Year: 1863




distress as nation. fail to see the proprie-
| ty of this position. A close investigation into
the circumstances which have lost US our high
estate is one of the principal means by which
it is to be reg9ined. This is especially true il


it shall be found that the causes which brought
| calamity, and put the sun which shines on


this anniversary in eclipse, continue, to exist
and increase, in intensified and aggravated
forms. How plain and simple, my fellow cit
! izens, seem the lessons of the past on this sub
| ject How boldly cause and effect there


stand out to the eye of the candid student OF
| history |! Obedience to the written, supreme
| law, is necessary to the peace and stability Of
any Government. Without this, government
cannot exist The necessity for clearly de-
fraa Ea..aAaser.tai, organic law by WHICH 10 re-
| deem society from chaos, has been recognized


in every period of civilization. And this


would be an idle achievement unless it obtain
ed obedience. There must be stan lard to
which all render allegiance. It may be repug-


nan: to some. 1t may not be entirely harmo-


nious in all its parts with the views of many.


But such sacrifices are compensated by the


blessings of order, law and security. In this


spirit the American Constitution was made


1t was the work of the wisest and purest; body
of men known to history iu connection with


civil affairs 1t was made in view of peculiar


institutions and varied interests which existed


then and exist now. It was not, perhaps, WHAT


any one member of thlt immortal Convention


would have framed if left singly. to himself /;


but each State, each section and every interest


laid something on the altar of compromise,


and the angel of concord lowering over the


scene accepted the grateful sacrifice, and ce-


mented the Union. This Constitution, thus


obtained, became at once entitled to the obe-


dience of the citizen. The early days of the


n n.l0 b. of


fectionate attachment to the bond of our Union


and the charter of our liberties. But at a Ia


ter period there arose a generation, wiser and


purer, in their own conceit, than the fathers


They discovered such defects in the Constitu-
ton as sorely touched their conscences They
were not content with its provisions on sub


ject which at the time of its adoption was COM


mon to every State in the Union They we're


not satisfied with the stipulations which it or
iginally made to obtain Union, and without
which they we'll knew no Union would have
ever been formed. They declared disobed,nce
to the Constitution a Christian virtue. They
com menced a determined, deadly and unend-.
ing war against its authority and it's integrity
The truth of what Lsay Is known of all men.
The germ of that party which now administers
the affairs of this Government first appeared
moro than a quarter of century ago. filing
the world with its camer against the alledged
wickedness of the American Constitution! It's
phrensied face confronted the public at all
seasons and places, It seized upon the engine
Of the press. 1t stalked into the forum It
rushed into the pulpit and repudiated alike
the Bible and Constitution. The courts were
its derision and mockery. 1t had no law that
was visible to mortal eye. There was an IN
sc en-, unknown, intangible higher law to which
it avowed its allegiance. The great chief of
the Northern sectional party, w H Seward,
adopted this heresy, and by doing so prolong-
ed and dignihed, so long as dignity can be
given to crime, the original element of disobe-
dience to law which has eliminated in funer-
al sorrows to-the land The doctrine of a.
higher law than the Constitution in civil affairs
is the doctrine of civil war. 1t is a founta of
blood. No Government can survive in peace
the asce ndcncy of such principle To this
cause, to this spirit of rsncorous diso5edience,
to this introduction into public affairs of
principle at war with all Governments, rem
lering kindred heresies in other sections and
entailing wide spread brood of pernicious
dogmas in the country, is to be attributed. in
nv sol0mn judgment, as l shall answer to God
for the rectitude of my motives, the long train
Of bitterness, agitation, sectional hatred and
alienation eliminating in civil war, whose
lurid and infamed visage now appals the ma
tions of the earth. 80 Il


Will it be said that this persistent defiance of
the Constitution in the North was harmless
History will not so make the record. It bore
the fruits of discord in horrible abundance
1t did not content itself with empty denunci-'
alton. 1t resisted the laws of Congress enact
ed within the plain provisions of the Constitu
ton. State Governments were turned against
the Federal Government The courts were
deied The Union was divided and spurned,
as in the way of enlightened progress. All
these things are familiar, nor do recite them
in your hearing for their novelty, but in these
days Of savage reproaches for disloyalty GER
tain features in the history of American poll,
tics cannot be too frequently presented to the
public. r..


1t would perhaps be more grateful task on
this and all other occasions to spend our time
in loading the heavy burthens of our national
offences on distant sections. 1t gratifes, the
love of self to Danish from our own doorstcps
all completely with the causes which have led
to eur cruel condition. We would gladly pro-
claim to God and pcsterity that we are without
sin that we have been the patient, meek and
enduring victims of ferocious and agrees
i've spirit on the part Of the Southern States.
all our past history L am aware
that such language is alone adjudged to be
loyal now, by those who have always hereto
fore held that the blessings and glories of the
American Union were covenanted with the
dismal pains and dark, abodes of He'll but at
risk of their denunciation shall at all times
endeavor first to deal justly with our now faults
and crimes, before I go wondering in quest of
the faults and crimes of others to correct As
we are dealing in bitter and vengeful wrath
with the, rebellious sectionalism of the South,
we can certainly afford to consider justly our
own. Let US, in some measure at least, antic
mate the cool verdict of history Tn some
distant age, when the roar and tumult of the
present are heard no more, when the moss is
growing on the tombstones of all the actors of
this bloody and baleful hour, when broken
hearts are at rest, when the gentle evening
breeze is no longer 6lled with the -voics of
tears, WREN wounds and heart aches cease to
be remembered, when the fires of passion and
revenge have gone ont, then from the serene
and undisturbed heights of reason and political