Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-09-23

tiVeS, and having represented inc party III a ma
| tional convention, and having twice led it
| through state campaigns rs chairman of the
| state central committee-that had reached full
| fellowship, and should be slandered by my as
sociates no more. But it seems am mistaken
| and so in sell-detence, and ont of respect for
you who have taken an interest in the matter,
will quote few of my deeds and words during
| the war-knowing well how unpleasant it is for
a man TO set forth himself.
To begin then: A few evenings after Sumter
was fred upon, was called upon by two bodies
ofmy fellow.citzens; the former to ascertain
my vews-the latter to get advice and aid. To
the former, a large assembly, stated distinctly
that political differences were at an end that
our sons and brothers had gone out to bloody
war, leaving their wives and children behind
them for our tcnderest care, that we should
soon have widows and orphans to support and
protect, and that the only duty was to devote
all our powers to preserve the government, and
TO stand by those who entered into its service.
! am happy to say that loyal assembly warm
~ and loudly approved Of my views. To the
latter, a committee of one of the oldest military
companies in this city, gave all the encourage
ment in my power, both by word and material
aid; and am happy to say that some of the
men of that organization have not yet forgotten
it,, and there is one young man now employed
in honorable and important service among us,
who, am sure, will remember the encourage
ment gave him TO enter heartily into the war,
as | do the zeal with which he received my
counsel.
Again, in the autumn Of 1861, but few
months after the war broke out, was called
upon to speak in Newburyport, in behalf of the
library of that city. In that address, which was
upon the war, | said 81 have no faith in
war which is constantly interrupted
by an imbecile desire to surrender,
or an easy torgedulness of the honor and
the high objects which are at stake, and above
all things let those whose states are loyal re-
member that in their hands rests the govern
ment transmitted by our fathers, and let the
bond of union from east 10 west be the con-
seriousness that they are the guardians Of these
institutions which have given lustre to the
American name as to one nation, one people,
one interest," one from that nice and complex adj
iustment which attends all high and powerful
organizations 1t is idle to talk of
the constitutional rights of the insurgents, for
they have seen fit in their madness TO cast off
all constitutional obligations and all constitu-
tonal rights at the same unhappy moment.
When see the federal flag flying and
federal batteries pouring from Fort Sumter, |
shall look for much more respectful tone from
England. Notwithstanding our
mishaps, our armies and navie3 have borne
themselves calamity, and | think much is due
to the sagacity of the president NincolG) and
TO the wisdom of his advisers who have coun-
selled policy superior TO partizan or sectional
feeling. \ The war has the support of
every true patriot, who loves his country still,
in every state of that union which patriotism
and national wisdom founded and enlarged.
If we must resign certain civil
privileges in order TO strengthen the hands of
the executive, let us do it patiently and will
lingly II we must diminish our comforts and
deny ourselves luXuries, let us do it Gbeerfully,
for what are they all without a countryP
did not intend this for dsloy atty, and my
audience did not receive it as such.
Again, on the fourth ofJuly, 1862, being called
upon to deliver an Grafton at the North Bridge,
at the raising Of the flag on the spot where
occurred the first stand against British agrees
sion, the revolution, | said! eve have come up
here in the early sunlight of this summer day
to pay our morning VOWS, as patriots aud Chris
tians, in this great temple of nature, to the God
of freedom, whom our fathers worshipped. Let
us rejoice that their government is still our
own; that no convulson has opened between us
and our flag the yawning and impossible
chasm; that ours is the eountryj ours, the con-
stitutOn; ours, the nationality born of the rev
olutOn; ours, the American history; ours, the
shrine, the temple, the sacred places, the tomb
the dear and hallowed relies, reminding us ever
of the greatness and glory of our national birth,
and of the besSedneSs of our inheritance Ours
is the anniversary Of American Independence
the fourth of July, the only fourth, the day of
days, sacred to freedom wherever the American
heart beats. The altar at which we worship is
the altar erected by the founders of our repub-
lie. The allegiance which we recognize Is the
allegiance Of Washington. The earth beneath
our feet is still American soil, as he made it
American, The seas, too are ours. The waves
that beat upon our shores unbound as yet by
other sway, proclaim to the mountains and val.
leys that for themselves the stars and stripes
are still supreme. And while we hear the tn.
mutt of the battle afar off, while our sons and
brothers are pouring cut their blood for their
country while the whole civilized world stands
amazed at the strife which RACES among us,
while the awful upnifU pf the conflict is written
upon the wasted fields and burning villages Of
our brethren, md upon our own deSoate
| heaTthstOnes, our faith and hope are preserved,
| and all our desire is manifested in the flag
| which We still call our own, and from which no
| star has yet been stricken by hand of ours. To
others, one star after another may have dropped
| from the heavens, but not to us, 10 Others the
| fine gold may be changed, but not to MS.
| To Others there may be the charms
| of Il new constitution and Il new flag,
| but not to u.s. The love of our youth is still
dear, and lured by no attractions, deceived by
| no promises, filled with no unnecessary fears,
confident devoted, faithful, believing in the in
| telligence of the people, in the wisdom of the
| government, in the justice of Heaven, and in
| all sound and healthy human progress, we find
| no monument more appropriate to mark the
| spot where the first successful resistance to the
| march of oppression was made on this CONT
| nent than the nag OF our country, radiant with
all the stars fixed there by an advancing ma
| ton. And those of us who have
sons and brothers on the field of battle can we
ever forget that it is this dear old flag which
guides and cheers them in their trials and dan.
gersH In the long and weary march it reminds
them of home, and the shining days over whose
rejoicngs the flag had waved triumphant In
the smoke and din of battle it inspires them with
courage for the country whose peaceful 9lOTios it
represents, and with whose fate is bound Its own
| existence. And the dying soldier, stricken down
and left in all the agony of loneliness as the
storm of war passed on, far from the gentle
voice OF child and mother, and wife and sister,
with no atfectiOnate hand to wipe the death
damp from his brow, who can tell the short de-
lirious JOY which fills his soul as he turns his
glazing eye to the flag of his country, still way
ing there, and knows that It's folds encirce him
self and them all, the dear ones, in a fond en-
brace"
Again in the autumn of the same year, 1862
! SAID, IN an agricultural address delivered be-
fore many societies Of the commonwealth:
Withdrawn as it were from the violence
which surrounds him, it is only when he re-
members that his country is rent by civil strife
that the work of the fathers is totterng, that
the vutures are lowering over us, that around
the gilded dome Of our temple the 6ercest light.
nings flash, that we toll and pray and hope and
trust in God, that we shut our eyes to disruption
and dlShOnOr and believe in honor and power
| and Union once mOre,-it is only when he re-
| members this that the Massachusetts farmer can
KNOW bue DRESSINGS Ol MS own domestic lot, or
learn his duty as a citizen, or understand the
trials which surround his commonwealth, or
feel the dangers which threaten society, or fore
see the distress which adds gloom to the dark
and doubtful future. As a farmer of Massa-
chusetts, he has reason to be grateful. As
citizen of Massachusetts, he has reason to be
proud and confident. As an American he should
not DESPAIR. As a wise man he should inquire
what are the relations which he holds and his
state and country hold to the world of civiliza-
ton, and what he can do for popular prosperity
and advancement. And as patriot he should
act for the honor Of the land which he calls his
own.
We know how we have borne ourselves
through the distress and pressure of the present
war, and how we have devoted all our resources
to sus tanning it, and all our faculties to force all
industry, all credit, all money into its support.
The spectacle which we present has never had
its counterpart or parallel. n Not an
eXpedient not a resource, not an effort, that has
been neglected. our determination to do ourpart
towards bearing our country through her trial.
and preserving her prosperity for an honorable
| peace And when the history of
these times shall be written, it will be found
that its brightest pages are reserved for those
who, unmindiul of all differences, superior 10
all temptations, pledged their lives their for