all, no more
civil war; but if they will force it, it shall
be, will be ''war to the knife, and the
knife to the hiE."
But to return. The recent civil or Sec
tional war is over. The Confederate ar
mics have surrendered and been dispersed, |
and II e Federal army,S twelve hundred
thousand strong, has been diminished to
less than fifty thousand. THE war is over,
but the Union is not restored. Did war
restore the Uniont Let every soldier and
every officer answer. If war restored the
Union, what were they doing here aJvoca-
ting the Pr, sidcnt's policy? They all did
their duty like brave men. 1t was no fault
of theirs that their work did not restore
the Union. They broke down the armed
hostility to the Federal Government, and
it was because, in the eternal nature of
things. By the decree of the O,nnipotent
God, force could not cement a Union made
by consent, that the Union was not rcstor-
cd: and now the entire Democratic party
is where it has always been, and every
soldier aud officer who fought in that war
should come forward and unite with the
Democratic party in seeking to accomplish
through the ballot the work that war could
not accomplish.
EDSoon after the death of Prince
A n..l .~.l.. ri