The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1861-07-18


by that stupendous rebellion which has
arisen like a tempest cloud in the South |
We rejoice to know that she is still men,
Der of this Union, and as such she has the
same interest in resisting this rebellion, that !
each limb of the body has in resisting
poignard whose point is aimed at the heart. |
1t is her house that is on fire; has she no |
interest in eXtinguisaing the confiagra- |
tion2 Will she stand aloof and announce
herself neutral between the raging flames |
and the brave men who are periling their
lives to subdue them? Hundreds of thous
ands of citizens of other Statesmen of
culture and character of thought and of
toll; men who have a deep stake IN life and
an intense appreciation of its duties and re-
sponsibilities; who know the worth of this
blessed government of ours, and do not
prize even their own blood above i'll say
hundreds Of thousands of such men have
left their homes. their workshops, their
offices their contingencies, and their
fields, and are now rallying about our flag,
! freely offering their all to sustain it, and
/ since the days that crusading Europe threw
/ it's hosts upon the embattled plains of Asia,
no deeper or more earnest or grander spirit
has stirred the souls of men, than that
which sways those mighty masses whose
cleaning banners are destined ere long to
make bright again the earth and sky of the
distracted South. Can Kentucky look upon
this sublime spectacle of patriotism unmov-
ed, and then say to herself: 81 will spend
neither blood nor treasure, but will shrink
away while the battle RACES, and after it
has been fought and won, will return to
the camp, well assured that if l cannot
claim the laurels, will at least enjoy the
blessings of the victory?" Is this all that
remains of her chivalry?-of the chivalry
of the land of the Shelbys, the JohnsoDs,
the Aliens, the Clays, the Adairs, and the
Davises? Is there Kentuckian within the
sound of my voice tonight, who can hear
the anguished cry of his country, as she
wrestles and writhes in the folds of this gil
gantic treason, and then lay himself down
upon his pillow with this thought of neu-
trality, without feeling that he has some
thing in his BOSOM which stings him
worse than would an adder? Have we
within the brief period of eighty years, de-
scended so far from the mountain heights
on which our fathers stood, that already,
in our degeneracy, we proclaim our blood
too precious, our treasure too valuable to
be devoted to the preservation of such a
: government as this? They fought through
a seven years war with the greatest power
on earth for the hope, of being able to
longer a hope nor an experiment, but a
glorious reality which has excited the ad-
. miratiou and the homage of the nations,
: and has covered us with blessings as "the
, water covers the channels of the sea have
we, their children, no years of toll, of sacra-
fee, and of battle even, if need be, to keep
it from absolute destruction at the hands of
men who, stepped in guilt are perpetrating
against us and humanity a crime, for which
] verify believe the blacklist page of the
history of the worlds darkest period fur
nishes no parallel. Can it be possible that
! in the history of the American people we
. have already reached point of degeneracy
so low, that the work of Washington and
u Franklin, of Adams and Jefferson, of Han
cock and Henry, is to be overthrown by
the morally begrimed and pigmied conspir-
| ators who are now Juggling at its founda-
. tiou2 1t would be the overturning of the
Andes by the miserable reptiles that are
crawling in the sands at their base.
But our neutral fellow-citizens in the ten
d derness of their hearts say: This effusion
of blood sickens u.s. Then do all in your
power to bring it to an end. Let the whole
strength of this Commonwealth be put forth
in support of the Government, in order that
: the war may be terminated by prompt
suppression of the rebellion. The longer
> the struggle continues, the fercer will be
= its spirit. and the more fearful the waste OF
: life attending it. You, therefore, only ag-
e grevate the calamity you deplore, by stand
ing aloof from the combat. But again they
say, ave cannot fight our brethren" In
: deed But your brethren can fight you,
Il and with good will, too. WickedIy and
q wantonly have they commenced this war
+ against you and your institutions, and fero-
ciously are they are prosecuting it. They
take no account of the fact that the massa-
> ere with which they hope their swords will
e ere long be clogged, must be the massacre
) of their brethren. However much we may
bow our heads at the confession, it is new
theless true that every free people that have
3 existed have been obliged at one period or
other of their history to fight for their lib
S critics against traitors within their own bo-
7 SONS, and people who have not the great
r ness of soul thus to fight, cannot long con-
D tinue to be free, nor do they deserve to be so.
: There is not, and there cannot be, any neu-
trail ground for loyal people between their
2 own Government and those who, at the head
} of armies, are meuacing its Distraction
You inaction is not neutrality, though you
may delude yourselves with the belief that
it is so. With this rebellion confronting
you, when you refuse to cooperate actively
; with your government in subduing it, you
thereby condemn the government and as
} sumo toward it an attitude of antagonism
Your inaction is virtual Endorsement of
the rebellion, and if you do not thereby
give to the rebels precisely that " aid and
comfort" spoken of in the Constitution, you
certainly afford them a most powerful en-
couragement and support That they re-
gard your present position as friendly to
them is proved by the fact, that, in a re-
cent enactment of the Confederate CONGRESS
conhscating the debts due from their own
citizens to those of loyal States, the debts
due to the people of Kentucky are expressly
excepted. Is not this significant Does it
leave any room for doubt that the Confed-
crate Congress suppose they have discover
ed, under the guise of your neutrality, a
lurking sympathy for their cause which en-
titles You to be treated as friends, if not as
active allies? Patriotic as was the purpose