Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1864-01-09

er accompany human agency. and assist the
germs of golden heads TO reach maturity, ant
to cloihe the fields with gorgeous mantle oil
waving grain. rejoicing TO The reaper's eye.
Valleys have been covered with corn. and pas
lures with docks God has "watered the bills
from his chambers" filed our garners, and sat.
isfed us with the fruit Of his works.
IL has also been season of health Over
fruitful fields have been bealthful skies. While
sorr ows Of full cup have been wrung out to
many whose patriot husbands fathers. or sons
have perished 10 battle. our cities have been
saved from the panic arising from the"pestilence
which waikeih in darkness. and the destruction
which wasteth at noonday" No dreaded epi.
denies have to any great extent prevailed. 1t
has heen a year ofheaih and plenty.
The country has also enjoyed season OF an.
wonted prosperity Tn no portion Of the loyal
States can it he said. "Bnsiness is dull" There
has been an unusual demand for all kinds OF
mechanical skill; and labor, in whatever de.
parment receives On ample and ready reward
Every factory and foundry throbs with life.
Pecnniary success attends every branch Of To-.
dnstry, and fortunes are accommodating to MANY.
Large investments Of capital are being made 10
| States which are on the threshold OF freedom.
| the business of railroads increases. population
increases, villages and cities grow. and waves
| OF settlements are rolling over the fertile West.
There is too. and increased amount of sh' p.
building and our sysytem OF commerce wheels
on defiant Of interruption. .
That there should be such thrift and enter.
prise, such encouragement held out to industry,
such life In every department Of business. such
national growth, and such promise of national
greatness strength ard resources for the fu.
ture-is all matter of thanksgiving to God,
who is "exalted as Head above all" Riches
and honors come of Him, 10 whose hand is pow.
er and might, and in whose hand it is to make
great and to give strength unto all.
1t is cause Of thankfulness that the loyal
States have so largely enjoyed the alb.
sence Of The tread of armies. and that the tho
nter of war has been chiefly confined to those
who have plotted the overthrow Of the Repub-
lie. None but eyewitnesses can realize what
! destruction Of property attends an advancing
army Fields are wnsted, fences destroyed
houses demolished eatahles taken, and what
ever else is craved by the hungry man of war;
While God. in His providence is bringing the
enemies of the government TO want, prostra-
ting their interests, depriving them OF their i'll
gotten gain. driving them from plantations
famed, watered. and dressed by sighs, tears,
and sweat thus causing them 10 eat of the
fruit of their own doings. He has blest the
lova in States loyal, with the peaceable pos.
session Of their homes and surroundings and
not subjected them to state of fear and anxi.
ETY. as to their property and lives. In looking
at so striking contrast, we are reminded OF
Gods dealings with the rebellous in ancient
times, when He made difference between the
Egyptians and children Of Israel" Such IA
vors are more than we deserve, when we re.
member how largely we have been implicated
in the sin of oppression. which, It requires so
much blood to wipe out
We are thankful to-day that no foreign pow
er has interfered to make harder the settlement
of onr difficulty We are thankful that 40
many abroad join with us in saying the Right
must and will prevail; the overthrow Of Sla.
very and the triumph Of Freedom must take
place.
| Roth soldiers and citizens Of the loyal and
many Of the seeded States are being educated
to position which. they will he likely to hold
at whatever expense. You may say to the
hurricane "stop;" hut say not to the lettering
system Of slavery 'lve" The decree has gone
forth The mighty One terrible in battle.
with marshalled hosts, is already avenping the
cry Of the needy. The long "vexed question" /"
the "momentous question" the question piled
| for legislation, judge. or statesman to se'.
tle-is being settled by the unerring wisdom OF
| Him. whose is the greatness and the power,
and the glory and the majesty" God has
! done and is doing what the nation in its hest
wisdom has failed to do for itself. And it is
a growing sentiment with the peope--"stand
still and see the salvation Of God" For the
progress of snch faith, and the influence flow
ing from it, for the progress Of trnth cansed
nv the disasters of war, and especially by the
New York riot we have reason to say-"Our
God. we thank thee and praise thy glorious
name" The war has enlightened many minds
which would otherwise have kept themselves
in ignorance in matters Of great consequence to
the good Of the race. Scarcely none in onr
brave army are contending for the "Union as It
WAS" The great central idea now is--"Iet
Liberty be, throughout all the land to all the
inhabitants thereof" Let every inch OF Amer
lean soil become free, and be cultivated by free
labor. All must he slaves unless all become
free. Slavery sectional. is an idea almost Oh.
solete. The contest is, between ndtional sla-
very and national freedom. We are thronged
with evidence showing how the contest promi-
ses to end. AS our army advances and victo-
ries multiply the captive fees from his broken
shackles Every slave that reaches our lines,
renders our liberties more secure, and the T.
900 whom we are educating. the $4,000 more
called into service are so many living pledges
of our own personal freedom, and Of the ulti-