Year: 1863

Mr.. CHAIRMAN Three years have passed
away since you and / and others, some of whom
1 see before me DOW, assembled in this room
for the purpose of trying to avert the war


which now afiicts our land. We, sir, saw the
| coming storm we most respectfully invoked


that party which had just achieved great &c
litical triumph to pause and unite, with us in


efforts to avert calamities which we fear, d


would shake this government to its very foun7


dation. Our fears were derided, our prayers


were Knocked, and we were told that we were


no t. ue men because we foresaw what is now


taking place-a bloody and devastating civil


war. How sad has been the intervening De


ricdl How many men have been carried


down to bloody graves! How many homes


filled with mourning How much distress, Of
misery and agony has been felt throughout
this then free, and great, and prosperous land
of ours. Wemeet again tonight, when the
wsr in its progress has brought us to another
of its stages, and once more, Mr.. Chairman,
on lehalf of the Democratic party of this
State, I stand-up here to-nightto appeal most
earnestly and respectfully to our Republican
friends again to unite with us and save our
land from yet greater calamities. But I will
not dwell long on the dark side e6of this pic


ture. Sad as it has been, some great good has
grown out of the struggle. We have learned
at least to value our Union Alright; and those
who, but three short years since, heaped upon
us words of scorn because we pleaded for it
and would save it, and stigmatize us as Union
savers are to-day glad to come before the peo-
pie and claim to be the particular and especial
friends of this Union. (GAeers.) For this l
am grateful, although think this recognition
of truth of our position might have been
made In a more gracious form. Blu. more
than that: At the late nvention held in Sy
racuse, rejoice thatit was put forth that that
party means to struggle for the Union and the
Constitution: But little time since, men
were stigmatized as traitors who would protect
constitutional rights. This recognition ac-
cept most gratefully, aud none the less thank.
fully because it goes forth to the world with
many harsh and unkind ccnsurcs of myself. /
stand here forgetting all that is said that does
wrong to you and to me, with heart full of
gratitude to know that at length we have from
all parties a recognition OF tie great truth
that this Union has value past computation.
and hat the Union is TO be preserved and the
Constitution respected by the common consent
of all parties. 1 am not one of those who, in
this hour of the country's distress, are without
hope. Indeed, regard the future hopefully
and confidently. This sad war has taught us
not only the value of the Union, but before
we shall have done with it it will teach us eth
er great truths and establish our Union on a
frmer basis, and establish the rights of the
States on such a foundation that hereafter no
power can shake them. (Groat applause. 81
know that some of my friends look somewhat
despondently upon the future. L know that
the acts of the last Congress caused great.
alarm in all parts of the country. / know
that those acts originated in false and mistaken
views of policy, and spring from those who
would seek to make our government stre nger
by concentrating larger amount of power in
the national capital. have never for one
moment feared the result. l have felt, every
since the adoption of those measures, that the
very means seized upon by the advocates of a
strong central government would overthrow


forever the theories they were intended to es-
tablsh. 1t will be proved by our experience
now, and that which is to come, that those
pre- visions of our national Constitution that re-
strain the powers of the General Government
were not put there solely for the purpose OF sa-
wing the rights of the States. States have "a
vitality which will outliYe more wrongs and
outrages than any party can infict- Loud
applause.) They may for moment be over
whelmed and subdued, but they never can be
extinguished They are natural organizations
SO knit and bound together that when every
effort has been made to suppress them they
will rise up again in all their original power,
and maintain and assert all their constitutional
rights. 1t is true that one of the designs of
restraining the power of the General Govern
ment was to protect the rights of the States
but these were not the first and great objects
for which they were introduced They were
placed in the Constitution for the purpose of
saving and preserving the national Govern
ment itself because our fathers saw that if
this Government was invested with, or attempt
tempted to exercise greater power than they
conferred upon it, il would destroy itself. Let
us ss,asee if thiss theory is correct. A few
months ago the national Legislature adopted
a measure with regard to the currency and