Year: 1862


wisdom that could year ago have fore


seen the actual condition to-day Of this re- |
bc1lion- And where can the prophet be |
found who shall foretell what shall be the |
position Of our country twelve months !
hence? And yet, supernatural and mirac- |
ulous as would be the faculty Of announc-
ing now what shall hereafter be, ne all
know that the future Of our country will be
what we ourselves make it. The fruits Of


prosperity or ad7ersity, Of glory or Of


shame, which We shall reap in the harvest,


will be the natural growth Of the seed We


sow. Heaven has given the future being


of every land into the hands Of its present
inhabitants, and it takes no prophetic fore


sight to see to-day what that hereafter must


and will be- If we but know the kind
Of institutions that are planted, the
fruits that spring from the seed which
| is sown. Men do not gather grapes, rich
| with the wine Of glory and broad domin-
ion, from the thorns Of injustice and cruel
#; NOT do they find ripe fruits Of prosper


ity and peace growing on the thistles Of


arrogance, idleness and tyranny, that over
run the fields Of slavery. Our country has


been prepared for us as q garden that we
! are sent to till and dress We may make to


grow in it every tree that is pleasant to the


sight and good for food; OF we may smite


it with barrenness, or so curse it that it


shall bring forth thorns and thistles only


Nor is it possible at this date in the worlds


history for any man to contend in reason


that the fruits Of some institutions anl


systems are not well known to be poison


GUS and fatal to all true health and vigor
Tyranny is known to cast q dark AMI
: whitening shade on all beneath it. Op
preston Withers and kills all that breath


the air heavy with its stupefying, deadcn


ing vapors; while slavery, like the dead,
. night shade, must bear aloft trunk an
e branches filed with the b1ackest an
4 subtlcst poison, distilling decay and ruin o
c all in its region. twill be quite in vain, ,fo
e this people or my other, to plant such tree
y and not expect to be torn and made


bleed By their thorns. There is no COZ
l. servatiye dressing; no new secession met|
c DDS Of planting and training, and no 10
r cign improved system Of culture that ca
l. make injustice and slavery bring forth an.
,e thing but misery, wretchedness and ruin.
J. Slrvery always was a poisonous plan
,c and its fruit has always been deadly to Il
If human race. It must be hewn down AZ
" cast into the fire, before this nation "
rs ever hare prosperity and peace The c
n pcrience Of tie past is filled with the effcc
lie Of its baleful aud destructive influence


e. has perverted the plain sense Of the Co


stitution, and falsifed the teachings Of Il
IT, Fathers; it has leapcd scorn and co
N tempt on the poorer classes and Il
T. struggling millions; it has lorded
m and donlineered over its equals and its b.
rs tcrs; spurned and divided all appeals
re justice and humanity; and insulted a
H. dcfed al the true and constan: advocat
I'd Of free labor and the rights Of the mass
SC Slavery from its very nature must rule


ruin; and, more than that, its rule MI
G: always be ruin. Secession, rebellion, a
It treason are its nature and sure growth a
K fruit. It's duration is only one long SC
to time of wrong, cruelty, and outrage, a
ch never ending harvest Of wrctchednc
H. decay, and death. There is, and can be
By hope, for the stability Of tic Union, Or
L. return Of an enduring peace, to our co,


try, SO long as slavery shall be permitted
ne live and flourish. No man can know |
n innate tendencies and unavoidable cffc
H. Of slavery, and contend for its existe1
ye and pcrpctuity who is not traitor an
nr kuave; and no man can be guided d
on controlled by such leaders and teach
IN who is not kua7e OF fool