The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-03-05
4 Soldiers Appeal.

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4 Soldiers Appeal.
When President Lincoln called for sew
enty-tiye thousand men, to serve 1or the
period of three months, most OF those WnC
responded to that call, thought that, after
the expiration of that time, they could re,
turn to their homes, feeling that they nae
done their duty, and that the country was
saved. a.
But the first hostile encounters OF the
war. 1issipated that illusion, and those who
| had left their farms and shops 1or single
season. or their studies for single session,
discovered that the work they hao unoer-
taken was one of years, rather than montns'
and that, instead of returning 70 me pur-
suits which they had abandoned Temporal
rily. as they had hoped, they were called
upon to give up the plans they had formed.
leave unfinished the tasks they had COM
menced. and devote the best part of their
lives to the maintenance of that form OF
government, which they had been taught,
was necessary to their liberty and pros
perity.
MANY a darling scheme was sacrificed on
the altar of patriotism, and the future ca
reer of thousands was entirely changed by
the events of few weeks. At that time
men were actuated by pure, enthusiastic
love of the institutions of our fathers.
Nearly three years have passed, Years
Of toll, and exposure, and anxiety. Rivers
Of blood have been poured out. thousands
Of young and hopeful lives have been Free
ly given up. Bitter tears have been shed
for the unreturning husbands, sons, and
brothers, whose bleached bones, hallow q
hundred battle-fields Of 1.-The Great Rebel
lion:" and whose dust now min4les with
their mother dust, In common with their
misguided rebel brothers. And still the
bloody work goes on. The armed hosts OF
the powers Of darkness, continue to hover
round the beacon fires Of liberty, kindled
bv the Pilgrims in the rocky frozen north.
But those fires, fed by the fuel of enlight-
eminent, and famed by the zeal of patriot
ism. mount higher and higher into our po-
litical heavens, dittusing light into the sur
rounding darkness, driving the mlnions OF
anarchy and oppression before it, as 1t
spreads, and slowly, but surely widening
the circle of free homes and freemen.
Even now, the champions Of slavery, and
its offspring, rebellion, are gathering to-
gether the last of their ignorant hordes, and
massing the whole Of their available re-
sources, to make a last desperate, dying eff
fort, to maintain their hold on the talrest
portion Of our beautiful continent.
Men of the North! Sons of freemen!-
Heirs of free homes, and free institutions!
Ye who have been educated in free schools,
listened to free Gospel in free churches,
and breathed the air Of sweet freedom since
YOUR earliest breath, you are now called
upon to rally to the old standard, and bat
tie against the Fiend-begotten and He'll
bred enemies Of freedom.
We, who have braved cold, and hunger,
and thirst, and pestllence, through all the
dark hours of this bitter struggle, are de-
termned to continue the fight till the last
one of us has contributed his liie-blood to
the flood which is washing the stains of
moral pollution from the soil Of our coun-
try. sooner than fail in the object so dear to
the heart of every true freenan,-the pres
ervatiOn of our institutions from the insid-
iOus effects of slavery and its consequent
aristocracy. But three years OF hard fight
ing and harder living, has thinned our
ranks till none but those of iron frames re-
main. We cali upon our fellow citizens to
Join lls in the struggle With the monster.
who is terrible even in death. lest he should
gain some temporary advantage, and thus
be enabled to prolong his existence another
year. We claim no honors for what is past,
in which you do not share. II 1t has been
ours to meet the enemy in the field, yours
has been the no less arduous task, to hold
up our hands and guard against our secret
enemies. You have crushed the foul ser
pent which was twining its shiny folds
around our local institutions, weakening
the confidence Of our people in their leaders
and even in the principles which they nave
been wont to reverence.
1t only remains to make one more bold
stand against armed rebellion; which sig
mites armed slavery, which is equivalent
to, or at least If left its course would in
the end become, armed tyranny, exercised
by the few over the many.
No argument is needed here. The very
existence of this war is an incontrovertible
proof of the absolute incompatibility of
liberty and slavery. Slavery, at least SO
far as is represented by the present rebel
lion, must die in the course of the war, or
liberty on this continent, is destined to a
lingering death. Once more, fellow citi-
xens, come to our aid. We would prefer to
see you volunteer, for that would prove
that your hearts were in the cause we are
fighting for. But if you wait for the draft,
which after all is only a means of deciding
who is to do the work in which all are
equally interested, still come determined
to conquer or die, and we will hail your
coming as the sweetest reward for what we
have done for your cause and ours.
ScoTsvILLE, Ala, Feb. 20. 1864. I. l..
70 Grace Greenwood. in a lecture at