The Woodstock age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1844-1845, 1844-07-25

on such an emergency, vote for duelsl!
The sameo song has been sung at every e.
lection these twenty years, by each party.
IL Is an electloneerimg trick to excite your
fears, to awaken your predjudices, to in
fllme your passions, and to get your vote.
But perhaps the Liberties of our country
are in danger; il they are so far gone as to
depend on the election of one man, and that
man a tyrant-a murderer-tney are gone
irelrievably. Beside the absurdly of APP
pointing murderer to protect life, and a
despm to protect liberiy,it is to be remen-
bered that God Is our only eflicien, nroec-
tor. Men are merely Instruments but will
God bless such Instruments. selected in
contempt ofhls authority, and rescued from
the sword of his Justice? All attempts Ia
avert perdliion by at war with the precepts
of Heaven will prove abortive; You hatch
the cockalrlce egg, and weave the web of
the spider. lfyour liberties are in danger
refnrm-pray-ami call to your aid men Of
reclilude, men Of clean hands, whose coun-
ellis God may be expected to bless.
"Bnt it is difficult to know, in all cases
who are good men," True; and will you
therefore vote for them whom YOU know To
he bad men? Rather discard those whom
You know to be bad men, and scrullnize
critically the characters of those who pro-
fess To he good, aud after your utmost care,
you will be sufficiently exposed to decep-
ten.
But the reply is ever at hand, eff they
will fight, let them fight and kill each
other; the sooner we are rid of them the
better" And are you prepared to in
trust your lives and all dear to you, to
such men, whom you confess to be nui-
sance, and whose death would be pub
lie blessing' Beside, there is no such
thing as killing ALL the example of the
duellist is wide-spreadng contagion.
No other crime so Alarming
DnelIng is great and alarming nation
al sin; no other crime, with shameless ell
irontery, bids defiance to 'he laws of God
and man, no other crime is so palllaled,
justified, and with such IMMUNITY sanction
ed by the greai-and of course, no other
crime has so alarming an aspect upon the
principles of our young men, and the NOR
al sensbillles Of onr country. The crisis
is an awful one and this apathy to crime
Of the deepes, dye is a prelude of ap-
proaching death.
And now let me ask you soemnly, will
yon persist IN your attachment To dnelllS's!
viii You any longer, either deliberately or
lhongh,lessly, vote for them! Will you rc'
nounce allegiance 10 your Maker, and cast
your Bible behind your back! Will you
confde IN men void of the fear of God aud
destitute of moral characlerl viii yod
intrus, life to murderers, and liberty to des.
pots! Are you patriots, aud will you
constitute those legislators, who despse
you, and despise equal laws, and wage wal
with the eternal principle of justice!
Are you Christians, and npholdlng duel.
lists, will you deluge the land with blood
and fill it with widows and orphans! vii
you aid in the protection Of Justce-iI
the escape Of crmlnaIs-in the extinction
of liberty! Will You lace in the chair o
state, or in the Senate, men who, if able
would murder you for speaking the truth
Shall your elections turn IN expert shoot
ing, and your deliberate bodies become II
host OF armed men! will you destroy public
morality by toeralng, yea, by rewardng
the most infamous crmesl will you teach
your children that there is no guilt in muir
der! Will you instruct them To think
lightly OF dneling and train them up To
destroy or ne destroyed in the bloody field.
will You besiow your suffrage, when, b.
withholding it, yon may arrest this dead,
evil-when this, too, is the only way III
which il can be done, aud when the pres.
enl, il, perhaps the ONLY period in which
assistance can avall-when the remedy is
So easy, so entirely in your power: aud
when God, If you do not punish these gull
ty men, will most inevitably punish you!
1.-THE widows aud the orphans which this
wasting evil has created, and is yearly null
liplying might all stand heinre yon-cout
you witness their tears, or listen to Their
details of anguish! Should they point IL
the murderers Of their fathers, their hus
bands, and the children. and lift up Their
voice, and inplore your aid to arrest an
evil which had made them desolaie, could
you disregard their cry? Before their eyes
could you approach the polls, and patron
izc by your vote the deslroyers of Their
peacel Had you beheld dying father
conveyed, bleeding aud agonIzlng, Il
his distracted family. mad you heard
the piercing shrieks and witnessed
their frantic agony; would You reward the
savage man who had plunged them in dis
tress! Had the dnelIist destroyed you,
neghbor-had yonr own father been kill
ed by the man who soicits your suffrage
had your son, laid low by his hand, beer
brought to your door welierlng IN blood
could you think the crime small one!-
Would you honor with your confidence ,an'
elevate to power by your vote, the monster
And what should You think ofyoar neigh
bors, if, regardless of your agony, the,
should reward him? And yet sucf