Delaware State journal and statesman., 1863-03-27
AN EXTRACT
FROM
Country Living and Country Thinking
BY GAIL HAMILTON.

u"lh eieu Ine hlr seem TO nave
nad no foundation; yet, because habit
becomes second nature | cannot hear
them without thrill Of dread / could
almost wish the word even blotted from
our language Doubtless there is such a
thing as just and righteous compromise
a REIMBURSEMENT of individual benefits
Tor the general good-a yielding of de-
slres for the sake of peace-a sacrifice of
preludlces, tastes, sentiments, interests.
IN Difference to the weakness of others.
But the compromises with which Ameri-
cans are the most familiar, are such as to
whelm the word in odium We have not
so much compromised as submitted. We
nave deferred to threats, till we have earn
ed the reputation of towards. We have
incurred the contempt even of those for
whose sake we have given up our princi-
pies We have sacrificed every thing TO
peace, and, heaven be praised we have
not got it Besides being towards. we
have been fools We have been deaf TO
the voice of history, which has always
Numbered in our ears, that no nation ever
purchased a satisfactory peace. Rome
bought off her foes with gold. We have
bought off ours with honor. and the re.
suit is one. Every evil spirit so exercised
has returned, bringing with him seven
other spirits more wicked than himself.
But the lesson went unlearned. One after
another of our great men has passed
through the fire to Moloch, and the CRY
is still they come. Compromise is the
rock on which our lives, our fortunes and
our sacred honor have been stranded, and
men dare to speak of it still. We have
seen both its wiekedness and its folly II
has outraged our moral sense, and has
not accomplished any thing; yet there
are men who cling to it. Firmness in the
outset might have prevented the evil, and
certainly could not have made it worse
than it is now. IT. when slavery threat
ened disunion, we had but stood our
ground, this quarrel might never have
arisen or if it arose, it might have been
speedily allayed. Every time we have
STAYED it off by compromise, we have
been giving it ampler
-'' room and verge enough,
The characters of hell to trace"
With every respite, the aecursed thing
las taken breath, enlarged its lair, shar-
oened its claws and waxed fat With
very day, the arena of the contest has
1een wldened, its results multiplied and
is intensity and bitterness increased 1t
nay indeed be, that in the end, this post.
'onement may be seen to have resulted
n good. IL may be that God will over
ule the severity of the struggle to the
Welfare of the combatants. II may be
hat if the question had been sooner and
more easily settled, treason would not
ave been so utterly abolished ,as we trust
now will be. 1t may have been allow
d to attain its present enormity, that
len may awake fully to its character and
Consequences, and trample it under foot
brewer. But, although it is well enough
1r us to console ourselves with this re-
ection, the thing being done is no iusti-
cation to the authors and no guide for
he future. 1t is always right to make
he best Of bad position, but it is never
light to put ourselves in bad position
ecauso we can make the best of it. Judas
etrayed our Saviour to the Cross, and
he world was redeemed, but no thanks to
udas. However much God may over
ule our sins to carry on his own wise
imposes, we are not justified in continu-
lg in our sins. Our business is to make
.raight in the desert highway for our
Iod-to let our eyes look right on, and
ur eye-lids straight before us. If God
nm use evil for good, how much more can
e use good for good
As for compromise, it is not to be so
uch as named among us. Compromise |
ompromise with traitors ! Compromise
it'll men who have incurred the unutter- l
bic guilt of lifting their hand against
leir own mother What fellowship hath
ghteousness with unrighteousness p
What communion hath light with dark
ess What concord hath Christ with
elial 1
1t is said that these vague reports are
INT out as "teeterS" Let them oe feel
IS Let them feel the indignation and a
Dhorence and utter loathihg of an out
lged people, from whom virtue is not |
ct clean gone forever and, W hen they =
ave felt this long enough and strong
lough, let them draw back into their
ems and make report q
There is probably less danger of q
1mpromise now than there viii be after
lie war shall have been finished. The =
dignity offered to our flag reused the Q
and chiyalry of the people, and t
ley are not likely to sheathe the sword
Il the insult is avenged. The measure
their long suffering is the measure of
leir indignation. think they are more
wake to the Importance of crushing this
'hellon than they are to the importance
Graduating its cause. | fear that,
hen the war is over, mistaken magma.
unity towards the vanquis4ed, an eager
ess to show to the South that we are not
leir enemies, the lack of a full and clear
apprehension of the magnitude of the
sues involved, and the bearing thereon
the continuance of slavery, will induce
lem to deal with it leniently, and give it
new lease of life. | fear that slavery
ow, as after the revolutionary war, dread
lg immediate destru elton, will clamor or
he for new or renewed guarantees, and
nat the people, with false generosity,
ill grant them, and so let the occasion
n Fighting themselves pass by. Slavery
I'LL lie bleeding and hel pless at their feet
nd pity for fallen foe will make them
verlook the enormity of his crimes and
he malignity of his nature. But slavery,
4 little or in great, loyal or rebellious,
yrant or suppliant, is always and every