The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1868-12-10
THE LITTLE BELL RINGER s
PEICE.

In Stewards last public speech, speaking
of the future of the south, he said. if
they cannot keep the peace, then indeed
we must keep it or them" We confe IS
our inability to conceive of more iinpu-
dent, or more mischievous sentence than
this 1t contains in the fewes. words the
whole essence Of despotism. To say itat
any people have not right to keep tn cir
own peace, and to keep it in their own
way, by laws made by themselves, and add
ministered by themselves. is to say that no
people have that right. Once ignore the
right of any people to- be the judge Of
what they want add the whole structure of
fee and voluntary govern m mt tumbles 10
rise no more because it would be based n
no fxel Or absolute right. Another turn
Of the wheel Of fortune may give the
southern people the right to keep the
peace for the people of the north. That
is, send brutal military government aud
scallawag carpet-bsggers to rule over US.
That is how we are keeping the peace for
the southern people And Seward, with
the pittiless malice of the devil, gloafs
over the idea that We are to keep up that
terrible scourge, until We have crushed all
manhood and selt-respeet out of them, and
moulded them to the narrow and fanatical
type of rsalm-sinsing Yankee Puritan.
There is to be allowed no individuality of
character. The noble and chivalric spirit
, of Virginia, which modlIed the generous
character of our institutions, which, in
deed, was the brain and sword Of the Rev
olution. which made both the Declaration
of Independence and the constitution, is to
be crushed ont, for the slavering and fur
ious temper Of the ptist-drowniug and
Quaker burning implacables of the Plym-
outh Rock. All, ia word, that ever
made this country the admiration and
wonder ofthe world is to be uprooted, and
all that ever made it lauShiug-stock
among the nations is to be brought to the
surface, entrenched AMI made permanent
by government Of bayone.s. This is
what the unhur 9 little bell ringer means
by keeping the peace for the southern
people. 1t is the peace of despotism 1t
is the peace of political death, that lies
ha of
liberiy-sucl a peace as ought to be brok-
ell by the prayers and arms OF brave
and virtuoas PEOPLE, aud by the groans OF
the slaughtered agents and administrators
of the tyrannous rule.
In this same speech Seward Anticipates
what will be the forlorn and helpless con-
dition ofthe southern people when their
states will! all have taken their place In
congress under the reconstruction acts.
Then, he says, " the people Will aequiesee
In what congress may require, and their
snout BIS will be closed on all constitutional
copies that have produced agitation and
Excitement. Ia. -, tAI PSoPiS VIII
acluiesce in whatever Congress may re-
quire, when their mouths are shut, when
they arc helpless, or when if is useless
any longer to seek or hope for relief
And this is the condition which one-half
of our country is to be reduced to, when
the programme of Grants party isreallzed.
Sooner than see one state in the union
reduced to the necessity of "a cquiescing
i'm whatever congress may require socn--
err than see one state with its C. mouth clos
ed on all constitutional topics" and lying
dumb and helpless at the feet Of congress,
or any other power on earth, we would
gladly witness far more becoming sight,
viz. that of all the Stewards, and Grants,
and Summers, and Wades, and Buffers,
dan Cling from hundred thousand glib
bets That were indeed heavenly sight,
compared with this other outlook Of dumb
and dlsmantlcd states.