The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1867-12-10
WooDsFIELD, MONROE COUNTY, OHIO DECEMBER TO- 1867.

sion of the Executive was. fulfilled, al
though as the commander- in chief h,
might possibly treat with belligerents il
arms-the cessation of the war, in th,
overthrow of the rebellion and the un
conditional surrender of the armies, has
determined that power. To hold the con
Iquered territory within our military grasl
until the sovereign power of the natio.
vesting insthe representatives the sam,
power which had girt the sword upon tn,
thigh Of the Executive and placed the re
sources of the country in men and mon
ley at his command, should be ready to de
clare its will in relation to the rebels i
had conquered, was all that remained ..fo
him to do. Blu! the duties of the sover
eign were not at an end. An extent O
territory of almost continental dimension
! desolated by war, but still swa.ming witt
millions of people, was at our feet await
ling the sentence which it had deserved
I The local governments swept away a.
they had been, in the opinion of the
President himself, by the whirlwind Of
| the rebellion, were in ruin, while eommu.
-ttnities were anarchy, the courts outlawed
the social tie dissolved, system of pre-
tended laws existing in deadly conflict
with the law of tfte eea4neror. "a people
]subdued but sullen and full Of hate and
hostile as ever to the power that had
overthrow them; a loyal clement asking
for protection, a new and anomalous rela.
ton without parallel in History; about
which the wisest of statesmen might well
hesitate and differ, superinduced fratrici.
dal strife that had ruptured the original
ties and placed its objects in the condi;
ton of public enemies; d large army to
be disbanded, and such indligences ex-
tended, such punishment inflicted, and
such securities demanded for the future,
as the interests Of peace and justice might
require. Never in the history Of this OF
any other State have questions more Du-
merous and vital, more delicate or diff
cult, requiring grtater deilberation or in
yolying the exercise Of higher government
tai powers presented themselves for the
consideration of people, and never was
a Congress convoked in a more serious
crisis of State. The duties and respon-
sibilities of the men who formed and or
ganized tho Union Of these States, and Of
those who assembled here in 1861 to con
suit upon and provide the means for sup
pressing this great rebellion were as
| nothing in comparison, and demanded d
certainly no hig her sagacity and no broad
or wisdom than the task Of bringing back
the dismembered States, and refusing
those jarring and discordant elements into
one harmonious whole. For this great
work the supreme Executive of the ma.
tion, ,seven though he had been endowed
by nature with the very highest of or
ganizing faculties,was obviously unified
by the very nature Of his office. If Mr..
| lincoln hadosuryived il is not to bedoubt.
ed from his habitual Difference to the pub
lie will, that although citizen of loyal
State and enjoying the public confidence
in the highest possible degree, he would
have felt it to be his duty to convoke the
people, to lay down his sword in their
presence, and to refer it to their enlight-
ened judgment, their patriotic judgment,
! to decide what was to be done with the
territories and the people that had been
brought under the authority Of the gov
ernment by our army. The bloody hand
! of treason unfortunately hurried him
away in the very hour of the nations tri-
umph. But if there were reasons which
could have made this duty an imperative
one with him, how powerfully was it re-
inforced by the double effect Of the trag-
edy that not only deprived the nation Of
its trusted head, butcast the reips of gov
ernment upon successor. The now
President himself was in the doubtful
and delicate position of, a citizen Of
one of the reyolting States, which were
to be summoned to, judgment before the
bar OF the American people. 1t was, per
haps, but natural that he should sympa-
thize with the community from which he
had mainly differed only on prudential
reasons, or, in other words, as to the wis.
dom Of the revolt at that particular june
ture of affairs. If other arguments had
not suf6ced to convince him of the ne.
cessity of referring all these great ques,
tions to the only tribunal on earth thai
had the power to decide them, it ought
to have been sufficient that he owed alike
his honors and his accidental powers to
the generous confidence Of the leyai
States. He expected, of course that they
would insist, as they had right to do
upon such conditions as would secure to
them, if not indemnity for the past, a
least the amplest securities for the flu.
ture. Instead, therefore, Of convokine
the Congress of the States to deliberate
upon the condition Of the country, ht
seems to have made up his mind to un
dertake that mighty task himself; to fore
4 stal the wishes and the judgment of the
-Iloyal people and neutralize the power t.
undo his work by bringing in the rebe
States themselves to participate in th
deliberations upon any and all question
which. might be left for settlement, 7,
effect this object be issues his imperia
/ pfpelamations, beginningwith that Of the
l29th of May, in virtue, as be says, of hi
/ double authority as President of the Uni
tied States and Commander Chief of the
armies, declaring the government o
these States to have perished, creating
under the denomination. of Previsiona
Governors, civil officers unknown to th
law; appointing to these Offices men VIII
we're VIGOROUSLY disqualified by reason
of their participation in the rebellion
from holding sny Office under this gov
eminent, and yet allowed to hold tb
same and perform the duties thereof al
i salaries fixed by himself. and paid out o