Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1865-04-06

ne guilty OF the 1Olly anu crime OF Scli-ucS-
truction Let us exercise endurance and
courage that belong to our race, and neither
the brute force of our enemy's arms, nor
the life of this Conlederacy. breathed into il
by the sovereign States which created it.
The people of the United States are be-
, coming W 'ary oftbis war. The foreign ma
terial for ,heir armies is beginning to fail
| them. The mutterings of discomfort at the
prospect of a further draft upon their home
| population are beginning to be heard in their
| large cities. The prospects of war, indef-
nitely prolonged, is alarming their capital
! lists.
, Public credit must sooner or later collapse
under the burthcn of expenditures, the
magnitude of which the most skilfu fnan-
! cier cannot venture to predict. The debt of
the United States is already equal to to the
national debt of England, which has been
accommodating since the Revolution of 1888
The interest on this debt is six per cent,
while the interest on the English debt is on
ly three per cent. 1t has been computed
! that the interest on the debt of the United
| States, together with the amount necessary
| to carry on its government, even II the war
were at an end, would not fall much short
of five hundred millions per annum--a sum
affirmed to be greater than the entire annu-
al wealth of the northern States. While a
people in sclf-defcnse may submit cheerful
ly to any priqation and suffering. to any sac
rifces of treasure and blood, there is linn
it beyond which a country waging war of
aggression and conquest will not 90. We
cannot stop this war without degradation,
ruin, dishonor. Our enemies can have
peace at any time by abandoning their
wicked attempt at our suhjugation, and al
lowing US to govern ourselves in accordance
with those great principles for which their
| fathers and onrs fought side by side.
Considered, therefore, in every point OF
| view, is it possible to believe that the people
Of the Confederate States will ever incur
subjugation, or accept submission as the
result Of the great struggle in which we arc
engaged. Neither is it possible to believe
that these States, compelled by long years
of unjust and unconstitutional action to-
ward them by the Northern States, to with
draw from political uniform with them
can ever be tempted by any promises, or so
called guarantees, again to unite them
selves under a common Government.
Forced into this revolution by their faith
less disregard Of the obligations Of the con
stitutional compact, and by the selfish anC
sectional legislation which they fastened up
on US, what in the course of this war ha
occurred to change our opinion "a to thei
character and purpose I? The barbarity ant
unrcentiug ierocity which has characterized
their conduct Of it, has excited the indig
nnnt wonder of the world Falsehood an,
dupllclty and mean cunning marked tbel
t course in its Inauguration 3; and, in its pro
gress, every arliiicc of low diplomacy an
persistent misrepresentation has been rGsol
cad 10. IL
ton Of mankind. Our struggle for tn
: right of self clf-govcrnment--whic they them
selves have always declared to be inalionabl
\ has been held up TO the world as a contes
for the maintenance of African slavery
i purely State institutions, over which neithc
the Confederate State Government nor tn
United States Government has any constl
tutional control.
To prevent foreign nations from accord
ing to rs that recognition to which we ar
i, entitled by public law, and even the yer
language of existing treatcs-a rccognitio
c of which they themselves have accorded I
70 other countries on far sendcrer grounds
= they have deliberately flsilied accounts
{ military operations, and our capacity AL
1 resources for continuing the contest.
= \ war which has been carried on for fol
r years with ever varying fortunes, the
c Ministers of State have again and again a
s sured foreign powers could not posslb
} be wagcd by Us for more than two or thr'
T. months. And after all their inSolcnt boas
c of their power to crush us, they have bee
y compelled to resort to foreign enlistment
7, and the arming of our captured slaves,
e order to fill up the ranks Of their armies.
- In spite of these practices, winked at
l, not countenanced by European Powers
Di they have practically confessed thelrinabi
| ty to vanquish us in regular warfare, by Il
II inhuman policy of destroying the dwelling
II the food and the agricultural implements
go our non n-cumhattaut population. Thus g
y deavoring by the starvation Of their wiv
ID and children to break the indominable spi
II it of our soldiers.
lc In the invasion of our soil neither priva
lc property, nor age, nor sex, has been spare
n from the rapacity and brutal passions
re their mercinary lcglons.
.yi Wherever they have passed over the su
,l face of our fair land, the blackncss of d,
ir olation has ma,ke their path. and SUI
70 barbarous desolation has been their boa'
e Public records have been dcstroyed--ins
le tutions of lcaming--public and private
h braries-pilugcd or burned and the tel
p pies of God sacrlegiously dcfied.
L Fellow countrymcn, will you, can you G
" cr submit to be ruled by such II people ?
nr Can you ever Join hands with them in fl
,c ternal union? Can you, with all the
r things before you-daiy occurring on yo
II native soil-eyer rctura to political uni
to with these despoiers Of your homes-tht
cr violaters Of your wives and daughters.
Sc Never! Adark crimson stream divides yo
to which all the skill of negotiation can ne>
re bridge over. The southetn people ha
at determined to he free aud Independent, a
re IT their iorttude and courage do not
Of them, it is impossible to doubt the issue.
But there must be no halting, no hes
&c ton, in the only path that leads to the go
e. We must prove to our enemies, and pro
n to the world, that we cannot be conquer,
ly We must convince them that, though {
ty soil may be overrun the faith of our pcoI
Nj in the great cause for which they are c,
" tending is unbroken, is unchanged-th
IT. will invincible
i'll Let us emulate the example of the II
Id sian people when invaded by the grand
nd my of Napoleon, Let us be willing
he inake any and every sacrifice, and cons
We it but mere offering on the altar OF
country.
II, BY the light of the blazing ruin of W
p- has once been a proud palace, Napol,
m, read this inscription, which RoStopoIim
or affixed to his gate "frenchman h
an spent eight wears in embelishing this r,