Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1863-09-24

world; il added more than three bund,od
thousand men to the rebel army. So tha,
whereas, in the spring Of 1862 our ar.
mics were victorious. in July Of the same
year, our armies were driven back from
the banks Of the Chickahominy in sight
Of the spires Of Richmond IN ore
than that. driven across the plain to Bull
Run. and thence under the Notifications
Of our own Capital.
Certainly If prosperity will not teach a
lesson, will not adyersity ? After the
result Of that fatal policy will lie not
learn wisdom? No, ho will learn no wis.
dom. lie called On us for more men,
and wo gave them; and then, as If to
cap the climax Of folly, came the cele.
brated proclamation of emancipation.
Well. my fellow citizens. Mr. Lincoln
undertook 20 set free the slaves Of all the
planters Of the slayeholding States in
rebellion. Mr.. Lincoln didn't own those
slaves. like to see man liberal with
his own property; but this thing Of be.
ing liberal with the property Of others,
DO not quite understand OF commend.
There were certain preachers went down
from Chicago TO see Mr.. Lincoln, and
tell him the Lord sent them there to is.
sue that proclamation. l don't think
the Lord had anything to do with the
busines. Laughter. Itreminds me Of
an incident of two mad men who had
disturbed the peace in London. One
had been captured and locked up in the
station house, and the other went after
midnight to the house OF the Chief Jus
ticc and said to him, after making a
great noise: My Lord, the Lord God
! Almighty has sent me as an Embassador
to command you to dismiss the psosecu.
ton against my comrade, John Stiles -
The Lord Chief Justice put his head out
of the window and said: a" The Lord
sent you?" "Yes the Lord sent me. :"
he answered. Now / know you lie.
for the Lord knew perfectly well that |
hadn't the power to dismiss the prose
cution; if he he had anything to do with
it, he would have sent you to the Attor.
ney- General" Laughter and cheers |
So l say to the Chicago preachers. Mr.
Lincoln had not the power, and If the
Lord had been concerned in the matter,
he would have sent them to the State
Legislatures.
Mr.. Lincoln thought very much as the
Lord Chief Justice did, and suggested
that the Lord ha not sent them, necessi-
tating the loss Of time, not to mention the
expense of fare and tavern bills. when he
could Just as well have enlightened A be
directly on tue subject. So he said. and
would not issue the proclamation but
finally, under pressure, he did; and what
good did it do? He did not own the
slaves; but by the stroke of his pen he
undertook to set free the slaves of other
men; property bought with their money,
recognized by the Jaws Of their States
and by the Constitution Of the Uniled
States; not his property. but their prop
erty. 1t reminds me of little incident
recorded, l think, in the Bible, of an old
fellow who took our Savior up into
high mountain and showed him all the
Kingdoms of the earth, and said "All
these will | give thee if thou wilt fall
down and worship me-" when the wretch
ed old cuss didn't own foot of land in
the world. Loud laughter Now, what
good did it do Did it help any negro
to his freedom Z? Why, negroes who
wanted to run away did not wait to read
the proclamation at all, and those who
had lot any chance, or who did not want
to run away. paid no attention to his
proclamation. 1t had this effect only, it
exa perated the people of the slavehold
ing States, not only the men, but the wo
men, it threatened them with the horrors
of servie insurrection, the most awful
curse that can be visited on any slave
holding community; and do yon wonder
that there has been from time such a
unanimity of hatred on the part of the
men, women ad children against the
Government No reasonable man can
wonder at such a result from the policy
of this wicked aud corrupt Admins
tration.
WHAT LINCOLN SHOULD HAVE DONE.
AS l said, in the spring OF 1862, if we
had had wise President we might have
taken the first step toward peace upon
honorable terms but we did not. We
had Abraham Lincoln. Now we have
another most excellent opportunity, most
excellent. General Lees army has beer
driven out of Pennsylvania-thanks tc
that copperhead Governor, Horatio Sey
mour. Bragg has been driven out o
Tennessee into the mountains of Georgia
r Vieksburg and Port Hudson have fallen
Now. one would suppose that while tht
Confederates were at the lowest ebb o
of their fortunes, and we in the very pride
of our power and of our strength and
glory. a wise man would make haste and
tender the olive branch, so that while he
would not overlook the guilty, he would
as to the great body Of the Southern peo-
pie, prepare the way for the return of the
people Of the South to the Union. In
stead of that, when Alexander H. Ste
phens, who opposed secession in thC
State of Georgia to the latest moment,
and who spoke and voted against it in
the convention of Georgia, when he ask
ed leave to visit the City of Washington
-blindfolded. if you please-in order to
| induce the adoption of some means by
which the horrors OF this war can be as
suaged. by which this retaliation o
shooting prisoners in cold blood can bC
done away with. Oh. my fellow .citi
zens, it is hard enough to be slain il
battle, but the system of shooting help