UL
m0
III
Ml
E "LESSIXGS r OOTBRSIUST. LIKE THE 1E,VS OF JUMMty. SfCMH.0 BE JrJlU70 ALIUS. VFOS THE HIGH AXD THE LOA THE KWU A.SD THE fuis.
tC7 A A.
A
EW SERIES.
ra0d Mass Meeting at Phlla-
aeipuia.
--aant to a published call, the Na-
t n.,m.K-rfirv assembled in mass imv.
ji 1.-. -
r. in In Jeiei deuce Square, in tlie city
pjjladelphia, on the zoa nit , tor the
rcS of exchanging free sentiment and
maintenance of the National Consti
)tlto devotion to the American
, jk t0 prostitute the country to the
i.l'wiar .speeches were made:
SlZCll OF HON. K. AV. HUGHES.
J..;r Countrymen Your Committee
triKwnent have charged me with
mor-iMe duty of moving for the or-
-a of this meeting. In view of
, SKmlled thousands of freemen,
jf die liigh patriotic purposes for
s have met together, I regard
.i.:v as a most proud distinction. In
vrH.illour fathers met to break the
f oppression, and declare the colo-
x. Near the close of the war of the
.Liu. they undertook to b:tse a
-!ii:d" union of these Slates upon
In li.-s of Confederation, and a few
ikier they laid the foundation for a
n perfect Union" by our present
-titution. As the fathers performed
liiowed work of thus creating the
rioan I'liion, so you their descendants
ire to-night, upon this sacred ground,
. spirit of those fathers, declare your
to co-operate with the loyal men
!;wl to preserve, protect and de
" the American Union.
U essential to this end, I am sure you
T-.itnl it as your greatest privilege
yd most solemn duty to " preserve,
.1-1 an l defend" the Constitution of
United States. Without a Const it u
, '.here can lc no delined Union the
vw fvwn'Vaton of the other. It
'. 1 be as idle to attempt to build and
.tain a Loue in miJ-air as to expect
-Jntahi the Anieriean Union, without
n in;: the foundation of thus "lorious
ure, the American Constitution.
v, r assaults tliis foundation, wheth-
L!y and by armed force avowedly
z us Kiiuieumte ami thorough de
tail, or who. under cover of profess-
xiiL-iii to the Lnion, works to
r::u:d 1- railual approaches to un
:!... i j::::ia:io:i, arc alike the cli
ff tin.- American Union. The Se
o( the South belong to the
r cla.-s of there enemies.
i Al)oi;ti.iiLts of the North to the
-w. The iniiitary power of the
7 i- invoked to suppress the former,
'-nil pmver, I trust and believe, is
will ever be needed t siinnms
'' Uur suMiers are orgiuiized for
l-unoe, the civilians must be or-
! the other. Some seem to
- -iu.x- organization among soldiers
--amp" juroinst abolitionism wouhl
- "wis-," that therefore it would
w-e l, unre such onranization "in
--!!'.Mie of the people." Some er-
iiw bear in nun.l that our soldiers
'onr.miz.'d for the object of putting
i a'o-litK.iuMn, but are organized for
vt of putting down Secessionism ;
w;:hot ongiuiijKitioii, that as a
T nuL"- a their p:itriotic zeal and
racritices would be worse than
H it is confessed that too manvof
,lfr an? attributable to the want
privet organization that concen
' '',rce- Juid comirehensiveness of
'j. would have indicated, 'lliis
n, it is hopeil, is now happily
and that under the guidance of
ci'li.-htMl Ilalleck, the advantages
omnizjition will be experienced.
r ts Httiven'a firvt lo, " o.l m
f the people at home can dis-
; , uuiy in upnoiaing the civil
- 'l thus to put down Abolition
Jat organization, is not onlv as
to surest that our soldiere in
180 ,,e etlecUve to put down Se-
without organization. It is,
'r. of the first importance that, in
.' Pat public calamity and dan
Ue P"?sent--in "the camp" for
purposes, in the "assemblies
jfi'w" for civil purposes there
all practicable unanimity of
aation. hnwi. l,; :.:
fej only to in(iuire how can
- vi me ConstituUon and the
U.V- Operate for civil purposes
it t K jjeiore ii.eaen, x
: the l my most solemn comiction
i fcJ? 7 OI?anization imder which
'""J." that of the
011 10 ccworlbh these end, and
EBENSBURG, PA. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 3, 1862.
with all my love, yes, veneration for that
glorious old party, that, when in power,
gave the chief of greatness and prosperity
to the country, still I would leave it and
join that better organization. But, my
countrymen, throw aside all bias of pre
vious affiliations, and ask yourselves, with
deep, patriotic solicitude, is there any
other thoroughly loyal party in this State,
at this time, except the Democratic party ?
Is there any other party here that has not
the sympathy, at least, jis against the
Democratic, of such Abolitionists as Sum
ner, l'hillips, Greeley, Wade and Wil
mot What is the character of that party in
this State, whose representatives met at
Harrir-burg on the 17th day of July hist ?
Look at their resolutions and see with
wliat warmth they embrace Senator Wil
mot, the Abolitionist. I Jut how do they
treat Senator Cowan, who, although elect
ed by a Kepublican Ii'gislature, yet his
course in the present Congress has proven
him to be a patriot, and, of course, not
an Abolitionist I Do they tender their
embraces to stimulate and warm him to
renewed efforts in his patriotic course ?
sot at till not at all. Doubtless they
felt that in the most unceremoniously en
deavoring to have him " left out in the
cold " he might politically jeiih. Vain
conclusion ! The patriotic tire that glows
in the hearts of the people of Pennsylva
nia is intense and wide spread enough to
warm the hart and invigorate the spirit
of every patriot.
A word more, in conclusion, in refe
rence to the war, I understand the position
of the IXmcx-ratic party in Pennsylvania
to lie, that it should be prosecuted under
the Constitution for the restoration of the
Union ; that, according to the resolution
of Congress adopted in July, 1861, it
should not be waged in any spirit of op
pression, for any purpose of conquest or
subjugation, or puqiose of overthrowing
or interfering with the rights or established
institutions of these States; but to defend
and maintain the supremacy of the Con
stitution and to preserve the Union, with
all the dignity, equality and rights of the
sevend States unimpaired, and that as
soon as these objects are accomplished the
w;u ought to cease. A war of " con
quest or subjugation " means eternal dis
union. It means the overthrow of the
Constitution and the Union. It means j
anarchy and desjxtism.
Democrats and other loyal men seek to I
liniit the puqose of this war to the sup
pression of the ItebclSion under the Con
stitution, ami that the Constitution and
the Union shall not be destroyed under
the false pretence of preserving them. It
is, a- I understand it, the firm purjose of
the Democratic party to defend and assist
the oflicers of the Federal Government in
all their ellbrts under the Constitution to
put down all the enemies of the Constitu
tion and the Union. All Democrats,
whether in the camp or " in the assem
blies of the eople," will so treat these
enemies, whether they be known as Seces
sionists or Abolitionists.
SI'KKCII OK Mil. m'C.VIJ ( H.VIKM.N. )
Ws mtd CttTfiS : We have assem
bled here this evening in the exercise of an
undoubted right, and in a spirit of true
patriotism, to express our devotion to the
Constitution as it is and the Union as it
was. We come here at a moment of
great peril to the country. The Consti
tution which our fathers bequeathed to us
is actively assailed from without and from
within. From without by werful ene
mies, who with arms in their hands seek
to overthrow the Government ; from with
in by disunionists, who see in that sacred
instrument, the Constitution, only "a
league with death and a covenant with
hell." They are not satisfied with the
Constitution as it :s and the Union as it
was- They want a different Union, or
rather no Union at all.
The Constitution is in danger, too, from
the miscliievous doctrines that are every
day promulgated in louder and louder
tones- Already you hear it proclaimed,
that, after the ltcbellion is over, we shall
want a stronger Government than that
which our fathers gave us. You hear it
asserted, and sometimes in high places,
too, that the Constitution is suspended
during the Rebellion, and that the civil
power is subordinate to the military, and
that the bulwarks which the Constitution
has provided for personal liberty and the
freedom of the press are swept away.
The people of this country have ever
been distinguished for their love of liberty.
Our colonial ancestors claimed as their
birthright the principles which their Bri
tish forefathers had secured by Magna
Charta and the Petition of Kight. They
embodied these principles in written con
stitutions, and after they luul formed a
more perfect union in the Constitution of
the United States, they did not ret satis
fied until they had more effectually secured
the blessings of liberty to themselves and
their iosterity by amendments guarrantee
ing in the broadest and most explicit man
ner the right of personal liberty and the
freedom of the press.
It is no wonder, then, that the surests
which have been made in the loyal States,
where the courts are open and the course
of justice is unobstructed, of K?rsons sus
ix'cted of disaffection to the Government,
their dejwrtation and confinement in niili-tu-y
fortresses, without the privilege of
habm.i corpus, should have filled the minds
of the friends of constitutional liberty with
anxiety and alarm, and that anxiety and
alarm are in no degree relieved by the re
cent order of the Secretary of War, for
the arrest of citizens charged with disloyal
practices, and their roirt to Major Tur
ner, with a view to their trial by a mili
tary commission.
The right of the President to suspend
the prhilege of the writ of Jtabciis cvrjnis
lias its advocates ; but I am jxrsuaded
that their views on this subject are con
trary to the whole current of ottitiion ftiiin
l
the formation of the Constitution to the
present troubles, and I have an abiding
confidence that the oph will never le
satisfied that the President possesses this
power until they are otherwise instructed
by the Supreme Court.
As to the right to trv citizens not be
longing to the Army or Navy, or the
Militia in actual service by a military
commission, I suppose nolniby is bold
enough to supjxrt it as a Constitutional
right. The subordination of the military
to the ciil ower is a sacred and fun
damental principle of American institu
tions. One of the grievances which our
fathers difhired in yonder hall as justify
ing their scp;iration from the Mother
Country was that the King had affected to
render the military inditendent of and
suerior to the civil jx)wer. We arc in a
state of war, and we must shrink from
none of the duties which belong to that
condition.
But it does not follow that we shall sur
render our civil rights under the Constitu
tion. When the bulwarks which the
Constitution has erected around civil
liberty are in danger, it is the duty of pa
triotic, citizens to rally round the Consti
tution and to protest against its violation.
When Disunionists clamor for a different
Constitution and iuiotlier Union, it is the
duty of patriotic citizens to stand up as
we do this night for the Constitution as it
is and the Union a? it was.
The I Ion. Wm. II. Witte Ikmiiit called
for, cam forward, amid great applause,
and sp ke a follows :
si'Kkcii or mi:, wirrii
Jr. Ptx-fiih'tit uiul (s'rutrju'wi : No man
who is a Democrat, and who loves his
party, who knows its history, and who
knows juid fetds how completely the his
tory, of our jvarty is interwoven with our
Government in all its achievements and
its developments, and who has suffered
sime during the hist eighteen months a
suffering and sacrifice which only a rigid
adherence to principle could sustain that
does not find in this outporiiur enough.
n t alone to compensate for what he may !
have suffered, and make his heart glad, j
but to give him bright, bright hoj t
IUI ilWftlwu;. 1IIIUIL lilt 13 U.l'YIliiJ '.
(Great applause.)
Notwithstanding, Mr. President, that
the Democratic party of this Common
wealth, and of this Northern country, h;is
assailed during at least a eriod of a year,
its fealtv to the. Federal Government im
peached, its history vilified and inistatel, j
its purpose misrepresented as intended to
be prostituted to the base designs of break-
ing down our Government and destroying
our nation notwithstanding what has
leen done even here upon this very soil
the birthplace not alone of human liln-rty
in an organized form, but of its foumla
tion free speech and free press (ap-
! plause ; notwithstanding that here within
the sound of my voice, upon this sacred
soil, menaces have come up to the Demo
cracy and to the patriots of this Common
wealth ; threats have lecn made that we
dare not meet here to-night we have as
sembled as freemen. Groans for the
Abolitionists, and a voice, 44 Give it to
them strong, Billy.")
I repeat, Mr. President and Gentlemen,
tliat exercising this privilege, an old time
privilege, and until a very recent period
never doubted and never denied, we are
here, in the sight of God's Heaven, to
speak our opinion boldly. (Prolonged
applause,) In order to speak our opin
ions boldly as to what we conceive to be
our duty now in this, the hour of our
country's peril, we must speak, first, of
the history of our party and its achieve
ments, and then, as to the duty which de
volves upon the Democratic, party at this
period. When we speak of the history of i
our party, we speak of but the history of
rights and privileges which form the foun
dation of our free Government (applause),
and when we speak of the achievements
of our party, wc are speaking of oidy the
history of our country and our Govern
ment, arlonly of those things which
have malerour Government great, and
glorious, and iowcrful in all that she is
great, and glorious, and owerfuI. (Ap
plause.) We have ever thank God, from
our foundation, been a party of the law
and of the Constitution. (Cries of tliat's
so, and applause.) We have ever Ix-cn
the party to defend an individual when
assailed in the exercise of the leat of his
constitutional rights ; we have ever been
the party to defend a class when a-saied
in the exercise of the least of their consti
tutional rights ; we liave ever been the
party to defend a State when assailed in
the exercise of her constitutional rights ;
and notwithstanding the slanders that are.
put upon us, we have ever been, suid will
now be the party, and the only party, to
defend the ixiwer made up of the Union
of all the States, in the exercise of its
constitutional rights, (Deafening and
prolonged applause.)
The forliearance, Mr. President, which
we have exercised, it is fitting I should
say a word aljouL We liave exercistsl a
forbearance which, jjerhaps, for the first
time in the history of our party in this
country has shown how much we love,
and how strongly we are attached to the
Constitution with its powers and its guar
anties. (Applause.) I have no desire,
gentlemen, to discuss questions with which
you are all well acquainted, and even
leading questions are at this moment in
volved in the terrible struggle roin2 on.
Hut w hat I want distinctly to do is this,
and you will find that our resolutions dis
tinctly declare the osition the Democra
tic party holds in this Commonwealth,
and, its we lndicve, in all the States of the
North ; I desire to say that we will not
allow the foul slanderers to say to us tliat
v.-e :w ' lacking or failing in our fealty to
the Federal Government ; that we are not
loyal to the Federal power, and that we
are not willing to put down Southern trea
son at the point of the layoiu-t. No
party but :ui AK .lit ion thirty, with its
sujierlativc. its sublimated insolence (aj
plause and laughter), could charge us with
such a foul thing as that.
We have ever been the psirty of law
suid leg:iily constituted authority. The
country has never wanted a defender that
did not find it in the Democratic arty.
(Applause.) We are, moreover, the
only ji-jldutij party in the country. (Great
applause and cheers.) And that, happily,
is not a figure of speech so much a it a
figure of arithmetic: because, if you lake
up the rolls, you will find we have sent
four or five Democrats lor cverv one cow
ardly Al!itiouist.
When we are told that wc are wanting
in fe:dty to tlie Government, and do not
want to see this Union restored, you can
hurl the foul lie in their throats and show
wliat the Democratic thirty docs when it
goes on Southern soil and jours out iLs
life's bhd freely for the defence of our
Government. (Great applause.) For
our Southern brethren usurjn owcr and
attempted to break down the Constitution
ami destroy the Union, and when they
did this they liccame our enemies alike,
whether North or S.uith. (Aplaus'. )
That they wen once our friends is true,
but it was when they were loyal, or when
we bcllwed they were loyal. But when
they became disloyal to th Constitution
an l sought to break up the Union, tliey
lMt-aine our fin's, ((ireat sipplniisc, and
cries of 44 That's," "That's the iwint,"
&c.)
Gentlemen, I made some reference to
the exercise of civil rights in this time
of war. 1 want to ay a word or two on
that subjift. You will remeinlxT that no
war can le successfully prosecuted here
unless tli2 civil power co-operates with
the military. Although the service is dis
tine in one respect, yet they are insepara
bly connected in almost ever' other.
In 1812, when wc waged war ngain.-t
a foreign enemy, the civil iw-cr co-operated
with the military, and we were successful-
In 1848, when we waged a war
against another foreign Power, the civil
and military authorities again co-operated,
and we were successful ag:un. It is very
true that we had enemies then in power
in Washington, who were against the war,
as we have enemies now in power there
who arc opposed to the present war.
When this war broke out, Pennsylvania
gave her own free will offering of honest
hearts in this great contest, under the im
pression that the Government would suc
cessfully carry on tins war to restore the
Constitution and the Union: and I will
do Mr. Lincoln the justice to say, that in
the declaration which . made in the be
ginning of the war, he was then, as 1 1
believe lum to Imj now, earnestly anxious
and sincere in the prosecution of the war
to tlie best possible termination, by put
ting down Secession, and restoring the
Constitution and the Unkm.
And before I take my seat I will give
you Mr. Lincoln's evidence of that the
documentary evidence that he is sincere
in prosecuting the war in that way and
for that puqiose. But how has it been
with Mr. Lincoln's civil ower not tlie
1 'resident himself, but the men sworn to
be his Constitutional advisers in the Sen
ate and House. Look at that factious
Congress, and we may well sympathise
with Mr. Lincoln in the exercise of Ids
power in the Federal Government. There
was counter proposition after counter pro
position, liaving no other possible effect or
tendency th:ui to embarrass Mr. Lincoln,
the cabinet officers and the masses of this
country, in putting down treason and the
IveUdlion. ( A pj dause. )
Treason! aye, treason upon the Senate
floor, rank and foul wu, day after day.
fulminated in violation of the olicy of
the Administration, in bringing this war
to a successful close,
I am very liappy to say that the Fede
ral power of this Government, the Presi
dent and Secretary of War, for whom we
ought to liave great resjiect, because they
:ue invested with great wcr, and our
duty is to respect and obey it, although
the parties exercising it may iot be men
of our choice, I am happy to know that
they have no feeling in commou with peo
ple in various portions of the country,
claiming to belong to their arty. and
putting forth the idea tliat all civil acts
and functions must be suspended at this
time, (Applause.)
No. I will tell you gentlemen, wliat
you will find. Tlie President, whom 1
believe to be an honest m:ui and a patriot,
will ere long be comjiclled to cry out tor
his friends to defend him :ig:iint the rank
;uiJ treasonable Alolitionists.
This, then, gentlemen is the first out
JKuring ; this L the first civil gun fired
lor the Federal Government and the en
forcement of the laws. '1 "h'-se i-ople tell
you that the Union can cxi-t without the
Constitution. Now, we are said to lie an
educated tropic, and men who have gone
through colleges put forth this idea. But,
if they could only go back to the good old
times :ind take a course of schooling, tL.-v
would read in the l"jnmfnij bow- this
Union was made. The story is cry
simple, and, if an Al!ifionit talks to
you, tell him that in 1783. when peace
was declared, the colonies came together
and lind an understanding, or a compact,
or what w:is called a confederation.
Tliat w:is intended for mutual defence
and general welfare. But after a few
yc:irs, in 178(i or 177, it was found tliat
the Confederation was jiowcilcss : it could
not borrow money : it luid no status
abroad ; it liad no nationality, and could
not stamp the seal of nationality u the
citizen of Pennsylvania and say. 4 There
is the iower of all the States." Go to
the old world and stand in the midst of
the pnuidest imperialists, and that signet
placed upon your brow show that you
n'present a jiower of thirty millions of
people who w ill wipe out any insult put
upon you.
'II i ere was no Union, then. The Union
was formed by the Constitution, and it
was the only way in which the Union
could be iiKule. by adopting a Constitu
tion which delegated certain lowers to tlie
Government, and reserved the others to
Suites or the jnopIe. I will not weary
you by telling you what we :ill know (we
all know what the Constitution is. though
I ngret to say there are many men who
pay no respect to it); how wisely these
owers are created ; how essential they
ae made to the States, and the cqui
jioise of the powers made up of the
States ; how your rights, however humble
and modest you may be. are saendry
gu:irded by the Constitution, and that
whatever we have achieved lias leen
achieved by it. Tlie other Union was
not jierfect ; the Constitution gave us a
perfect Union, and that Constitution alone
can give us a perfect Union. There can
le no Union without tlie Constitution.
(Great applause.)
Now, gentlemen, our history upon that
point is plain. We always obey the law.
We do what the law says. If the law is
not wise, that is no reason why we t-hould
not obey it. Our duty to obey an unwise
law is as plain as our duty to obey a wise
one ; because we know we can very soon
have the law altered to suit ourselves.
What, on the other side, are the teach
ings of Abolitionism ? They make their
own laws to serve their purposes ; thy
never were the party of law, and the im
pudence with which lhy now come to us
ii onlv worth v of cur contempt, and of
VOL . 9-NO. 39
such an organization in this city and State
as will wipe out the last vestige of them.
Prolonged applause.
I would like to read a liule to you from
Henry Clay. Cheers. I wonder if the
Aljohtionists will liave any difficulty in
knowing where the great immortal Clay
would stand were he here ! We have on
this stand gentlemen who fought with
him ardently and faithfully during Lis
long life, loving him dearly, and clinging
to him in all his efforts to perpetuate a
great national party, Applause See
how the old Sag; of Ashland speaks as
with tongue prophetic from his honored
grave. See wliat he prophesied as the
condition of this country if Abolitionism
ever got the upper hanL I will read you
what he said in 1813, almost twenty
years a:o.
lie despaired even then, faint and
glimmering as the streak of light appeared
here in the North, that danger was coming ;
but the great man, with his prophetic
mind, look out into the misty future and
clearly depicted the condition of things
that must result. He a-ked Walter Col
ton to write a tract. He said: Show
the origin of slavery : trace it to the Bri
tish Government ; show how it is dispo
sed of by tlie Constitution ; that it is left
exclusively to the States excejt in regard
to fugitives, direct taxes and representa
tion : show that the agitation of the ques
tion in the Free States will destniy all
liannony aud finally lead to a disunion,
-MTpctuatc war, the extinction of the
African race, and desjiotism." Ap
pLui"e.J 44 But the great aim and object of tW
tract should be to rouse tlie Ialioring
clx-ses in the Free States against Aboli
tionism. Great applause. Depict tho
consequences thai would follow from im
mediate Abolition. Tlie slaves, beiii"
five, would lie dispersed throughout the
Union; they would enter into comjietition
with the free laborer with the American,
the Irishman, and the German reduce
his w.tges, be -onfounded with him, and
affect his family and social standing,
Applause. And as the ultras go boUi
for Abolition and Amalgamation, they
show tliat their object is to unite in mar
riage the laboring black woman and tlie
white man. and reduce the white la!iorin'
man to the dispj-cd and degraded con
dition of ilte Mack man. Cries of
Never. neer."
That is wliat the irre.it Clay say-; and
is not his prophecy almost fearfully ful
filled It stands here in fearful record
liefore you. Day and night, the evil, is
menacing your bin-nil's, and the freedom
of your lerson fixun arrest. No man ha
lilierty under it. suid now the evil ntousier
lues threatened thi community and every
man, woman aihl child in iL
But Henry Clay w:is too great and
national. You know his faie. His
he:irt was broken before death toucltcd
him : and he went down to his grave, not
unhonored and unsung, bat to be wejt
and w-orshqpcd by generations to con
for his great and high urpose in uphold
ing the nationality of that Federal Union.
How is it alHit tliose men who talk
or free speech and a free press f When
the great and god-like Webster went
home from Washington, after the greatest
act of hi life, w hen le cxiouiided tho
Constitution at hi predicted the results
that would certainly follow if it was ioLi
teL w hen he Went home to Boston, and
wanted to spe;ik in Faneuil IlalL w hich
w:is dedicated by its founder to free sjiecclt,
for the first time in that city tl; massive
doors of that temple were closed against
the old man, and lie turned and wept, and
said, 44 1 tnU sjn-ik to the eople of Mas
sachusetts." He did sposik to them on
Boston Common, with nothing beneath
him but the stony street, and nothing
almve but God's canopy. lie said:
4 People of Massachusetts, you have
done much in this great country, I nit un
less yon do one thing you liae not, all
the rest is nothing. You must conquer
your prejudices."
Now, a single word, and I am done.
Oilier gentlemen are to follow, and I liave
tn-sjiassed too long cries of 4Not at all ;
go on " I want you to hear what I have
to say ; because I know you will Ie glad
to hear iL I want you to know tliat tho
example of the immortal Clay and Web
ster is lieing kejt now by the President of
these United States. Deafening aj
plause and cheers. Here is an extract
written yestenLiy by the I "resident, which
deserves the resjiect and marked conside
ration of this meeting, and is Mdressed
as a pniper rebuke to tliat arch traitor
and disunionist, w lio has been trying all
his life to break up this nation, Horace
Greeley, Greans for Greeley. I will
n.t read the w1k1 letter: it is printed in
rhe public journals. But tbre is on
paragraph which ttac-ls out lik a ftRtw: