Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1862-05-23
Letter from olYde.

FRIEND KEELER:--There is one leading idea
intimately connected with the war, that is not
generally made as prominent as II ought to be-
That our nation is now undergoing a severe
chastisement for its great sin, few candid reHec-
tive minds will question. No point is more
clearly established by the prophetic scriptures,
than that God Furnishes nations, in their nation
al capieity, for national sins;-and history abun-
dsntly susains the position. Our nation has
sinned deeply and previously against God and
against humanity.
God is the father Of all men, and for reasons
inserutable to us, they differ in color But there
is no sound argument found in reason or in ma
ture, or in the word Of God, that the Almighty
regards one people above another; or that there
is any difference in the dispensation Of his pa
rental care and goodness toward them on ac-
count of this difference of color God cannot
feel indifferent when one people practices cru
city or oppression upon another, but will soon
er or later punish the guilty party. Otherwise
HIS attribute of justice would be oyerthrown.
Our nation has practiced oppression for many
long years. We have enslaved at first negroes,
since then the descendents ofnegroes with large
admxture of the white race. They have been
reduced as far as the action Of Government
could do it, to the condition of beasts, and have
brought about that state of feeling which makes
it lawful to treat them in aay manner that yields
the most money. The voice of conscience and
of justice that used to disturb the institution,
were well nigh hushed TO silence, and this great
nation were united in endeavoring to blot out
of the human family one large branch of God
children. Yes, for thirty years. every act of
this nation has been designed to eradicate from
the whole earth, the idea that the African is a
human being.
Our nation had taken issue with God Almigh-
| ty. God says all nations are created of one
blood to dwell on the face of the whole earth.
| Wesay this is false, that nation at least ars
not human, but beasts; and we have exactec
their labor without pay, they have suffered
without mercy, they have groaned and bled
without pity. Can our Heavenly Father see al
this and not be moved2 Can He who sees the
sparrow when IL falls and hears the raven when
it cries. suffer the tears and blood of millions on
millions Of his children to fall to the ground
unnoticed.
Our nation has long been admonished of its
wrong, and warned of its danger, by the light
of reason naturally in the hearts of men; by the
spirit and tenure of the bible; by the history of
other nations, and by the faithful warnings Of
men--statesmen, scholars, ministers--and hosts
of Others, both North and South, warning the
nation of its dark and bloody sin, and Of the
certain judgments of God that would surely
come upon us unless we repented and put away
the evil from US. Such warnings were unheed-
ed; such persons were despised; some of them
prosecuted even to imprisonment and DEATH
The nation slept on, the judgment has come.
The very sin itself has prepared the way. 1t
has blinded the understanding corrupted the
hearts and brutalized the morals of the people.
people, until it has broke forth in rebellion
against all that is sacred and right in heaven or
earth, and involved this whole nation in fear
and trembling, desolation and carnage The
Southern States that have been the slave drivers
the immediate instruments of the crime will
suffer first, and perhaps the most severe. Their
country desolated, their property DESTROYED,
and their lives taken. Justice, and the peace
and safety of humanity, would seem to require
that every lover of slavery should be removed.
But we of the North suffer too, and probably
our sufferings will increase as the judgment pro-
ceeds. Who can calculate the amount of suf-
fering Of that wife and those children whose
husband and father is gone 10 the warf or of
that father and mother whose sons are gone? of
those brothers and sisters whose brothers are
gomez or of the unexpressibe grief of those
whose lovers are gomez Are there many hours
that that father and mother are not thinking of
the hardshps, of camp life, exposure to sickness,
and danger of wounds and death on the battle
field? How many hearts have been made des-
olate for life, by dear ones fallen. What greater
calamity could come on the youthful wife than
the loss of her husband2 or on the family whose
husband and father has fallen2 or on the father
and mother whose lovely and beloved son is
deadF Would the loss Of property occasion SO
deep and lasting sorrow2
Other notifications of this great Judgment
will soon begin to be felt and probably will be
increased until this whole nation is cut of, or
else humbled so as to acknowledge its sin, and
heartily repent before God and make restitution
as far as possible for it, This repentance must
embrace the acknowledgement of Gods right to
rule every branch of his human family, and the
equal rights by nature of every individual of
this great family. This repentance must restore
the bondman to Observation-Disclosures his
manhood-and as far as possible make restitu-
tion for the long life of toll of which the slave
has been robbed. To reward the oppressor is
to insult God. T. J. CARLTON.