Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-11-07
The Position and the Spectacle.

The Position and the Spectacle.
There are few Of our countrymen who
have any just conception of the eventul
period in which we live There has new
er been such an era before presented
in the worlds history. In all the civil
wars that have heretofore afflicted man
kind, no nation has ever afforded so sub
lime spectacle.
We can have some idea of its grand
eur when we glance at the vast line Of
armed collision and the stupendous for
ces either already engaged, or about to be
engaged in the deadly fray. The fol-
lowing bird's-eyc view pre- ented by the
JourndI Of Commerce.:
"Begnning at Fortress Monroe, and
passing thence to Annapolis, Baltimore,
| Washington and westward, we find the
vast hosts Of the Northern and Middle
States, numbered by hundreds of thou
sands, stretching their camps along the
Potomac or occupying the most lmpor-
tant strategical position between the
ocean and the mountains. West Of the
mountains the Union forces are pressing
downward into Virginia, clearing Ken
lucky of the enemy, driving the hordes
of General Price southwark into Arkan-
sas, and preparing for the great advance
down the Mississippi, Thus from Kan
sa to the ocean every State, almost every
county, is occupied by one or the other
of the two great forces now striving for
the supremacy or the overthrow of the
Union, The line of war is more than a
thousand miles, and the men that are on
it, or thronging toward it, arms in hand,
will soon be nearly Il million. This
stupenduous display of force may well
be compared with the greatest wars
which history has recorded"
This immense display of physical force,
stretching in kind Of semi-circlc nearly
half way across great continent, con-
Joined to the war vessels that are throng-
ing the waters along the coast from
Maryland to Texas, is of itself grand
and imposing spectacle. But its grandeur
is heightened beyond the power of the
mind to grasp it, when we reflect upon
the tremendous stake at issue.
We Americans are playing at no such
game as kings and aristocrats are wont
to play at. We are engaged in no diplo-
matte squabble, in no contention about
monopoly and privilege, nor i'll any dis
pute about the secession to throne or
a dukedom But the question at issue
is as vital to us as a people ora nation,
as is one of life or death to an individu-
al. 1t is simply whether we shall con-
tinue to exist as heretofore, one great,
powerful and prosperous people, or be
divided into two, three, ten, perhaps thir-
ty petty provinces with no common bond
of unity, but each the prey OF perpetual
iealousies and rivaltles.
We are eager to hear of great battles
and splendid naval achievements. But
in after age, when the history of these
days will be one of thrilling interest,
men will net care so much about these
fights on sea and land, as they will to
understand fully the spirit, temper and
aims Of the great contending PARTIES
In the impartial verdict of the jury Of the
future, no allowance will be made for
carving on a war on either side for the
qualification of personel ambition or OF
sectional prejudice or revenge. Nor
will motives of mere philanthrophy to,
ward the black race be held to Justify the
slaughter of white men and the desola,
ton of their homes. Much less will
men who have brought about and are ur'
ging on this revolt against a Govern
ment in which were centered the hopes OF
} the wise an good in every land, stand
acquitted before the great tribunal, whose
decision the pen of the historian may
even now be sharpencd to record
Whether successful or not, they will bC
consigned to the black catalogue of those
who are regarded as not only traitors to
the people of whom they formed part
but as the enemies Of mankind.-Stotes
man.