New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-06-21


cV.re her integrity andlthe liberty of all her
people. Matchless endurance, matchless
yalor, untarnished honor were displayed:
but the mind does not pause and linger
without regret on scenes of carnage and
desolation. Nor shall advert to the for
eign policy of the Republican party though
marked with signal ability, and illustrated by
the most eminent patriotism. And yet there
is one feature of 1t to which / am impelled
now to call your attention.
1t is that act by which our noble party
vindicated the rights of neighboring re-
public when foreign despotism had placed an
imperial prince on throne founded on the
ruins of the republican State in Mexico.
At that time, when defeat had perched upon
the banners of the Republic, and the bait al
ions of Mcclellan had retired from the Pc
ninsula-when all the horizon of our coun-
try was covered with doubt and darkness
and gloom-when liberty sat in her home,
weeping over the distresses of her country
like Niobe, all tears-when Lee, like Bran
nus with his Gallic@ laundering before the
gates of Rome, was laundering at the port
ais OF the capitol-when European despot-
ism smiled on what it fancied to be the /
ruin of our Republic, and had already |
parceled out its various States Into |
petty kingdoms, of which it thought |
we would be composed-eveni in that hour of |
dismay the Republican party of Congress, |
looking destiny steadily in the eye, with a |
CLEAR Nlsdge anu unudunJeu neart, 5alQ 10 !
the republic OF Mexico: 1--WE will now give |
you our moral support;" said to the despots
of Europe: "The American continent is
kept alone for the nations of America, and
is no longer open to European settlement"
said to the despotic coalition of Europe:
The Mexican people shall choose their own
rulers. We win not look with indifference
at the spectacle of foreign prince, seated
by foreign armies in the Imperial govern
ment OF Mexico, and we now warn Maxi
MILAN and his foreign host that the time
will come when they must quit Mexico.h |
think that this was one of the most sublime
acts-one of the highest instances of moral
heroism-one of the most generous exhi-
billions Of devotion to principle that was
ever manifested by any people.
The great measures of the Republican
party are craven in enduring letters on the
scroll of history. They are now the admira-
tion of mankind-they will not cease to be
| so for long ages to come. In order to have
| Just appreciation of these measures you
must turn your eyes to contemplate the
| situation of the country and the condition
Of public opinion when the Republican
| party came into power. At that time and
for months before, from the election in No.
vember, 1860, until the fourth of March,
| 1861, the government was in the hands OF
! Mr.. Buchanan. Let US speak with respect
to his memory. He has departed from the
scene of his labors, and ''of the
dead" an old and humane proverb
says, I'VE must say nothing but
that which is goods No doubt
Mr.. Buchanan, in his own way of thinking,
was true patriot. No doubt from his own
standpoint he did what he conceived to be
best for the country, but unfortunately that
which he conceived to be the best would, if
it had been carried out, have produced our
ruin and our destruction, 1t was he who con,
ceiyed and uttered the great, the enormous,
N1an aT1Ws.v 4 IL.
states could not be coerced, while at the
same time sovereign States were coercing
the United States, and who put forward the
theory that while Governor Moore and the
secessionists of Louisiana were seizing the
forts and the dockyards and the arsenals,
and the ships of the United States, and our
| customhouse and our mint with the treas
ure it contained and handing them over
to the so-called Confederate States of Amer.
lea; through all his Mr.. Buchanan
thought more Of his theory of the Constitu
tion than of the safety of the country, and
held that the United Stares were capable
of making no resistance under and accord.
ing to that Constitution. That is that we
were not nation-we had no vitality but
could be separated and scattered on the
face of the earth like wandering gypsy
tribe That was their condition, and that
the feeling of the executive with regard to
the ultra doctrine of State rights, That
~
which was then in the ascendant; and with
regard to the question of human rights we
all know what the country had come to.
The ideas OF the declaration of independ
ence had fallen into disuse. 1t was boldly
proclaimed at that era that slavery was the
rule and liberty only the exception in our
country. That slavery was to be uni
versal and liberty was only to be
tolerated. And the very Congress that wa,
sitting when Mr.. Lincoln was elected passed
before his Inauguration acts which provided
for an amendment of the Constitution of the
United States guaranteeing the existence o.
slavery forever within these borders.
Such was the tone of feeling of public
men; such were the ideas of Congress with
regard to the rights of the States and the
rights ofman; such was the beclouded condi
tiOn of the general mind as to the real causes
of the war at the time when the Republican
party came into power. And so, fellow
citizens; it continued for whole year after
ward. The defeat at Bull Run had warned
the country in vain. The few who lifted
up their voices in favor of liberty, ant
pointed out to the executive the rea
point where the rebellion SHOULD
be touched - the vulnerable spot
where the arrow having entered
the system must die-all this from time ia
time during more than year was pointed
out in vain; but at last the warning note
was sounded, slavery was abolished in the
District of Columbia, (applause), although
Senator Of Georgia had not yet fulfilled
his boast to call the roll Of his slaves at the
foot Of Bunker Hill; yet for year after Mr.
Lincoln was inaugurated he might hav,
called the roll of his bondsmen under the
statue OF liberty which surmounts the dome
of the capitol. You must survey this con
dition of things, you must contemplate thi
i situation of the public mind, ere you car
properly appreciate the services that have
been rendered by the Republican party Il
liberty and the country. And the first not,
of warning that was sounded was the abol
ishment of slavery in the District of Colum
bia. By the act of a Republican Congress thu
site ofthe national capitol was freed from the
stain of that great national crime, and maj
walked forth at once in the light OF day
7 free man as he was born under the law o
J nature. (Applause.) Nor did it pause here
f AS soon as the time came when the shou
Of victory should salute the ear of the ma
tion, and no man could say but that thu
, performance of the act was tarnished bl
the apprehension of danger, or that thu
Republican party acted under the sentimen
: Of fear, after the battle of Antietam, anl
at the moment when the invading hosts O
Lee were recr0ssing the Potomac, Mr.. Lin
2 coin gave to the world his warning procla
! nation declaring to all those States in re
I bellion that if in one hundred days afte
} that time they did not lay down their arm
and return to their allegiance he woult
issue a proclamation giving liberty to al
, the slaves within their borders; and as tn,
time rolled on and the day of the opening
, year daWned that proclamation appeared
] and liberty was given to every man ant
, every woman within the broad limits 0
7 these American States. (Great applause
, 4