Θ THE RECORD OF Clement Laird HON. C. L. VALLANDIGHAM ON ABOLITION, THE UNION, AND THE "DO RIGHT ; AND TRUST TO God, and truth, AND THE PEOPLE. PERISH OFFICE, PERISH HONORS, PERISH LIFE ITSELF, BUT DO THE THING THAT IS RIGHT, AND DO IT LIKE A MAN. TWELFTH EDITION. 9 COLUMBUS, OHIO: PUBLISHED BY J. WALTER & CO. 1863. 1875, Dec. 27. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by J. WALTER & CO., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of Ohio. PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. THIS work offers, in a convenient form, the principal speeches of Hon. C. L. VALLANDIGHAM, on the Constitution, the Union, and the Civil War. Extracts from other speeches are added; also, a variety of facts and incidents. The object is to furnish the means of forming a correct judgment in relation to a man who, through the malignant assaults of his enemies, and the esteem of his friends, has become one of the most generally talked-of men of these times. This Record shows why Mr. VALLANDIGHAM has so many enemies, and all of one class-why negrophilistic fanaticism includes, as one of its essential qualities, an intense hatred of VALLANDIGHAM. This fact is explained by showing that, not only his six years in Congress, but his whole public life, has been a clear, uniform, and unequivocal expression of a deep and true love of his country, the Union, and that he has ever been among the foremost to stand by and defend its institutions and laws. In the darkest and most trying hours of the great national conflict, still pending, Mr. VALLANDIGHAM has never deviated a moment from the old and true principles of Democracy, whereby the Union was formed and preserved, and by which alone it can be saved from destruction, restored, and perpetuated. If his words and acts have been treason, then was the Government itself, through the whole period of its history, down to the inauguration of Mr. LINCOLN, one continued act of treason. In common with all democratic and conservative statesmen, he had, before the commencement of the war, uniformly, maintained that the principles around which the Abolition party was organized, were hostile to the Union, and would endanger its peace and perpetuity, if permitted to get control. Those warnings were not heeded, and the fatal mistake was com- . mitted of placing in power men whose cherished principles were enemies of the Union. A deadly national conflict ensued; and then Mr. VALLANDIGHAM did differ from many in whom the people had reposed full faith and confidence. He stood by his principles, held his position unmoved, (3) while the strong current of a raving fanaticism, that swept by and around him, bore off many of his old companions, knocked from their feet. Of the war, its causes and attending circumstances, many have said more than Mr. VALLANDIGHAM; but few, if any, have said so much that comes square up to the record of events, as history unfolds them. The doctrines announced by him, and the few who have stood with him, are rapidly forming themselves into the public sentiment of the country. The conviction that those men have been right thus far, gives value to their opinions in relation to the probable course of coming events. Those who have been accustomed to denounce Mr. VALLANDIGHAM as a traitor and disunionist, will not take a favorable interest in this Record, for they will find their slanderous accusations nailed to the wall, and hung up to the gaze of the public. This work will, however, be gladly welcomed by a large number of honest men, who have hitherto been deceived by false reports, continuously and persistently circulated. They will discover a pure, able, consistent patriot, a devoted friend and defender of the Union, in one, whom, through slander and misrepresentation, they had been led to regard as a traitor, to whom permission to live was an extra and unmerited allowance. To that immense circle of friends who, with inflexible firmness, have adhered to Mr. VALLANDIGHAM, amidst all the malignant and deadly assaults of his enemies, this Record will be a sure testimony that their confidence has not been misplaced. And they will here be furnished with the means, not only to correct the misjudgments of those who have been honestly deceived, but to silence the slanders of those who delight in falsehood and injustice. The above remarks tell why this Record has been prepared, and is now offered to the public. CINCINNATI, April 13, 1863. J. W. & CO. RECORD OF HON. C. L. VALLANDIGHAM ON ABOLITION, THE UNION, AND THE CIVIL WAR. NUMBER ONE. HISTORY OF THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT. SPEECH DELIVERED AT A DEMOCRATIC MEETING HELD IN DAYTON, OHIO, OCTOBER 29, 1855. WE open this RECORD with a copy of the speech delivered by Mr. VALLANDIGHAM, at a Democratic meeting held in Dayton, on the evening of the 29th of October, 1855, a few days after the election which resulted in the choice of SALMON P. CHASE as Governor of Ohio. Three hundred and one thousand votes had been cast at that election, of which Mr. CHASE, the "Free Soil" candidate, received one hundred and forty-six thousand, being less than half, but enough to elect him. The Democratic candidate received one hundred and thirty-one thousand, and the remaining twenty thousand were given to Mr. TRIMBLE, whom the old-line Whigs supported. The Democratic party being thus temporarily defeated, and thrown out of power, an excellent opportunity was offered for giving the history of the causes which led to the defeat, and for indicating, also, the means which would "restore it to sound doctrine and discipline, and, therefore, to power and usefulness." This task was performed by Mr. VALLANDIGHAM, on the occasion referred to, in a speech characterized by extraordinary logical accuracy and clearness of statement, as well as extensive and thorough historical research. The general purpose for (5) |