Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1861-03-07
THE HERALD.
CFrom the New York Worid.l
An Appeal for Manhood


But, let come what may, the Northern
people will lie etcrnaIly disgraeed if they
barter away one jot Of their manhood
Whether they save the Union or not, their
seif-respect must be saved. Whether
nation has large or smaller limits matters
little: but it does matter that it should have
a character--it does matter that it should
have soul. For all the efforts OF high
minded and true-hearted men 10 bring
back peace, we are properly grateful--men
who Loyalty labor 10 remove passion and
prejudice and misconception, and, as they
are men of principle themselves, are as in
capable of asking as they are Of making
any base compliance. We say, God speed
their noble work But there are other
spirits in the feld-northern men without
a serious purpose or conyietion-wretehed
creatures whoseyery nature lsto crnge and
to beg, who have always had a Southern
master and know not how to live without
him-the same tribe that Webster spoke
of: dough faces, with dough heads, and
dough hearts, and dough souls; they are
ali dough; the eoarsest potter may mould
them to vessels Of honor or dishonor-most
readily to vessels Of dis-honor." These
people are for propitiating the South at all
costs. There is no degradation they are
not prepared to stoop to, if so be they may
keep the border States in and get the cotton
States back. They 90 for compromise, as
they say but the compromise they GO tor
Is simply the sheerest surrender. Slavery
anakes no claim they are not willing to
grant, impose no engagement they are not
ready to make. Many Of them, beyond
all question, would willingly consent even
to the most infamous of imamies-the re-
opening of the African slave trade Itself
ifslayery were yet prepared to demand it.
To call these soulless towards pescemakers
is the grossest abuse Of the word. Peace
is blessing for freemen; it rests on law; it
finds its guarantees in justice. Submission
to arbitrary demands is not peace, nor does
it bring thefruits Of peace. 1t is yassalage,
and its end is death.
We say, then, the Union if possible, but
Union or no Union, MANHOOD first and
MANHOOD always. How much, not involy-
ing absolute moral wrong, it may be meet
to yield to relieve the present complication
of affairs; how long it win be wise, under
the new administration, to continue to en-
force the laws upon an unwilling people,
must be determined by shapes and aspects
yet to come; but never, aeuer, under any
circumstances, in any extremity, must the
North humiliate itselfby a surrender which
its conscience and its sense of honor cannot
approve. In these last years change has
come over the southern MUD, so that what
they once confessed an evil, they now boast
to be their supreme social good. That
change, attribute il to what we please, is an
accomplished fact We have no power,
and want no power over it. But we do
have the power Of preventing its being
force upon us, and it is our duty to exer-
else it. We do have the power of prevent
ing its turning our glorious constitutional
fegis, which was consecrated to freedom by
our fathers, into an internal device for the
peFpetuation and extension Of bondage |
and every consideration of honor, every
mandate Of conscience, every sentiment Of
respect for those who have gone before us,
every aspiration for influence among the
nations, every interest Of civilization, and
every dictate of humanity, obligate US to
thwart this unhallowed business. ne
mast not ndtionalize SLAVERY. We must !
not consent that its soleinterests shall shape |
the policy of the country. Not yielding
this, the Union may end. So be it, |
Fifty Unions would not Be north the sac
riffce u honest CONNECTION and the pros
tratiop Of manly sptritinUolred an giving
ia 10 such 6ehests as ue hare heard, and
are get daily hearing. No honorable eff
fort is TO be spared 10 maintain the gov
crnment on its old basis. Whatever just
authority can do. or generous Cancellation
can do, to secure that, let it be done to the |
full. But when it comes to betraying our
faith and belying our principles, there must
be stop; consequences mist cease to be
regarded; we must stand firm, aud, trust
ing to the God above us, take what follows. |
Nothing can ruin us if we only hold fast to
our integrity.