The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1867-03-28

thcns anil lieathcn nations siplss {
Christian pcoplcin mercy, magnanimi')
md clrarityY Are the feelings ofpcr
sonal revenge and hate to be substitu
ted for the obligations Of the Constitu
ton, and must the people Of this coun.
try submit tamely and in silence to this
tremendous national crime, which is to
reduce q large majority Of the Old
Thirteen to tile condition Of subjuga
ted provinces, governed by military sa-
iI traps? lfthis crime is indeed to be
Ipcrpclratcd, then the duty OF the Pres.
ident is plain, He has sworn :" to pro.
tcct, preserve and defend the Constitn
ton ofthe United States" BY all the
obligations of his oath Of Office; by the
promptings of the pnrest, most unset,
fish patriotism; BY the welfare of the
present and all coming generations. he
\ Is bound to resort to every constitu
Itional means within his power to see
to it that the Republic receives no Diet
riment day, Il Congressional
ollsarchy, controlled by traitors and
disllhonists, is assuming new and
trightful powers, that, il submitted to
in silence, must end in the overthrow
OF this Government. The issue, fairly
presented, now, is--Whcther the Con.
sttution that our fathers gave us, Will
its well defined Executive, Legislative
and judicial departments, shall remain
unimpaired ; or, whether the Legislative
department, concentrating all powers
| within itself, shall establish centra
Congressional Directory, to overawt
and enslave this natony 1t certainly
is clear, thatif Congress usurps the
power TO dictate terms Of admission 10
the late rcvoltell States, and establishes
military governments therein, treating
as utilities the right Of each State to
regulate its own domestic institutions
in its own way, infringing upon the
constitutional prerogativcs of the Tx,
recutyc, and threatening him with i'm
parchment, for Ealing to register its
DEGREES, then our Constitution has "hut
a name to Five Then the hour has
struck when, in the sonorous language
Of the Declaration of Independence,
the Government has become dcstruc.
tive Of the ends for which it was
created" and the solemn right has
most surely vested in an indignant,
outraged and insnlted people to alter
or abolish such form Of government as
vs. cans attempted TO be imposed upon
them. ............. ....
It's high time, if we intend to pre-,
serve our form Of government, that
further innovations and cncroachmcnt3
were resisted Political innovations
originrte just rs path is formed in the
fields. The first person who crosses
the grass treads it down. Soon where
the footsteps are, the grass has changed
it's color, the depressions are distinct.
Not long afterwards bits and patches
of the soil, where very recently the
grass was only tlattcned, are laid bare,
You see the naked earth, the roots OF
grass are died, the grass itsclfis killed.
1t springs up no more; and then the
bare places gradually extend until the
brown devours the Intervening green
between. By and by the bare worn
places join one another, and all thc
grass between them is destroyed, and
ithc continuous path is formed. Tracks
enlarge the path on either side, and
generally the hedges and fences are
overthrown, and the trcspassers 60 in
and out unrestrained.
! Remember, citizens! in tbs hour Of
innovation and cncroachmcnt upon
your dearest rights, and he warned in
time, that it is first the tramplcd grass,
then the beaten pathway, next the
broken hedges, and PROSTATE fences,
until despotism rides free and unre
strained.
In conclusion, permit me upon this
. subject of cncroachment, to quote from
the words Of your own Webster, dc
; lvercd from this very platform, YOU
, own Webster, that dead but scepterel
sovereign who still rules our spiri
q from his sacred urn: "The spirit o
: liberty is indeed a bold and iearlcs
2 spirit; but it is also Il sharp-sightec
spirit. 1t is cautious, sagacions, far
; seeing intelligence. 1t is jealous ofen
croachment, jealous of power, jealou
= OF men. 1t demands checks, it seek
for guards, it Insists on securities
This is the nature Of constitution;
, liberty, this is our liberty"
Were eyert uar words than those
Here in the city of his pride and low,
whose strong arm so often sustaine
him, whose praise was ever on his lip
and whose past glories so often brigh
ened his, eye, and cnltindled the fires
his matchlcss eloluence, may the,
noble words of his sink deep into VOL
breasts, spring mp and bear abundal
frllit.. Lt'',.7l NHt