Year: 1865

and disgrace to us among the ma
, tons. 1t had long threatened to bring
: upon us the just judgments of Heaven
1t had at last involved us in bloody
: war, upon the issue of which our very
Y existence was staked. Should tht
: President, by virtue of his authority al
). Commander-in-Chief of the armies, de
: cree that slavery must die! 1t was plail
? to many thoughtful men that we coul,
never enjoy a lasting peace while it re
mained and yet the question wha
was to be done" was begirt with ma
] ny difficulties. The President coult
issue proclamation of freedom only
as a military necessity. But would
not such measure ALLEVIATE the Dor
der States, and would it not cause dis
sensiOns among ourselves, and prove
our destruction rather than our saliva.
ton. The President waited long, and
acted with great caution 1t was per.
haps well that the nation should be
taught by defeats and adversity the
necessity of this great measure. Ger.
tain it is that when it was at last de.
termined upon, many who had at first
bitterly opposed it, were silent, or gave
it their express approval. That proc
lamation which went forth so noise
lessly from the executive mansion,
was believe the grand turning point
of the war. Then God girded us
with a moral strength for the battle,
which rendered the final issue certain.
From that moment we stood on firm
ground. Those who had seen in our
struggle only the bloody conflict of re.
venge and hate, now beheld it assum.
ing vast moral proportions, and felt
that there was something at stake, re-
ally worth the blood and the treasure
it must cost We ourselves felt con-
fidence in our cause, which we could
not feel before. We were fighting for
the rights of man, and our success
would be grand stride of humanity
tOacard the mtilennidt day. Another
measure, of the utmost Importance to
us, and which was the natural result
of the emancipation proclamation, was
the arming of the slaves. 1t seems
strange as we think of it now, how
strongly averse many very good men
were to this measure They were a
despised and hated race, and many at
the North, who were opposed to slavery
as a disgrace and crime, had a
strange and unconquerable prejudice
against the enslaved race. Should we
place black men on an equality with
the white ? Should we inaugurate
servile insurrrcction b? Should we con-
fess that we were not strong enough
to put down the rebellion, without the
help of the despised African? And
then there were many who doubted if
they would fight Would they not
throw away their arms and run panic
stricken at the first glance of their
chivalrous masters.


Notwithstanding all these obiec-
tions, the experiment was tried, and
now nobody doubts its wisdom, or
fails to admit that it would have been
almost, perhaps quite, impossible for
us ever to have succeeded without
them. God taught us in the school of
adversely, to overcome our senseless
and wicked prejudiccs against race and
color, and to use the means which he
was offering us, and then he girded
us anew with strength for the battle,
by reinforcing our depleted hosts, with
tens of thousands of dusky forms but
most loyal hearts,-of men to whom
we had long denied every right, but
who, in many a wearisome march, and
on many well fought field, have pro-
ven themselves worthy to be called
our brethren. If We had but set the
black man free, we should have only
half repaired the wrong we had done
him, for our hatred of him was as cru
ell as the masters lash, but when we
placed arms in his hands, and gave
him an opportunity to assert his man.
hood, and nobly to dare danger and
death for the freedom of his race,
when we gave him chance to compel
the respect and admiration of men for
his noble devotion to cause that ev-
er stirs most deeply the heart that is
truest, purest and best, then We did
the utmost that could be done to repair
the mighty wrong of centuries, and
thus to bring upon our nation the
blessing of heaven.


There was one more danger which
all along threatened us, which, at
times, seemed especially imminent, and
that was, that by some untimely COM
promise the war would be brought to
an end before the grand object had
been achieved. There have always
been among us many men of little
faith, who were utterly unable to see
the silver lining of the dark cloud
that was hanging over us. Hopeless
of any good result from the vast cx-
penditure of blood and treasure, they
were ready to favor peace at any
price. There were others of good
hearts and kind sympathies, but mar,
row views, who could see nothing in
this mighty encounter of principles


but the miscellaneous and wholesale
butchery of men, and the horrors and
! desolations of war. There were 9th
ers, who feared the burdens of pub
lie debt, and who were more influenced
by dread of heavy taxes, than they
would have been by the prospect of
final defeat and then there was anoth-
er large class whose real sympathies
were with the rebels, and who were
always ready to join in any peace
movement, no matter how dishonora-
BILE it might be to our government. In
the dark days, through which we
have passed, it is not strange that all
these classes united should have had
great influence, and that they should
have greatly endangered the national
cause. Every great defeat that we
sustained, every new call for men to
fill up the depleted ranks of our army,
every million that was added to our
public debt, every evidence of the
strength and determination of our
foes, afforded them arguments which
they were not slow to use and as
the terrible and bloody march of the