Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-12-20

0imIuuI0U N bn6 NAAA6 OF MS E0EFU
? lots, and SO he voted against the Gonsfi-
4 tuition, and embraced the rebel Gausa.
J. II. Speed, Of Perry, spoke next.-
He is q man of considerable ability of
good education, and Of pleasant ad-
, dress. But he had determined 20 op-
I pose the work Of reconstruction rom
the start, and his speech that nlght con
sisted of a rehash of all the Democratic
l preiudices, and an unlimited abuse of
I the Convention because 1t would not
place IN the Constitution a section Taro-
1 hibiting the sending OF black and white
children to the same school. The Con-
I FentiOn wisely left the whole thing to
the Board Of Education, to provide sep
arate schools for the two races ornot, as
/ circumstances in different localities
might require; F; and this carried Ar.
Speed into the Democratic party, al
though be was elected by colored votes,
and came here protesting TO be allied
with zeal for Republicanism and civil
I rights.
But Mr.. Graves, an ex-Ofhcer Of the
rebel army as is also Mr.. SpeedA--eap-
u ned the climax He denounced the
/ all denominations. he exhausted the
I whole Vocabulary of abuse in regard To
4 it. he declared he would fight = tl1e
Z bitter end. And, warmed by the4ao1zd
/ pIaudits of his rebel auditors, he 1naIs
i lY thUndered forth, in the true sEHt -
IT
resist it by the force Of arms. And the
1 stamping Of feet, the clapping of hands,
I yeIls, shouts and rOars, the blaE#g Of
| trumpets and roll of drums, all s4und-
I ing together, and continued for the
i space Of two minutes, showed how earn
estly the rebels of Montgomery ap-
proved the sentiment, and how COM
pletely that night the hideous devil of
Democracy was unclaimed among them.
The Challenge was thus thrown down
work If 1t dared. ext morning at g
O'Clock, the body met. The Union mem
bers had heard the challenge Of the (
night before. The Constitution was as
yet unsigned, Tt had been Transcribed /
upon parchment, and it lay there upon I
the table. It was a nohler instrument /
than that WFested by the barons from /
King John, or that which the Connect
cut cOlonists hid in the Charter Oak /
1t embodied all the ideas Of loyalty and I
was fought to secure an angel mi e5flb 4
stOOp from heaven to sign. But what /
would those Union mem bers do? They i
were but men. And had not the ex-of- 1
fcers Of the rebel army, cheered to the I
eche by the ex-sOldiers Of the rebel I
Confederacy, threatened them with war /
if they perseYered ? Would they not i
not. One by one they marched up and i
fear to sign?- No; thank God, they are
affixed their signatures, until the last /
man VI tA4cAAA 4AetAA AAtyAsE ~
gage thrown down the night before was
taken. The new constitution would be +
maintained. The traitorOus threat was
defied. The truth Of God would be test
ed against the wrong of man.
There was little shaking Of hands
on the part Of some Of the members, as
they wrote their names. 4 have seen
the soldiers Of the Union. pull, with
tremulous fingers, the triggers OF their
guns, when they. knew the first iiref
would bring them in contact with the
enemy, and that then no alternatiYe re-
mained, save victorysor death. But they
pulled the triggers nevertheless, and
stood firm until victory came. Sc with
the Union members Of the Convention. i
They knew that to sign the instrument
before them was to cut oil all hope OIL
retreat, and insure deadly hand to
al rule in Alabama were established be-
yOnd peradEenture or dispute They4
trembled a little, but they signed
There could not be filter place cho-
sen for the enactment Of such p scene.
In that very hall only SIX years .agO, a
band of traitors had signed the Ordi-1
nance of Secession, and assumed to
take Alabama from the Union. 1t was
here that the Provisional Congress of
the Confederate States assembled in '6l.
Tt was here that the usurpauon of JEFF
ferson Davis ssrss first formally 11l1l1g-
uTated. Twas in this han tlaE- alead-E
ing spirit Of the rebellion declared that
eight million OF people had risen in
arms to maintain the perpetuity Of sla-
very. It was in this very chamber that
the delegates to the rebel Provisional
Congress had listened to the prOclama-
tion of Abraham Lincoln calling for 75,-
600 men to uphold the Union, and had
it with tfrOars Of laughter"
And there it was thai treason during
the early DAYS of its ascendeneY, had
Hold aTrrt nd E-sArr Hfacf
meet was it that the first of the new
Of right and loyalty should
be signed in that very hall. The pOr-
trait Of Washington, which hung
against the wall, seemed to smile benig-
upon the scene, and for a mo-
ment the starry flag that hung behind,
appeared transigured into hale of glo-
ry, surrounding his honOTed head.
The instrument was signed, and after
the passage Of certain ordinances and
resolutions, of which the telegraph has
already informed you, and the delivery
of patriotic little farewell speech by
President Peck, the Convention adjourn
ed, subject to the call of its President,
or of the District or Division COmman-
der, and subject further to the under
that if not convened within a
year from that date, 1t should be cOnsid-
cred as adjourned sine die.
That night a great mass meeting, to
ratify the action of the Convention in
fra ming the Constitution, as we'll as the
nominations for State officers made last
Monday night, was held at the Capitol.
A torch light procession, with music,
paraded the streets, and the east front
of the Capitol was lighted up with bIa-
zing bOnfiFes. The entire hill glOwed
as with the light of day. The meeting
was organized outside, and the speak
ers who addressed the multitude stood
upon the western steps. But so vast
was the audience that not nearly ALI
could hear. The doors of the Bepresen-
tatives Hall were thrown open, and one
portion Of the people poured into it Un-
til every nook and corner of it was
denseIy crowded. Able speakers adj
dressed both the inside and outside
meetings, and the loud and exultant
shouts Of those within the Capitol, We're
echoed back in the triumphant cheers Of
the multitude without. Fielder, APPLE
gate, Peters, Haugbey, Griffin, SaiIold,
Barker, HARRISON, and others, spoke =
and it was nearly midnight before the
came to a close. Thus was tlae
campaign for the new Constitution 81 lo-
riously iuauguFated. IS.