Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1905-06-16

action is thus explained.
"Of this immense conflict Mr.. Glad
stone like most of the leading statesmen
of the time and like the majority of his
failed to take the true |
measure. The error that lay at the root
of our English misconception of the
American struggle is now clear. He |
applied ordinary political maxim to
what was not merely political contest
but a social revolution. Without
scrutiny of the cardinal realities beneath
we discussed it like some superficial con-
flict in an old world about boundries,
SUGGESTIONS, territorial partitions,
dynastic preponderance. The signifi-
canoe of the American war was its re-
lation to slavery. That war arose from
the economic, social and political con-
sequences that flowed from slavery, its
wasteful cultivation, the consequent
need for extension of slave territory, the
probable revival of the accused African
trade. the constitution of slave holders
as the sole depositaries of social prestige
and political power. Secession was un-
dertaken for the purpose of erecting into
an independent state community
whose whole structure was moulded on a
system that held labor in contempt, that
kept the laborer in ignorance and cruel
bondage, that demanded a vigilant
censorship of the press and an army Of
watchmen and spies. And this barbaric
state was to set itself up on the border
of great nation founded on free in
dustry, political equality, diffused know
ledge, energetic progress. Such was the
meaning of secession THE Rebellion" as
Charles Sumner once said to Mr.. Glad
stone in 1864 lis slavery in arms, revolt
ing, indecent, imperious." Therefore
those who fought against secession
fought against slavery and all that was
involved in that dark burden, and what
ever their motives may at different times
have been they rendered an immortal
service to humanity. "-Morleys "Glad-
stone Vol. Up. 70.
The days of 1851 constituted the very
crisis of an national life. There is, mark
you, a crisis in the life of nation as
we'll as of an individual, on which its
future destiny depends:
Once to every man and nation comes
the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth and Falsehood,
for the good or evil side
Then it is the brave man chooses, while
the coward stands aside,
Doubling in his abject spirit, till his
Lord is crucified."
Small wonder then that many states
men failed in the crisis, chiefly from
dread of consequences and fear of wal
and all that it meant. The unity of our
country was essential to the fulfillment
of its destiny. The Spanish american
war with all its unforeseen and unex
pected results, could not have happened
if the issue of the civil war had beer
different, if slavery had still existed il
our midst could we have hidden Spain tC
take her hands off her Cuban slaves see
ing we had slaves of our own: We coulC
not have taken our place amidst the
great powers of the world if the Unitet
States had Eeen broken up into two or
more disunited nations; Was the result
worth the price paid: In this materia
age we want a return for everything
paid out, and we ask a result equal tC
that paid. Too often we demand {
merely material return. Our Christian
faith exemplified in the life of thu
Divine Savior reminds us of the law o.
sacrifice, There must be death befor'
life. The seed must die before it can bt
terminating principle.
eff for the age to come, this hour
OF trial hath vicarious power,
And blest by Thee, our present pain
be liberty S eternal gam.
Thy will be done
Members of the G.. A. h. you this da,
live over again the life of those years o
blood and strife, you recall by your owl
experience what we of a younger gener
alton only know by the reports of others
, First to your memory come those day
, when the nation stood amazed and ex
, pectant. Lincoln's election to the presi
Dental chair meant secession for tn
+ South which remembered his words o
four years ago, In 1856 he had said g
+ house divided against itself cannot stand
believe this country cannot endur
, permanently half slave and half free.
, will become all one thing or all tn
= other" Lincoln was the leader whom
! and turmoil. God always has leade
training for his people ready for tn
, work when the hands of the clock of tn
worlds history points the hour of need
!, Centuries ago the cry of the children o
; Israel was waxing louder and NOR
heartrending in the ears of the God o
| Sabaoth because of their Egyptial
+ bondage; in the court of Pharaoh and il
= the desert of indian a leader. Moses
! was being prepared TO lead them throug
+ the Red Sea and the wilderness to tn
= land of promise. So now God had i
a readiness a leader born in Kentucky
! reared in what was then the wilderness
: Indiana the rail-splitter and humid
: lawyer, Abraham Lincoln. Honest Alb
y was the man to whom it was given
q see the right and the courage when see
to do it.
= On April 10, 1861, the first shot WI
f fired by the confederate soldiers. VIII
o would Lincoln do; His response WI
n clear and unmistakable. The UniC
# must be preserved. On April IS Il
y proclamation for 10000 volunteers
# preserve the country's integrity W;
issued. The effect was electrical. I'll
South was fighting for its homes ar
slavery, the North for the America
the future Both were sincere "
cannot altogether blame the South fl
its demand for secession when we r