The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1872-08-30

expression or watchword, the principles, or
II you please, the passions which inspire
them. Mr.. q believe l should say Major,)
Russell Errett, the Chairman of the Ring
state Committee, in an address issued
within few days, informs those who fol-
low his guidance that they are no longer
to parry blows; they are to give them, and
he proceeds to do what all good teachers of
doctrine do, ought to do. He proceeds
to illustrate his advice by an example ; he
proceeds TO make an assault himself. And
what he does, and what he proposes that
others shall do, may be indicated by the
watchword for which it would seem that he
has been seeking, and which is a familiar
one to all of you. He proposes, substan-
TALLY, that the cry of his people shall be
as it was i'll war times-''loyalty," and that
charges against all opposed to them of lack
of patriotism shall be freely indulged in
through all the avenues through which a
party can speak, mean its speakers,
newspapers and members.
In Pursuance of this design and to revive
If possible the passions of the war, he pro-
ceeds in his address to make an assault
upon me, and he does it i'll terms not usual
in political controversies between gentle
men. He proceeds to do it without prov
ocation, and with a willful and deliberate
intention of stating what he himself knows
TO be untrue. This is strong language but
l do not utter it unadvisedly. l shall pro-
ceed to prove that it is just. He says to
you, men of Lancaster, and to you fellow
citizens Throughout the State, in express
terms, that during the war, or at least
during the concluding years of the war,
you were represented in the United States
Senate by disloyal man and he proceeds
further to assert that not only was this
disloyalty exhibited in Senatorial service,
but also in private intrigues and intercourse
fl1aa Of tbn LIMIT of
Now, gentlemen, this gross and indecent
accusation, proceeding from the recognized
head of the organization opposed to us,
justifies completely what propose to do,
tonight, and what, under other circum-
stances, might be supposed to be indeli-
cate, or III some manner questionable. L
propose to speak tonight, and to speak
frankly, concerning myself, my views and
position early in the war, and during its
progress. Observe, and l beg you to carry
this thought in your minds.--observe. do
not propose to speak because | conceive it
to be necessary to me as an Individual,
that l should defend myself against this
accusation, nor because suppose an answer
from me is necessary to any result in this
election But do this for the satisfaction
of friends, especially of many gentlemen
who have not hitherto acted with me in
political affairs, but who are disposed this
year to vote for me upon the issue which
has been made up by my nomination.
(Applause.) | propose to show them, and
to so enable them to show others, and if
necessary, to fling it in the face of every
calumniator, that The candidate nominated
at Reading, and supported as believe, by
the honest sentiment of majority of the
freemen of this State, was patriotic during
the war, (cheers) was uprigh and true upon
all questions relating thereto. (Renewed
cheering)
l came home from a foreign country in
the latter part of the Summer of 1861, some
months after the war began. A little over
year subsequent to my return, | was chO-
sen to the Senate of the United States by
the Legislature at Harrisburg, by q major
ity of one vote, an event Of which doubt
less you heard at the time, because there
were circumstances connected with the
event calculated to fix it upon mems recoI-
lections.
DECLARATIONS OF POSITION.
The war ended in April 1865, little
more than two years afterward. Shortly
after my election, in July 1863, prepared
amy essay upon the existing political situa-
ton i'll this country, and especially with
reference TO the war which was then pend
ing, and it was published extensively; in
Philadelphia and in my own and adjoining
counties, and was distributed about in the
form of slip sheet undermy name. will
read what L said then:
''That rebellion was against the laws of
the United States, and put the whole body
of them at defiance. Although it asserted
for itself legal ground of justification, it
is most manifest that it was lawless and
unauthorized. The compact of Union, be-
ing without limitation of time, must be
held, as intended by its authors; to be per-
petualj and the provision contained in it
for its own amendment provides the only
lawful mode by which its obligation can be
limited or changed. Considering secession
as breach of the public law, and i'll view
of the immense interests put in peril by it,
the State concurred III measures of hostili-
ty against the South. But this was done
to Ui1tdicdte the broken Ld'o, and to secure
the objects for which the Government of
the United States was originally founded,
and for no purpose of conquest, or oppres-
sion. Upon this ground we may justify
our conduct, and submit it, without appre-
hension of censure, to the Judgment of fu-
ture times.''
That was the substantial and solid ground
upon which early after my election to the
Senate, | placed the war upon our side be-
fore the people of this State.
l viii proceed next to read a passage from
a speech delivered by me after the war
ended. In speech delivered in the SEN
ate on the 21st of July, 1866, I said.
Returning from foreign country after
the commencement ofthe war, when it was
in full progress, and when no human pow
er could avert the storm which fell upon
us, i found myself, as did most of the citi-
zens of our country, absolutely controlled
by the circumstances which surrounded us
and which pressed us forward upon course
of conduct which we could not avoid.
thought then, and l think now that there
was but one thing to do We were en-
gagged in contest which was, as it has
been often described, contest of life and
death, and there was nothing to be done
except to fight it out to fight on, to pro-
mote or assist the collision of force which
were then arrayed against each other until
some ultimate result should be reached.
AS a member of the minority in this
Chamber, | gave my vote for those meas
ures Of the majority which directly point
ed to the use of the force of this Govern
ment to subiugate the insurrection which