Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-07-14
SPLENDID LETTER,
FROM HON. JAMES W. HALL, OF NEW
JERSEY.
BuRL1NaroN. n. j., june so.

SPbPNi' >'..~ N'A
ers, Sachems
cd your kind invitation to attend the celc-
bration by the venerable Tammany Society
of the anniversary of our National lndepen-
dence. Owing to prc-cxisting engage
ment it viii not be in my power to accept.
Recognizing the sincerity of your patr-
otic efforts and desires, must confess that
| am not animated by the same hope, that
appears to glow in the bosoms of the sa-
chems Of old Tammany upon the subject of
a restored Union.
l fully appreciate the spirit that induced
the patriot jackson to utter the famous
watchword, The Union must and shall be
preserved you have placed so pre-emi-
ncntly at the head of your card of invita-
ton but it is clear to the most ordinary
comprehension that he meant only in the
constitutional way, and not through the CO.
ercive military agencies of the Government.
He distinctly declares in his Farewell Ad-
dress ''lf such a struggle is once begun,
and the citizens Of one section Of the coun-
try arrayod against those ofanother, let the
battle go as it may, there will be an end Of
the Union"
lie believed with Washington, and so as.
serted that the foundations OF the Union
must be laid in the affections fthc people"
and therefore could never have acquired the
illogical idea, that the strength of the super.
structure could be increased, or its perma-
ncncy secured by means tending directly to
undermine these foundations.
! Rely upon it, the only hope now, ifindeed
! there is any hope left, Is in immediate ces-
sation Of this hellish slaughter, and Il spec
| dy peace, and even them the restoration of
the old Union will have to be the work of
the healing hand Of time, that must oblite-
] rate the fierce and savage memories that this
| lraternal strife will have evoked The man
who looks for the old Union to arise beauti-
! fled and glorilied from the yet warm ashes
Of desolated Southern homes, from the blood
| of kindred, shed in civil strife, from the
fierce hate that the dying shall breathe forth
as legacy to those who survive them.
most surely imagines a vain thing. One OF
/ the gravcst deusions in an age abouudina
with them, is that which urges the citizen
''to sacrifice the last dollar and the las,
man in blind idolatry for what is called
the Union.
| have as strong a love for the old Union
as high an appreciation of its benefits, its
glorious origin, and its illustrous mcmorie.
rs any man; nay, more than this, [ was la
boring to preserve it, when these moderr
patriots, who are now 50 much in love witt
; it, were willing "to let it slide, aye, de
nouncing it, as "a league with hell and GOV
enant with death. / am not, however
fanatical enough to permit mere scnti
: ment to blind me TO facts, and deadcn my
, sensibilties to the existence of higher ant
more momenous issues. L will always pu
, Liberty before Union. The preservation o
+ the absolute rights Of the citizens, and tn.
loo. 90 In t,f,, e.. 4
more importance to me than mere breadtl
of territory, if that territory must be occu
pied by white slaves; more Importance than
I Federal power, if that power Is to be welded
by IA usurper and Il tyrant.
Liberty we must and will have its pos
session is essential to the life of every free
born American; the Union is not necessary
unless associated with the first OF what
value is Union to the citizen who finds al
his guaranteed rights in the amendments
to the Constitution entirely gone? Hi
right to free thought, free speech, and ;
free press gone, or swallowed up in tn,
maelstrom OF II grand, consolidated mlital,
dcspotlsm? a Union is very good thin!
to have and to hold; but if in order to Sc
cure that Union must be content to Sc
Y ,hc Constitution ovcrthrown, the reserve,
rights Of the States and the people annhi
! lated, the war power one Of the attribute
| of the Executive aud myself gazing mt
) through the barred and botcd windows o
Lincon's bastilcs; then | would trade off
thousand such Unions for one little Sa
Marino among barren rocks, where tn
} rights secured by Magma Charta were re
spected and where oppression ond usurpa
tions are unknown.
But suppose the Union could be restored
how long, surrounded by the memorials o
the past struggle here at the North woul,
it endure? Certainly every thoughtful MAJ
must admit that the statcsmanshp whicl
suggested iuscribing on the regmcntal col
Ors, symbols commemorative Of THEN hav
ing been borne triumphant in our blood,
traternal conflicts; or of erecting monu
ments as memorials of our bloody struggles
could never have contemplated perma
nently restored Union. The memories o
these lraternal conflicts must be buried il
oblivion before permanently restored
Union can be secured The heather ruler
and statesmen understood this principle il
human nature, apparently much bette
than the protGssedly enlightened Christian
Of this noon of the nineteenth century.
twas Tiberus who, when the Roman Sen
ate proposed erecting an alter Of vcngeanc,
to commemorate the death Of Pso, replied
" that public monuments should common
crate foreign conqueSts, not domestic Gala
ties, " Caesar, on his return from his AT
rcan campaigns, after his great victory II
Thapsus, upon celebrating his -Four Tri
umphs, wisely and carefully avoided allallu
sions, by banners or otherwise, to what, per
haps, were the most brilliant Of his achieve
mcnts--hil victories over his own country
men. In Spain and TheSsly, he had route
the disciplined legiouS of the Romans: "bu
their defeat, he most truly said "brough
no accession Of honor to the Republic Tn
glory it reflected on the victors was bu
dubious and barren. This Christian M
ton should have learned wisd dom from tn
example of heather rulers and statesmen.
Ii the settlement of this question reduce
itself to separation or Southern subjugator
+ then | am for separation n thousand times
, because the demoralizing influence an
usurped powers that must be evoked to ex,
' cute such hendish Judgment, would cStal
lish at the North u despotic power, wor,
A than Geneghis Khan or Tameranc COZ
: uollcd. Such results as suhiugation and al
initiation have been accomplished, whej
the will of the despot was the supreme Law
in such devastating wars as the Timours ar
AttilnS of the world have been waged, whc
the grass never grows where the hoots
: their charges pressed, and the smoke of Il
+ country went up behind them like Il
l smoke ola furnace never, surely, by
~ ~ Republic, whose chief cornerstone is I'll