Year: 1863

liberty-more than the Queen of England could


do. Even with form of government not re
publican and with all the strong feelings of
reverence among Englishmen for the lady whose


virtues have so endeared her TO them both
as woman and as Queen, such an unwarrant-


able exercise of power would be sufficient to drive
her from her throne The stroke of that little
bell sounds reverberating to my ear, and swells
louder and louder, into a tocsin which shall
arouse the American people to struggle for their
endangered liberties. 1t is useless for the Gov
ernment to attempt to stihe d lcussOn. Discus


sion must be haG either in public or in secret, and
secret discussion is dangerous, and leads to con
spracy. Let our discussions of national ques-
tions be open and public; if anything disgraces
the American people. it is their craven fear of
Fort Lafayette Applause.l Do not discuss


whether we are for the vigorous prosecution Of
the for the preservation of the Union"
denouace that phrase as delusion, a snare, a
trap, a device Of the enemy ! deny that there


is any war for the preservation of the Union We


may subject the South to the condition of Poland
but if we do, we must make of ourselves Rus


sia. Our talk of Union and liberty will be as ho-
/ low as the dispatch, "Order reigns in Warsaw" "


uttered when freedom lay in its death agonies,
| bleeding, mangled, crushed and hopeless 1t is


not possible under the free form of our Govern


ment, to hold onehalf of it in subectiOn to


another If the South is to be subdned by our


arms, it is the destruction of the republican gov
ernmentOf this country. Applause / do not like
| that talk about the vigorous prosecution of the


war am not sure know what it means heard


person the other day say that he was in
/ favor of vigorous prosecution of the war; of
| hanging Northern cOpperheads, OF carrying the
I war to the homes of the Rebel>-in fact, as he
| concluded with climax of martial feeling he


would rather fight than eat. ventured TO sug
/ gest that the general preference of humanity was
| in favor Of eating, whereupon he gave me saw


age scowl: and degnng no reply. strobe away.
| ! asked a bvstander TO what regiment the gallant
! Captain belonged. Oh said he, he isn't Cap


tain; he is not an officer in the army at all: he is


contractor. Great laughter and applause So
/ il is generally you will find that those who are
/ most eager for the prosecution of the war are


those who make money by it, and those who talk


most about fighting prefer to do the least of it,
| Some of you perhaps know that so far as am
\ concerned condemn this war, thatI deplore IT,
that consider it a reckless waste of heroic blood
| have lifted up my voice for peace when
thought peace possible. and believe that from
time to time during the last two years of war an
honorable peace, honorable compromise


would have been possible; but now that the war


is in its agony. that we are in the grip and strug-
gle of the fgh; now that the enemy is upon the
soil of neighboring State, | say nothing for


peace. When this struggle is over. then will nv
voice again come out for peace for compromise
but all can saw now is, "GOd defend the right "
The Government of the United States has been
to great extent unfortunately Government of
party, aud the present Administration Is partcu
lary open to that accusation. | have remarked
in the policy of the Republican party a tendency


l believe. incongruous with republican form of
government This policy is centralization-
taking away rights from States and individuals


and gathering them adroitly to one center. Now


the principle upon which the American Union Is
founded is precisely the reverse of that. The
principle of the Union is diversity. State SOW


ereigntv, State rights. Capitalization is despot-


ism; State rights is freedom. Applause. And
when / am asked to increase the power of the
Government of the nation by placing armies in


their hands, over which they have complete and


supreme control, confess that | fear very much


that under the pretext of restoring the Union, we
are helping to destroy our liberties. Do you ask


what then is to be done? say the first thing to
be done is to arm the State of New York to the


teeth. Great applause. Arm it, and arm it at
once. The course is safe and can harm nobody
The Governor will 90 his duty, and if he wants


money let him get it by voluntary subscription.


Let the State be armed and its soldiers drilled
and disciplined, "a voice. "AHd commanded bv
State rights men, commanded by its command
erin chief, the Governor Of the State. Then
they will be ready for their own protection. The
State of New Iork has never proved recreant to
its duty, and it will not do so now. few DAYS
ago the Governor OF the State Of PENNSYLVANIA
called for help to resist an invasion, and the Gov


ernor sent men to help them almost before the
Pennsylvanians had awakened to a sense of their
imminent danger. Applause.l Let our soldiers
be drilled, then, not merely for parade in the
streets, but in camps of instruction and let them
be prepared as men TO defend the rights of our
State. When that is done we will need no longer
Provost Marshals in New York; il will be no
longer necessary for gallant aicers to be fretting
their glorious souls in contentious with old
women, and acting as policemen. while thew


might be winning fame with their swords in the
field. There Is no blinking the fact that the
union Of these States may be destroyed. The
events # hour NAV procure its final
dissolution. / do not believe il myself /
hope that God. who guided its discovery and
settlement, and has thus far prospered us. will
not desert US in the hour of trial, if we
will only be true 10 ourselves But although the
Union fall, liberty may be preserved. and the
State may be sovereign vet Have we not four
millions of people, a great territory, bounded on
one side by the vast ocean, and on another Ov the
lakes, with harbors. railroads and canals; and can
we not lift this little piece of land high enough
above the troubled waters to be a freehold for
humanity forever? Applause Do not sup
pose that a vast territory is necessary for free
dom Attica was not larger than this little island
on which we stand. yet think how great and glo
rious, how rich and strong, its life, and what
j. has done for the world. 1t was in the midst of
despOtic nations. rich in territories and population
yet has outliyed them all, Where now are Min
even, Carthage and Tyre? They are gone; their
languages forgotten and almost their place upon
the earth. Go to Athens, and there you will still
see the old Acropolis lifting up to the sun its
diadem of pillars, proclaming to mankind to
come there and learn how noble is liberty. What
do men mean By strong government, a dicta-
torship. AN oligarchy? These are the weakest
forms Of government; there is but one that is
strong-that which rests on the will Of its citi


zens As Athens was of old. let New York he
still Let us protect to the last the inaenable
rights Of citizens; let us stand by ourselves. and
God will stand by US. think we have an official
at the head of our State that is it to lead our
State and guide it Alright; Lord help us if we mis-
take him, but /. for one, brTe confidence in Ho-
ratio Seymour. Applause Let us do our du-
ty by him. let US remember that each State in its
Inherent sovereignty is independent in itself.
Then we are for the Union as long as it can be
supported. but are for liberty at all events
and in defense of liberty I've pledge our lives,
our fortunes and our sacred honor" Great ap-
plause


Democratic Generals.


Gen. Grant and Gen. Rosecrans are almost the
only prominent Democratic Generals who have
not been sacrificed to the Moloch of Abolition.