American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1864-10-12

brethren, Dut now when they see the
bare-naked beast of slavery down the ak
of death uplifted they rush out, "peace," !"
immediate cessation of hostilities" q it
is my beast, and never should have been
interfered with if it did kill the BOYS.
they were to blame, it shall not be hurt.
it was raised in the family and is entitled
to protection" The moral is which will
you do, tIke the part of the cruel mother
and help the beast or will you help bleed
ing suffering humanity. Do you wish
another family circle formed including the
beast which has murdered your brethren,
or will you vote for Union and liberty"
The irrepresslble conflict is upon YOU you
are called upon to bear your share in the
great work in preserving this Union from
destruction by the bare naked beast Of
slavery; of preserv NJ it a home for Liber-
ty of speech liberty of the press, home
for Bibles, for Christianity aad the op-
pressed of every land. If it were possi-
BILE for you to shrink from so noble duty
| ask, would you be base enough to do itY
Would you run off from your comrades
in battle and cry peace peace 'cessa-
tion of hostiities' bring back your ar
mes " eyacuate your positions" and yet
those men who thus seek to pave the way
for the overthrow of this nation. pretend
to be Union men. They remind me OF
Gen. Miles in September 1862, he was
left to defend llarper' Ferry, he destroy
et his large guns on Maryland Heights,
and evacuated that position a thousand
feet above the ferry and so steep YOU
might throw hand grenades all the way
down, with his eight thousGn meu, he
could have held the ferry against Jupiter,
but just as the Copperheads now propose,
he lett the heights came down into the
valley Of humiliation. jackson occupied
the heights aud Miles cried peace.
Miles died by the ferry, aud .you may die
by this Union bus You can never hold it,
II you evacuate the position that com
mands it. Gen Mcclellan may tell us to
evacuate the heights, as perhaps he told
Miles, but we as citizens have more orivi-
lege than as sOldlers-nDt private sold
Ter but knew it was the loss of the t.,7y
to give up the heigbfs, but soldiers have
to obey orders, but to-day we say, Mr.. Ne
Clellan we tried your plan once, now we
intend to stand Gy the Presideat-hold
the hc,yht;-hold the Union, and you may
g tolIen on NJ. This is the soldier. or ,
will you say to these men who have toiled
for three years and borne their tattered
flags over hundred battle fields from
Williamsburg to the heights of Peters
burg, that they shall eyacuatc and com
promise the honor and cxistancc of the
nation Tor a peace Of an hour 2Hcy are
the men who know the value Of what
they have gained. They are the men who
have suffered, they are the men Who have
felt the hand Of oppression (tor to be Il
soldier Is to be a slave, no iIabeas Corpus
thcrc) They are the men who have
mm'ched while you have slept, tou2ht
while you have dreomed Of treason.
These are the men to raise the cry of
peace and compromise, yes when those
who have to bear the turmoils Of a sold
iers' labors, all the humiliation of mill
tary discipline and all the perils of battle,
cry compromise, then say compromise,
yes, then let the nation compromlse-but
us traitors cry, compromise not Sohliers.
Not one soldier to-day will vote for it. all
the compromise the soldier asks, is that
when he has served his time out, that
you will come out and relieve him and if
you will not come, he prays that you may
be diatted, an there are those among US
who yet hope may learn the value Of
the liberties they enjoy by being compell-
cd to share in their defence Yet | must
say | feel proud Of my native township,
il every part of our country was as well
represented, we would have an army of
three millions in the field, this is the way
zee cry peace and the only way it will ev-
er be obtained, after sending our quota of
three million army we are able to pro-
tect ourselves and our ballot box. true we
have some men among us who ought to
wear grey clothes, but we say to them as
did Abraham Lincoln ''you can have no
war with US unless You are yourselves the
aggressors." How hard it is for us too
meet these men and treat them as neigh
bols and friends wi en- we know they en-
courage (by their votes,) the enemy to
shoot and murler our brothers in the
fed, but we must recoilect that they have
LrJthers there too, and they certainly
would not be 20 cruel they are only mis-
guided by a blind prejudice, they know
not what they do, let your prayer be
Father forgive them" | can count
around me scores who once acted with
them and thought as they thought and
the desertions daily from the Coppelhead
party, are nearly q.al The desertions
nom The rebel army and more encoura-
gins to the friends of this Union Let
us learn ito labor and to wait" prac-
tically appeal to the young men o. our
country, TO be faithful, [ am not unmind-
iui how they have responded to my call,
fought aud bled for their country. while
their fathers remained worshpers OF early
pieJudlees, these old men one by one viii
die and be forgotten, l hope forever. for
| never would wish their children to be
taunied as were the decendants of the
tor es of the revolution. hat man over
there wonld think very hard if | would
ell'hm he shot his own SON, do not be.
lieve he would do such thing, and vet |
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