Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-07-28

" v hhNb Jhhb ntdiu VIZ htSidi dNiDU W
colonial Independence. Men and women
meet to listen TO it in the same spirit with
which married lovers prefer the retrospect
of their earliest pledges in the beloved try
sting place to rc-rcading the later dcclara-
tion OF their matUred affection, after a trial
Of each Others f0ibles may have tested
their depth Of preference Although more
I precious from carly associations. vet that
death is not so practically valuable a. is
! our Constitution Statesmen have often
wished that this later instrument could have
/ been read also upon each national annver-
sary during the past eighty-six years. That
| declaration was the earliest pledge to the
after bond Of States That Constitution
was the agreement of maturcr wears. when
/ there had been struck the average of mutu-
al forbearauces. AS the law and the
! prophets are to the gospel, the declaration
is to the Constitution.
Also for the madress of the administra-
ton hour can find no opiate nor palliation
/ for rebellion except by overthrowing the
certain bond and relying upon the emotion
al pledge Do not the ncwlight statesmen
who interpolate the word free" before
equal to this pledge, know that if they
call for liberal construction of it-whilst
there may be no plea for seccession-oro
I NNl'N' lOi iiShb VI dIDlCu ICNblullOD .
Events may never extenninate the South
ern action, and yet the law of the proph-
cts may markedly Justify it, The right of man
/ to his forcible entry and detainer, however.
/ colorably wrong il was at first. cannot be
gainsayed after he has won by his pcrseyer-
ancc or tact a favorable verdict
Let no man charge me with implying un-
due comparisons. The rebels Of '7G have
the unqualified verdict Of history in favor
! of their wrong. Those Of 'Gl have no his
torian bold enough to chronicle their wrongs
OF that date except by authorization. But
we have rhetoric in Is47, of President Lin
coin to Justify the claim of the later rebel.
to be named revolutionists. Long after the
acknowledgment of independence, the 10y.
alists Of Great Britain called the colonia
struggle "a rebellion Their historians, il
this era, wrote it under the name Of revo
I, ton But | intend no analogy between the
ragged, suffering and heroic continentals
and the ragged, suffering and destitute
coniederates. The right and wrong Of rev
olutions are settled by international law
through the success or failure. The rebel
of 70 were clearly patriots, because thei
cause was coniessedly just That those o
6l can be patriots, depends upon the ques
ton whether fidelity in redressing inaginal,
but sincerely believed-in-wrongs, deserve
the same title which history gives to per
siStency, in vindicatinga a people against thei
actual ills.
1t is, however, clear that patriots haC
little to do with the attitude of Great Brit
ain toward her colonies. Her motives {,
coercion were founded in self-interest. -
when the exhaustion Of war alarmed the lat
ter quality she declared for peace W,
know by the myriad graves within the Gem
eteres of Gettysburg and Chattanooga
and over Il thousand miles of blood-staine,
/ soil--from the Potomac to tho Suhns-
that tho motives Of our Northern soldier
! have been mainly patriotic But we al
= not 80 clear as te the motives of the chic
!, in power. If we slaughter one anothe
slowly because we worship the supremac
of the old fag-that is one proposition.
we applaud wars havoc because our sell
interest as a section cannot permit anothc
! nation, at least presumptively hostile, t
become our competing neighbor-that is
diverse proposition. Between patriotism
that is heated to rashness and selfinter
est which is frigid to maximum of pru
dence it is often difficult for a nation Il
! choose its course of stateSmanship. Fo
my part | am content to render unto war
only the things which are wars necessities
and to render unto peace all things else, ant
especially honorable expediencies. If pa
triotism and war can bring peace, who vii
forbid the bans? If scf.interest and NJ
war can give birth to peace, and create
dover OF prosperity to the greatest number
then who would not welcome that marriage
Cheers
President Lincoln said in his inaugural
suppose you 90 to war, you cannot tigh
always! And when after much loss on boil
sides, and no gain on either, you ceas
fighting, the identical old questions as t
terms of intercourse are again upon you
The poet Bryant has sung of tim
when
: "Men shall wear softer hearts,
And shudder AT the butchers of war;,
As now at other murders"
Charles Sumner said in Faneuil Ha
a about eight years ago, There can be n
= war which is honorable; there can be n
peace which is dishonorable. The inaugu
f raj may not bind the President; the poe
may not bind the editorial politician; til
peace apostle may not bind the leader of
party; yet the truths they may utter ar
E eternal and apart from the inconsistent o
ephemeral deeds of the uttercrs.
There can, however, exist the wides
dissimilarity between the rebels of '7G anC
thoHC VI VI anu ytt tucTc ulul NC tI
completest condolences between the loyal
lists of these respective eras Great Britain
coorcing her colonial subjects to throw
down their arms. She was so doing wrong
fully and oppressively. The federal gov
ernment is coercing citizen opponents (wh,
by the technical terms of law even Rich
mond lawyer must confess until successful
are traitors and robels) to throw down thei
arms That it was doing so rightluly un
+ der all the laws Of government even tn,
n lawyers of Westminster Hall agree. Tha
: the rebels of 1861 seek to initiate the eau
ton and endurance, or claim to have tn
> patriot mothers Of those of 1916, furnishe
, no reason why the home government Of q
should initiate the follies and imbecilitie
, of the home government Of l77G Ap
plause. That's true. Those faults il
administration contributed as largely to in
' dependence us did the virtues Of the colo
= NAL rulers and soldiers.
! But were there such faults and imbecili
ties? And if so are they initiated? VIII,
= will deny the first question? Then if w
E find any parallels in 1864, to those Of l776
= clearly to such an extent, the second qucs
y, ton must also be ailirmatively answered.
y Let George TIL have this laurel amid th
). weeping willows which historians have wo
: ven around his head, that while the Kin!
. exceeded the President in his obstinacie
- and naper fulminatiOns against the rebels