Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-11-10
MIR. VOORHEES, SPEECH.
An EIooueut PeroratsOn.

Hon. D. w. Voorhies, of Indiana, at
Cooper Institute, New York, closed one of
the abIest popular speeches ever made in
this country with the following brilliant
sentences. The sentiments uttered are as
just aud noble as the diction is terse and
polished:
"The immediate picture, to my eye, is
enveloped 'in darkness and uncertainty.
The approaching Congress will mark an
eVentful era iG American history. One
department alone of the government seeks
TO Withstand the Radical carnival OF de-
struction. The castle Of the Executive,
though closely besieged, has not yet been
stormed and sacked. The President. in
the midst Of perils, and surrounded BY
treachery and deception, has been true TO
principle; and upon the lofty ability, pu-
rity, and soundness of his state papers, he
will enter the portals of history as the peer
of the wisest and trnest who ever held his
high place before him. If for this un-
yielding devotion to the constitution, this
faithful performance of duty, Andrew
johnson is to be assailed by an infamous
impeachment, may the people on whom he
has ever relied not desert him in that try
ing hour. Ifthe moneyed interest of the
country, the bondholder and the banker,
can risk the commissions which will follow
the displacement of the Executive and the
inauguration of Mr.. Wade, so, also,
can the laboring men. The issue
is one of the immediate incidents
of the Congressional policy of reconstruc-
tiOn, and, as such, let the people pass in
condemnation upon it. Citizens of New
York, in all your dealings with the results
of the dreadful civil war which trampled
with the fiery hoof of destruction the naked
and bleeding breast of the South, remem-
Der that you are prosperous, happy and
great and that nothing will so much be-
come such people as the bright jewel of
magnanimity. To power belongs the sweet
prerogative of mercy. The North is ON
nipotent, and in such an hour it is only
mean souls that thirst for vengeance. Take
the South by the hand in her fallen es-
tate; lift her up, and sustain her. Say to
her at is true we have warred, but we
are kindred, borne of the same mother,
and we will be friends" Let the Lethean
waters of oblivion wash away all bitter
memories. The bright names in history,
armament, are of those who in the hour of
triumph forgave their PROSTATE foes.
Seipio was generous, Pericles was merciful,
Washington was magnanimous, and the
lustre of these heavenly virtues far out
shines on the pages of history the brilliant
fame of their warlike deeds. Amnesty is
an attribute of the blessed Nazarene. He
extended il from the cross to & ruined world
that slew him. Charity is of celestial
origin-an inhabitant of the Christians
heaven. | invoke its presence in all the
thoughts, purposes and actions of the
| estranged and alienated American people.
1t pleads for union of love, and not of
hate and force. 1t brings with it an inspi-
ration from the regions of perpetual peace.
| Those who follow its counsels will be
| known in both worlds as human benefac-
| tors. The Radical leader of the day has
no such counsellor, and draws no such in
spiration. Tiberius and Caligula, Hyder
| Ali and Alaric, Robespierre and Murat,
| are the examples of his conduct and hate
and revenge, and all the ruthless furies
conspire below to inspire his motives. All
the moral influences Of the universe are at
war with him. The virtuous living and
the sainted dead cry ont against his spirit
of vengeance. Those who fell on the
battle-felds from both sections, who now
sleep softly side by side in distant graves,
appeal from their mute and narrow beds to
every hearthstone in the land in favor OF
mercy, charity and love. Their heroic
spirits, that have met on the perpetual
plains of Immortality, where no strife ever
comes, and whispering through all the air
over the mountains and the valleys, and uI
and down the busy rivers, and along the
shores of the two oceans, saying 10 the
angry and restless hearts of their living
countrymsn, Peace, be still"