Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-07-16

fundamental idea was that all men
were created equal. Jefferson did not
say white men, or Englishmen, Ger
mans, Frenchmen or Irishmen, but
men, [applause1 and his idea and that
Of those who subscribed to the Dec
laration was that all were entitled to
voice in the government, and to
stand equal before the laws.
To vindicate this doctrine our faith
ers pledged their lives, their fortunes
and their honor. For eight long
years of severcst contest the war
wagod between a feeble nationality
and the most powerful nation of Eu>
rope, but the right prevailed, and the
sttlc band Of barefoot men whose
steps were marked by their blood,
ovcrcame the army and feet Of Great
Britain. The government was es-
tablished by striking the keynote of
equal rights and justice. 1t stood be-
cause God thought it ought to stand,
and it will stand through the ages
Great applause 1t is mans part to
develop his powers and faculties, and
accomplish the work entrusted to
him. So il is with nations, and while
they have adhered TO the principles
Of right they have fourishod, when
they departed from them they fell in
to decay. Moses, before he was taken
from the children Of Israel, on the
eve of their entering into the prom
lsed Land, set before them this truth
when he told them that while they
adhered to the worship Of Jehovah as
God alone, and kept His command.
ments they would be blessed bat bid.
ding them beware Of the curses which
would fall upon them if they became
puffed up and denied the God of Is
rael and went after false gods. When
the chosen people OF God set up idols,
the daughters Of Zion very soon hung
their harps upon the willows, and
mingled their tears with the waters
Of Babylon. Nations al had some
mission to perform, and while they
were accomplishing Gods will and
purposes they would be sustained and
prospered. This nation might expect
prosperity just as long as it adhered
to the principles of the Declaration Of
Independence, and maintaining that
AL men were equal before the law.
saw that every NAV was secure in the
enjoyment of his rights W neither as
fragrant as rose, or the reverse rs a
negro. Voice-''Grant county can
stand that."1
We had passed through a tremcn-
duous war, fact Of which Grant
county, with the names ofover700 of
her brave sons inscribed on Wonder
monument to the dead, with many
vacant homes, bleeding hearts and
weeping eyes, does not need to be re-
minded. Let as consider for a few
moments what caused this war. AZ
ter the close of the revolutionary war,
and our government was acInowl>
edged by the nations Of the earth, in
order to the better provide for the
carrying out Of the principle on which
it was founded, for which they had
fought, our fathers met to frame
Constitution and to form a more per.
feet Union
Here The speaker paused and re
marked that, as he had feared the
weather would prove too warm for
wool.en, he had obtained leave from
Judge Mills to take off his coat, and
Judge Cole had affirmed the permis-
sion without costs to anybody
[Great laughter
1t was asked why cur fathers did
not DO everything that needed to be
done to make the Government Just
right, and if they thought it was an
evil, destroy it. Their course was
like that OF our Savior, who came to
establish kingdom which should
wipe out sin and sorrow. He might
have summoned legions of angels,
and with he sword eradicated evil
but he knew that was not the best
way, and sought by preaching the
word, by presenting the doctrines of
true religion to establish a sweet
fountain Of pure and holy principles,
whose blessed living waters should
ever flow through and purify the
world. Oar fathers were practical
men, not fanatics. They promulga-
tea immortal principles, and endeav-
ored to carry them out as far as pos
sible They denounced and detested
slavery. and proclaimed doctrines
whose tendency was to sweep it away.
They did not, however, attempt to
| pull up the upas tree by the roots,
but sought to hamper il and cut off
the sources OF its growth, hoping that
its leaves would wither, its branches
decay, and it would fall to ruin. The
constitution recognized slavery in
/ fixing basis of voting, by limiting
the slave trade and providing for the
return Of fugitives but because il
did SO, it did not follow that it was
constitutional any more than .other
evils which are regulated By law,
were legaIised. Ii things had remain
/ ed as they were slavery would soon
have died out; but the discovery
that money could be made by raising
cotton at tho South, unfortunately
changed public sentiment there. and
from declaiming against the evil, as
Jefferson, Monroe, Madison. and all
/ prominent Southern men did at first.
they first excused and asked tolera-
ton for slavery, aud advanced step
by step until they were found defend
ing it as an ordinance of God. and
claiming that itshould be allowed all
over the land.
Ia the North there was nothing to
change the feeling against slavery,
which grew stronger and stronger
with the lapse Of years, and so the
two sections, the press, the pulpit and
the rostrum in each, were arrayed
against each other, and Democracy
in the North, based on the rights Of
the many, and Aristocraey in the
South, where slavery was an intensi.
tication and agravation of the evils Of
the feudal system, contended for the
mastery, it becoming apparent that
tbnx- pnfrfA on4 stand +nr.n4b a- ~,