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Show 54 SECONI> DAY-JHOR~ING SESSION. cannot he had will1 safety to the citizen, and the peace and quiet of the community? l presume this cannot be the ease in your city, and was not the great moving cause that induced your humane, philanthropic, and patriotic citizens to erect the Hall which they are about to open. If, however, Pennsylvania is safe, if Philadelphia is secure from c..\1 attempts to put down the righl of free discussio~1, the liberty of speech, ami the press, your fellow citizens have seen and felt that all parts of our beloved country is not thus highly favored. lt is gratifying, !ndeed, that while the enemy of human rights anti constitutional libe rty is, ~n Ot~r co.untry, making rapid advances to power, endeavoring as far as Ill lllm lies, not only to silence discussion , but even to muzzle the press itself, knowing that his principles cannot stand the test of examination, Philadelphia has the honor to erect a barrier which he cannot pass, and a battery which he cannot silence, but which will efrectually destroy his whole power, by the consecration of a spot where all his pretensions may be fully and fairly discussed. This act of your citizens l regard not as a local act mel'ely. It is not for }"lhiladelphia alone to receive its benefits, but the whole country-the whole world. Its objects arc universal and impartial justice to all men in every condition, to establish each in his own inherent, individual, and unalienable rights, to give warning of approaching danger, ami stay the rod of the oppressor; and as such, we claim for the day of consecration a bright page in the history of our country. Every philanthropist, every moralist must mourn and deplore the riots, burnings, and murders, that ofln.te have taken place in our country. Your own recollections will be suflicient tu place before your minds scenes of the most outrageous atrocity. How often has tidings of the destruction of the press, because it has spoken fearlessly in defence of human rights, tingled in your ears? Have you not heard that free born Al'!1ERICAN crnzF.NS have been, by a lawless mob, suhjected to the infamous torture of the wmP? Has not the weapon of the assassin laid its victim bleeding at his feet, for no crime, for no act but that which you intend to practise in the Hall you have erected-the exercise of the right of FREE mscussJON. 'Vhile I rejoice that your citizens are embodying themselves to march forward to the rescue, I mourn for my country that this same fell spirit which has urged mobs, not only of the "baser sort," but of citizens who claim to be respectable, to deeds of violence and blood, has found its way in some degree into the councils and official statious of the country, into the bosom of society, ami 1 much fear into the very PULPIT itself, thus rendering insecure all that is dear and sacred to man. I would willingly draw a veil over the proceedings of that body, of which l have the honor to be a member, in regard to the important right of free discussion, if the deep sense of the obligations of duty which I feel to you and the country would permit me to do so. This !Same spirit, which you are about so nobly to rebuke, has been able, in the very halls of Con~ gress, to silence debate at its pleasure. It has been able to strike its deadly fangs into the most vital part of American liberty. Jt has denied the right of petition, in all its essential qualities, to a large portion of our fellow citizens, on a subject they deemed worthy of their highest consideration, ami materially afl'ecting the honor and interest of our country. If it were possible, I would that 1 could persuade myself not to believe this, but while the records of our country bear witness to the fact, it cannot be. 1 fervently pray that the tear of some recording angel may yet be dropped upon the words of shame and dishonor, and blot them out for ever. If the supreme legislature of the country can rightfully. in ::my one possi· LE'l"fEll:5 1{1-:AlJ, 56 Lie instance, rofusc to receive, hear, and act upo11 petitions sent by any porl'ion of the human race who nrc ~ubject to our laws, or owe allegiance to our government, l cau sec no safe guarantee for this high privilege in any case whatever, when it shall come in contact with power, interest, or inlluence. F'or if an individual right which was deemed of a character too sacreU to he regulated or controlled by the people themselves, by their highest fundamental law, (the Constitution,) anti placed by that instrument above the power of Congress to AIHUt>GE, can be withheld or restrained by that body, it is hard to discover what political or natural right you, or], or any other citizen, can calculate upon as secure. If the right of petition fail us, will it not prove that the whole fabric of the Constitution is rotten and uot worth our care; its preservation in such case for any valuable purpose might well be considered doubtful. It is not only the right of petition that has been abridged. The free~ dam of debate has been stricken down, and lies dead in the /!alta Congress. We are compelled to submit not only to a rule which imposes silence on a question to lay a motion or proposition on the table, and which a majority can always use to put an end to discussion disagreeable to them, however important it may be to others ; but the country now mourns the lo!is of one of her most talented sons, whose life, it is believed, was sacrificed for the exercise of the right of free discussion in the very hall of Congress itself. It would be some consolation if, in the midst of this war upon individual rights, this want of personal security, this waste of political privileges in the chambers of legislation, the judiciary of the country remained firm and uncontaminated. But here we have also to deplore, that the incendiary with the torch in his hand scarcely extinguished, with which he had attempted to fire his neighbor's dwelling, because of that neighbor's exercise of his unquestionable right in the free expression of his opinion; and the mobocrat who has attempted to silence the pre8s by its destruction, together with the assassin whose red hands are yet dripping with the blood of his innocent victim, find not only protection but favor ;-and this new code of morals which would impose restraint upon the expression of our thoughts because the truth may affect some pecuniary interest, or expose some wicked practice, teaches the doctrine that a printing press may be broken up, a man's house may be burned, and the owner slain by violence, and yet. no o~~ ~e G~ILTY! lt has been said, and I think truly, that the verd1ct.s ol JUnes g1ve the character of the country. What, then, will be the character of our country before an impartial world, if juries shall continue to lend themselves to this same spirit of misrule, and violence, and blood? But if we withdraw our views from the constituted authorities of the land, from men in onicial stations, and extend it over the country at large, what do we behold? The Bowie~knife aud the pistol substituted for reason and argument, usurping the power of the laws, or setting them at defiance,~ hc .ac~ors professing to t.lraw the example from high places of power, and JUSllfylllg themsel~~s by the ~ction~ of men who claim to be among our most respectable Citizens. It ts agatnst the freedom of speech, the right of free discussion, that these ruflians in society wage their fie rcest war. I am awa!~ that it may be though~ that 1 h:n•e. wr~tte1~ hard things against my fellow citizens; but do not the facts that extst JllSlify me? And should I not be faithl~ss, indeed, :md recreant to all my principles, if, when writing t~ you 0~1 the tmportanL event which you arc about to celebrate, I should etther f<~tl or fear to exprc~s my thoughts fully and freely ·r If [ did not do so, I 11117ht wel.l be cons1dcl'cd a mocker of the .iustitutious I prof~ss to honor. fhe ptclure l have presented, l know 1s one not calculated to |