LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 012 028 301 7 peunuliffe* pH8J : 458 2 U89 Copy 1 * THE PRESERVATION REPUBLIC AN ORATION DELIVEEED BEFORE THE MCXICIPAL AUTHORITIES AND CITIZENS OP PROVIDENCE, JULY 4, II By AUGUSTUS WOODBURY. PROVIDENCE: KNOWLES, ANTUONY & CO., CITY PRINTERS. 18 6 2. I T ir E PRESERVATION REPUBLIC AN ORATION DELIVERED BEFORE THE MDNICIPAL AUTHORITIES AND CITIZENS OF PROVIDENCE, JULY 4, 1802. By AUGUSTUS WOODBURY. TROVIDENCE: KNOWI.ES, ANTHONY & CO., CITY PUTNTERS. 186 2. t^ CITY OF PROVIDENCE. RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE CITY COUXCTL, JULY 14, 1S02. Eesolved, That the thanks of this body be, and they are licrcby, tendei-ed to Uev. AuGUSTLS WooDnuRY, for the able and eloquent Oration delivered by liim at the late municipal celebration of the anniversary of American Independence. Resolved, That the Committee appointed to make arrangements for that cele- bration be, and they are hereliy, authorized to request a copy of said Oration for l)ubli(atii)u, and to cause five hundred copies of the same to be published in pam- phlet form, fur the use of the City Council. AVitncss: SAMUEL W. BROWN, City Cleuk. 61505 ' SS' R A T I N My Fellow Countrymen: — There is no subject to demand our attention to-day other than this : — The Pkeservation of the Republic. For the second time in our history, this anniversary occurs amid the strifes of civil war. The demonstra- tions of popular interest, which mark the day, com- memorate not alone the fidelity of those who founded the Republic, but also the valor of those who are at- tempting to preserve it. The men of the nation on the field of battle, the women of the nation in the hospital and at their homes, are alike contending for civiliza- tion, loyalty and freedom, against barbarism, treason and slavery. The conflicting ideas of our national life interchange hostilities at the pd?nt of the bayonet and the cannon's mouth. Thc.'pn-th^es of the West, the hill- sides and valleys of A'irginia, the islands of the Houth and the waters of the Mississippi, have witnessed the sacrifices, the exploits, the brave living and noble dying, which seem to recall the heroic ao-es. The cataloo-ue of names which hffve shed new lustre on American his- tory, has become almost too tedious to recite. The 4 ORATION. army alid the navy, the council board, the Executive chamber, have shown, that for bravery, skill, adminis- trative power and knowledge of affairs, the sires of '76 have no cause to be ashamed of the sons of '62. Now, as then, the martyrs to the cause of a nation's indepen- dence, leaving a trail of glory as they have passed away, above the smoke and din of battle, are manifest- ing the supreme value of liberty. Divine Providence, subjecting the nation to this severe discipline of strife, is proving to us, that national existence and the bless- ings of a free government, which demanded of the fa- thers a sublime patience and untold sufiering, are worth, to the sons, all the treasure, tears, toils and blood which now they cost. AVlien the rebellion, which has convulsed the nation, first uiade itself manifest in arms, few persons looked forward to a long continuance of hostilities. The whole movement seemed so anomalous ; the interests of hu- manity and civilization were so averse to the attempt of the Soutliern States to destroy the government which had nurtured them into importance and power; and the object lor which the disruption of the Union was inau- gurated — the perpetuation of negro slavery — was so abhorrent to the moral sense of the civilized world, as to cause all right-minded persons to suppose that the war would be of short duration. Surely, the enlight- ened conscience of mankind must condemn an enter- prise which, if successful, would restore the ages of barbarism. An undertaking like that must certainly be shamed into absolute impotence at its very com- mencement. At home, there was needed but the uprising of the people of the Northern States. — tlie unexpected union of all parties and all opinions, in ORATION. 5 behalf of the existing government, the unlooked-for development of the sentiment of loyalty to ideas and institutions, to assure the people of the South that their dreams of the success of treason were a delusion. The political wickedness, that sought in anarchy an outlet for its rage, must shrink appalled from the schemes which it was plotting, as it saAV the certainty of their failure — and in their failure its own terrible and disgraceful fate. Abroad, there could be no sympathy with a cause which had nothing to recommend it but its audacity and its pretensions. England, the professed friend of freedom, could not strike hands with those who were attempting to subvert a government which was pledged to liberty. France, the professed friend of order, could not make a league with a pretended confederacy, whose bond of union was a rope of sand, and which could result in nothing but continuous anarchy. Eussia, taking her place in the front rank of nations, by the emancipation of her serfs, could have no feeling of respect for the struggles of a power whose very existence is a shame to the humanity of our age. Italy, liberated from the yoke of tyrants, by the honorable valor of Victor Emanuel and the fearless genius of Garibaldi, could only look with loathing upon an enterprise which was at variance with all the ideas for whose sake she has suffered through so many years. Spain, slowest and most tenacious of nations, could furnish no aid or com- fort to a people who had tried once and again to wrest from her the brightest jewel of her ancient crown. Thus, many persons reasoned, and thought that a cause, which, in itself intrinsically weak, had no right to ex- pect assistance from foreign powers, must soon come to an untimely and ignominious end. b OK A T I K . Two unexpected characteristics of the struggle were not taken into account. One was, the desperate earn- estness of the rebels themselves ; the other was, the eflfect of the pressure of self-interest upon the two lead- ing powers of Europe. Added to the latter, was the growing jealousy towards free institutions — and towards a Kepuljlic that was successfully vindicating their power, on the part of the monarchical governments of the old world. The Union, in its integrity and prosperity, is a perpetual menace to the stability of the thrones of Eu- rope, because it is proving the capacity of the people for self-government, and is a perpetual protest against the Divine right of kings. Yet, the administration of Mr. Lincoln, pledged to the support of the ideas of the age, was warranted in anticipating from the civilized powers of the world, the most cordial expressions of in- terest, the fullest countenance and the readiest co-oiDcra- tion. Theprogress of events has proved that these were not needed ; but we certainly were justified in hoping for their manifestation. During the last year, it has been clearly proved that the rebellious States were really determined to dissever their connection with the federal Union. They were thorouglily in earnest. With all the passionate fervor for which the people of a Southern clime are distin- guished, they were ready to go to all extremes for the accomplishment of their purpose. They have made great sacrifices ; they have sulfered great privations ; they have endured unwonted toils and hardships ; they have bravely confronted danger and death. We cannot but confess, that their perseverance in the midst of dilliculties. their pertinacity, their persistent confidence in ultimate success, even in the midst of discourau^e- ORATION ments and disasters, are exceedingly creditable to Southern character. Their declaration of independence was not a mere paper pronunciamento. They have proved that they were willing to stand by it and defend it. They have shed mnch blood for its sake. They have exhibited considerable ability, and much vigilance, shrewdness and daring. In a just cause, they would almost seem to have deserved success. But there is something in the principle for which they are contending, which warps the judgment, infects the reason with strange sophistries, distorts the moral perceptions, corrupts the conscience, and hardens the heart. Its dishonest}', its flilsehood, its disregard of the most sacred obligations, its desecration of the most solemn oaths, compacts and sanctions, its utter shame- lessness and savageness, have effectually neutralized all the virtues that would naturally be educed among a people that professed to be struggling for freedom. It depraves man ; it unsexes woman. Treason, alwa3's unlovely, especially so when it is directed against a beneficent government,becomes absolutely abhorrent in. the aspect which it has presented among the American people. It is a matter of profoundest sorrow, that the energy and enthusiasm, which it has manifested, should be so grossly and so wickedly misdirected. The loyal supporters of the government could not readily under- stand the desperate nature of the strife to which they were called. We hardly knew that we were really at war with an alert and resolute foe, who was determined to ruin, when he found that he could no longer rule the government. We could scarcely believe it possible, that American institutions could have developed a movement so utterly contradictory to all our theories, 8 ORATION. and so suicidal in itself. My fellow citizens, it is not an American institution that has engendered this strife. It is an institution foreign to tlie jDolicy "vvhich the fa- thers of the Republic desired to inaugurate, — foreign to the principles which they endeavored to enunciate, — foreign to the civilization which they wished to estalj- lisli, and foreign to the empire of humanity which they struggled to found. They hoped, that in the mighty growth of freedom, this poisonous parasite would wither. Their hope was vain ; for, as the tree of liberty spread its branches to the sky, the clinging vine wound itself more closely around them, till nothing but the sword could free them from its deadly embrace. AVe have been rudely awakened to a knowledge of its true character, as m'C have been forced to gather its bitter fruits. It lias also been clearly proved, that the loyal people of the nation must preserve the Republic bv their own unaided exertions. But little sympathy and no aid from abroad are to be expected. Russia, true to her traditions, and now pressing forward in a new career of greatness, was cordial in her expressions of friendship. Italy was occupied with her own great strife for free- dom. ►Spain looked coldly on, an almost indifferent spectator. France and England, falsifying all former professions, acknowledged the belligerent character of both parties, and stood ready to recognize the Southern Confederacy as soon as a moderate degree of success on the part of the rebels would warrant such a measure. The goveraments of those two countries professed and proclaimed a neutrality, all whose disadvantages were intended to i'all upon the United States, and all whose benefits were desiuned to accrue to the rebels in amis. ORATION. 9 There have been, and arc still, in the kingdoms of Europe, large parties of men giving tone to the govern- ment, who, imquestionalily, would rejoice at the hope- less severance of our national ties. The young Re- public of the West, in its rapid and powerful growth, was becoming a too important power among the nations. Democracy w\as intrinsically feeble ; and, if the experi- ment of self-government should prove a failure on the very field which it had chosen, and which furnished the best opportunities for success, the thrones of Europe were safe for centuries. The struggling masses of European peoples could have no further incitement to seek in revolution the cure for the ills of tyranny. Were Republicanism proved, by its own want of success, to have no elements of stability and no inspiration to loj-alt}", and to become only the parent of civil discord, the monarchists of the old world w^ould have an irre- futable argument against all the reasonings of the advocates of liberty. So, the statesmen of England told the w^orld that the " bubble of Democracy had burst." So, the potentates of Europe began to look upon the United States as a power Avhich could be of no fiu-ther importance in deciding the destiny of human civiliza- tion. So, the monarchical party went as far as it dared, in giving assistance and encouragement to the revolted States. But there is no logic like the logic of events. There is no argument like the argument of success. Franklin declared, in 1777, that the cause of the Ameri^' can colonies then was the " cause of all mankind," and that the soldiers of the Revolution " were fio-hting for the liberties of all men as mcII as their own." The cause of the United States to-day has not changed its character. It is still the '* cause of all mankind." Now, 2 10 ORATION. as then, we are fifrhtino^ for the liljcrties of all men, as well as our own. Our soldiers, in the field, have proved, hy their hra\ e exploits and their continued victories, that they understand the nature of the contest. Let our statesmen, in council, be as wise in their policy, and our country will become — as once it was fondly hoped — " the pole-star to which, Irom all sides, the eyes of strugglin*^^ nations turn." But on what plea has the preservation of the Ee- public l)ecome the necessity of our times ? They, whose parricidal hands have been raised to destroy the mother who has nursed them, must present to the enlightened conscience of mankind some- justification of their con- duct, if they wish to escape universal condemnation. They, who desire to divide the Eepublic, must oiler some defence for their action. If the Kepublic repre- sents the best government in the world ; if it means peace, civilization and human j^rogress ; if the Union is, to all nations, the symbol of liberty and law, then it must follow, that they, who are attempting its destruc- tion, must ])e chara'ed with the eaiilt of a crime against humanity ! AVliat have they to answer to the charge ? We must remember, that this contest, relieved of the dilferent prejudices and partizan selfishness which gather about it on either side, is to be decided, not in the present age, but before the tribunal of history, which, with calm and miimpassioned judgment, is to weigh the cause. Behind the minor pleas, which are ofiered, and which are merely preliminary to the trial — such as the maintenance of state sovereignty, the fear of interference with local institutions and the rights of property, the apprehension of unjust and 0])pressive measures on the jtart of the ruling Administration, the 11 A T I N . 11 gradual but certain rise to superior power on tlie pai-t of the free States, and others like these — 1)e]iin(l all, I say, is the great plea uhich absorbs all, the liiglit of Ptevoliition. The revolting States claim that they are contending' for their indejiendence, and draw a parallel between their own struggle and that of the fathers of the Eevolution, Never was there a ni(u-e inifounded claim, or a more fallacious inference. The fathers were struggling against a despotism, hateful to all sense of justice and destructive of all principles of liberty. They Avere rebels against an oppressive and tyrannical gov- ernment, which allowed them no share in its adminis- tration. But the rebels of our da}' are striving to per- petuate a despotism, as hateful as any that the world has seen. They have taken arms against a mild, beneficent, forbearing government, whose gift of free- dom and whose ofter of participation in the direction of aflliirs, they reject with scorn. What is the Eight of Revolution ? It is the last resort — tlie ultima ratio — of an oppressed people, when all other means have failed, to secure the possession of rights and liberties which are endangered, or to regain them when they have been lost. I firmly believe in that right. It is the salvation of the people from the encroachments of a rapacious, unscrupulous and cruel despotism. AVlien the popular voice is hushed ; when popular representation is refused ; when popular liberty is trampled imder foot — then the people have the right to turn against the oppressor, and to achieve their inde- pendence, if possil)le, by the weapons which God and nature have put into their hands. The progress of civilization tends to induce obedience to unjust laws, while there is a hopeful prospect of their repeal. But 10 " ORATION. wlien that prospect is liopeless, civilization demands revolution, for the sake of justice itself While men submit to a particular oppressive enactment, they a«ail with all disposable force, the .system from which it pro' ceeds Thus, as intelligence widens, and the ideas of popular justice and popular liberty become better un- derstood, local outbreaks become less frequent, while as the ultimate, revolutions become more powerful and more wide. The victories of peace are achieved by the revo utions of opinion. When war can no lon^r be avoided, the victories of freedom are achieved by revo- hitions of force. " There can be no doubt," says Henry Thomas Buckle, speaking on this point with equal wis^ dom and vigor, "There can be no doubt, that this change IS beneficial; partly because it is always sood to nse from effects to causes, and partly because revo- lutions being less frequent than insurrections, the peace of society would be more rarely disturbed, if men con- fined themselves to the larger remedy. At the .same time msurrections are generally wrong ; revolutions a.e always right. An insurrection is too often the mad and passionate effort of ignorant person.,, who are im- patient under .some immediate injury, and never stop to investigate its remote and general causes. But a sTr, d*r'' T'^'" '* ?' *'" "°* <"' *'"^ "^"°" "•'^'f' i« ^ T ' ""'' .""P°'''"S ^P^«f-->«'«' because to the moral uali y of ,n,Iignation produced by the presence of evil, "adds the intellectual qualities of foresight and com- bmation; and, uniting in the same act .,ome of the Inghest properties of our nature, it achieves a double purpose, not only punishing the oppressor, but relieving the oppressed." It is true, that there is .such a tliiu. a^ 8 destroymg re^oluliou as well as a preserving revolu- ORATION. 13 tion. The latter is indeed a mngnlficent exliibition of the will and power of a people. The former is a spec- tacle whicli has no element of snbUmity other tlian the terror which it excites. A people, rising against the prescriptions of a long-existing despotism, and success- fully disputing the assumed prerogatives of ancient tyranny and wrong, commands the admiration of all men. A people, in the interest of injustice, attempting to assert the rights of oppression against the progress of ideas and the welfare of the human race, commands their detestation. A people, deluded by false ideas of independence, voluntarily committing suicide, by re- sisting the requirements of justice and rejecting the oflers of freedom, commands their pity. The Eight of Revolution, which the fathers of the Republic asserted, was evolved from the first of these movements. A revolution, such as was that which resulted in our national independence, was " a splen- did and imposing spectacle." The nations of the world looked upon its progress with amazement, and its event with undisguised approbation. It was the vin- dication of the power of ideas over the mere force of armies and fleets. It was the united action of a peo- ple, few in number indeed, and scattered over a wide territory, but strong in the might of a noWe purpose, and utterly invincible in the faith of great principles. On the fields of the war of the Revolution, the power of a people for self-government armed itself against the power of kings. Democracy contended with monarchy for the possession of the Western Continent. So far as events are concerned, the history of the Revolutionary war has no remarkable characteristics. The armies were few in number. The battles were scarcely more 14 ORATION. than skirmislief5. The sieges were but little more tlmu obstinate blockades. The campaigns vreve not much greater than marches and counter-marches — alternate advance and retreat. New England was saved by a. few companies of militia, acting almost independently of each other, even in battle, and then melting away. New York was preserved by the accidental discover}^ of a shallow conspiracy. The Middle States were freed by a few nocturnal adventures. The South was de- livered by partizan warfare of the most irregular kind. The most interesting operations of the war were at Bunker Hill, at the beginning, and at Yorktown, at the close — paralleled, it may be, in our time, b}^ Bull Run and Eichmond. The rest were the different acts of a drama, whose closing scene was the freedom of a conti- nent. That, in brief, is the story of the Revolutionary war. The soldiers were undisciplined and the officers unpracticed. Compared with the gigantic movements of European armies, and the training of the regular soldiers of the old world; compared with the immense array and the sanguinary battles of the present con- test, the war in which our ancestors were engaged was an insignificant affiiir. But there is a force behind fleets and armies and above the clouds of battle — an invisible, sometimes incomprehensible, almost always invincible, force — the concentrated, earnest energy of a people Avho are willim;' to dare and to endure all tliin!2:s for their liberty. The tlu'ce millions. Hinging their pa- tience into the scale, fairly outweighed the thirty mil- lions with their brute strength. What gives that war of our fithers such interest for ourselves and such value in tlie progress of civilization, is its character as a strug- gle Ibr great principles and ideas. For the realization ORATION. 15 of sncli ideas, and tlie application of tlioso ])riiici].l«"s to national life, as tUcy were oxpivssed in tla- Declaration of Independence and aftcnvards ('oiisolidatcd in the Constitution Avhicli made the United States a i)()\vcr in the world, the right of revolution was allinned — was maintained — was estal)lishcd. It was the li-iit of revo lution against the jiower ol" tyranny. It was an enter- prise undertaken with earnestness, yet with sorrow ; for England was the mother country still. When all other means and measures failed to secure the freedom of the people, the sword was taken, and was taken not in vain. The contest ended, as all such contests must end. in the complete triumph of civilization, humanity and justice. But what security was tliere against the repetition of those scenes ? The fathers alUrmed the right of revo- lution. In the throes of the contest the nation was born. "What should prevent, in future years, the birth of other nations ? How should all the various parts be held together, so that, to the end of time, a people, living in the practice of Democratic theories and suc- cessfully governing themselves, should dwell beneath one flag — shielded beneath one broad a^gis ? The fa- thers could not ensure the nation against treason. But they did ensure it against revolution. AVhatever could be done to preserve the Eepublic, by placing around it the safeguards of popular protection, they did. They removed the dangers of revolution by removing all occasion for it. They left to the people the jiower and the opportunity of governing themselves. What was wrong in the government could be rectilled l)y the people, because in the people the government itself resided. The source of all power was iu the people. 16 ORATION. They were really the rulers ; and, if those -whom they had chosen to do their bidding usurped despotic power, the 2^eople always had the remedy in their own hands. The redress of all grievances, whether fancied or real, was to be found within easy grasp of the people's all- reaching hand. There is no such right — there can be no such right in our country — as the Right of Revolu- tion. For, by the very compact which is the charter of the nation — by the Federal Constitution — the people are the sole judges of their own wrongs, and the sole executive of their own will. The means of a peaceful removal of all troubles, causes of dissension, sources of strife, occasions of war, are with themselves, and are provided for them by the terms of the instrument to which they give a silent or a public assent. Thus, the diflerent departments of government — the judicial only and wisely excepted — are placed in the control of the people, at stated intervals of two, four and six years. Upon all public officers rest the sanctions of the most solemn oaths. The privileges of debate, in public as- semblies and in the halls of legislation, are restricted only by the rules of parliamentary courtesy and order. The sulTrages of the people are, with trifling exceptions, made as free as consists with the salutary preservation of public tranquillity. Whatever abuses may be con- nected with the practice of voting, and to whatever corruptions it may be exposed, the ballot-box still con- tinues to be as just an exponent of the popular will as can be possible among any people. Even to prevent the abuses of power in individual instances, the poorest and meanest offender against his country's laws must he tried before a jury of his countrymen, whom he has the right to challenge if not to select ; while the chief R A T I N . 17 magistrate liimsolf, comiim- IVom tho pooplc nnd return- ing to the people in the short period of four years, la liable, in his brief onreiM- of j)()\ver, to be impeached, for any betrayal of liis trust or malfeasance of olHce, by the direct representatives of the ])eoj)le, and tried by the conclave of the representatives of the difl'erent States. Moreover, the Constitution makes provision for its own amendment, -when that becomes necessary by the changes of time and the demands of the country, by reference to the people as the fountain of authority. Thus, by all the methods which the wisdom or the experienceof centuries of human life could suggest, did the fathers provide against the terrible scourge of civil war growing out of revolution. As they did not antici- pate that any generation of American citizens could l)e so far lost to all sense of justice, all regard for truth and all love of country, as to plot the overthrow of the government which was at once the source of power and the safeguard against domestic and foreign foes, they made no provision for such — to them inconceivable — contingency. As they did not anticipate that any por- tion of the American people — the fruit of their own loins — would be so base as to seek to avenge a defeat at the polls by taking up arms against the Republic, they could adopt no measures having such an object in view, except to treat that action as the very worst of treason, and those who should be engaged in it as the very wickedest of traitors. Let us not attempt to dignify this basest of all crimes by the name of revolution. It is — it can be — nothing less and nothing more than armed treason and rebellion — treason and rebellion the most repulsive in their aspects, and the most iniquitous 18 ORATION. in their characteristics, of any that the civiUzcd world has ever witnessed. Nor let it be dignified by the name of "a struggle for independence." Earl Russell, echoing the voice of a party which has always opposed him, may attempt to excite some sympathy for the rebellious States, by de- claring the civil war in this country to be a " struggle for power on the part of the North, and for indepen- dence on the part of the >South." Never was there a greater fallacy. The struggle for power in this country has always been carried on by the peaceful strife of the suffrages of the people. For a long term of years, the seat of power has been in the Southern States. They have been able, by various means which it is not now necessary to specify, to control all departments of the government. The institution of slavery, by its false interpretation both of Divine and human laws, by its flagrant violations of the spirit of the Constitution, by its insolent assumptions of superiority, b}^ its aristo- cratic pretensions, by its alliance with the profits of trade and the rewards of party, has proved to be au element of great political power to those who were its representatives. Gradually, as the moral intelligence of the nation increased, and the love of freedom gath- ered strength, the institution of slavery was weakoied. Its triumphs of late years have been worse than defeats for it — apples of Sodom, fai>' without but full of bittei- ness and ashes within. Gradually, the spirit of liberty pervaded the ^loarts of the p<'ople. It took form, at. last, at 11!' .;i'jt-box. Year l)y year, it increased in power, till at hist 'hy poncefAil, legal, constitutional means — such as the fatliers had devised — it placed ir^ hand upon the sceptre of state and assumed the gov- R A T 1 O N . 19 ernment of the Ec]-)\il)li(\ T\\a\ \\-a< llio stniL'-p:!^ for independence, result in Li- in tlie victorv ol IVcmmIohi. 'I'lie spirit of slavery, l)lind witli passion, mad with rage, exasperated by defeat, feelini!: its ]n")\ver slippin