Hollinger pH8.5 Mill Run F3.1 955 : 458 3 M18 opy 1 t\. D J3 R E S S i)i:i.i\i;i;i:i) r.v .0 HON. JAMES W. WALL, AT NEWARK, N. J., J Lily 4 til, 1863. NEWARK, N. J.: DAILY JOURNAL PRINT, 158 MARKET STREET. 1863. f\ ^\ I ) I ) I ; !•: s s It was tlio yv.w :VM) licforc tin- (■liri>li.in cr.i. Tlif criTat Ko- 111.111 (iciuial Cainilliis, i-oiHiiuTor ut■^■l•ii, liati ritnnicW t«>]{.)m«. laik-ii witli tlif >i.<»ils (.f a .tatfiif ii|» to tin- ('a).itol in :i (•liarint t ul tin- J^un." All Jiniiir was out to 'j^rvvX liini. "While lainvl lioughs !in, From Imuso-top ami from wiiulows, Fell on his cre-;t in showt-rs." Never lia>l Kmnaii (n-neral so triiuiiplie.l lielVire, aiiiii.)k*' t>\' the one.' prowl < ify aail>arians Avn>s(Mii't' of thosf l»;irl>:iri:in liorilfs, tlii-y f:tilt'il in <-\rry ftVnrt to iiiMi) tin- cily walls :iir:iiii>f tlir iii\ mliiii; fm-. 'I'licii it vas that oM st-iiafors \vli«> lia«a«-n't| *' ("arnn-n" was miii;; l»y tin- Piiiitifi'X .MMviiiius, ami tin- soK-nni litt-s |uTloniu'il hy wliicli tlii-y (Ifvotcl flu-nisi'lvrs to tin- intinial <:«»on this suhlime si<,'ht, as wt-ll they miirht, imtil :i (Jaul, hardier and more irreven-nt than the rest, ventureil to stroke the lonir white lu-ard of .Marcus I'ajK-rias, who raisi'd his ivory start' and smote tlu" ortender to the earth. Tlu' savaire reciivcrinur from the Mow, in his raire slew him, and this lirst sword-stroke ir:»v»' the si<;nal for a iriMu-ral mas>a«-re ; \\ hen soon the mutilated ri-mains of Kom:in senators fast l»y their curule chairs attesteil that as in life, so in death, were they faithful to th<' KepuMic. Such w.is tlu* devotion of early K'onie ; lierce in its wild resolve, mo>t trairic in its <-onsummati<>ii. .Vnd, eitizt-ns I have wi* no historic parallel for this itoman act of stern devotion 'i Not p«'rhaps like it in all its tniijie »li'- tails, lint in the saerifiet's involved, and the moral iri'JUideur of the ait, fully cipialinLT, if not surpassini; it '•' Was not the event vou :ire hen- to celehrate, w hen vou look at :dl tlie surround- 6 inirs, tlic cirounistanccs ;iiif their sublime de\otion, the teniiK'iate and detiTmined stand of men who knew their rights, and knowing dared maintain them. They '* jiledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honors" a])i)ealing to the 8u])reme Judge for the lectitude of their inten- tions, and leanhig with contiding trust upon llis .Mmighty arm for their support. The one Avas the deed of a heathen senate, actuated by a blind superstition. The other, the tian people — i)i>tanci's l)oih of luiseltish devotion for the welfare of the coimnonwealth, in tl.oM' l)rave days of (.1.1. And now in the inie men had Ihtii in vain. In \ie\\ of all the rcxclations of the \:i<\ two feai-ful years— with a full .•onscious- ness of the etforts that were made l»y tho^e. w ho in the oiitsi'l, of oiii- diniculties ucrr^eiit on tlu'ir mission of peaei' 1o preserve by timely coiiipi-omist' dial nationalit v. the annivi-rsary of whose birth we are her.' (o <-ilebrate, I can >ay tiiithfully with Queen Kh-an-.r in Kin-- .lohn; " Tliis nujrlil have boon prevented nnd made wIidIc, \Vitli very easy ar^rnments of love, AVlii<'li now the nianii>;o of two kin;;doms, must ■\Vitli fearful, Moody issue arhitrate." It looks (onicMou, .IS I r;iiii:i' my eye oxcrtlic lii>tnry of tli:it. li'Milul stiiiiXnU' hcluccn r;ini]i.inl riinnticisin Mini cunstit uti<>ii:il rijrlits, tli:it \\r n, and that we \\<»nld have savc(l onrsidvcs from faction and misrule, and iIh- w a is of factions, l»y simply ailhcriui; lo the written Ictt* r of the ( 'c.n>t itntioii, and tliinkini,' more of tlic r<'al intiTcsts — the hroad niaLrniti- eence of the liL;hl shadow he casts — thi' heneficent i^rasp ised and cast down this S(dar order of (iod, because in our coiiiHiteil vision, we (••uiceived e in our pridi', we iH-ally su]»preteii-ed the unimportant (juestion of the relative future ])olitical status of the Mack race in al discontent, ant hecause our fanaticism and short-sii,dited, in shrink weakly and cowardly from the latter. We ma.le the .pU'stioii a mere matti'r of si'ctional honor, when it should ha\c heeii determined hy the Ljolden rnh' of hrother- liood anrl a coumiiom nationality. 'I'lu- patriotism that woidd have saved us then, was the patrioti>m we had lost— the j.atri- otisni (d" our Kevolulionary falhei>, of the men who \i\\\v n> our Constitution; that could ever sacrifice it«. prejudiee- and its ]M"ide when the life of the nation wa>< in ipuv^tion. N\ C, how- ever, madly |ircf'eried to let pride and prejudice triumph o\er 8 our patriotism. We |irfii.'n'cMl to let the nation i^o down before tlic section oi- tlie ]iarty. We lost si^rlit too lonii- f>i' brotherly ntfeetion an«l kimlness. Wo permitted the golden chain of fraternal aftection, uhose links Avere welded in Kevolntionary fires, to Le rudely snapped asunder in the shock of mere i)artisau strife, and allowed a devilish, sectional fanaticism to usurp the lofty, God-like seat of a whole-souled, omnijtresent patriotism. We thouglit more of the i)rejudices and short-sighted passions of warring sections, than of the ol)ligations of the Constitution — of Union for the j)urpose of partisan triumph than of that nobler Union our fathers secured for us — ordained to " establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.'" We tumed a deaf ear to the warning voices of tlie past. Those *' dead and seeptered sovereigns" of our former greatness should have " ruled us from their urns." We would not listen to the parting words of him "Heaven made childless that a nation might call him father." If tlie whole North as well as South had only b((wed themseves submissively to his teachings, and followed with the contiding faith of little cliildieii his noble ])recepts, to-day " the sound of hammers closing rivets up " Avould not have been heard in this land. The plouglishare of war Avould have been still rusting in its furrow. The precious blood of one family and one nation would not have been smoking from clashing and avenging steel, while till' wail of the widoAved and the fatherless — of the mother for the ]>ride of her breast, and the father for the ho])e of his house — would nut be sounding its mournful dirge tlirouglK>ut the laud. The fact is, c-iti/eus, this rexolution caught us with a wrctcheil set of tritlei-s, fanatics ami demagogues in power, — men who scparati'd the Cuiou as an accident from the n.ation, and from the national liie. Thry Avould not learn, nor have they hardly Icaiurd it now, that the I'liiou was the nation, "and not a mere wra].|.ing lor thi' nation, like a tilK't for the head of ;i God," .and in their mad, persivtcnt .and continuous efforts to-day to bi-iug antagonistic races on an e(|u.irny with tluir own, to clothe them with all the rights (»f citi/.en-hiii. tiny ,irc doing what in them lies to make tlic Lrnlf tli:il imu \:i\\ii-, I.cl u cni the .•.cctiuiis Cor- I'ViT iiiiii:iss,;li|f. Tlir only Ii.-pr f-.r tliis nation. I lionotiv l.t licvr. in lli«- lur- iiacr (.1' liic tlii-(.u-li whicli it is jmoinir, i-- in onr' i-fturn to -\\ isilonTs ways— all of \\\u,>v patlis an- |K-acc. Tlir Liicat startlin-- tintli, written all over the cniinMinLT niar- 1)K's of tile cMcr wnil.j, iv tliat ciniiirt-s can only lu- inaintaincil and iHi|.(tuati.| in viu^T l>y tlic samr virtues tliat were .le- A I'lojud at their oii-in. The same coui-airt', tlie same en.luranee, the same unsellish patriotism, that ealU-il the nation into l.ein-,', concentrated its enered upon the spot w here her miirhty e«litices once rested. Hillocks of mcuilderini; earth heavi-d around me as if the ilead heneath were struLT.udinLT in their last jjleeji. A purjde haze was o\cr .all, veiling; in sotU'st shadow the spectral wrecks of miLrhty ruins <»n whose rents and fissures the red liudit rested, like e\|)irinir tires upon ruineion did ii()t seiMii coni])rehensi\ c enough to till ujt to the full tlu' measure of our glory, — in an evil liour, we h.-irtered away for the nure mess of jiottage of a fanatical alistraction, thi.s glo- rious liirthright. The voice soimdi'd liki' the xoice of huiiianity — '' the voice was Jacoh's voice ; iuit the hands were the hands of Ksaii." A\'e lost that ]necious hirthright hecaiise menignor- .-intly ami fanatically refiise(l to Ivaw this (|Uestion of slavery — with all its diverse and heaveii-coiit rolh-d relations — with all its accoiintal.ilities — with all the remedies it might require, or all the ditficiilty or jiressure it might reach — Aviiere our Fathers were content to h-ave it — 'Mo the consciences of those upon whom the pro\ ideiice of (ioil and the Constitution of the coun- try ha.l cast it."' The rnioii of these States ha.l heen vi' slow formation — it grew a.s the ivvv gi-ows, as the forest grows, jtreseiiting to tlu- eyi- a \ariety of foilage, an harmony of colors — e.ach trunk drawing :ippropriate iioiiri>-linient. anrrs\ in its coiife.lerate.l strength, self--ii--taiiiiiig anlialile in the course of nature, ill whieh the people had the hope gi\ ell and the |>roinise that if tliev were true to them>el\<'s, and tlii' ti'achings ot' a Avise e\perii'nc( — '" while the earth iem;;iiielh. seed tiiiU' and harxest shall iK.t cease."" Ihil alas! it h;>- l.een wasted l.y faithless al.an.lonmeiit— it h.is l.een spoiled l.y rude and iiilhlevs violence ; ami oh I let iiv reiiu'inl.er that iiislriicrne natiin- reminds us that a simited gr..w til alw.iys spring- up on the same s..il, where 11 iK'lorc stood the forest whoM- cnci-v tree Iiiul iiiiijc^tv fiioiiL:Ii to hv "Tlio mast of some tall A.lmiial." AVf li;ivr now l(if t w !• yf;ir> ::iiil iihpic <-t' ;i civil strife tli;it li:is iu-\cT JKi.l its |);ir.illel in liistorv, :it teni|.lt'.l liy the \v;ii:-er of l>:ittle to (leei.Ie the lejirfiil issues th;it have iii.nle <.f a <.iice |.ei-- feet I'liioii, two waninn- nations. Ami K't ine ask of you in all solenniity tlii< day, w hen our inerry-iuakinu,s are turned to fuiu'ral marches, who is there, "when he reilet-ts si)lennily ami thouuhtfully ujion the |>aL;-es i>| tlie WcM-hl's hist(U-y — uiiou the sava-xe ]ironi]ttinL(s ui' the human heart in the madiu'ss of passion — ui)oii its wild tiirolts of liati', and its tierce thirst for revenge, tliat y w ar's o-rini ehariot all drenehei<' ":'" ^ "U may talK^j to mo as much as you ]»Iease about the destiny of the human { race — of natural uei>Lr>':i]>hieal hoiindaries — of hreakinu' up' what i Ciod has estahlishvd without our devic-es — of an I'liioii formef Na/a- reth, Avhose feet should he shod Avith the ])i-»'paratit)n of the (Jospel of ]Va<-e, eonu' into the sacred desk with the l.attlc- light iipoM their countenances, and their uarnienls rolled in l)iood. Tliere arc ureat natural law s written with the h'nui-r of tlu> JNIost Jliuh, "That stritc is the hcLietter of strite ;" "That for tlic shcddinirof man's hloi^d, man's hlood must he shed ;" Thai. Avar's ]»assions an- not Sdcial ajrcncics, hut anti-social, sprimLrinir from hat (.', not lovi'. We all know, if we hut express our honest convictions, that nothiuLrcan i-nianate from continued indulncm-e in war's fell and terrihle passions, hut Juore w idi'-spn-ad ha\oc. more fearful devastation ; and in the end anarchy, or a military despoti-m. TIk' i-ed, iiei-y currents of la\a thai run liissinLT 12 dtiwn tlic s'uK'S (if I'ltiia. ni' W'smius, do not st-altor l>lossinLr'^ :is tlicy run. The soil is not incjre fcrtik' AviR'rt' their sc-orc-liiiiu; footsteps liave left tluir trace, nor does the olive and the vine s])rin<; witli ranker luxuriance from the sides of the mountain that vomits the blazing lava from its fiery tliroat. The ocean of the tropics in some wild volcanic convulsion at its bottom, lias been kn(j\vn to throw to the surface an island ; but it Avas blank, drear and desolate, and looked as if it mioht liave been scathed and scarred by the li«rhtnineace, serenity and beauty, as to hope for a restored and strengthened Union to i-isc from the waters of this cruel strife, through war's vol- canic agency. The gentle dove of i)eace must brood long and lovingly over the scarred and shattered thing; the inspiration of tlie heavt'n-st'ut dews, and fertilizing showers of centuries of kindly otticcs and gentle intercourse, must descend before the fearful creation of this war can rejoice or its "waste places "bloom ami blossom liki- tlii' lose." It Avas the dove spirit brooding over chaos that brought light out of darkness, order out of confusion, and evoked, after long cycles of time, a smiling crea- tion of beauty and peace, when rude matter gradually i)ut on new forms, in outw ard shajie most excellent, in mechanism most admirable. This is what nature teaches, and what man understands, when liis fears or jiassions ci-ase to be his guides, and lie follows the majestic movements of divine reason. ^Ir. Everett compre- hended more ])rosaicalIy this princiiile, although his ])r(nerbial want of moral courage has caused him since to bend before the stoian, when he said : '• The suggestion that this Union can be maintained, or if once separated can be restori-d by the military pi-i.we>s of one section, I'Xerteil to coeiHH' tlu' oilier into siili- mission, is as sell-contradictory as dangerou-. It conu's loa; (111- Ini-ni'iiiy i.t' it-; iiiciiiliciN, mikI llicir \iitir in lotric, unless you propose ami make it clear to nu' that Vdu have the power to chancre the whole natnieot" humani- ty. Whenever you prove to nie that '•'tlu-lloh will not <|ui\er when the pincers tear," that "1>lr)oil will not follow wln'iiihe kiiile is driven, " then y(Ui will convince me that low and recon- ciliation will wait upon those al>edienci'. The glare and tinsel of military display, the rumbling of siege train>, and the hideous belching of artillery, are too ot\en miscalled governmental vigor, w hen they are in reality only evidence of weakness and corruption. The government that was baseo1.1ik'ss of nclioii ;iiv soon -titled, aii'l men l;-' aliout witli Imtcl l.renlli nn.l wliis|HTinLi- liunililcniss. ]Ir,i\ y t;i.\c'S and liK-rativi- otfu-ial fiii- ]iloyinc'nt lucnl a spawn of i>luii(U'i\'rs, fxtortvoiKM*:* and joblters as the air-L'X]tosod carrion docs njaiii-ots. The morals of tlic ]ieo]ilc ai-c soon undermined, and financial distress and ruin make men reckless of consequences. Sai artillery, to U-overn with liu"hter, l>ut the sloth of cruelty anil iLiiioiance."' Thi' clilldi-en of this ueneratioii have conceived tlieinsi'lves wiser tlian those " childri'ii of li^lit,"' our fathers, anil are attemptins: to do Avliat the uu-n who framed our Consti- tution, ])ronounced to he an impossible thing, namely, "to restore a severed I'nioii by the sword, and to win hack «rood will and affection by the agencies of military coercion." " Tlie sirord can nreil li-amp of military li'gions. 'I'he dun smoke of the war-cloud has dinnned somewhat ihi' bright- ness and bla/.oiiry of those banners ; and the " blood lia< tarnished " Tiio >iiiin-lc(l >lacn uf thai scrriiil ho.-t." 15 Tw I) years .>|' a pii.trailci stniirLilc rrsiiliiiiLr iii m.iliin.^r |,ii( w iil( r aru'iiatioii, iiiorr itilciiv.' Iiaticil, mii.'i m coiiiiilclt- •Iciiior.ili- /.alion. iii'Mi> iin'til inn i lu' u iilc >|inMil niiii rni;cinlfrcl lia\f liiar ;i iiiailmaii, - intcu'Mlo. Oil! it is a Imrnini: slianu-, witli all the intellectual ]»r()i;i-ess ot'tlic race at this lunir in the w i>rlirsila\ , that t wuaiinies f the same tamily aiiil nation shduhl l»e exereisinic theii- w ickcrinci|ile that a few months ,,f peaci fill, passionless diplomaf-y coiihl arraniTc t'oicvcr. Ilul this is not all. It is a luirninL;- shame that men outside of these ai- niies — christian nun? no, mi-n deluding: themselves that tliey are t-lnistians, should he found houndiiii,' thesi- armies on to slaui^hter, and ri'joicini;- wherever the toleixram announces a vii-tory ovei- their own countrymen — manfestini; all the insane excitement in wat«'hini; the result, as diil the Romans in the Coliseum, Avheri' uladiators and sla\cs wire Imtchcicd. "Mo makeaUoman holiday." Ai^ain wmdd they ha\<- this tearful feast of death rejieatew«'r«;. .\mliition, " seckiii'j:" the If.ihMe reputation at the cannon's mouth/' is pi-oiid of its mililary pomp, and would au^iin -ticw till' uory plain with the tortured, the dyiii- and the -lea-l, th.at it miirht iiatheronc more fnliiii; laurel for its M l-stained hrows. Such sci'iKs as these must make the ani^'els wee]i, and theon yonder liattle tiehl — that <;hastly he:nl to tliose shoulders from which it has Ihvii torn hy the deadly shell, and make them li\e au'iiin, .as eNcr re-miite the hrokeii fiau'nuails of this Inioii, and make f/„,„ lixeaLTain as l.efore. 'i'hc >word and thel.ayoiiet in a civil stiilv lik<- the pn-ent. between two such people, tan nexer help (o the piopi |- di^povi- IG lioii in tilt' miinl of ritlicr sin-tion lur a wise adjiistiiu'iit, and can iievcr take the ]>laee of that civil wisdum without whose aid all the triumphs of the battle tield are useless. In spite of all the efforts of those "who are interested to jirolong this Avar, the liiMir for compromise, for settlement, must come; and in vitw (if the immense interests at stake, Lotli for ourselves and th(.se dealer than ourselves, our children, -we must endeavor to do all that in ns lies to hasten its cominu-. It is only fools or kna\<'^ who viJH continue to declare that we cannot treat witli rebels, we cannot liold jiarley Avith those who are strikinij at the nation's life. An absolute monarch may talk about crushing out turbulent suhjects ; l)ut a free government, Avhere the people are sovereign, and theii- i-ulers are servants, and Avhose broad foundation stone was the consent of the governed, can have no desire, nay, has no right to crush out its own citizens. There can be no truth more undeniable than this, and the logic of events is demonstrating it every hour, that Avhen Xorthern States tight against Southern upon the pretext of saving our nationality — they tight for a sham or a shadow, like the dog in the fable, Avho in snapi)ing after the shadow in the brook of the substantial meat between liis jaws, lost the solid meat by the operation. We have had evidence enough since this luifortimate civil ^\ ar connnenced, by the loss of one civil right after another here at the North, and by usurpations that savor of the vilest despotism, how soon such a Avar Avill extinguish our constitu- tional lilierties, ami destroy the Constitution itself, upon Avhose broad toundations our nationality rests. There is fearful appre- hension at this hour in the minds of thoughtful men, that our (Tovernment is fast losing its outward form, and centralizmg and consolidating ])o\\ IT in tin- head. It is true, avc have a President armed with the conservative veto to check uuAvhole- fsome legislation ; but that officer has already claimed the right to sus])en"pr-«. 1 long to see it onci' more i-estoi-c(l to its original lu>tre, and protecting be- neath its peaceful -hadow evi-ry State in this Union from the Lakes to the (Julf, and from the Atlantic coast, to where Cali- fornia rolls down her golden sands to the Pacific. l>ut if it is to be the red T)amier of con<|uest, advancing before ''An untitled tyrant, bloody sceptrVl," I would \r:i\- it tVuni it> stall' and IrainpK' it under foot, foi- tlii^n, indeed, would it lia'.e iiecoiui', w hat Abolitionism has long de- clared it to be, " A flauntinj; lie." I have been tiom the lir>t opposed to this war. I was op- p(»setl to it at it> inception, becau.-e I fon-aw the fearlid COnse(piences that must ensue. 1 am oppo-i'd to its t'urther ])rosecution now, bec.iusi' i'\ei-y houi- of its continuance only complicate- the ditlieulties that sunound us. and can only leail where civil wars have always led, to the demoralization and complete disintegration of the peoph's who engage in it. I sh.ill Imil tlu' lioiii- w hen the S|ii|. of State, |ia>>iiii: out of the lurid -laiT of the tiiu|..'s| ..f w.ir, utu-r \\u,vr ri.lcs safe at Muchoi- iu tlir l.lcs \\r\\ llndu-li all the >ulU'rin«x an of my o\\ u -oul, t liat lias eiial.ieil uie to I.ear all, sulfei- all. it is iliiM'on\ieti..ii that will iu the future euahle uie in sueh a cause to eudure hate's yell. eu\y"s hiss ami lollv's bray, kiiowiu-- that it isthecaiisi- ot'tlu' r)le>sehli'ti mmi- lio-lit, and distilleth His ueiitle rain : -first the hhule. then the ear, then tlie full eoru in tin.- ear."' The t'ull corn in the ear ha> not yet iudeeil couu', hut it is I'apidly rijieuiiiL;". The >i'^ii> of the times manilest how the populai- heart is hi'atim:-. and the hour is not far distant when " No more the thirsty Erinnys of the soil Shall dauh her lips with her own cliilihun's l)Iooil. No more shall trenched war channel her fields, Nor bruise her flow'rets, with the armed hoof of hostile paces." I know in the modern acceptation of" the teiau, it i> con0 lieve tliut a speedy peace is iiitinitely jtreierable to the pr(»l( (liga- tion of sueli a war, be disloyal — then am I traitor. In the words of Liitterell, advocating ]jeace with the C\>lonies in 1782, in tlie Eiiglisli House of Conniions : " I am loyal to the best interests of my country when I ask that this terrible war shall cease, that it may recover from the ghastly Avoutids already inflicted. I am loyal to humanity when I ask that this horrid slaughter of the men of one family and nation shall cease. T am loyal to my Redeemer Avhen I ask that the passions engeiuU-ied by A\;ir, shall give place to the sober agencies of reason, in the name of that Blessed One, ' who was King of Salem, that is Prince of Peace.' " Hollinger pH8.5 Mill Run F3-1955