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 >. 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 HON. HORATIO SEYMOUR, 
 
 ACADEMY OF MUSIC, BROOKLYN, 
 
 October 22, 1862. 
 
 Fellow Citizens: — The events of the last few 
 weeks have essentially changed our relationship 
 to the government. A few months ago we were 
 apparently a minority who had no legal rights, no 
 protection for our persons, no protection for our 
 homes. But the elections that have taken place, 
 from Maine to the Mississippi, have demonstrated 
 that at every point, either the majorities of 
 the Radical party have been diminished or they 
 have encountered serious and signal defeats. — 
 (Cheers.) For all moral purposes we are now the. 
 representatives of that great Conservative part) 
 which commands the situation. I do not speak of 
 it as a mere revolution in office — I speak of the 
 fact, which the world will heed, and which will be 
 heeded, too, at the seat of government — that the 
 American people demand a wise and conservative 
 policy, looking to the restoration of our Unio; 1 , 
 and meaning the upholding of our Constitution in 
 all its consequences. (Cheers.) I stand before 
 you, to-night, speaking in behalf of the great Con- 
 servative interests of our country, as one who 
 should be outspoken in his statements. I do not 
 feel as one who comes before you to plead for 
 your suffrages; but I feel as one who stands here 
 now, knowing your sentiments, knowing your 
 views, and having a right to say what policy wiJl 
 govern us hereafter in our conduct towards the 
 great question which now agitates the Amerh an 
 mind. (Applause.) It has been truly stated that 
 the life of our nation is in peril. This very propo- 
 sition, involving, as it does, not alone our govern- 
 ment, but our social system, our personal security, 
 our home rights, is one of such magnitude that we 
 are bound to approach it with an earnest, honest, 
 sincere desire to do our whole duty in the premi- 
 ses. (Cheers.) In that spirit I shall speak to 
 you this night. I shall not find it necessary, in 
 discussing these questions, to use a single epithet 
 or to indulge in a single denunciation. If I am 
 honored this night with the attendance of one of 
 those who are politically opposed to me, I beg him 
 to undei stand that I come here in no spirit of ar- 
 roganee, with a view of dictating to him what his 
 policy should be. I have no term of reproach as 
 to the past ; but I do stand here mast earnestly to 
 implore hira to listen, not to my wisdom, but to 
 
 the wisdom of our fathers, who framed the Consti- 
 tution. I ask him not to yield to our views. We 
 seek no such triumph. But I wish to implore him 
 to yield to the views of the great and good men 
 who laid the foundation of the government and 
 framed the Constitution under which we became 
 so great, so prosperous, and so mighty as a na- 
 tion. I stand here to invoke him to return again 
 to those time-honored principles which for so many 
 years were recognized by men of all classes as es- 
 sential to our safety and our security as a people, 
 ■ripeaking then, as I feel I have a right to do, in 
 behalf of the great Conservative party which from 
 this time forth is to represent the policv of our 
 government, I mean to be most explicit and out- 
 spoken in all that I have to say. (Great applause.) 
 I shrink from no questions. I seek to grapple 
 with every problem involved in our present posi- 
 tion. If the people of this State shall see fit to 
 ;>1 ice me again in the Executive chair, I wish to 
 ,:<> there with the full understanding on their part 
 1 all my views and of all my purposes. (Cheer3.) 
 >Vhat, then, is now the situation of this land ? I 
 do not propose to look backward. I do not pro- 
 pose to review the past. I propose, in the first 
 j.laee, to inquire what is now the situation of our 
 e-juntry, and what duties does that condition im- 
 pose upon us. / believe the war might have been 
 averted; but when I believe thus, I recognize the 
 fact cf its existence ; and recognizing that fact, I 
 accept it as a thing which I am bound to regard 
 in all my views as to the policy of the future. I 
 recognize and accept the fact that at this moment 
 the destinies, the honor, the glory of our country, 
 hang poised on the conflict of the battlefield. I 
 recognize the fact now that whether we would 
 have had war or not, it exists in all its vast pro- 
 portions in our land ; and I recognize the fact now 
 that it is the duty ef every man who loves his 
 country, of every true man who would stand by its 
 institutions, to see that the whole measure of his 
 influence and all the weight of his power is thrown 
 in that battle-field on the side of the ling of our 
 Union. (Cheers.) For this reason, then, we are 
 bound to do in the future what many of us have 
 dor.o in the past. I have stood eroong the hills 
 and vales of the country where I live to invoke 
 

 E*sa 
 
 our young men to rany around the standard of 
 our conntry. I have done all that was in my 
 power to do to uphold this Government. Al- 
 though it was not an administration of my choice, 
 yet still it was the Government of my country; I 
 have invoked all men to stand loyally by it, be- 
 cause such was their duty. (Cheers.) Now, It 
 me state distinctly what I understand to be the 
 position of the great Conservative classes of our 
 land. I use this term "Conservative" in antago- 
 nism to the term " RadieaL," for this reason : I do 
 not ignore the existence of parties in our country; 
 I do not wish to ignore them. I believe them to 
 be essential to the wise and just conduct of our 
 affaire. The Convention which met al B 
 and which put in nomination another ticket, dif- 
 ferent from that on which my name stands, saw 
 fit to make a new line. They saw fit to seek a 
 triumph not alone over us, but over the 0O1 
 tive members of their own organization. They 
 saw fit there to say that they would put in nomi- 
 nation a ticket whose very presentation by that 
 organization should be an argument at the I 
 of our country, that their own pecu 
 views of policy should be followed out by thifl 
 government. Now, then, in behalf ot all (' 
 ative men — I care not what party they miy have 
 heretofore acted with — I accept the issues which 
 they have made with us, and I will state them 
 very plainly and clearly, to show whether at this 
 time we should be sustained by the great '»o !y i ; 
 the loyal, intelligent and conservative ci: 
 our State. In the first place, then, we hold pr'n - 
 ciples upon these subjects which are not held by 
 our opponents, and which are essential, net only 
 to our success in this threat war in which 
 engaged, but which an Endbpenf il>le to the suc- 
 cess of the Government under any dream 
 I opposed the election of Mr. Lincoln. I d 
 tlut result; but he was elected constitutionally, 
 ;md it was my duty to bow to that decision. I 
 for the purpose of sustaining him as the Pn 
 of the United States. I deplored the policy be 
 adopted at the outset of his administration ; but 
 it w is his right to decide and adopt a poli 
 it was my duty to obey, and I yielded to the 
 of rightful authority. My friends, we bare 
 been opposed to the doctrine of the "higher law " 
 — that doctrine that men have a right t o 
 their own views, their own passions and pn 
 against the law of the land or the d 
 regularly constituted authorities acting within their 
 Constitutional limits. (Applause and cheers.) — 
 It is thus: because we hold that men arc dis- 
 pleased with the laws of the land, the] 
 have them repealed Constitutional 
 must not be resisted. We hold, also, that if men 
 are opposed to those in authority, the rightful 
 remedy has been given them by the Constitution, 
 That kind of remedy you applied in my case once. 
 When you became tired of me, you turned me out. 
 That is the remedy to be applied for the removal 
 of unpopular olficers. Now, when we held the 
 power of the State, we contended for these prin- 
 ciples of loyalty to the laws, this doctrine of obe- 
 to law— to the principle that vou arc 
 
 bound to respect authority. Those principles j 
 which we advocated then, we mean to p 
 now, fully and completely. We tender, I 
 this Government no conditional support. We rec- ) 
 ognixe Mr. Lincoln as President of the United I 
 
 —as the representative of its hon.>;. 
 dignity and its strength; and though I am politi- 
 cally opposed to him, I never have allowed 
 to utter against him one disrespectful term, nor j 
 will I ever allow myself to do so. 
 to this Government, you have our firm i ■ 
 our cmfidence, our unconditional loyalty. We 
 impose no terms upon you, we do not ask 
 adopt our policy, but to mark out anotl 
 will receive our unwavering, our cheerful support. 
 Tiiat is our position on this subject. This is the 
 policy we have ever advocated ; not now al 
 when we were in the majority, two \- 
 
 12 well as now — when many of our 
 Republi re denouncing the Adminis- 
 
 tration of their own creation, when many of their 
 journals wore indulging in language which we held 
 to be unfit to be applied to the Chief Magistrate 
 of the country, we avowed the sentiments I now 
 i yoc. We look to the other side of the 
 house, and what do we see there? They say that 
 
 BOt loyal men; and we are not unfreipient- 
 ly denounced as men untrue to our Government, 
 notwithstanding we have not only made these de- 
 clarations, but we have carried them out in the 
 very letter and to the very spirit. Has their loy- 
 nld ask, been unconditional f II i- then 
 
 obedience been without tonus V I beg ol 
 look back with me, and see how this f is, md 
 what was it they demanded, before troop- 
 be sent to defend the fl tg oi the country— of your 
 country — that a policy should We adopted to please 
 them. Who was it that did this thing but the ex- 
 
 ' ■' 
 sensation.) Who were among the joun i 
 
 \ iministration — 
 I it with overthrow 
 tain line of policy was not carried out ! V. re 
 they Democratic editors? No, my friend 
 know they were not. Who among the join 
 was it that continuously expressed I 
 ol the great Radical party of the court 
 it all times endeavored to force their \ 
 policy upon the Government of the-e IVivd 
 States, without respect to the cmbarr.i--n.onta 
 they might occa-ion ? Not the Democratic 
 nab — not the Conservative journals. No, all 
 but the men who denounced you and ra# 
 • untrue to the institutions of the eountrw 
 I loving that flag (poi -irsa»B 
 
 Stripes) as well as they loved it. (<i 
 
 • i ' 
 them hero, and I appeal to j ot trojfl 
 
 that t 1 d foremost in every measafl 
 
 anient, and *■ 
 hinder and 
 
 : . ries >d -Tli it 
 Now let me say this. The i 
 
 ion to furnishing your Gofl 
 
 I w'th all it demand- I armsfl 
 
 men, it has. in addition to all that, a loyal 9*M 
 
 
/'* 
 
 the pan of the people of the country. It 
 I in vain you furnish arms ; it is vain to furnish ma- 
 
 length, except, also, there be obedience to 
 law and respect to Constitutional authority. Now, 
 oy friends, we give to the Government that unity 
 »f action, that entire concert of opinion, which is 
 o bring the war to a prompt and triumphant close. 
 Jut I appeal to you if that can be done on the 
 ninciples and action endorsed by the Radical 
 )arty of the country and the Radical press of the 
 Country? (Cheers, and cries of "Xo!") I ask 
 ;>ou, my friends, if it is possible, if every man 
 iorces his own will, his own feelings, his own 
 lonest conviction, it may be, upon the action of 
 ;he Government, if this vast community can be 
 brought to concert of action — to that unanimity 
 ){ purpose without which we can never e 
 n bringing down this gigantic and wicked rebel- 
 ion ? On the other hand — and now I appeal to 
 ^ou, my Radical friends — I ask you, if not to come 
 o our ground — to that ground which we have ever 
 leld, to throw away your higher law doctrine ; come 
 o us on this plain and simple platform, that lay- 
 ng down and putting away from among us dis- 
 inct and disturbing views and opinions, we will all 
 inite in declaring that the laws shall be m 
 ind the constituted authorities of the country re- 
 jected, and this war brought to a short and sue- 
 
 ..rmination, because we are a united peo 
 >le. (Appl iuse.) I appeal to you if then 
 jther ground of complete union — if there 
 )ther ground of complete concord of action ? I 
 isk your consideration for this proposition we 
 nake you. I ask you, is this policy op; 
 be Government? " Ought it not to l e 
 
 other side of the house? Let them do 
 Let them be as loyal as they may d< 
 will join them in that; outlet them join 
 hus end the contest, and then the clouds and the 
 
 - which how overhang the land will be dis- 
 tnd we will see before us a hope of ma- 
 ting our country what it was three short y< 
 — the glory, the admiration, and I 
 .he world. (Applause.) In another thb 
 must agree with me. And here, again, m 
 :al friends, I invoke your assistance. Insubordi 
 nation must be rebuked. Insubordination in the 
 army, insubordination in the departments of Gov- 
 ernment, must be put down. I appeal to you 
 again with regard to another point. Who in the 
 6eld are the Generals, who, at all times, have 
 bowed cheerfully to the decisions and mandates of 
 the Government ? (Cries of " McClellan I" and en- 
 thn-iastic applause.) Who are those who have 
 taken whatever positions have been assigned to 
 them by the constituted authorities without com- 
 plaint? Who have cheerfully and laboriously 
 gone on performing their duties as well 
 might or could, without disturbing the community 
 with stories of personal wrongs or personal disap- 
 pointments? (Applause.) On the other hand — 
 and again I appeal to you if this is not true ? 
 — who are the Generals who have been made prom- 
 inent from the simple fact that they have placed 
 themselves in antagonism to their superior?, or at- 
 tempted to overturn the policy of the Government, 
 
 y might gain for themselves peculiar dis- 
 tinction, instead of confining themselves to faith- 
 ful service in upholding the constituted authority, 
 and winning victories on the battle-field? (A 
 voice, "J. C.!") This spirit of insubordination 
 must be put down, if we are to save the life of the 
 country. 
 
 But, my friends, another thing is necessary to 
 the national life. The people mu3t be fairly dealt 
 with. (Applause.) There must be no more with- 
 holding of truths from the people's eyes. Why, 
 look at this thing for a moment. Look at the 
 consequences to the country, if this policy, that 
 has so long kept us in darkness as to the actual 
 condition of the country, is longer permitted to 
 prevail. What do you hear said every day, when 
 speakiDg of the war and its reverses ? What gen- 
 tle terms are used — " We have been laboring un- 
 der misapprehensions." I will adopt the term 
 which they so calmly introduced — " misapprehen- 
 sion." How happened it, my friends, that more 
 than two hundred thousand Northern men, in the 
 vigor of life — young men, the hopes of families, 
 the pride and hope of our land — have been laid in 
 new-made graves ? It is, indeed, a fact — and a 
 
 , too — that we have misapprehended the 
 power of those with whom we have been combat- 
 ting. (Cheers.) Now, whence came all this mis- 
 apprehension? Was it accidental or casual? 
 ! I - a came it about ? We were all of us taught at 
 
 that the South had great resources. We 
 
 ild of its productions, of the character of 
 the country, and its great capabilities. We learn- 
 ed in our early readings the character of the 
 Southern people, and we weir taught to look upon 
 
 ■ ■ . 
 Revolutionary struggle. We all heard of General 
 Jackson and the battle 
 
 We »11 gloried in the stern valor of Taylor. (Ap- 
 plause.) The courage of the American people. 
 ith alike, was known in every house 
 bold in the land. But more than that : we of the 
 great metropolis, you of the beautiful city of Brook 
 lyn, while you every day looked out on the beauti- 
 lul bay yonder, and saw vessels deeply freighted 
 with the "rich productions of the South ; while you 
 find in your workshops ten thousand evidences ol 
 the wealth of the South to buy, and the ability tc 
 • , you were made to believe for years past. 
 that this was a helpless, dependent, poverty-strick 
 en, imbecile people. How came it, that against 
 your early teachings, against your readings in his 
 tory, against the daily observations and experi 
 ences of life, you entertained this monstrous mis 
 take which has dyed the land red with the blooc 
 which has flowed from the veins of your brethren ' 
 Go back, my Radical friends, to your teachings, t< 
 your Radical press, to your prayer meetings. G< 
 back to the sacred house of God, and you will se 
 that this monstrous lie was told by no accident am 
 by no inadvertence. I tell you this fatal ignoranc 
 wa3 the result of long years of systematic teachin; 
 that spread upon the land the terrible calamitie 
 that now flood it. (Cheers.) Say what yo 
 please, think what you please, as the cause of th 
 war. Say it is Slavery, say it is Abolitionism, sa, 
 
it is ambition, say it is the thirst of wealth ; but 
 every man knows, from one end of the country to 
 the other, North and South, that if the people had 
 been well informed with regard to each other's 
 powers and resources, North and South, this war, 
 my friends, would never have been. (Cheers.) I 
 assert, then, that the great underlying cause of 
 these evils has been ignorance. But for this mis- 
 apprehension, this fatal mistake, that was so insidi- 
 ously inculcated in your minds, your country to- 
 day would not be bathed in the blood shed by 
 brothers in an unnatural and fratricidal war. 
 (Cheers.) Now, I say, my friends, that the na- 
 tional life demands the truth, the outspoken truth. 
 We must no longer be amused by Cabinet officers 
 and others in high places, who tell us that the war 
 will be a matter of only thirty days or ninety days, 
 or that it will be ended in the next three months. 
 Do you remember a little while ago, when a man's 
 person was unsafe in your own intelligent city ? 
 If he said that three hundred thousand men could 
 not crush out the rebellion, he was in danger of 
 imprisonment ; and now more than two hundred 
 thousand men sleep in bloody graves. (Cries of 
 " That's so.") My Radical friends, I again invoke 
 your attentiou. I do not believe that the conceal- 
 ing a truth destroys the truth. I do not believe if 
 you close our lips against fair and full debate, you 
 will thereby avert the calamities which ignorance 
 and a false direction of affairs must inevitably 
 bring upon this land of ours. You may imprison 
 gold — you may lock it up in banks or hide it in 
 deep vaults, but I tell you, notwithstanding that, 
 it tells a tale of depreciated currency, as surely as 
 if it passed from hand to hand in the full light, of 
 day. (Cheers.) Hide abuses in Government; 
 lock U3 up if you will while we tell of the abuses 
 and mistakes which have brought defeat upon our 
 armies and slaughter upon our brethren, and which 
 to-day redden the great ocean itself with the 
 tlames of burning ships. Conceal these facts if 
 vou will, but will that stay destruction 1 will that 
 ambition be less hurtful, because you seal our lips? 
 N T o, my friends, you but aggravate the evil. We 
 tell you this for your benefit, as well as for our 
 own. We belong to that great conservative party 
 that will govern this country hereafter. (Cheers.) 
 I tell you, my Radical friends, whether you like it 
 or not, the day has come when a mighty political 
 revolution is not only about to take place, b 
 already actually taken place. (Applause.) I tell 
 you that when we shall have that power whicli we 
 will yet wield, we will not only ourselves enjoy 
 free speech and free action, but we will extend the 
 same privileges to you. In good faith, I tell you 
 that we shall never retort the unworthy threats 
 you made against us. (Applause.) And when 
 you discuss our policy, when you condemn our 
 judgments, you will be still protected by our 
 strong arms as completely as we shall now protect 
 ourselves. But there is another thing necessary 
 to save the nation's life. That is, honesty and 
 economy in the administration of public affairs. 
 (Applause.) Now, you and I have not been un- 
 frequently told, when we wished to point out what 
 was regarded as great evils in public, that we were 
 
 untrue to the country, and were diverting the pub- 
 lic mind entirely from the affairs of the South into 
 some other channel. (Laughter.) It was a punk 
 to those people how we could had so much leisure 
 to discuss the merits and demerits of individuals. 
 But I am extremely puzzled to know how some of 
 those people themselves can deem it worth their 
 while to wiite long articles about a man so insig- 
 nificant as myself. Whenever you and I attempt 
 to look into the monstrous frauds which are being 
 practiced upon the country, we are told we must 
 not divert the public mind froru the gi eat war on 
 the South. (Applause.) Why, my friends, look 
 at these things. I tell you it is in vain for you to 
 place armies in the field. It is in vain you freely 
 oiler up your lives for your country. In vain you 
 send your eons, brothers and friends to the field, 
 for, I tell you, wheu they are placed on the battle 
 field there is no wise system of government to sus- 
 tain them there, no honest administration of affairs 
 that will supply them with all the necessaries of 
 life and the means of carrying on the war success- 
 fully. None doubt this. All admit that corrup- 
 tion destroys the army as well as it destroys the 
 nation's morality. All men know that unle.-s you 
 have honesty and economy in the government of 
 national affairs, as in the coudact of private affairs, 
 ruin inevitably follows. 
 
 There is another matter to be referred to. By 
 act of Congress, in 1808, when our fathers lived, 
 who thought that honesty and integrity were es- 
 sential to a nation's life, it was provh '.< d that no 
 member of Congress should in any way be inte- 
 rested in contracts, and heavy penalties were 
 imposed to guard against the infraction of the law. 
 i it law was subsequently amended, and the pro- 
 \ i uon made more stringent ; but though contracts 
 have been made since the outbreak of the rebel- 
 g to hundreds of millions, the 
 country, by no new act of Congress, has been 
 protected by such provisions as the interest of the 
 country at such a time demanded. I leave this 
 m ittei to you, my Radical friends, to think over; 
 I leave it to you, my Conservative friends — hither- 
 to deterred by threats, deterred by imputations on 
 
 .; I> uiiotism — to read these investigations, and 
 to learn something of the frauds which have sap- 
 nation's stability. John P. Hale, the 
 an Senator, told the truth when he said 
 that the Government had more to fear from cor- 
 ruptions in its departments than it had from the 
 enemy in tie field. Let me [ass on to the consid- 
 eration of some other points. If you will examine 
 this quc;tio:i for yourself — if you will sit down in 
 your own home and inquire, as you would in 
 regard to your own private iuterests, witli regard 
 to your own private concerns — what is necessary 
 to s'ave the public life, you will fiud that ycu will 
 be called upon to do a great deal more and to say 
 a great deal more than our friends upon the other 
 side of the house deem entirely consistent with 
 patriotism. Now, I appeal to you as business men, 
 I appeal to you as men who, in all the concerns of 
 life, regard all the principles I have staled, whether 
 they should not be regarded in the conduct of our 
 national affairs? Is corruption less dangerous 
 
/so 
 
 pere than it is in the workshop or the counting- 
 room ? Is depai tare from sound principles and 
 rules of conduct less dangerous in the manage- 
 ment of national affairs than in the conduct of 
 private affairs? Il is only necessary in all those 
 patters to apply to the concerns of your nation 
 tho-c same principles which you all adhere to with 
 regard to your own private interests, to learn that 
 you cannot save the nation's life. Unless you will 
 do what we now urge you to do, not only to main- 
 tain your army, not only to support your Govern- 
 ment, but, in addition to that, to demand a clear 
 statement of the nation's affairs ; and then, too, to 
 demand that those affairs shail be conducted with 
 economy, with integrity, and with honesty. Now, 
 my friends, we must not only save the nation's 
 life, but I want to speak a few words as to the 
 mode by which the nation's life shall be saved. 
 It is not my remedy. I do not stand up before 
 you to claim to be wiser than my fellows. I do 
 not urge this upon you, my Radical friend, because 
 it is a conclusion I have arrived at. It is wisdom 
 in which you are as much interested as I am ; it is 
 as much to your advantage as it is to mine. The 
 remedy that I offer for you is the result of the 
 wisdom, of the patriotism, of the suffering and of 
 the toil of patriots of our own and of every land, 
 who for long years have been endeavoring to work 
 out principles of government that should benefit 
 the human race. I mean the remedy for all this 
 thing is the Constitution of the United States. 
 (Cheers.) Now, the nation's life will not only be 
 saved, but it must be saved, by a strict and rigid 
 adherence to that great charter of your liberties. 
 (Renewed cheers.) Why is it that in this day it 
 is spoken of so lightly? That in a time when 
 our country is agitated — when we are in the midst 
 of a civil war — men are so prompt to desert the 
 great barriers which upheld not only the institu- 
 tions of our country, but which protect you and 
 each man of you in your person and in your rights ? 
 (Applause.) The Constitution of the United States ! 
 Is it a mere parchment? Is it a mere dead letter? 
 Is it a mere record, having no vitality and no 
 value ? Tell me that yonder flag is but a piece o( 
 patchwork and of bunting, instead of being, as it 
 is, a glorious emblem, instinct with everything that 
 arouses our patriotic feelings and appeals to the 
 nation's pride. (Applause.) Why we, as I have 
 told you, are not only in favor of a loyal support 
 to this Government without condition, but we have 
 another advantage over our opponents. We pro- 
 pose to bring this war to a speedy and successful 
 conclusion, because, my friends, we have a definite 
 and determinate object, and that is, to restore the 
 Union as it was. (Cheers.) We are told by a 
 great many that they do not want the Union as it 
 was, but the Union as it should be according to 
 their ideas of what the Constitution shall be. 
 (Renewed applause.) Look for a moment at this 
 thing, without impeaching the wisdom of these 
 men, without impeaching their patriotism. What 
 is this proposition ? You, my friend, who want 
 this Union saved, you who want to know if we are 
 in favor of bringing this war to a successful con- 
 clusion, why do you doubt us when we tell you 
 
 what we propose to dc — that a thing is definite, 
 and that something is within our reach ? What 
 do you do, in the affairs of life, when you embark 
 in a great undertaking ? Have you confidence in 
 any project that is brought before you that is 
 indefinite in its purposes and indefinite in its end ? 
 What is this idea that men don't want the Consti- 
 tution as it was, but they want an " amended 
 Constitution." That implies that it is to be 
 amended to suit the fancies and to suit the views 
 of every man in our land. Have I not as good a 
 right to say that the Constitution shall be amended 
 to suit me, as Mr. Greeley has to say that it shall 
 be amended to suit him? (Hisse3 for Greeley.) 
 If you open this Pandora box, where does it end ? 
 One man wants a provision that is to bear heavily 
 upon one class of the country, and another man 
 wants a provision that will bear heavily upon 
 another section of the country. One man wants 
 to work at a provision that interferes with his 
 peculiar views of governmental policy as a per- 
 sonal right. And when, my friend, you will for a 
 moment tolerate this proposition that we are not 
 to restore the Union as it was, you tolerate a pro- 
 position that, in addition to all the evils of civil 
 war and all the uncertainties which hang over our 
 country, is to throw into this state of affairs an 
 endless element of discord, and of confusion too. 
 (Applause.) You must see this, and all men must 
 feel this. " 
 
 Now, what are the facts ? I again appeal to 
 you, my Radical friends; for I speak for you as 
 well as for myself and for those who are with me. 
 For you we ask for good government, as well as 
 for ourselves. I say to you, then, if you find in 
 those journals that affect to lay before you facts 
 concerning the nation, statements of the mon- 
 strous frauds, clearly developed, not charged by us, 
 not subjects of vague representations, but proved 
 to exist by authentic documents emanating from 
 Congress and public investigations, I appeal to 
 you, at this time, when the nation's life is at stake, 
 to seriously think about these terrible corruptions 
 before pointed out to your attention. Our friends on 
 the other side of the house love to talk about the 
 nation's life being in danger, while they do not 
 want you to talk about what is due to the nation's 
 life. I tell you, my friends, that happy individual 
 who hopes to conceal from the world the causes of 
 his downward course, he hopes that concealment 
 will be at another time remedied ; but he only 
 hastens himself to an untimely end. I tell you 
 that the Government which conceals frauds com- 
 mitted against itself, and which considers it unpa- 
 triotic to lay them bare, is on the road to de- 
 struction. Let the matter of slavery be forgotten 
 — let it be true that no African ever placed his 
 foot upon the soil of this country — I tell you, if 
 you have a corrupt Government you will be de- 
 stroyed, you will be doomed as inevitably as if 
 the army of the insurgents was this moment enter- 
 ing the capital of your country. Corruption will 
 not only destroy a nation's peace, but will destroy 
 a nation's character. Let me call your attention 
 to a fact that should be rung throughout the land, 
 and I will ask you if it ever before has been pe- 
 
THE 
 
 New York Weekly Argus. 
 
 »-+-* 
 
 To Maintain the Constitution and to Restore the Union. 
 
 For years the Democratic and Conservative sentiment of the Nation has been keenly alive to the 
 necessity of being faithfully and ably represented by a first-class Newspaper, published in the City 
 of New Yoik, sustaining the same relation to it as does the New York Tribune to Abolitionism and 
 all kinds of Radicalism. 
 
 The undersigned, from their connection with the Albany Atlas and Argus — one of the oldest and 
 best known Democratic papers in the Union — had been constantly urged to respond to this demand, 
 and finally yielded to the wishes of their political friends, and transferred the publication of their 
 Weekly to the City of New York, and issued it under the name of the 
 
 MEW YORK WEEKLY ARGUS. 
 
 The experiment has met with complete success. We are grateful to the friends of sound politi- 
 cal principles, who have enabled us in a few months to establish, on a paying basis, a first-class New 
 York Weekly Paper. We have every where met with cordial cooperation, and Clubs of Subscribers, 
 from all parts of the country, are being rapidly added to our list. 
 
 The friends of the New York Weekly Argus may boldly challenge comparison of it with any 
 ether New York Weekly — both as to typographical appearance and the contents of its pages. They 
 already insist, and we intend to make good their claim, that it is the 
 
 g}mtifcMM$t Mil gt# WtM% ^t\%\mw m §tew Uotfc. 
 
 No labor or expense will be spared to make a paper of which Democrats and Conservative men 
 will be proud. The responsible Editors are 
 
 OALVERT COMSTOCK, WILLIAM OASSIDY and ELON 00MST00K, 
 
 With ample additional and special assistance in the several departments of the paper. 
 
 To sustain such a paper, and enable it to influence the political sentiment of the nation, an ample 
 subscription-list is necessaiy. Ours has already, in nine months, reached THIRTY THOUSAND, 
 find we appeal to those whose opinions the paper represents to give it 
 
 ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND SUBSCRIBERS, 
 
 During the present year. This can be easily done by a general effort — as the paper is aiforded to 
 Clubs at the low price of ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. Shall it be done? We leave the answer to 
 those who wish the success of such a paper. 
 
 TERMS. 
 
 Single Subscriptions, per Annum, $ 2 00 
 
 Three Copies, One Year, 5 00 
 
 Eight Copies, " ....... 10 00 
 
 Additional Copies, each, 1 20 
 
 Twenty Copies to one address, 20 00 
 
 With an extra copy to the person sending the club of twenty. 
 
 To any person sending a club of 100, we will send the Albany Daiiy Atlas and Argus one year gratis, 
 
 PAYABLE ALWAYS IN ADVANCE. 
 
 Letters, whether containing remittances or otherwise, should be addressed to the undersigned, i 
 CORNER OF BROADWAY AND TARK PLACE, (opposite City Hall Park,') NEW YORK. 
 
 ^OMSTOCK & CASSIDY pirorietors. ... 
 
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