Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-05-16

Il am forpeace, but they are for war;
PSALM 1905 Z.
1t has been said by n popular modern writer
that "nations rarely fall before foreign aggress-
or their ruin or their glory is. under God, within
themselves. Nations die suicides they are
seldom or never destroyed by any force without"
Rome Babylon and others furnish examples
For more than two years Babylon defed all the
cunning and strategy of her beseigers and they
were about to abandon her city impregnable
from "ithout, but one fatal night of drunken
revalry did for her what the combined forces of
the enemy had failed to do in siege of more
than two years Examples like these stand out
on the page ofhistory beacons to warn Others of
the fatal rock on which they split. Happy would
it be for us nation, if we could take the
warning without trying for ourselves the fatal
experiment. The general and widespread cx-
citement that pervades the minds of all classes
of society and of all ages throughout our wide
extended country causing the heart Of this great
nation to throb tells us but too plainly that we
are in the midst of troublous times; and, to the
inquiry "what of the night" there comes buck
the answer from thousand tongued voices all over
the land that Il night of darkness is gathering
around us more appalling with gloom than has
ever been witnessed in the past history of this
! fair land. Our country, the land of q Washing.
ton the land which has been blessed with Il noble
God, fearing ancestry the land where freedom
has reared her standards and over which the stars
and stripes have proudly waved for three quarters
of century is now in the convulson of civil war.
The tree of liberty, planted Oh the soil conse-
Grated by the blood of our fathers aud which has
been nourished and watered by kind providence
and under whose ample and widespreadng bouglis
we have been permitted to sit, and to worship
their God and ours, is in danger of being uprooted
and torn into fragments by the storms of civil
dissensions and scattered to the winds of heaven
The government and union of the States, which
we have been accustomed TO revere as the pal
i ladium of our liberty at home, and whose light
aud influence have gone abroad awak'ng asp
rations for freedom among the down trodden mil
| lions of other lands, and, commanding admiration
wherever the star-spanglcd banner has been un
furled is now threatened with distruction ant
overthrow; ''is now seriously menaced by traitor,
in arms, who aave delied its Just authority, raised
the standard of revolt and by hostile acts of war
disturbed the public tranquility, and endangered
the public peace" The cloud which little while
ago, was rising and occupied but point in the
southern horizon has grown larger and more
portentous, betokening storm and already its
pent up fury is bursting fourth, disturbing the
peace and quiet which have so long relgneC
supreme over our extended country. sad indeed
is it when mans foes are those OF his owl
household. Sad indeed is it when nations
enemies are on her own soil and among her owl
peace with all the world, great in all that cal
impart greatness to nation, in the midst o
Astounding wealth and prosperity, and powerful
enough in her united streangth under the smiles
of propitious Providence, to repel the assault;
of any foreign foe that ight raise up against her
yes, powerful enough, under God, to withstand
the assaults of the combined powers OF Europe
sad that such country should become the scene
c of civil dissensions and prey to the horrors o.
intestine wars.
1t would not be pertinent to the present oc
I casion, or important at this junction OF on
national difficulties TO inquire whether or not b
wise and pa rotic counsels the present calamite
could have been ayerted, or avoided III consisthnc
: with the honor and integrity OF tht government
y However much, or however sincerely we ma
deprecate the necessity that is upon us the preseI
is no time for elimination, but for action sine
interests dear to every patriot is at stake.
We have now to deal with stern realities ar
to meet them with the proInpmess and vigor whit
the necessity of the case requires. we have no
to choose between quiet submission to those wi
have assumed the attitude Of rebellion against Il
government, thrown off its lawful authority i
suited its flag, and plundered its property, al
taken upon themselves the responsibility of cor
!, mencing open and hostile acts of war against
or otherwise, to arise and assert the majesty
e the government, vindicate its authority and d.
fend its honor and demonstrate to the world th
we have government whose authority cannot
set at defiance with impunity, whose arm is stro'
enough to protect the innocent and 10 punish q
guilty.
And now let us pause and inquire, what h
& been the policy of the government towards
e disafected subjects since the outburst OF I
present difficulties7 And in making this inqui
we would not be understood as raising q polite