The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1871-01-12
NToN. STARK COUNTY OHIO. THURSDAY JANUARY 1a 1871

u mon 10 cOerce them Inc Union was
one of consent and affection, not of force.
But where in course of events were heard
the first whispers Of disaffection and re-
bellion? Where was secession first pub
hcly talked of and threatened? 1t was in
your own now truly loyal but uncharita-
bic and merciless New England.
Your predecessors threatened to quit /
the Union under the administration of-I
Washington if their State debts were not
by the General Government. I
They did it again when the embargo was
passed in 1907, and again when Louisiana /
was purchased, and still more signally |
under the administration of Madison. Who |
has not heard of the celebrated Hartford |
Convention, where State rights were loud |
ly affirmed, secession almost proclaimed, |
and the standard of revolt about to be |
raised ? Then it was that the Southern
States were the great supports of the
Union, and their people almost ready to
denounce the Hartford Convention as an
assembly of traitors.
: / recur to these facts, Mr. Speaker not
in advocacy of secession or rebellion, but
to show that these first lessons of State
rights were not taught by the men of the
South, although they unfortunately deem
ed 1t their duty eventually to put them in
practice. Should not these recollections,
gentlemen of New England, inspire you
with more generous emotions to the brave
men who with their fortunes, arms and
lives put to the practical test that which
your own fathers believed and taught ?
You must conceGe to them truth, courage,
and honest convictions else not claim
those high attributes for yourselves. To
risk all and die, or will be willing to die
fO,-s ha1S frDb ba ba birrl,-
est evidence of noble, intellectual man
hood Were not these men of equally
high inheritance of blood, treasure, and
character as yourselves? Have not their
fathers, and they themselves, many of
them in the field and in the council, Illus
trated the courage and daring, the genius
and patriotism Of your common country?
How many proud namss among them have
you yourselves in days past delighted to
honor How have they thrilledyour ears
by their eloquence. or ennobled your
hearts by their valorl What prodigies of
heroism have they not performed IN the
great struggle IN which you conquered, es-
tablishing a powerful de fGcto Govern
ment, as it were IN a day, sending out a
little navy which terrified the seas, sud
denly raising great armies for the defense,
and carrying on war of four years which,
for spirit, strategy. endurance, and deeds
of glory on their part, as well as your own,
may challenge the admiration and
emulation of the world. To admit
that they were not bold and sagacious
in council and fearless and persistent in
battle would be to disparage the fame of
our own great actors in the struggle. If
you would dare belIttle a Lee and Stone
wall Jackson you would dim the escutch-
con of Grant and Sherman.
But the war is ended, the experiment
fought out, secession dead, and the Union
eemented in brothers blood. Can You
not appropriate the fame of those fallen
heroes to increase the strength and splen-
dor of the Union7 Can you not rise to
the grandeur of forgiveness and perfect
| amnesty to their sons and followers and
all the survivors of this dreadful intestine
| WARP Suppose, for a moment that they
had been the victors; can you imagine
yourselves supphants for pardon and am
nesty, and they. requiring you to humble
yourselves at their feet and kiss the rod
that smote your But IN the glory of tri-
-umph, rich in treasure, mighty in power,
and on the high tide of boundless fortune,
can you longer oppress and ostracise men
of your own race who would be your
brothers and build up your renown2 They
are men like yourselves, and if you expect
them to acknowledge themselves traitors
and felons, and come with supphant knee
and penitential reverence If you expect
them to ignore the credit of their great
struggle to themselves, their surviving
brethren or their dead chieftains, and cease
te praise the Yalor and lament the loss in
freedoms battle of their fathers, sons and
brothers, you will be mistaken. You
might as well expect, the waters of the
Potomac To roll back to the mountains, ol
carry the mountains to the sea. No you
may put their heads on the block, theiI
bodies on the scaffold, or pluck their hearts
from their bosoms, but you cannot make
them forget their pride of race and man
| hood. Neither can the forget the achiev-
ments of their heroes on the fields of theil
glory. No, Mr.. Speaker and gentlemen
treat them like men, make them youl
friends by an act of perfect amnesty anC
grace, which shall be more beneficial in 1t;
influence than all yoar deeds of arms. lie
them no longer pine IN alienage and op
preston. Give them not reason to ex
claim: r ..-..-
But tits past, and tho blazoned in story
| The name Of our Vietors may be,
| Aceurs'd is the march of that glory
Which treads Ger the hearts Of the Free
Mr.. Speaker, the opportunity of thu
American Congress to restore grea
brotherhood, to lift up and tighten heavI
hearts, to reunite forty millions of peopl
interests, affection and joint efforts to pre-
mote the well-regulated liberty, the great
ness ard grandeur of our cpmmon coun
try is at hand and invites our embrace
Let Us not longer pause. but act promptly
and censummate the benign achievement
Believe me, it will do more to bring 10y
atty and union than would a million o
men in arms. Let Us put aside force anC
appeal once more to the reason, affection
and patriotism of men. But, cir, if W,
longcg grope in the darkness of passion
and prejudice and sin in the face of .histo
ry, knowledge, wisdom and Christianity
we may estrange noble hearts that woult
warm to US and even those we conside
now our own. Endurance of inequalit,
aud oppression cannot last forever: and
may be when other rebellions shall come
other wars deolate the land, we may real
ize and repent, when too late. the poeti
Irish aspiration to liberty which should b
a lesson and anthem throughout the world
True loyalty springs from peoples consent,
The knee that is forced had been better unbent.