Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1865-08-10

come. however muslcally, from the ups
Of the stranger. Sorrow broods with
miser care on every hour Of his sad life,
Now why is all this The war caused
1.-THE institution Of slavery did it. 1t
caused this terrible and fratricidal war.
1T caused that gray-headed father, as he
| bent for five times with bated breath on
the bulletin board, or the long list of
killed and wounded in the telegraphic
reports, to find each time name unut-
terably precious to him, whose face he
lis never to see again. Is it possible he
still clings to this death s-head and cross
bones? 1t has filled the cup of life with
tribulation's bitterest dregs to the brim
for him. How can it be possible that
now, because he happens to own few
slaves, he still cleaves to this same in
stitution? 1t is the mildew that has
blighted and blasted every green spear
of grass in the garden of his life. How
can it be possible that that man can still
desire to hug it to the heart it has bro
ken? Had it cost me but one brave
boy, [ would devote my heart, soul and
body to its utter annihilation. [ would
wage against it an unrelenting war, a
war of determination.
Our land is swarming with thousands
of cripples; some have lost legs and 9TH
ers arms why do not these men go
abroad among the people and hold up
their shattered limbs and tell the slave
holder This is what your institution
has cost me. While you were basking
in the sunshine Of safety at home, was
at the front. When slavery took the
form of armed rebellion, and soldiers
were called into the field to put it down,
YOU found irresistible destinations in the
attractions of home. I did my duty. l
return now to my home to drag out
through few lingering years, a miser-
able life, but mock me not. [ do, in
Heavens name, implore you to stop this
eternal parade before my aching eyes CT
this most odious institution. 0, that
| had the power toni ght to bring togeth-
er all the Shareholders of this land, and
have them look on III solemn silence,
while the crippled, the widows and the
orphans, that have been made by this
war could pass before them in grand re-
view and tell their tales Of misery and
woe that slavery has brought upon them;
were their hearts not made Of stone, they
would melt while gazing upon such a
scene, and with ole voice let the land be
at once rid of the curse that has caused
such dreadful scene. But suppose we
have no personal grievances over which
to mourn, let US cast one eye down along
the bank of the mighty father of waters,
and then returning, start again at Per-
ryville, and glance along that broad and
deep channel over which the red tide of
battle rolled through the gorges Of the
Cumberland and down along tue plains
4 of Georgia on the sea. Then pursue it
around through the Carolinas, to Ra-
leigh, and all over the crimsoned soil OF
Virginia, and as you count the almost
countless graves that lie all along the
banks of that river of blood, thick as
"autum leaves in Vallambrosia," pause
for one moment to contemplate the seas
Of tears, the paroxysms Of unutterable
agony, all these must have cost when
somebody's darling' had to fall at
every blow, and then tell me, ifyou can,
when you know that slavery caused it a ii,
can you still cling to it. 1t has filled
the lunatic asylums with maniacs 1t
has filed houses of refuge with paupers.
It has filed all the land with mourning
1t has filed all the land with fraternal
blood. It has snapped in twain the ten
derest ties of social society. 1t has
caused desolation to reign in princely
palaces, where happiness had always
its revels. 1t has smitten with want
and woe millions who were born In the
lap of luxury.
How under Heavens S name can any
mortal man, not given over to the demon
Of selfshness, desire to see such cause
of sorrow and suffering, injury and in
fanny, hypocrisy and hate, perpetuated
among the institutions of his country?
In Heavens name I implore you, strike
at once and deal it death blow. Let it
be proclaimed from the ends Of the rivers
to the ends of the earth, that we live in
a land of universal liberty, where the
fires of patriotism, being rekindled, will
glow on as brightly as ever, in Union
that has battered down the walls of
| treason.
! T1bo p,,;4;cI, prooroSc