The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-07-31

scream for blood, the sword of civil war
And this is the Pandemonium which SOM
would have transferred to Kentucky.
4 But L am not here to discuss this PROPOSE
tion tonight. wish solemnly to declar,
before you and the world, that am for th
Union without conditions one and indivis
ible now and forever. / am for its prescr
walton at any and every cost of blood ant
treasure against all its assailants. know
no neutrality between my country and it
foes, whether they be foreign or domestic
no neutrality between that glorious flal
which now floats over us, and the ingrates
and traitors who would trample it in tn,
dust. My prayer is for victory, complete
enduring and overwhelming, to the armie.
of the republic over all its enemies. l an
against any and every compromise that may
be proposed to be made under the guns o.
the rebels, while at the same time, am de-
cidedly in favor of affording every reason.
able guarantee for the safety Of Southern in
stitutions, which the honest convictions Of
the people-not the conspirators- the
South may demand, ,ohsneoer they shall lay
do,on their arms, but not till then.
The arbitrament of the sword has been
defantly thrust into the face Of the Govern.
ment and country, and there is no homo, able
escape from it. All guarantees and all at.
tempts at adj ustment by amendments to the
Constitution are scornfully rejected, and the
leaders Of the rebellion openly proclaim that
they are fighting for their independence.
IN this contemptuous rejection of guaran.
tees, and in this avowal Of the objects of the
rebellion now so audaciously made, we have
a complete exposure Of that fraud which
through the slavery agitation has been prac-
tced upon the public credulity for the last
fifteen or twenty years. In the light ofthis
revelation, we feel as one awkened from the
suffocating tortures ofa nightmare, and re.
allze what q baseless dream our apprehen-
sions have been, and of what traitorous
swindle we have been made the Victims
They are fighting for their independence =
Independence of what? independence OF
those laws which they themselves have aid
ed in cnacting; independence of that Con.
stltution which they framed and to which
they are parties, and subject by inheritance;
independence Of that benefcent Government
on whose treasury and honors they have
grown strong and illustrious. When man
commits robbery on the highway, or a
murder in the dark, he thereby declares his
independence of the laws under which he
lives, and Of the society of which he is a
member. Should be, when arraigned, avow
and justify the offense, he thereby
becomes the advocate Of the independence
he has thus declared; and, if he resists by
force Of arms the officer, when dragging
him to the prison, the pententiary, or the
gallows, he is thereby fighting for the inde-
pendence be has thus declared and advoca.
ted !; and such is the condition of the conspi-
rators ofthe South at this moment. tits no
longer question of Southern institutions,
which we know perfectly well have never
been violated, nor Of security of Southern
institutions, which we know perfectly well
have never been interfered with by the Gen.
eral Government, but it is purely with US a
question of national existence In meeting
this terrible issue which rebellion has made
nm vv,;t1, f1,o laval ~, of <bo oo,,ntrx rro
stand upon ground infinitely above all par.
ty lines and party platforms--ground as
sublime as that on which our fathers stood
when they fought the battles of the Revolu-
ton. l am for throwing into this contest
thus forced upon lis all the material and
moral resources and energies of the nation
in order that the struggle may be brief and
as little sanguinary as possible. 1t is hoped
that we shall soon see in the field half a
million of patriotic volunteers, marching in
columns which will be perfectly irresistible
and, borne in their hands--for no purpose o.
conquest or subjugation. but of protection
only-we may expect withitinine months to
see the stars and stripes flot' gin every South
ern breeze, and hear going up. wild as the
storm, the exultant shout of that emancipa.
ted people over their .deliverance from.the
revolutionary terror and despotism, BY
which they are now tormentd and oppress
ed. The war conducted on such scale
will not cost exceeding four or five hundred
million dollars and none need be startled
at the yastness Of this expenditure. The
debt thus created will press but slightly
upon us; it viii be paid and gladly paid by
posterity who will make the best bargain
which has been mad since the world begar
if they can secure to themselves, in its integ
rity and blessings, such government q.
this, at such cost. But Il in this
anticipation we are doomed to disap
pointment; il the people Of the United
States have already become so degenerate
may not say so craven-in the presenc
of their foes as to surrender mp this Re.
public to be dismembered and subvertcd BY
the traitors who have reared the STANDARD
of revolt againstit, then trust the volum
of American history will be closed and seal
cd up forever, and that those who shall sur
vive this national humiliation will take un
to themselves some othWsnaue--so some nam
having no relation to our great ancestors. n
relation to those monuments and battle. field
which commemorate like their heroisn, thei
loyalty, and their glory