The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1861-07-19
BDDEFORD, MORNING, JULY 49,,

his arm, to aid in cItinguishing the flames,
that he may preserve to poSteri'y institutions
without which oil the learning Of the schools
would be but mockery, and give place to vi
olencc, and ignorance and barbarism. This
is emphaticallya utilitarian and practical
age, and when the foundations upon which
the ark Of our political safety rest are threat.
ened, rebellion is waited on every breeze and
the rude din Of arms grcets US on either
hand, menacing our very existence asa great
and prosperous people, letters may sympa.
thizo with the danger, and become silent in
our midst as we'll as laws.
Bad government is tho enemy Of knowl-
edge. Under its destructive reign. learning
is neglected, ignorance is honored and com-
mended, and free opinion is prosecuted as an
enemy Of State. Its schools are military
despotisms, and the dungeon, the rack, and
the gibbet arc its teachers. Under its haush-
ty sway, the energies Of mind are bowed and
broken, the spirit subdued and restrained in
its search for sustenance, and literature and
the sciences droop, languish and die. This
glorious Union is our world while we main
tain its integrity, all the nations Of the
earth, the lofty and the low, must recognize
our supremacy, and pay us homage; dis
jointed, forming two or more fragmentary
Republics. we shall deserve and receive less
consideration than the States Of Barbary !;
and now that We are threatened with des-
truction. let us as one people, from the North
and the South, the East and the West, rising
above the narrow instincts of parties and
associations, relumO our lamps Of liberty, rs
tho vcstlls replenished their sacred fire, tho
not extinguished, from the rays Of the MORN
ing sun. Let us renew our covenant, and
swear upon the holy altars Of our faith to
maintain and defend it and It's glorious EN-
blem, the stars and stripes. ~ replete with
pleasing memories, and IL there are any who
distrust their own frmness, and fear they
may be seduced or may fall out by tho way
side, or DO frightened from their purpose, let
them, like Fernando Cortez, burn the means
of retreat behind them, that they may remain
faithful to the end.
When the sunlight OF the last autumn was
suppIanted by the rremonitions Of winter,
by drifting clouds, and eddying leaves, and
tho flight of birds to a milder cline, our
land was cmphatically blessed. We were at
peace with oil the powers Of the earth, and
enjoying undisturbed domestic reposc. A
benefcent Providence had smiled upoa tho
labors OF the husbandman, and our grana-
ries groaned under the burden Of their gold.
en- treasures. Industry found labor and COM
pensation, and the poor mans latch was
never raised except in the name Of friendship
or by the authority Of law. No taxation
consumed, no dcstitution appalled,, no sick.
ness wasted, but health and joy bealned from
every face. The fruits ol toll, from the
North and the South, the East aud tho West,
were bringing to our feet tho contributions
OF the earth, and trade, which for a time had
fallen back to recover breath from previous
oyer-excrtion, had resumed her place "where
merchants DO congregate." Tho land was
replete with gladness, and vocal with thanks
siyings of its sons and daughters, upon the
vast prairics of the West, ur its sunny hill.
slopes and through its smiling valleys, along
its majestic rivers and down its meandering
strean,lets, and its institutions Of religion
and learning and charity echoed back the
sound
"But bringing up the rear Of this bright host,
spirit Of different aspect waved
His wings, like thuuder-clouds above some
coast,
Whose barren beach with frequent wrecks Is
paved.
Ills brow was like the deep when tempest tost;
Fierce and uniathomable thoughts engraved
Eternal wrath on bis immortal face,
And where he ga1ed, gloon pervaded space"
Yes, in the moment OF our country's tri-
umph, in the plenitudc of its pride, in the
hcy-day Of its hope, and in the fulness OF
its beauty, the serpent which crawled into
Eden, and whispered his glozing story Of de-
lusion to tho unsuspecting victim Of his
guile, unable to rise from the original curse
which rests upon him, sought to coil his
snaky folds around it, and sting 1t to the
heart. From tho arts and the enjoymenis Of
peace we have been plunged deep in the hor-
rop of civil war. Our once happy land re-
sounds with the clangor oi rebellious arms,
and is polluted with the dead bodies Of its
children, come seeking to destroy, some strug.
clins to maintain the common benefcent Gov
ernment of all, as established by our fathers.
This effort to divide the Union and subyerL
the Government, whatever may DO the pre-
tense, is, in fact, n daring and dangerous
crusade against free institutions. 1t should
be opposed by the whole power Of a patriot
ic people, and crushed beyond the prospect
of resurrection and to attain that end,
the Government should be sustained in every
lust and reasonable effort to maintain the
authority and integrity Of. tho nation to
uphold and vindicato the supremacy Of the
Constitution and the majesty Of the laws, by
all lawful means; not grudsingiy sustained,
with one hesitating, shufllins, unwilling step
forward to save appearances, and two wo''eaithy
steps backward to secure sea'onable retreat;
nor will, the shallow craft Of mercenary
politician, calculating chances and balancing
between expcdients. but with the generous