Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1862-08-14

the future peace. They said it would not
come to much these people down South
would not fight at all And when at
length your President called for an army
of seventy five thousand men, you were
told that they would make rapid work
of the rebellion. Ii was to be annihila.
ted at single blow. SO said these men.
Well. how does the m after stand now .
We have already mustered in six hun
dred and ninety three thousand. and still
there is room for more. Laughter. |
All, my friends, these men were never
more mistaken in their lives than when
they assumed to place such a slight val
ue upon the strength of the rebellion and
the courage of the people of the South.
1t is no particular credit to any American
to say that he will fight; that is one qual =
ity that is common to the whole Ameri-
can race. They have always displayed
that characteristic wherever they have
been. These men, therefore, when they
told you that Southern people would not
fight, either did not understand the sub
ject, or they wil'ully misled you.
Well, what next? They come now,
after they have found out that the South
ern soldiers will fight, they come to you
again and cry, 1--WE have been mistaken
this time, but we have it now--just arm
the negroes, and the work will be finish
ed in short order" Fellow citizen as
often as | hear man talk in that way, ]
come to the conclusion that he wants to
find some excuse for changing the issue
SO as to get some one else to do the fight
ing. He don't want to volunteer
Laughter. No man Of common intel
ligence can be induced to believe that
the negro, naturally an inferior race, and
dehased by ignorence as he is, can ever
compete with the white man upon the
battle field, any more than he can
anywhere else. Set them against each
other, tn &c to one, and the white man
will be all the tine the victor.
In Mexico where our soldiers fought a
mixed race, they were victorious on evey
battle field, although outnumbercd in the
ratio five to one. Now, if the African
is afraid of anything on this earth it is
gunpowder. In what estimate can you
hold that man who tells you that the lib
erty, independence and constitutional
government of the country depend upon
a few miserable, ignorant, cowardly ne.
groes !? We have population of TWEEN
ty million Of white people, and immense
wealth properly directed, we are capa,
bic of beating any army the world eve
saw or ever will see, and he who has thu
effrontery to say that we cannot main
tain our government without the help o
negroes uttcrs libel upon the American
nation.
1t is false that slavery is the cause o
the present unfortunate condition o
things. The cause does not lie there j
lies in another place. The mischevou!
legislation of the abolitionists in Con
gress is the cause and the only cause.
speak precisely what think. Now, one
thing:
When we met one year ago in Con.
gress, both branches pledged themselves
that the war should be prosecuted for the
preservation of the Union and the Con.
stiution, and for that alone. All of these
abolitionists eithervoted for the resolu
ton which was adopted embodying that
sentiment, or ran out of the House to
avoid voting at all. Well, the resolution
was adopted. The President issued his
call for volunteers, and six hundred and
ninety three thousand rushed to arms, up
on the faith of the solemn pledge which
Congress had given the people. Tim'
rolled on, and success seemed to smile up
on our efforts. Our Western armies bat
won great and glorious victories. Th
Southern people were still divided. Jus
at this juncture Congress meets. Th
dominant party goes Immediately to worI
to undo all the wise legislation of tn
called session. Every proposition tha
is brought forward is for the negro.
soon became apparent the majority il
Congress was no longer bound by tn
Constitution Instead of coming for
ward with measures of peace and concil
iation, they come with coniscation, fir
and sword, and by these measures that a
once fired and united the Southern people
Thus far we conservative men had gon
hand in hand with these hypocrites, j
good faith but here we left them. w
parted with them in grea' sorrow an
pain. Then it was that | became salts
fed that the majority controlling Con
gress meditated the destruction of tn
governm ent-that they preferred a divi
ded government, with the chance of pow
er and plunder.
History is full of examples that 60
show that governments are never destroy
cd by means of either rebellion or foreig
foes without some fault upon the part {
their own rulers You may turn to tn
Scriptures and you will find numeror
instances in point. The children of Ii
rael were not, nor could they have beer
divided by the wickedness of Jeroboam
the son of Neoat, who rebelled again
the government but it required the ma
folly of Rehoboam their rightful sove
eign, to divide them.
, When the wise men who had been f
many years the faithful! advisers of h
/ father came to Rehoboam and endeavo
| ed to persuade him respect the rights I
} all his subjects and administer the gov
ernment without partiality to any, h
answer was "My father lashed you vii
whips, but will lash you with scorp
: ons, and my little finger shall be thickt
Q than my fathers thigh" From tn
I. day forward Israel was divided KIM
4 dom, shorn of its glory and of its pow