The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1867-09-26

RULE OR RUIN.
These people had controlled this
Government for years gone BY; they
believed that their institution Of
slavery, Of oppression, was the evi.
denee of the highest type ofciviliza-
ton; they bell eyed because they had
had a majority Of Presidents, had
filled the majority Of offices of this
Government, because they had ruled
aud controlled this nation for many
years, that they were the only people
in this country calculated to admin
lister il to the wants Of the people, and
in accordance with their own views,
and in accordance with the inter
ests of their own institution aud its
spread all over the land. 1t was not,
then, because Of their oppression, be.
cause of wrongs exercised toward
them that they rebelled against the
Government, but because the genius
of this country, as instituted by our
fathers, because the spirit of liberty
that rang clear toned, as does the
bell, from the Constitution formed by
them, that these people attempted To
stab this Government, ovcrturu IT,
and trnmple its laws under foot, des.
troy its Constitution, ard make for
themselves a government more genial
to their own institutions than this
Government established by the patri.
otic sires that snatched liberty and
freedom from the tyrants of the Old
World, as you would snatch brands
from the eternal burning.
But my fellow citizens, when these
dark clouds of treason commenced
showing themselves on our Southern
horizon, when the great sunlight OF
liberty in this land began to be ob
scured by these angry clouds, there
was, thank Heaven, some Of thatspir.
it of l776 that burned in the bosoms
ofour patriotic sires, still left in the
loyal, patriotic hosts in the Northern
portion of our country. And when
the tocsin of war sounded, and oui
! Constitution was trampled undor foot
it burned anew in the bosom of every
patriot in this land, until its light
was like the prairie on fire. Liberty
freedom, the preservation of the Con
stitution, was the cry, or we will al
die in one vas. chasm together. Ap.
plauso.
We then, ms was we'll said by m,
friend Major Williams. who has ius
addressed you, in the providence o
God, the great ruler Of all things
had wisely placed the right man il
the right place. And although
didn't assist in doing that, l freel,
confess my fault. lie was PLACED
there to hold the helm of the ship o
State. He registered an oath, higl
up in Heaven, that he would guild
that old ship safely through tn
storm of scccssion;that he would rid
over the high and bloody sea of trca
son, and land her safely, freightct
with the hopes and prospectus o
future generations, in the harbor o
security, there to unfurl her banner
to the breeze as long as time shoul,
last, or men live to breathe loyalty t,
his country and his God.
During this time, how did we di
vide OFF, When our great Captain
Lincoln, asked the people Of thi
country whether the nation should b
saved, or divided and destroyed, wha
was the response throughout tn
whole land2 When you stood her
upon 0hio's fair soil, anu cast you
eyes far off to the South, you sa,
armed men springing up under tn
banner of JEFF. Davis, almost as if tn
land had been sown by the hand G
magic. 1t was a great army thu
raised to oppose the Government q
the United States And almost u
soon, too, were the sweet strains O
music to our flag heard reverberatin,
Ger hill and valley, aud over river
and lakes, from the rock-ribbed shore
of the Atlantic to the golden sand
of the Pacific, summoning the might,
hosts of freemen to meet in battle ar
ray, with glancing bayonets, full,
armed and equipped--each and ever,
one, as he stepped proudly forward
; with Lincoln as his captain, and 10y
atty in his heart, swore eternal vigi
lance and fidelity to the old flag an
to the country, aud swore, also, tha
each and every man who has eithe
taken up arms or given utterance t
Q disloyal sentiment in this country
should taste with their own lips tn
bitter cup of death, but what tn
country should be preserved.
War, then, was upon u.s. The TIVE
armies were arrayed one against tn,
other; one headed by jeff DaYis, al
the pretended President of confed
eracy; the other by Abraham Lin
coin, the lawful and constitutions
President Of the whole country.
Now, let us examine what the con
duet of the people of this country wal
during the great and bloody struggle
that lasted for over four years. WheI
treason raised its flag in this land
and hope there are Democrats here
plenty of them-I want you to tel
me to-day, as honest men, if you car
point your finger to one Republican
one Abolitionist, as you are free t
term them now, in the whole lanC
from Maine to Georgia, or from tn,
East to California, that ever drew ,
trigger and fred upon the flag of thu
American Republic? Voices, "Never
never; not one."1 Again: Can yor
point me out to-day one single maj
in the whole United States of Americi
that ever did, during this whole war
that belongs to the Republican organ
ization in this country, that failed t.
give sympathy to the soldier in the
field, or failed to pray for the success
of the loyal army in this country
lCVoices, "Not one."] You can MOI