Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-06-30
Of blood and tears and oil of human agony

OF blood and tears and all of human agony
which the afflicted race of man can know
tins side of the dread abodes of the dam
ned, divides the suffering and miserable
sections OF once fraternal and contcd peo-
pie Statesmen of Christian fifth imluod
with the lofty spirit of Him who gave bis
blessing TO the mercful, could again soan
this horrid chasm and bind together The
torn and bleeding ligaments of the Union.
But an evil star Is raging in our sky, and
under IT'S lnalign power the legislature of
the land appears as the frenziend, murder
acrou.} diyolnted dreams of q mailman in
his cell. Such penal code as now stands
in the way Of the return of the men. women
and children of the South has no porallol
in the annals of the human race A tbon-
sand miles OF gibbcts with the dangling
halter and the ready executioner universal
connseatlon OF property to the remotest
period OF an innocent posterity; the .abso-
lutte determination Of whole peonle and
the appropriation Of the depopulated coun-
try TO more than Norman conquest the
utter extinction Of every vestipe of onr
! present FORM OF government by States, all
thls, ana lhlnltely more is contained in
the enactments which already stain tho rec-
ords of American legislation. Bnt WIN
need dwell upon these evidences Of dis
union! The great leader of the Admins
tratIon on this floor, the gentleman from
Penn5,ylvania, Mr. Stevens, has deliber-
ately here announced after alT our sacrifices
! sorrows and losses, that the Union of our
fathers Is dead, and that he who ottemnts
Its resurrection is criminal instead of a
patriot. lie goes further, and admits ali
the seeded States have ever claimed-their
nationality. They have sought in vain in
all the tour quarters of the earth for recop-
nltlon. They fnd 1t at last at the hands of
those who speak for the administration on
this floor. ''i'i y"
Sir, deny this doctrine. plant myself
on the Constitution which recoon;zes an
unbroken Union. ] shall stand there in
every vlcIssitude of fortune, and if fall il
VIII be when the people themselves aban-
don their own Constitution. BY the nrin-
; clples Of this mighty instrument. Iexnect
hnally restoration of the union of the
States. Every hour which the partv in
power prolongS It's control of affairs. post
Pones the suspicious day, but as I behold
the future, 1t will assuredly come. Mate
rial and ndestructible interests unite every
section except that which prospers on ia
. natlcisrn. And here, to-day, in the spir-
i 1t OF one who expects and desires his nos
2 terity and theirs to live together in the an.
clent and honorable friendship of their
fathers, warn the Southern people not TO
look forward to separation andindependence.
but to embrace every opportunity for coop
epratlon with the conservative men of the
North, who will aid with their lives, if need
be, to secure them all their rights and in
Stitutions, as free and equal citizens of the
United States. If this be done. the ap-
preaching Presidential election will bring
peace, union and liberty. But if the peace
tul popular revolution of the ballot box
fails to produce these results, then dark
ness will settle upon the face of the deep.
and the free institutions of America will
exist only on the page of the future histo-
ran. -Four years more of our present pol
icy Will leave the republic an unshapen mass
n OF rqins-,a wreck more melancholy and
hopeless than any that strew the pathway
Is OF ages. And here, in this fair young Wes.
n tern world, as in all former times. despo
y tism will arise from the shattered frag.
e ,e ments men. OF self-government;, to which each
! succeeding generation shall pay the extor
Ie ted tribute of its blood and toll.