Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1861-08-02
COMPROMISE.

We have not seen the subject Of COM
promise discussed more able than in the
GLOWING ext1act from an Grafton delivered
on the 18th, in the village of North Adams,
Mass
DO hear some one say that compro-
mise will accomplish the end and save the
strife?
We do hear few feeble voices, quaver-
ing above the manly tones of the people,
in favor of surrender. Compromise !
have we not drank deep enough of that
fatal cup of guilt and shame? Are we
mad enough to attempt again to purchase
peace at the sacrifice Of liberty and man
hood? It cannot be. Why, il is by COM
promise we are brought to the present pass
We have Welded and yielded till this pow
or became SO arrogant and brutal as to at
tempt cur life. How plain are the mis-
takes of the past.
Had the Fathers stood firm against the
cla1n0r Of Carolina and Georgia, the virus
Of slavery would never have poisoned the
veins Of the Republic. Then there would
have been no Missouri struggle and COM
promise. Had the men of 1920 stood firm,
they would have conquered and saved us
and the country from the struggles, igno-
milies and disasters that have followed
We should have been saved from Mexican
Wars, Central American forays, atrocious
flHbustering, Lopez expeditions, and slave
trade reviyals We should have been
saved from Texas annexation at the wrong
time, in IS41, and Texas treasons in 1861.
We should have been saved from that IA
tai compromise of 1850, and its hollow,
treacherou8 peace. Had even the men Of
1850 stood firm, and that compromise been
defeated, in all probability we should have
had no renewal Of troubles in the year
1854, ending IN the wicked repeal Of the
Missouri Compromise; no dark Kansas
drama of outrage, persecution and blood ;
no rampant secession and rebellion IN 1861.
1--WE have eaten of the insane root that
takes away" We have been dosed and
druggcd with compromise for fifty years
/ We now see the mistake Can even the
waekest man talk of compromise with
armed treason? Compromise We dc
not compromise with the burglar who
breaks into our house in the night time,
and shall we compromise with these slave
holding burglars, who have broken into
ard fred the magnificent temple of oul
liberties? We do not compromise with
the murderer who attempts cur life, al
though the attempt fails,
IF we would commit the most stupen
dous folly, and waste the most preeiou;
hours Of this century-if We would make
sure the dismemberment of the Union anC
the final overthrow Of popular government
if we would deliver the continent over tc
chronic war and border strife for hundreds
Of years, to end at last in the destruction
Of civilization itself-then let US compro
mise. The word sickens. Compromise
with that Massachusetts, blood still fresi
upon the pavements of Baltimore Com
promise with men whose swords are still
dripping with the blood of Ellsworth, Gre
bic, and Winthrop! Never never !
But fellow citizens, fear not. We are no
thus to be mockad The stream of his
tory is not to be turned back by coward
and men behind their time The purposes
Of God are not tc be baked. This is th
remorseless logic Of events; the irresisti
ble momentum of the Ages. The strug
Gle is between barbarism and civilization
the past and the future-the eleventh cen
tury and the nineteenth. Who can arres
this? All! the years are stronger thai
the hours; the centuries are stronger thai
the years
Not with words, they laugh them to seorn,
And tears they despise
But with swords in your hands and death
In your eyes
Strike home leave to God all the rest
Strike Men of the North and the West