The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1861-06-21
Mr.. Hollis Lettor.

we have made free use Of extracts from
Mr.. Hollis recent letter to Mr.. Speed Of Ken
lucky, to answer tho positions taken by thu
Democrat. Tho letter itself would hav'
occupied 7 or s columns OF our paper, AM
its great length alone has prevented its in
sertion entire. Mr.. Holt is n Kentuekiar
we think, and very considerable portion o
the letter is devoted to the work Of shown,
how insane it would DO for Kentucky to sc
cede and what unnumbcrod woes would b
brought to that commonwealth should sh'
Join the rebel states The letter Of MIR
Holt derives additional value from the higl
position which Mr.H. has occupied, and is thu
testimony Of one whose opportunities to-
correct information and whose knowledge o
tho character and purposes of tho disun'on
lists were of the best kind. A member o
Mr.. Buchanan's cabinet, for several year
Postmaster General, and, after the disinissi
Of the traitorous Floyd, Secretary OF War;
is fair to presume that no man in the coun
try is better posted in regard to the acts ant
motives of the rebel leaders. There Is not
point taken by the apologists for secession
either in the rebel states or the FREQ states
which is not fully answered by MIR. Holt
lie declares the Proclamation Of the COVER
nor of Kentucky, iorbiddins the federal
troops to march over tho soil Of Kentucky ~
disloyal "an act Of aggressive hostility
says that " he neither can practice. nor pro-
Tess or feel neutrality" that tho federal
troops have us clear right to pass over the
soil of Kentucky as they have to pass over
the streets OF Washington" that the Pre-i'
dent Lincoln has met the fearful responsible
ty which has fallen upon him with prompti
tude and fcarlessness" and in language which
should wither and blast the men who, while
protesting to be loyal still utter complaints
against the administration declares " that
war, like peace, has its laws and that il ha'
also its privileges and its duties and that
whatever of severity or even of irrcgularity
may have arisen will find its justification In
the pressure of tho terrible necessity under
which the administration has been called ID
act" He also says they have watched
the course of public affairs to little advan
tagc who suppose the election OF Lincoln t.
tho Presidency was the real cause OF thu
revolutionary outbreak that has occurred
and declares that its roots maybe traced bach
for more than quarter Of century, and ar
unholy lust Of power is the soil out Of which
it has sprung" But not to extend our re
marks, and wishing only that the lette'
could be read by all, and especially by mer
who claim to be Democrats, for Mr.. Holt i
democrat, We close by copying tho fol-
lowing eloquent close.
81 Let us then Irvine each thread Of thu
glorious tissue of our country's flag abou
our heart strings, and looking upon oul
homes, and catching the spirit that breathe'
upon us from the battle fields Of our fathers
| let us resolve that, come veal OF woe, we vii
in life and death, now and forever, stand b,
the stars and stripes. They have floated oy
or our cradles, let il be our prayer and oul
struggle that they shall float over our graves
They have been unfurlcd from the SHOWS o
Canada to tho plains of New Orleans, and to
the halls of the Montezumas, and amid the
solitudes of every sea; and everywhere, as
the luminous symbol OF resistless and bcnef'
cent power, they have led the brave and the
free to victory and glory. 1t has been my
fortune to look upon this flag in foreign
lands and amid the gloom Of an oriental dcs'
potisn, and right well do know, by con-
trast, how bright are its stars, and how sub.
lime are its aspirations II this banner, the
emblem for us of all that is grand in human
history and of all that is transporting in
human hope. is to be sacrificed on the affairs
of u Satanic ambition, and thus disappear
forever amid the gloom and tempest of rev.
olution, then will iceland who shall es-
innate the Oscillation of that feeling THAT
the sun has indeed been stricken from the
sky of our lives, and that hencciorth we
shall be but wanderers and outcasts, with
nought but the bread of penury and Of sor-
row for our lips, and with hands ever out
stretched in fecbeness and supplication, on
which, in any hour, q military tyrant shall
riyet the fetters Of dcspairing bondage.
May God in his infinite mercy save you and
mo, and tho land we love 80 much, from the
doom of such degradation.
No contest 80 momcntuous as this has
arisen in human history, for, amid all the
conflicts of men and nations, the life OF no
such government Us ours has ever been ut
stake. Our fathers won our independence
by the blood and sacrifices of seven years
war, and we have maintained It against the
assault Of the greatest power on earth; and
the question now IL, whether we are TO
perish by our own hands, and have the ep-
itaph OF suicide written upon our tomb. The
ordeal through which we are passing must
involve immense suffering and losses for US
all. but the expenditure Of not merely hun
drcds Of millions. but Of billions Of treasure
will be well made, IL the result should be the
preservation of our institutions.
Could my voice reach every dwelling in
Kentucky, I would implorc its inmates-if
they would not have the rivers Of their pros.
perity shrink away. as do unled streams be.
meath the summer heats, to rouse themselves
from their lcthargy. and fly to the rescue Of
their country before it is everlasiingly too
late. Man should appeal to man and, and
neighborhood to neighborhood. until the
electric fires Of patriotism shall flash from
heart to heart in one unbroken current
throughout the land. II is time in which
the workshop, the Office, the counting-house,
and the field, may well be abandoned for the
solemn duty that is upon us, for all these
tolls will but bring treasure, not for our.
selves, but for the spoilcr, IL this revolution
Is not arrested. We are all, with our every
earthly interest, embarked in mid ocean on
the same common dcck. Tho howl of the
storm is in our cars, and Z" the lightnings
red glare is painting hell on the sky" and
II. III. A. ,,ahIa shin Witches and rolls under