The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1868-06-25
AN ELOQUENT ADDRESS.
TO The White People of the South
North, East and West, who
Love tic Present COnStitu.
ton Of the United states
and The Union OF the
states Hereunder.

We. the white people of Russell county
Alabama, in the presence of Almighty
God, and invoking to our aid his holy
name, do, unto all our suffering brethren
Of our own down-trodden south, and to all
our sympathiziug brethren of the power
ful and trihihphant north and west, truth
fully declare our leading principles, net
through our representative men, but In
our own proper persons, with our own free
voices, and from the inmost depths of our
bleeding hearts.
We heartily love and honor the 'consti-
tuition Of the United States, and the union
of the states Hereunder. We recognize
no rule of action opposed to that noble in
strument. We recognize every part and
parcel thereof, as it now stands. Its lead
ing and cardinal axioms and maxims, de-
scended from the great fathers, are as dear
to US az the accents of our mother tongue,
and more priced than onr propertled in
heritances The noblest monument Of the
10Th century, it indeed embodied the
result of the wisdom and experience of the
departed ages, as we'll as of the departed
generations. Times noblest offspring
was =" then "a his last" Still, still the no.
blest-often initiated, never equaled!
In their great wisdom, the fathers left
it the undoubted right Of each state to
regulate within its own borders, the right
of suffrage, the qualifications Of its own
j Judges and jurors. and of its executive of
ficers. In like manner, it defined with
sufficient clearness the rights Of federal
suffrage. Of federal representation, and the
qualifications of federal official position
But, especially, in their great wisdom,
(and the fathers had both read and acted
history, they left it as check upon
rash and presumtuous innovation, that no
change should be wrought in their goodly
works without the free and full consent of
constitutional majority of the states.
To avoid those cppres ions by the federal
government which, in their wisdom they
anticipated might be attempted BY fool'
And fanatics, or knaves, they were expl;c-
il that the writ Of habeas corpus should
never be suspended, except during the
pending Of rebellion or an invasi IN, not
then unless public safety required il !; and
oh 1t NJ bill of attaindcr or ex port facto
law should ever be passed that no person
should be convicted of treason except in
open court, and that even treaso should
net work forfeiture Of property, except du-
ring the life Of the person convicted
And to avoid the horrible crime of Kid
mapping and secret violence by military
and civil officers of the said federal gov.
ernment, which had been practced by such
officers in some dcspotic monarchies, un-
der Iretence of q great public necessity
and OF the inAamed character OF the public
mind, they were equally explicit in dcclar
Ing the right of all accused to an impair
tial jury trial, and to be informed Of tn,
nature and cause ef the accusation ant
to be confronted with the witnesses agains
them, and also, az preliminary to arrest
to the oath Of some accuser In fine, tn
safeguards Of liberty were complete; for
If the truth be told, the great fathers were
not only great heroes, great sages, great
patriots and great statesmen but they wer
great lawyers, and however lamentable t
some, great and unrepentant rebels. An
they took great care to prevent the ex
cssses which malignant faction, possesse
Of the reins of government might be dii
posed to perpetrate against the unsuccess
full faction. which was stripped of all pow
er. They had heard of and we'll knew Q
the bastiles and lcttres de cachet, used ther
as now, by the mean spirited and base,
All the old states were children of tn
great rebellion, their cradle was rocked j
the storm, and their lullabies were tn
lannon's roar. They had once been sui
missivs and loyal provinces but had the
never been rebels, they had nevOr bee
states states, free, sovereign and indie
pendent and equal. But Alabama was n
child of the rebellion. She was the chill
oe the constitution and of the union of th
states Hereunder. Under its provision
nearly q half century ago, under cor
gress not then suicidally MANNED in il
members, nor disordered in its mind, br
full and complete in its numbers, as in ii
telloct, she was admitted to the happ
sisterhood (happy, had they only know
their own hapriness), and her constitutio
the same in substance that it now is, WI
adjudged republican in form. We ma
safely say that no persons of upright cha