The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1864-08-12
Grafton.


I DELIVERED BY THE HON. THOMAS RUSSELL.
We give below the closing portion
of the admirable Grafton before the
Boston City Council on the Fourth of
July, which was delivered by the Hon.
Thomas Russell:
! I find grounds of hope even in the
strange atrocities with which this re-
I bellion has been stained. | would do
] Justice to the courage of our enemies.
! Language can hardly do justice to their
\ cruelty As ! read of the captives at
Fort Pillow, bntchered, burned alive,
then buried 50 liastily that the hands
of the dead appeared on the surface
of the earth, which refused to hide
I the crime, I thought Of those poor
( hands, of which Burke spoke so pa
/ theticall v-p owerless here, but mighty
when stretched toward the Heavens of
justice We are told that in the Revo-
luton the murder of one woman by
the Indian allies of England, mourned
and condemned by the British Cen
eral, had power to arouse States and
to array armies on orr side. 1t ena-
abled the heroic Stark to turn back
the tide Of battle, and to prepare for
the capture of Burgoyne. What then
must be the result of these repeated
horrors, not condemned, but justified
and applauded by the southern press
accepted as part of their system of
warfare? The slaughter and the star
walton Of prisoners are not the weap-
ons Of il cause to which victory has
been decrccd.
When Grant thunders against the
walls of Richmond, his batteries will
have strength not shown by the army
returns. Great wrongs. cruel agonies,
gigantic will add force to his artillery.
Remember, this is not Il solitary in
stance Of rebel cruelty At Millikens
Bend, prisoners of war; taken III arms
for their country, guilty of 10 crime,
except the color of their skin, were lit
orally crucitied upon the trees Of the
forest. All, it needed not this crime
to remind us that the strongest bond
which links together all nations and
races of men is the recollection that
the same great sacrifice was once Of
fered for ALI
From those haunted forests, from
the blood-stained enclosure of Fort
Pillow, from the dungeons, where pris-
oners of war have been starved into
imbecility or death, from hundred
plantations, where little pile of ash
es has been the only memorial of II
foul murder, there has gone IN army
Of martyrs, who stand before the
Throne, and say, Glow long, Oh Lord,
how long? f"
Men talk of retaliation. When the
record of these outrages has been
fully spread before the nations OF Eu-
rope, then retaliation is begun. When
the patience of just God is exhaust
ed, then viii the blood of the fallen be
gloriously avenged.
! spoke of hope. Let us rather call
it faith-faith that a rebellion found
ed in denial of human rights, and
sustained by daily wrongs, cannot be
destined to prevail.
Because we are so thoroughly in
the right--because the interests of
mankind for generations to come de-
pend upon our success--because the
hopes and prayers OF good men every
where, the living and the dead, are
with us--we cannot fail.
When the battle of Lookout Noun
tain was fought, the imagination of
men was greatly moved when they
learned that the victory of the gallant
Hooker was won above the clouds.
1t is my faith, that the battle of Amer
lea is, indeed, to be fought and won far
above the clouds. Beyond the circle
of the Heavens sits sole Giver of Vic
tory, and DEGREES triumph to the ma
ton that supports his laws. There
fore, we will not fear for America,
whatever may befall her If dark
days come-if delay still tries our pa
tience, we will remember the protract-
ed tolls OF our fathers, and call to
mind the outstretched arm by which
their deliverance was wrought We
need not go back so far to find omens
of good Recall the gloomy days
through which we lived, one year ago,
when with heavy hearts we prepared
to keep this anniversary. The inyad-
ing rebels stood on our soil Their
faces were set toward our chief cities.
And some, who had hoped till then,
lost all hope. The heavens seemed
deaf to the prayers of loyal men. Some
were adjudged to be impious in tn cir
despairing cries So passed for us the
the first of July, the second and third.
The Fourth of July came, and as we
looked toward Gettysburgh
eve saw through the night
That our flag was still there
We looked again and it waved over
captured yicksburg; and yet little
while, il streamed from the ramparts
of Port Hudson, where Massachusetts,
hands had placed it, and we knew the
old flag was safe, Passing through
such danger, saved by such a. de-
> liverance, he is a coward, that doubts
the final triumph of the Union.
I: Failure if it comes, will only re-
kindle the spirit of our nation, The
, lust of gold. the madness Of lux
: ury and fashion, the strife of party,
! IN 20 universal lnyalfy