Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1864-10-22

and far-seeing speculation; IL h" ers owe
the plough of the farmer, aver tile anvil 0
the mechanic, over the desk OF the merchant
! it is the very milk with which the American
mother nourishes her baby. This faith ha:
put our armies into the field and sci our navy
afloat: as in France, every soldier is said &c
carry the marshals baton in his knspsack, SC
in America the smallest cabin-lad of the feet
the meanest drummer-boy in the field, carries
in his soul the great ideal of his eouutry's des
tiny. (Great cheering.) This faith knows ne
failure, and if it be staggered a moment by
the blow Of unexpected misfortune, it bounds
I'D again the next moment with a wonderful
recuperative power No, this faith knows no
failure for it, TO sacrifice is too great, be-
fore its onset impossibility yields its stub
bornness. The rebellion itself could not
shake it no, by the rebellion it has gained
in intensity. The rebellion has suddenly lift
ed this nation from her childhood. Having
gone through struggles, the tremendous shocks
of which not many States would have been
able to endure, this nation now stands there
with the inspiring consciousness OF mature
strength. She did not know before how strong
she was, but now she knows; and whatever
trials may be in store for her, fear and weak
ness will have no seat at her council-board.
And with proud confidence she looks forward
to the day when the united power of North
and South will rally again under the common
banner of liberty, and when it will be ques-
ton of first interest to foreign powers, how
far, during this war, they have provoked the
resentment of the American people. Tire
mendous cheering) Meanwhile, guided by
her great faith as by column of fire by night
and a pillar of cloud by day, the nation
marches forth to DO or die for the grand re-
nuhlican amniFp of the future
And this great republican empire of the
future is no idle dream, no mere empty hallu-
cination of heated brain. The stupendOus
prospect is opened by patent fact and the
demonstrations of reason. This republic can
not but be great, if it is one but there can
be nothing but strife, weakness and decay, if
it be divided. The questions of peace, en-
pire, national existence, liberty, prosperity,
civilization-all these questions are one and
inseparable. In the very nature of things,
this republic must be great or it must die.
There is no alternative. The great republi-
can empire is there, it is within your grasp,
if you only remain true to the idea
CLOSING APPEAL.
And now hear me, Americans of to-day,
and mark my words: In the peace which you
are now struggling for, you will lay the foun-
dation of this future greatness, or youwill lay
it in the seeds of decay, disease and death.
Whatever you may have achieved, you have
done nothing if you will not do more. Great
applause) This is the turning point of your
development; this is the moment Of the final
decision; this is the great opportunity. Take
care how YOU use it. 1t will never, never
come back. Woe to the statesman who now
conceives a plan or cherishes sympathy that
is not in accordance with this great develop
ment. Woe to the party that now tries to
lure the people from the glorious path. Woe
to the people if at this solemn moment they
mistake their duty to themselves and to fu-
ture generations. 1t is with her life that the
nation would have to pay for the fatal error.
loud applause.)
Not to the rebels will | appeal The slave
lords, fighting for institutions which are con-
demned by the unanimous voice of enlighten-
ed humanity, have set their hearts upon re-
viving what is dead, and the voice of reason
and argument cannot pierce their fatal in
fatuation and their retinue follows them like
a flock of sheep. Let them fulfil the destiny
they have made for themselves. Let the
dead bury their dead. (Applause)
Nor will | appeal to those degenerate sons
of the North who have openly allied them
selves with the enemies of their country;
who rejoice over her disasters and grieve
over her victories. They present one of
those axamnlaG of human danrauitu which
must be seen in order to be believed. That
a son should mock benignant mother, when
she is weeping tears Of agony and distress,
that her smile of pride and happiness should
make him sad, can hardly be explained
upon any psychological theory. 1t shows a
depth Of moral perversity so deep and dark
that the ordinary understanding cannot sound
A1aA tho IF
agination stands baffled. When l see such a
man, feel myself overcome by feeling of
profound pity; pity for soul that has closed
itself against those great and generous emo
tions which would unite it in JOY and grief
with so many thousand of kindred souls, pity
for the sullen miseries of a barren heart. But
to reason with them would be in vain, for we
cannot follow them into the sombre and
tangled mazes of their motives. We must
leave them to the infamy they have chosen
for themselves. loud applause.)
But to you, whose hearts are still open to
the entreaties of your hopefully struggling
country, but whose eyes are clouded by party
spirit, or by the false pride of preconceived
opinions, or by little resentments, to you l
address this last appeal. There is the great
destiny of your Republic; the warmest en-
of your hearts for it cannot be too
fiery, your deepest prayers for it cannot be
too pressing. You see it before you. The
means by which it can be achieved | have
pointed out to you 10, not that, have only
reminded you of them, for your own common
sense, your own experience, the unanimous
opinion of this century, your own consciences,
point them out. These means are powerful,
but plain, direct and simple and in their
grand directness and simplicity worthy of the
tremendous object to be achieved. And now
you come with your puny tricks and shifts of
compromise? Now can you find any comfort
for your souls in the pusillanimous, danger
Gus, perniciOus expedient of the weak and
shaky, to do things by halves? Now you can
parade petty grievances before the world and
raise the silly cry of despotism, a cry so silly
that those who raise it cannot meet each
other in the street without smiling? Now,
in the face of this tremendous stake, you re-
sort to your little cunning contrivances to
confuse the minds of the people, merely to
gain an advantage for a party? Now you
cannot set your heel upon the contemplate
rankings of personal disappointment, or the
groveling animosity of minor differences of
opinion? Now insist upon being small when
the country expects every one of her sons to
rise to the height of her own destiny? Now,
when the fate of the Republic stands upon
the brink of the most fearful decision, de-
cision which will be irrevocable for ever?-
Party Have you not learned yet that in
times of great crisis there can be only a
for and against and that all which is half this
and half that must be ground to dust as be-
tween two millstones? loud applause. y
Have you not learned that lesson in the con-
test of 1850? Then you win learn it now,
when your organization is crumbling to pieces