Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1865-04-28
NUMBER FORTY FOUR.


cd utterly and forever? No Never sgai
shall things be restored as before the war
THE LESSON OF THE CIVIL WAR.
Ii is written in Gods decree of events fu
filed, "0ld things have passed away" an
that new earth in which dwelleth righteOu,
ness draws near. Things as they were p
Who has an Omnipotent hand, to restore
million dead, slain IN battle, or wasted h
sickness, or dying Of grief. broken hearted
Who mas Omnipresence to search for th
scattered ones Who shall restore the l. 4
70 broken families Who shall bring bac
the squanderet treasure. the years of indus
try wasted. and convince you that four year
OiiguiltY rebellion and cruel war are no NOR
than dirt upon the hand, which a moment
washing removes. and leaves the hand clear
az before Such a war reaches down o Oh.
very vitals of society. Emerging from suel
a prolonged rebellion. he Is blind who tell
7 you that the State, by mere amnesty aut
/ boneTolence Of government, can be put again
/ by a mere decree, IN its old place.
It would not be h0ns=t-it would not 0.
kind or iraternal for me 70 pretend that
Southern revolution sgeinst the Union ha.
not reacted and wrought revolution in the
Southern States themselves, and inaugurated
a new dispensatiOn. Society is like broken
loom, and the piece which rebellion To.
IN and vas weaving has been cut, out and
every thread broken. You must put IN new
WsFp, ana new wO1i, and weaving anew. as
she laOrlc slowly unwinds. we shall SEQ IN 10
10 gUrg0n figures, no hideous grotesque Of
the old barharism, but the figures of liberty.
vines and golden grains, framing IN the heeds
Of justice, love and liberty.
1he august convention OF I1S7. framed
the Constitution with this memorable pre
ambie ''Ne, the people Of the United
State, pa order 10 form a more perfect union.
and establish justice, insure domestic tran
guilty. provide for the common defence. pro-
mote the general welfare and secure the bies-
sings OF liberty 20 ourselves and our poster
itv do ordain this Constitution for the Unit
ed States Of America"
Again. in the awful convention Of war, The
people % the United States, for the very
cn1s just recited, have debated. settled, anu
ordained certain fundamental truths which
must henceiorth be accepted and obevcd
nor Is any State OF any individual wise ,Ebo
shall disregard them. They are u civil az
iiir- what tls national laws are - health
indispensable conditions Of Ieaee and happ.
ness. W hat are the ordinances given bv
the people, speaking out Of IRE and darkness
Of war, with authority inspired bv that
same God who gave the law from Sinai amid
thunders Of trumpet voices ! That these
United States shall be one and indivisible.
>. That States are not absolute sovereigns.
and have no right 20 dismember the Repub-
lie. 3. Universal liberty is indispensable 10
Republican Government. and that slavery
shall be utterly and forever abolished.
such are the results of war these are the
best fruits OF the war. They are worth ali
they have cost They are the foundations OF
peace. They will secure benefits o. all ma
ti0ns as o. Us. Our highest wisdom and
duty Is IN accept the facts as the DEGREES Of
God We are exhOrted to forget all that
has happened. Yes, the wrath. the conflict,
the cruelty, but not those OyeTruling DEGREES
OF tiod winch tins war has pronounced: as
s1emnly as on Mount Sinai, God SAYS
"Bemember-remember, hear it TO-DAY
| nder this sun, under that bright child of
the sun our banner, with the eyes Of tins
nation and the world upon Us, We repeat
the syllables Of Gods providence, and recite
the solemn decrees-NO more disunion-nO /,
more secessI0n-nO more slavery.
The CAUSES or Tbs CIVIL WAR.
Why did this evil war begin? We do /
not wonder that European statesmen failed I
% comprehend this conflict, and foreign phi !
we're shocked az a murderous
war that seemed 70 have no moral origin.
but like the brutal fight Of beasts Of prev TO
have sprung from ferOcious animaiism. This
great nation, filing all profitable latitudes,
Graded between Two oceans, With iDeXhaust-
ibic resources, with riches increasing 10 an
ratiO. by agriculture. by manu-
lectures, by commerce, with schools and
with books and newspapers thick
is leaves in our own forests, With institu-
lions sprung from the people and peculiarly
adapted 70 their geDius-a nation not slug
yish but active, used 10 excitement. practiscd
in political wisdom ana accustomed TO self
government. and all its vast out living parts
held together b, s Federal Government mild
II temper, gentle IN administration, and be
lehcent in results, we do not wonder that it
s not understood abroad All at once IN !
ihis hemisphere Of happiness and hope there
same troping clouds with fiery bolts full of
death and desOlailOn.
At cannon shot upon this fort, all the
nation, as II they had been trained army
ying on their arms awaiting a signal. rose
~ and began a war which for aWiulnes. III
&C into the hrst rsnk Of bad eminence. The
r0ns Of battle going with the sun was twelve
hundred miles long, and the depth, measur-
ID along meridian, was q thousand miles
In this vast area, more than two million
men, first and last. for four vears, have IN
ikIrmish, fight, and battle, met in more than
J thousand conflicts, while coast aud river
inc not less than four thousand miles IN
ength, has swarmed with fleets freighted
NTH artillery. The very industry OF the
,Ountry seemed 70 have been touched by
,oDe Internal wand. and with one wheel
hanged It from peace TO war. The anyils Of
he land beat like drums a. out Of the oOze
merge monsters 80 from our mines and
ounderiea uprose new ana strange machines
li war, iron-clad. And 50 in nation Of
PEACEFUL habits, without external proyoca-
ion, there rose such a storm Of war as
the whole horizon and hemis-
lhere.
What wonder that foreign Observers stood
amazed at this fanaucal fury, that seemed
Without Divine guidance but inspired wholly
With internal frenzy? The explosion was
udden, but the train had long been laid.
Nc must consider the condition Of Southern
Ociety if We would understand the mystery
II this iniquity. Society in the South re-
Olives itseli into divisions more sharply dis
inguished than in any other part Of the
lation. AT the base is the laboring class.
made up Of slaves; the next is the middle
lass, made up Of traders, small farmers and
)Oor men the lower edge of this class
Ouehed the slave, and the upper edge
cached up to the third, or ruling class.
This class were small minority In numbers,
lut IN Practical ability they had centred in
heir hands the whole government of the
'outh, and had mainly governed the coun
~. Upon this polished, cultured, exceed
ngly capable, and wholly unprincipied
lass. rests the whole burden OF this war,
orced up by the bottom heat OF slavery.
TIE SOUTHERN LzADER.. L
T6e ruling class in the disloysl States ar
ogateo 70 themselves superiority not com
atible with republican equality nor with
lst morals. They claimed right of pre-
anIneuce. An evil u-,yba. .ross. =. u, l