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upon it. Was there ever a greater instance of forbearance than this?
Never r And the moment they discovered it was to be relieved, in provisions only, that instant they sought to murder every man in that hopeless garrison.
Our Government then was forbearing.
Our Government has been kind.
But what is the character of the
Government that has been inaugurated, claiming to be the
Government of the
Confederate States?
What is the character of that Government?
I call your attention to a single instance.
They have inaugurated a wholesale system of piracy on the entire commerce of the country.
(Applause.) That is what they have done, and that is the character of the measures which they will adopt in all the war which is to go on. Now, what is the duty of the Administration under such circumstances?
(Shouts of “Shoot them!
Shoot them!” ) Let us see how they speak of the national flag, that idol ,f your hearts, which every one of us has adored from the moment his eyes first saw the light.
Let us see how they speak of the national flag.
Here is a speech of
Gov. Pickens, delivered immediately after
Fort Sumter had surrendered.
This
Governor of
South Carolina, the pupil of
Mr. Calhoun, under the tutorship of
Jefferson Davis, thus speaks of our flag — a flag which was never trailed in the dust before, and which has maintained its integrity with unflinching courage, and was never with a stain before.
He says:--
I hope on to-morrow, Sabbath though it be, that under the protection of Providence, and under the orders of General Beauregard, commander of our forces from the Confederate States, you shall have the proud gratification of seeing the Palmetto flag raised upon that fortress, and the Confederate flag of these free and independent States side by side with it; and there they shall float forever, in defiance of any power that man can bring against them.
(Applause.) We have humbled the flag of the United States; and as long as I have the honor to preside as your Chief Magistrate, so help me God, there is no power on this earth shall ever lower from that fortress those flags, unless they be lowered and trailed in a sea of blood.
(Vociferous applause.) I can here say to you, it is the first time in the history of this country that the Stars and Stripes have been humbled.
It has triumphed for seventy years, but to-day, on the 13th day of April, it has been humbled, and humbled before the glorious little State of South Carolina.
(Applause.) The Stars and Stripes have been lowered before your eyes this day, but there are no flames that shall ever lower the flag of South Carolina while I have the honor to preside as your Chief Magistrate.
Now I give one response to that, and I ask you to respond to it:--
Forever float that standard sheet,
Where breathes the foe but falls before us:
With freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And freedom's banner waving o'er us.
(Loud and continued cheers.)
There is no more glorious cause under which we could assemble than that which calls us together — the cause of our country.
War under any circumstances is to be regretted, and more particularly it is to be mourned over when we find such a war as is now upon us; but it has come, and there is only one thing left for us to do, and that is, our duty.
It is for you to say whether you will meet these traitors and drive them into the ocean.
(Cries of “Yes,” “Yes.” ) God in His mercy gave you this country, and
Washington gave you the
Constitution under which we live.
Both have been intrusted to you for safety and perpetuation.
Will you take care of them, or will you not? ( “We will, we will.” ) Before coming upon this stand I circuited this park, and as I walked by the statue of
Washington on the other side, and saw the flag of
Fort Sumter, torn and tattered as it is — torn and tattered, but not dishonored — I gloried in that flag.
I gloried in
Anderson and his little band of thirty-five gunners, who kept off for so many hours thirty thousand treason-mongers of
South Carolina, who were not able even to make them strike that flag.
(Cheers.) We must not stop now to inquire what has produced this war. You must only inquire as to the proper means to meet and carry it on successfully, and to finish it at the earliest moment.
To accomplish this, let the Northmen rally in their might, and these traitors shall meet an end more ignominious than that which fell upon the traitor
Arnold.
(Applause.) Familiar to every man within the sound of my voice is the fact that our men have been interrupted in their way to the
Federal capital.
Let not those “Blood Tubs” provoke us to too great an extent, or we will make the city of
Baltimore suffer terribly.
We will leave nothing but a smouldering ruin where
Baltimore now stands.
(Tremendous cheering.) The great leading avenue to the
Federal capital shall be kept open under all circumstances.
No power on earth shall close it.
Jefferson Davis says for the first time in three-quarters of a century the
American flag has been humbled.
He lied when he said so. (Applause.) There is not blood enough in his body to humble it. (Renewed applause.)
Jefferson Davis and
Cobb have filled their pockets at the public expense, and, having robbed the republic, have endeavored to destroy it. May God's mercy rest upon them until they wither away from the respect of mankind!
(Cheering.) My countrymen, revolution under some circumstances is justifiable, but only when the rights of the people have been invaded, and when the iron heel of despotism has crushed them to the earth; but here in this instance no wrong has been perpetrated, no outrage has been committed, except in the dirty imagination of political demagogues in the cotton States.
(Cheers.) And they seek to break up this Government.
But let me tell you, they shall not do it. (Cheers.) Men have died for the liberties of their fellow-men.
Go to
Ireland, and you will there behold the grave of her patriot martyr,
Emmet, who perished on the scaffold because he desired to give to his countrymen the same liberty we now enjoy.
And if a patriot was thus treated for trying to gain the independence of his native land, what should be done with the traitor who seeks to destroy the freedom of his country, and to bring it to destruction?
(Cries of “Hang him.” ) Hanging is too good for him. A more severe but certain punishment should await him; but a single jerk, and it is all over with him. Our Government, my friends, must not falter in this hour of our emergency.
Every nerve must be brought into action, and every action must deal a blow of death to every traitor.
(Cheers.)
The Potomac should be lined with gunboats, and every time that one of these vagabonds appears upon its banks, he should be blown to the devil without mercy.
(Cheers and laughter.
A voice, “Yes, and without the benefit of clergy.” ) My friend says, “without the benefit of clergy ;” to that I say, Amen!
This
