, 1864-05-19
THE GREAT DUTY OF THE HOUR.

TIE GREAT DUTY OF THE HOUR.
The turning days, hours, moments Of the
war have como. The past three JeArs have
been but the preparation for these, the pivot
hours of this age, npon which the material
prosperity, civilization, rcpubllcauis1, and
liberty Of the American coutinent, for COM
ing gencratIns, ali turn and depend.
Our, national Waterloo il being fought
Shall it be triumphant victory, confirming
the integrity Of this nation, vlndIcating mats
capacity for selfgovernment,a and assuring to
us sound and lastlng peace! Or shall it bc
IN iuglorions defeat, destroying our consti-
tution ut n blow, leaving us mass Of sey-
cred petty soverelgntics. contemptible by
their weakness, and 1t war with each other
by necessitJs This, the most momentous Is
sue Of this age is now to be decided in battle
between Grant and lcc-in Virginia
For Lee, the insane hate Of the rebels, and
the desperate dcepotism OF leaders whose
uecks are Threatened with the halter, have
done everything within human power-eve
they could not Do. In the enforcement of
their conscriptions their blood-hounds have
swept the South of males OF evsry age,
whether rebel or Unionist a rebellion
which at the start could not secure tha
votes Of q majority in but single State, has
gradually swept the whole population within
its grasp, into the r1nks. Lees army con-
tains them. They have been whipped. Day
after. dsy. for ten days, our brave volunteers
have battlsd with The trained, roxghened, Oft
an victorious Veterans OF the rebel az-
my, and under the leadership Of Grant,
who has thus ehone forth N the
greatest OF American Generals, our brave
boys IN blue have been steadily victorious.
Our losses in men have been hsav7 and must
be great If we arc victorious, but Ear greater
II we are defeated. Woe is ours If We leave
the army Of Gtlnt to be beaten back for VIZ. |
Of freinforcements. But why should Grant
be compelled to fight with nearly even nun.
bcrs when the North could double bis army
II it would. A few days more and the op,
portunlty will have passed. How would II
cheer and cervc the battle Scared, immortal
army Of the Potomac, to lock back and be.
hold the PEOPLE coming en- s.asse to its aid
Ohio has eent her $1,000. 1ndian1
and Illinois are stripping themselves for thii
last great dght- Why may not ths militia o.
the Eastern States also be called ont. Lei
New England, New York, Ne~ Jersey and
Pennsylvania shoulder their muskets and fill
into line, side by side with tho Western
States. All lthat Gran. now needs is more men
Men for his rear, for his reserves, for the fort,
Of Washington. Every man able to shoulder
a muEkct has no. an opportunity to sal
whether he is willing to aee the Union dis
solved, and our national prosperity tsEncs
into national calamity aud perpetual civi
~ar; on every hand, or whether he is willin,
to shoulder his musket to close 1t oncs, vic
toriouslY and forevsr, this war for the Union
in which so much blood has been shed b,
those who cav not befors them - ws do, TIL
glorious end. he that would save his lif
sha1l lose It, and be that would givs his LII.
for his country's eake, shall f1ud it. Let I'll.
Government call upon the whole nation, ant
let the population Of every State b. "ia +,
the death" The soil SO freely v.tercd BY
the blood Of our heroes shall never, 1syIR,
NEVER be surrendered to forslsn and dcs,
potic government, whose cornerstone Is hu.
man slavery, and whose gospel is hatred Of
the United States.