The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-06-26
OLD SERIES, VOL. 13, NO. I6
,5O,in AdvaneC.

| Once en- tombed, when will the Angel of
the Resurrection descend TO the porttls Of its
| sepulchur? There is nota voice which comes
| to us from the cemetery of nations that does
rot answer: Never, neveN" Amid the
| torments of perturbed existence, we may
have glimpses of rest and of freedom, as the
| maniac has glimpses of reason between the
paroxysms of his madness, but we shall
attain TO neither national digaity nor naA.
tional repose. We shall be a MAS of jarring
warning fragmentary Ttates, eafsebled and
denroralized, without power at home, or re
spectabiliy at abroad, and, like the Repub-
lies of Mexico and South America, we shall
drift away on a shoreless and ensanguined
sea Ct civil commoton, from which, if the
Teachings of history are to be trusted, We
shall BE- Inaily rescued by the iron hand OF
some rnilitaro wrecker, Who, will coin Tie
shattered elements of our greatness audSf
our strength into diadem and throne
Said NJ. Fould, the great French statesmrn,
to an American citizen, few weeks since:
''Your Republic is dead, and 1t is probably
the last the world viii ever see. You viii.
have reign Of terrorisnl, and after that two
or three monarches."4 All this may be veri
fed, should this revolution succeed. ,ria
Let us then twine each thread Of the glo-
rious tissue of our country's flag about our
HtdTt-stFlNSS, auu lOOkluE upon our uOne~s
and catching the spirit that breathes upon
US from the battle. fields of our fathers, Jet.
US resolve that, come veal or woe, ne Will I
in life and in death, now and forever, stand
10y the s.ars and stripes. They have hoated
over our cradles, let ii be our prayer AMI
our struggle that they shall foat over oast
graves. They have been unfurled from the
SHOWS Of Canada to the plains of New Or
leans, aud TO the halls of the Montezumas
and amid to the solitudes Il eyery,sea and
everywhere. as the luminous symbol Of re-
sistless and benefcent power, they have led
the brave and the free to victory and to gle
ry. 1t bas been my fortune to look upon this
flag in foreign lands and amid the gloom of
an oriental despotism, and right we'll do
know. by contrast, how bright are its stars
and how sublime are its inspirations! II .ltis
banner, the emblem for US Of sil that is
grand in human history, and of all that is
transporting in human hope, is to be sacri-s
feed on the altars ola Satanic ambition and
thus disappear forever amid The night ard
tempest of revolution, then .uipI feSi--ana
wao shall estimate the desolation 1f shat
feelipg?-that the sun has indeed been srics-
en- from the sky of our lives, and that hence
forth we shall be but wanderers aEd cut
casts, with nought but the bread Of sorrow
and Of penury for our lips, and with hands
ever outstretched in feebleness and supplica-
'tioR, on which I'M any hour, G military ty
rant may riyet the letters ofE despairing
bondage May God in his intIite mercy
save you and me, and the land We 40 mich
love, from the doom of such degrEdaticn.
No contest so momen tous as this has arisen
in human history, for, amid all the conflicts
of men and Of nations the life Of no such
Government as ours has ever been at stake.
n.,r f.,1 I'll la, hsy{ {hr
blood and sacrifices of q seven years war,
and We have maintained it Gs.la-t the as-
sault of the greatest power upon the esrth;.
and the question now is, whether We are TO
perish by our own hands, and have the cpl
taph of suicide written upon our tomb. Tho
ordeal through which We are passing mus
involve immense suffering and losses for US
oil, but the expenditure of not mersly nun.
dreds of millions, but of billions of treasure,
will be well made, il the result shall be the
preservation of our institutions.
Could my voice reach every dwelling in
Kentucky, would implore its inmates--if
they would not have the rivers Of their pros
perity shrink away, as do unfed streams be-
meath the Summer heats--to rouse them
selves from their lethargy, and fy 10 the
rescue of their country before ii is sverlast-
ingly loo late. Man should appeal to man,
electric fires of patriotism shall fash from
heart to heart in one unbroken current
throughout the land. 1t is time in which
the k-shop, the Office, the counting -house,
and the field, may we'll be abandoned for the
solemn duty that is epon US, for all these
tolls will but bring treasure, not for our
selves, but for the spoiler, if this revolution
is not arrested. We are all, with our eXeEy
earthly interest, embarked in midoeean On
the same common deck. The howl Of the
storm is in our ears, and "the lightning
red glare is painting hell on the sky" and
while the noble ship pitches and rolls under
the lashings Of the waves, the cry is heard
that she has sprung leak at many points,
and that the rushing waters are mounting
rapidly in the hold. The man who. in such
an hour, will not work at the pumps, is e.
ther . maniac or monster. .s- 81 .atf' ~
Sincerely yours, ]. HOLT.