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HON. 0. H. BROWNING,

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EIGHTY-SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY

NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE,

QUINCY, ILL., JULY 4, 1863.

WHIG & REPUBLICAN STEAM PRESS, 88 FOURTH STREET. ,^
1863.

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[PUBLISHED BT REQUEST.]

AN ORATION

DELIVEED BY

HON. 0. H. BROWNING

ON THE >M lASION OF THE Cl^LCBRATION OF TJIE

EIGHTY-SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY

NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE,

QUINCY, ILL., JULY i, 1863.

WHIG & REPUBLICAN STEAM PRESS, 38 FOURTH STREET.
1863.

ORATION,

We have assembled to-day, under circumstances of peculiar
and unusual interest, again to commemorate the Anniversary
of our National Independence. As -VYith other blessings, so
with this — threatened danger quickens the perception, and
appreciation of its value, and awakens new and unwonted
emotions of attachment.
On the morning of this day eighty-seven years ago, the
United States of America Avere Colonies of a foreign power,
and our citizens the subjects of a foreign government. Ere
the setting of the day's sun, the ligaments which bound us to
the mother country were severed, never to re-unite ; a great
kingdom was shorn of the brightest jewel in its crown; and
a new nation was born whose history was destined to be the
most remarkable of any in the annals of the human family.
About a century and a half preceding that memorable day,
a few feeble, but heroic Colonies fled from the despotisms of
the Old World, to seek refuge in the New, from the oppres-
• sions and persecutions which they could no longer bear.
They disembarked upon the Atlantic coast, where their hum
ble settlements made scarcely perceptible specks along its
margin. They were but a few hundreds, and now, wonderful
to relate, they have grown into more millions than they were
hundreds then.
They fled to the wilderness from political oppression and
religious persecution, bringing with them the simple, earnest,
and unaffected devotion to the principles of civil and religious
liberty which sustained them in their self-expatriation, cheer
ed them under the hardships of a perilous voyage, and
strengthened them for conflict with the greater dangers, and
sufferings which awaited them on a desert shore.

They came in humble and reverential dependence upon
God for guidance, and protection — took possession of the land
in His name— conformed their laws and institutions to what
they believed to be His will— habitually invoked His pater
nal care, and rendered grateful acknowledgment for all the
blessings bestowed upon them.
Any tolerable comprehension of the philosophy of human
affairs, and of God's economy of the world, would warrant the
expectation of a successful and prosperous career to Colonies
thus founded.
They did grow and prosper as no people had done before,
till the few weak and scattered neighborhoods, thus planted
upon our shores, had expanded into thirteen well populated,
systematized, flourishing, and happy States.
But their happiness was not without alloy.
Whilst they enjoyed a measure of religious liberty, and an
exemption from religious persecution, beyond that of any
other people, they were not so fortunate in their political re
lations. The mother country, jealous of their amazing
growth, and rapidly increasing strength, stretched out the
hand of political power, and laid it heavily upon them.
Proud of the name of Englishmen — loving the kindred
they had left behind, and loving England, as children love a
mother, and with neither wish to separate, nor intention of
separating from her, they remonstrated against the illegal and
unconstitutional measures which were adopted towards them,
and entreated, as children would entreat a venerated parent,
that their oppressions might cease. A deaf ear was turned
to their remonstrances, and their entreaties were addressed to
a hard and unsympathizing heart. Implicit, unconditional,
and unquestioning obedience to all the edicts of the parent
government, was demanded. Their free hearts, and manly
spirits could not yield this slavish submission. Still, they
sought, by every honorable means, to avoid the extremity of
an open rupture ; and it was not till after years of patient suf
fering, and the most humble and respectful supplication of the
throne for a voluntary, and peaceful redress of grievances

that tbey assembled in Convention, at Philadelphia, on the
4th of July, 1776, and " appealing to the Supreme Judge of
the World, for the rectitude of their intentions," published the
majestic and eloquent Declaration of Wrongs, and of their
determination to be free, which has just been so eloquently
and impressively read in your hearing ; and, to its maintain-
ance, pledged their "lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
honor." They were impelled to this course by no political
heresy of an inherent right of secession — by no factious and
turbulent spirit of resistance to authority — by no unholy lust
of power — by no unsanctified ambition ; but by years of suf
ferings which had become intolerable — by a determination to
redress, for themselves, grievous, and aflJicting wrongs which
the govei-nment unjustly and tyrannously refused to redress
for them, and to establish for themselves, and their posterity,
in all time to come, a right to the enjoyment of that priceless
liberty which they claimed to be the heritage of all God's
creatures. They had but two alternatives, tame and pusillanimous sub
mission, with perpetual political slavery, for themselves and
their children, or a resort to the ultimate right of revolution,
which abides in all people, and which may be rightfully assert
ed whenever grievances become intolerable, and voluntary,
peaceful redress is denied.
They heroically chose the latter. This involved the arbi
trament of the sword. The conflict began, and for seven
years the struggling Colonies were the theatre of one of the
most remarkable wars that ever was waged. The history of
that war, full of romance, and of suffering and sacrifice,
and heroism, and chivalrous daring, and deeds of " high em
prise," is familiar to you all.
Sufl[ice it now to say th'at after many alternations of hope
and fear; of success and disaster ; of victory and defeat ; our
holy cause triumphed, and our efforts were rewarded with the
most brilliant and gratifying success. The army of Corn
wallis surrendered to the illustrious Chief of the American
Patriots, and the war ceased. The sword was returned to its

scabbard, and the Independence of the Colonies, to achieve
which it had been drawn, was acknowledged and proclaimed.
America was free, and at once took her place, as a bright,
particular star, in the galaxy of earth's nation,'!!.
It remained only to secure the fruits of their victory by em
bodying the principles upon which it had been won, in such
an organization as would give them vital energy and perma
nence, and secure their benefits forever, in equal measure of
enjoyment, to all the citizens of the new Republic.
This was not a less arduous and difficult task than the one
they had just accomplished. But " the age of virtuous poli
tics" had not then passed ; and the good, great, wise and pure
men of that day were equal to the demands of the new and
extraordinary occasion.
They consolidated the results of their patriotic sacrifices,
and heroic labors in our present Constitution, which may
justly be regarded as the most perfect and wonderful political
production of human wisdom.
It seemed, in theory, complete. Nothing appeared wanting
to its perfection. It remained only to put it in motion, and
test its capacity for the practical accomplishment of what
it promised in theory. Its architects were not without pain
ful and anxious forebodings. They watched the experi
ment with an intensity of feeling, which, at this distance of
time, and with our actual experience of its complete adapta
tion to the great purposes of its creation, it is difficult for us
to appreciate. The government was launched under the new
Constitution amid the prayers of the heroes and patriots who
had fought for it, and the sages who had constructed it,
freighted with the hopes of the young nation ; and, I may say
to their surprise, as well as joy, it moved off, on its career of
prosperity and glory, with an ease, harmony and beauty, sel
dom if ever attained by other nations even after ages of prac
tical working and improvement. Every department moved
in its appropriate orbit without conflict, and every tribunal
fulfilled its functions with gratifying precision.
Under the benign influence and operation of this constitu-

tion our progress, growth and prosperity, in all that can con
tribute to, and advance, the temporal welfare and happiness of
man, has been without parallel in the history of the world. The
annals of past ages, empires and nations, furnish nothing to
compare with it. We were then confined, mainly, to the Atlan
tic slope. That became toO' narrow, and could no longer con
tain its teeming populations. They broke over the AUegha
nies, rolled down into the valley of the Mississippi, and filled
it with busy life from the lakes of the North to the Gulf of
Mexico. The tide swept on, surmounted the summits of the
Rocky Mountains, and stayed its waves only on the golden
shores of the Pacific. Throughout this vast domain a pros
perous and happy people dwelt, and peace and security
reigned. The miner in the gorges of the mountain — the
trapper on the margin of river and lake — the hunter in
the depths of the wilderness, and the pioneer in his cabin, on
the outer verges of civilization, all reposed under the panoply
of the constitution; as fully assured of its protection, as con
fident of its guardianship, as the denizens of the moat favored
and populous districts. Every branch of industry was en
couraged and developed ; and agricultui-e, manufactures, and
commerce yielded such rich rewards as to keep our blessed
land a stranger to the want and misery which not unfrequent-
ly press so heavily upon the pinched and stinted populations
of the old world. Burdens of government there were none.
it touched us so gently, dealt with us so kindly, that we
knew of its existence only, through its benefits. All reposed
under its shadow secure of protection, and willing to yield
obedience; for it made no demands that were not I'oasonable
and just. Of all its millions of citizens, in all their varied
conditions and circumstances of life and business ; and amid
all the vicissitudes of shifting fortune, not one could truth
fully allege that the government had ever oppressed him, or
that he ever invoked its paternal protection in vain. The
United States had become a power among the nations. Her
name ¦was honored and respected everysvhere. Her com
merce covered the seas, and sought its rewards in all the

marts of the world ; and wherever her glorious banner was
unfurled, it became the inspiration and the hope of the earth s
oppressed. Our tree of liberty grew and flourished, and ex
panded as such tree had never grown, and flourished and ex
panded before ; and we all, high and low, rich and poor,
strong and weak, reposed in its pleasant shade, whilst the
weary, and down-trodden, and persecuted of all lands came
flocking to its branches, and it gave shelter and protection
to all.
Shall it continue to shelter and protect, or shall its trunk
be hewn asunder, and its branches wither and die ?
Why should it not live forever ? Why should not our con
stitution endure forever, as a perpetual band of Union be
tween the States, and of fraternity among their people ?
What has it left n&' to hope, or even to wish for in the form,
substance or benefits of government. What more is there to
be desired ? What more can human wisdom, genius and pa
triotism achieve ? What possible change can give an added
benefit ? Why, under so wise, perfect, and benign a form of
government have not peace, harmony and prosperity been
our continual and uninterrupted lot ? Had all been content
to abide by the constitution ; to reverence it ; to keep invio
late all its provisions ; making it the rule of their ov,n politi
cal action, and teaching it to their children as their political
catechism, strife, dissension, war and bloodshed never could
have come upon us. We must, of necessity, have remained
as one great family of brothers, each secure in the enjoy
ment of his own rights, and content to lesive every other in
the enjoyment of his.
But the constitution has not been reverenced and adhered
to. Its, wisest provisions have been spurned. Its strongest
barriers have been broken over ; and now, as a consequence
fierce, relentless, internal strife and civil war are raging, and
threaten the destruction of the entire fabric of govern
ment, and to give our unhapjiy land a prey to the confusion
and horrors of anarchy. Rebellion against this best and
most beneficent government that ever blessed the human fam-

ily, has culminated in a civil war more stupendous, and more
momentous, than any in the tide of time. The question ari
ses, and a question of tremendous import, what are we to do ?
It was the glory of a past age to achieve independence ,
amid the throes of revolution to give birth to a new nation,
to bless it with a constitution and form of government which
recognized and asserted all the inalienable rights of man, and
placed civil and religious liberty upon a foundation which it
was fondly, and not unreasonably hoped, was immovable.
Let it not be the shame of this generation to permit the rich
inheritance to be torn from its possession and enjoyment,
and the sun of constitutional liberty to go down in one long,
dark, cheerless night of anarchy and despotism.
If ever a government was worth fighting for this govern
ment is. If ever a country was worth bleeding and dying
for that country is ours.
But the question recurs, what are we to do ? What ought
we to do ? What do we desire to do ? What we should do,
and what I assume it is the earnest desire of every loyal and
good heart to see accomplished, is, to restore the country to
peace and unity. If this cannot ^be done we are without
hope for the future, and all the glory of our ftntmw history
is chronicled in the past. Peace and unity are the indispen
sable conditions of future prosperity and happiness.
But how are these to be secured ?
I desire to impress upon you all my own solemn convic
tion, of the truth of which I cannot entertain a doubt, that
without unity there can be no peace. It seems to me self-ev
ident that no settlement of existing difficulties, based upon a
separation of the States, can bring us peace. Our country is
one, and our fortunes and destiny must be one. The inexor
able and unyielding laws of nature have so decreed, and
what God hath joined together man cannot put asunder.
We may separate, but we cannot live apart in peace. All
natural causes, and all commercial, political and social rea
sons are against it. Separation instead of ending would but
intensify and prolong the war, and sooner or later our neces-

10
sities and mutual interests, would bring us again together.
It is a delusion to suppose that two nations with thousands
of miles of coterminous territory, with no natural barriers
between them, but separated by imaginary lines^only'; with
diverse institutions and diverse interests ; with a system of slave
labor on one side of the line, and a system of free labor on
the other ; with free trade with all nations on the one side,
and a system of home industry on the other, to be protected
and developed by proper commercial restrictions'; with the
greatest natural channel of commerce on the globe flowing
for one half its length through the territories of the one and
one half through the territories of the other ; I say it is a de
lusion to suppose that two nations, thus situated,;^ could live
together upon terms of good neighborhood, or otherwise
than in a state of perpetual war.
But this, great as it is, is far from being the chief evil of
separation. Adjustment on the basis of separation involves
a recognition of the right of secession — the right of segrega
tion—the right of any fraction of the people of a nation to
overthrow the government of that nation, in any given por
tion of its territory, and* to substitute another in its stead.
This, to use a popular form of expression, would be to de
moralize constitutional governments on this continent and
deprive them forever of the attribute of permanence.
But this is not all. It is vain to suppose that, when once
begun, segregation is to end here. Both North and South
would be laid open as theaters for the fantastic tricks of de
signing demagogues — bad and vicious men, who would fo
ment discontent, encourage insubordination, and form new
govjrnments from fragments of the old, in which they might
hold and wield the supreme power. Be assured that when
the right of secession is once admitted, and separation once
begins, it will not cease till the last vestige of the constitu
tion has disappeared, and this once glorious and majestic Re
public is rent asunder, and dwarfed into some ten or a dozen
vulgar little despotisms, of which any American citizen
would be ashamed to own himself a subject.

11
Be assured that this deplorable and humiliatingMoom can
be averted only by suppressing th6 causeless, wicked, and
atrocious rebellion now waging war upon the government ;
restoring the Union to its integrity ; and re-establishing in
all their vigor, the authority of the constitution and laws.
Can we do this ? Can we suppress the rebellion ? Be
yond all question we can, if we will wisely and vigorously
use fpr that purpose the vast means at our command.
We have the power if we will only earnestly exert it.
There can be no peace till the rebellion is crushed ; and we
can crush it if we ^will. The war has raged now for more
than two years and our resources are yet hardly touched.
The force that the rebels can bring against us is as nothing
in compjirison with that we can hurl upon them if we will.
We can, if we choose to do so, and every consideration of
humanity, mercy and economy demands that we shall concen-
trate'an army of sufficient strength to overpower the rebel
lion at all points at the same time, to crush it effectually,
and make an end of it at once. This is practicable now. It
may not continue so long. The auspicious moment may pass
to return no more. Our day of grace may be sinned away.
Let us be up and doing, and save this glorious day from be
ing blotted from the calendar of great epochs. Delays are
dangerous. Growing dissentions among ourselves, and the
interference of foreign powers, may make the task too gigan
tic for our strength. We are in no danger from the unaided
efforts of the rebels. It depends entirely upon ourselves
whether the old Ship of State shall outride the storm that now
rages around her, or whether she shall go down amid the
waves that heave and dash upon her, a wreck to rise no
more. We are ^environed by perils on every hand, but far the
greatest dangers which threaten us are in our own midst. If
we can save the country from being ruined by our own mad
ness and folly, we can save it from all the machinations and
assaults of treason. To enable us to deal successfully with
rebellion we must be united and harmonious among ourselves

12
—having but one aim and object, one heart and hope. Strife
and dissention at home, may, and in all human probability
will, prove fatal to our sacred cause, and result in blotting
. from the constellation of nations, this bright republican star,
so long the cynosure of political hope to earth's groaning
millions. Let me impress upon you the truth of a fact, which I fear
is not fully and sufficiently appreciated, that we cannot fight
each other, and successfully fight the rebellion at the same
time. No people on earth ever had more staked upon the issue
of a contest. All the noble and inspiring memories of the
past ; all the blessings of the present ; all our temporal
hopes of the future are involved. If the rebellion triumphs
we will have little left worth preserving. If it is quelled,
and our once glorious Union restored, a brighter, a more re
splendent future opens before us than ever nation realized on
earth. Let us imitate the bright example of our revolution
ary sires, and, in a heroic effort to save from destruction that
which their valor won, and their blood cemented, forget all
party divisions and distinctions, bury all party animosities,
ignore, for the time being, even party names and designa
tions ; unite as a band of patriot brothers, having equal
blessings to preserve, equal dangers to repel, equal calamities
to avert ; devote ourselves anew upon our country's altar, and
consecrate ourselves, and all we have of mental, physical,
and material power to the thrice holy cause of the Union and
the Constitution.
Do this and we must and will triumph.
And this it is the high and imperative duty of every loyal
American heart, native born or adopted to do. Let all other
things for the present go. Push the creed of political frater
nity no further than the Union and the Constitution. He
who is true to these cannot be false to his country ; and he
who demands more than these, demands more than the safe
ty of the country requires. Let all other things take their
chances, and whether they are lost or saved will matter but

13
little if we triumph upon the great platform of the Union and
the Constitution. And if it shall be our wretched fate to
fail in sustaining these, it will matter absolutely nothing
what may become of other interests ; for social and political
chaos, poignant and dismal, will overspread the entire land.
I repeat that, in the present crisis, we have more to dread
from internal than external foes — more to fear from bitter
ness and animosity towards each other, which is beginning to
be alarmingly developed, than from war with the rebellion.
This tendency must be checked and repressed, or our cause is
lost. If it grows, and strengthens, and expands into full life
and vigor, just as surely as effect follows cause, we will rush
into the confusion of anarchy, from which there will be no
deliverance till the country has been drenched in blood, and
blackened with fire, and we will emerge then only to seek
shelter, protection and repose, under the iron rule of a des
potism. From this fate, more terrible than any other that
can possibly come upon us, let us most reverently invoke
the Almighty Ruler of Nations, and Disposer of events, mer
cifully to deliver us.
The danger is imminent. We may not escape it. We
will not, unless the great majority of our people shall deter
mine to take counsel from reason instead of passion ; to give
to their country the full, undivided, and devoted loyalty of
their hearts — to stand by the Government in this hour of
storm and peril ; and firmly to maintain the Constitution
and Laws against all assaults, come from where they may.
This is the reasonable service of us all, and if we perform it
we can have no strife with each other.
On this illustrious day, upon this occasion of its annual
commemoration, and amid events so solemnly interesting and
affecting as are transpiring around us, it cannot be inappro
priate in me to recall your attention to the earnest and pa
thetic appeal of the immortal Washington, the founder, and
father of the Republic. Indeed my task would be but poor
ly performed should I fail to do so. Upon the last and^most
solemn occasion of his ever addressing his countrymen, in

14
tones which should now appeal to us from the very gloom of
the grave, and fill our hearts with awe, he said :
" The unity of government, which constitutes you one peo
ple, is now also dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a main pil
lar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of
your tranquility at home, your peace abroad ; of your safety ;
of your prosperity ; of that very liberty which you so highly
prize. ******* *
It is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate
the immense value of your National Union to your collective
and individual happiness ; that you should cherish a cordial,
habitual, and immovable attachment to it ; accustoming your
selves to think and speak of it as the palladium of your po
litical safety and prosperity ; watching for its preservation
with jealous anxiety ; discountenancing whatever may sug
gest even a suspicion, that it can in any event be abandoned :
and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every
attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest,
or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the
various parts. * * *
The name of American, which belongs to you, in your na
tional capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriot
ism, more than any appellation derived from local discrimi
nations. * * * These considerations speak a
persuasive language to every refiecting and virtuous mind,
and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary ob
ject of patriotic desire. * * '* * * *
To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a govern
ment for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however
strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute ; they
must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions,
which all alliances, in all times, have experienced.
Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon
your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Gov
ern ment better calculated than your former for an intimate
IJnion, and for the efficacious management of your common
concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice
uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation
and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in
the,distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy,
and ^containing within itself a provision for its own amend
ment, has a just claim to your confidence and support.
; Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acqui-

15
escence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamen
tal maxims of true liberty, * * *
The Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by
an explicit and authentic act ofthe whole people, is sacredly
obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the
right of the people to establish government presupposes the
duty of every individual to obey the established government.
All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combina
tions and associations, under whatever plausible character,
with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe
the regular deliberation and action of the constituted author
ities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fa
tal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an
artificial and extraordinary power ; to put, in the place of
the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a
small, but artful and enterprising minority of the communi
ty. * * * However combinations or
associations of the above description may now and then an
swer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and
things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambi
tious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the
power of the people, and to usurp, for themselves, the reins
of government, destroying, afterwards, the very engines
which have lifted them to unjust dominion.
Towards the preservation of your government, and the per
manency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only
that you' steadily discountenance irregular opposition to its
acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care
the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious
the pretexts. ****** *
It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a
free country should inspire caution in those intrusted with its
administration, to confine themselves within their respective
constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers
of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of
encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the de
partments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of
government, a real despotism. A just estimate of the love
of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in
the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this
position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise
of political power, by dividing and distributing it into differ
ent depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the
public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced

16
by experiments ancient and modern ; . some of them in our
own country, and under our own eyes. To preserve them
must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opin
ion of the people, the distribution or modification of the con
stitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be cor
rected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution de
signates. But let there be no change by usurpation ; for
though this in one instance, may be the instrument of good,
it is the customary weapon by which free governments are
destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance
in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the
use can, at any time, yield."
Such are the words of profound wisdom, almost prophetic
in their warnings, in which the pure, great, good man, who
had devoted his life to his country, and worn out his powers
in her service, admonished, yea, implored us, to guard from
all danger, the rich heritage which he entrusted to our keeping.
Let us heed, reverence and keep inviolate, the councils of
him " Who, to life's noblest end.
Gave up life's noblest powers,
And bade the legacy descend
Down, down to us and ours. "
Let us on this eventful day, this annual return of the birth
day of the nation, whilst the most solemn and wonderful
scenes are being enacted, and the very foundations of the
government are heaving beneath our feet, and its majestic
columns tottering, apparently to their fall, heed and ponder
in awe, these extraordinary warnings that call to us from the
tomb. The troubles which he foresaw have come, and he is not
here to lead us through them.
He has been gathered to the bosom of his mother earth.
and successor after successor has filled the chair he occupied
administered the government he founded and administered
and followed him to the grave ; and still the country has o-one
on growing in growth, and strengthening in strength, and
developing in wealth and power, and brightening in glory
till we were giddy with our own prosperity, and came to be
lieve that it was impossible for the storms, tempests and com-

17
motions that rock and rend other nations, to touchpr disturb
us here, . , , .,
But they have come, and we are reeling beneath the shock,
instead of gathering all our strength to meet and srepel.it.
The power that should be concentrated for the overthrow of
a common foe, has been too much wasted in vain contests
with each other. But let us hope for the dawning ofa .bright
er and a better day. This glorious temple of liberty must not
be overthrown. We can and we will save it ; but we, can do
it only by a Union of hearts and of hands — by burying, . all
minor differences — by giving undivided loyalty anid support
to the government, and rallying to the Union and the' Con
stitution. There is no other banner under which we ean^ or
ought to conquer. i '
No ruler of this nation ever had such complicated and ex
traordinary difficulties, at home and abroad, to contend ¦with
as our excellent, honest hearted and patriotic President.
New and untried situations, and unimagined' embarrass
ments, beset him on every hand, and crowd into ef try day.
They have to be met, grappled with, and provided for oh the
instant. With no precedents to guide, and no time for calm
investigation and deliberation, it surely ought not to be mat
ter of astonishment if mistakes ^\ ere sometimes malde, and
an occasional exercise of power indulged apparently ali-hitra-
ry and extra constitutional. If such occur they should ' not
be criticised with undue severity, nor made the Occasion of
unjust and injurious assaults upon the administration.
It is unreasonable to expect that, in all things, bur own
views of policy shall prevail, and our own wishes be, gratified.
It is absolutely impossible that this shall be so ; for our own
opinions of what, under given circumstances, is, most , wise,
just and expedient, are almost as various as our features.
We know that the President is honest, sincere, pa,triptic ;
in purpose, loyal to the Constitution ; in action, c^evoted heart
and soul, to the cause of his bleeding country, and determin
ed at whatever self-sacrifice, at whatever personal peril, to
3

18
rescue her from the hands of the conspirators, and res
tore her, with her past glories undimmed, to her proud emi
nence among the nations of the earth. We know that he is
incapable of recreancy to the sacred trusts which have been
committed to his hands, and equally incapable of usurping
an ungranted power aud wielding it to the detriment of that
public liberty of which he is, for the time being, the chosen
svrorn and consecrated guardian.
We know that the army is composed of our brethren,
friends, and neighbors who, not as mercenaries, but as patri
ots, peril their all upon the battle-field to maintain that pub
lic liberty, and uphold that government, which is their birth
right, as it is ours, and which is as dear to them, and as vital
to their well being, as it can possibly be to us. Earth never
resounded to the tread of an army gathered in a holier cause,
or inspired by purer or nobler motives. No desire of revenge,
no lust of goM,no ambition for conquest, but an exalted and
intelligent comprehension of the principles of civil and relig
ious liberty, and entire devotion to the government, under
whose protection we have so long and so well enjoyed these
priceless blessings, called them to arms, and rallied them to
the support of the flag, radiant with the glories, and cannon-
ized in their hearts by the memories of the past. The pa
tience, and fortitude with which they have borne the priva
tions and hardships of the tent and the march, are hardly
less sublime than the heroism with Vi'hich they have devoted
themselves to death in the Storm and tempest of war. Amid
the clash of sabre and bayonet, the roar of cannon, and the
fiercest shock of battle, their hearts still turn, yearning to
the loved ones they have left behind, and pant for the hour
of return to the' enchantments of home. It is for the secu
rity of these, the protection and perpetuity of these, they
are giving themselves willing sacrifices upon their country's
altar. Such an army cannot be made the instrument of a despot
-—such a President can never become a usurper.
Let us exercise a generous trust and confidence in the Pres-

19
ident and the army. They are part and parcel of us, and
cannot separate their fortunes from ours.
We have all embarked in the same cause, and adventured
upon the same sea, bearing with us all that can be dear and
precious to us on earth ; and we must sink or swim, survive
or perish together. Let us hold up their hands, strengthen
their arms and encourage their hearts. Let us stand by them
at home, as they stand by us in the cabinet and field ; and
though we cannot now penetrate the gloom that envelopes us,
nor catch one ray of light beyond ; and though the clouds
that overhang us are threatening and portentious, all shall
yet be well.
The storm of battle that now rages shall culminate in glo
rious victory, and the bow of peace shall gild with its splen
dors our shrouded horizon.
As I have said on a former occasion, " If we rise to this
great occasion, grapple successfully with the momentous
events that are upon us, save the life of the nation, re-unite
it, and re-assert its authority, and come from the conflict,
bringing the Constitution unharmed with us, perfect in its
strength, and in the harmony and majesty of its proportions,
the page that bears the record of the achievement will be
gilded with a brighter glory, will glow with a purer ray, than
any in the annals of our race."
Then again with the lofty, dignified pride of American
freemen, we may lift our eyes to the loved old banner as it
proudly unfolds above us, radiant with new glories, and in
viting new stars to its azure field, and exclaim, as in days of
old— " Flag of the free heart's hope and home !
By angel hands to valor given ;
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome.
And all thy hues were born in Heaven.
Forever float that standard sheet !
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And freedom's banner streaming o'er us. "