Des Arc weekly citizen., 1869-03-16
& the Republic, and to
~ U( tVtIV1U0NHtt III t"t
 Known fo our laws. Let

fOrcfSn cObqucstss or peTsohai aS rau dizement and desire 10 wield addi- tional power.
 Let them with justice consider that if have not unduly magnified my of
 fee, the public burdens have not been increased by my acts, and perhaps thousands or tens of thousands of lives sacrificed to visions of false glory. It cannot, therefore, be charged that my
 ambition has been of that ordinary or
 criminal kind which, to the detriment
 of the peoples rights and liberties,
 ever seeks to grasp unwarranted pow
 CTS to accomplish its purposes and pam
 der to popular prejudice and party
 aims.
 What, then, have been the aspirations
 which guided me. in my official acts Those acts need not at tlls time an elaborate explanation. They have ev-
 anywhere been comprchcnsively and | fully discussed, and become part oi
 the nations history. By them l am
 ready to be judged, knowing that
 however imperfect, they at least show | to the impartial mind that my sole am bition was to restore the Union of the | States, faithfully execute the office oi President and to the best of my ability
 protect and defend the Constitutions. cannot be ccnsured if my acts have | been impeded in the interests of party
 faction. snd if policy which was in- l tended to reassure and c0nciliate the people of both sections of the country, was made the occasion of inflaming
 and irritating still further those who were recently in arms against each other, yet, as idividuals, were sincerely desirous, as shall ever be, of burying all hostile feelings in the grave of the
 past. The bitter war was waged on the part of the Government to vindi- 1 cate the Constitution and save the Union, and if have erred in trying to bring about more speedy and lasting peace, to extinguish hcart-burnings and enmities, to prevent trouble in the l South which was retarding material prosperity in that region and injuri-- ously affecting the whole country, ]
 am quite content to rest my case with
 the more deliberate judgment of the people, and as have already intimated, with the distant future.
 The war, all must remember, was Q stupendous and deplorable mistake. Neither side understood the other, and
 had this simple fact and its conclusions
 been kept in view all that was needed
 was accomplished by the acknowledge
 mept of the terrible wrong and the cx- pressed better feelings and earnest en- deavor at atonemcnt shown and felt in the prompt ratification of the Constitu- tional amendments by the Southern States at the close of the war. Not ac- cepting the war as confessed false step on tic part of those who inaugu- rated it, was an error, which now only time can cure. and which even at this late date we should endeavor to palliate Experiencing, moreover, as all have done, the frightful cost of the arbitra. ment of the sword, let us in the future cling closer than ever to the Constitu. l ton as our only safeguard
 It is to be hoped that not until tho
 burdens now pressing upon us witl such fearful weight are removed will
 our people forgetthe lesson of the war
 and that, remembering them from | whatever source, peace between sec tions and States may be perpetuated l The history of late events in our coun- l try, as well as of~the greatest govern. mcnts ofancient and modern times, to | teach us that we have everything to l ssa. .s:. from q departure from the letter 1 and spi,.i;., of the Constitution. and the undue ascendency of men allowed tc
 assume powers in what are considered
 desperate emergencies. Sylla on be-
 coming master of Rome, at once adop- ted measures 70 crush his enemies, and to consolidate the power of his party
 He established military colnn'es Throughout Itally, deprived of thc inil Roman franchise the inhabitants of the Italian towns who iAgs. opposed a's i usurpation, coniiscsses. their lands and 1 raye them 10 his soldiers, and conferr-
 ed citizensb;p upon a great number oi
 slaves h-fonging to those who had pro 1 scrised him, thus creating at Rome a
 siud of body guard for his protection
 After having given Rome over to slaughter and tyranny, be.ond all cx- | ample over those opposed to him, and the legions his terrible instrument ol
 wrong, Svlla could yet feel safe in lay | ing down the ensigns of power so l dreadfully abused and in lningling freely with the families and friends ol
 his myriad victims. The fear which he had inspired continued after his vol
 untary abdication, and even in retire.
 
 who had permitted themselves to be
 enslaved. What but subtle knowl- edge and conviction that the Roman
 peoplc>had become changed, discour-
 aged, and utterly broken in spirit could have indnced this daring assumption What but public indifference to conse- quenoes so terrible as to leave Rome open to every calamity which subsc- uuently bcfel her could have justified the conclusions of the dictator and ty-
 rant in his startling experiment? We | find that in the time which has since elapsed human nature and the exigen- cies in government have not greatly changed. Who, few years ago, in
 contemplating our future, could have supposed that in Il brief period ofbitter experience everything that demanded, | in the name of military emergencies,
 or dictated by caprice, would come to considered as a matter of course; that cohscription, confiscation, loss of per
 sonai liberty, to subjection of States to military rule, and Acknowledgement,
 with the extension of the right of sui frage, merely to accomplish party ends,
 would receive the passive submission, if not acquiesccnce, of the people oi
 the Republic? It has been clearly demonstrated by Q recent occurrence
 that encroachments upon the Constitu- 1 ton cannot be prevented by the Pres | ident, however devoted or determined
 he may be. That unless the people in- I terpose there is no power under the
 Constitution to check dominant ma