Speech of Hon. C. L. Vallandigham, of Ohio

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Excerpt from Speech of Hon. C. L. Vallandigham, of Ohio: Delivered in the House of Representatives, February 20, 1861Sir, it has well been said that it is not to be done by eulogies. Eulogy is for times ofpeacc. Neither is it to be done by lamentations over its decline and fall. These are for the poet and the historian, or for the exiled statesman who may chance to sit amid the ruins of desolated cities. Ours is a practical work, and it is the business of the wise and practical statesman to inquire first what the causes are of the evils for which he is required to devise a remedy.Sir, the subjects of mere partisan controversy which have been chiefly discussed here and in the country, so far, are not the causes, but only the symptoms or developments of tho malady which is to be healed. These causes are to be found in the nature ofman and in the peculiar nature of our system of governments. Thirst for power and place, or preeminence -in a word, ambition - is one of the strongest and earliest developed passions of man. It is as discernible in the school-boy as in the statesman, It belongs alike to the individual and to masses of men, and is exhibited in every gradation of society, from the family up to the highest development of the State. In all voluntary associations of any kind, and in every ecclesiastical organization, also, it is equally manifested._ It isthe sin by which the angels fell. N 0 form of government is exempt from it, for even the abso lute monarch is obliged to execute his power through the instrumentality of agents, and ambition here courts one master instead of many masters. As between foreign States, it manifests itself in schemes of conquest and territorial aggrandizement. In despotisms, it is shown in intrigues, assassinations, and. Revolts. In constitutional monarchies and in aristocracies, it exhibits itself in contests among the different orders of society and the several interests of agriculture, trade, commerce, and the professions. In democracies, it is seen everywhere, and in its highest development, for here all the avenues to political place and preferment, and emolument, too, are open to every citizen and all movements and all interests of society, and every great ques tion - moral, social, religious, scientific - no matter what, assumes, at some time or other, a political complexion, and forms a part of the election issues and legislation of the day. Here, when combined with interest, and where the action of the Government may be made a source of wealth, then honor, virtue, patriotism, religion, all perish before it. No restraints and no compacts can bind it.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.