Year: 1864

to ipjure us whenever i: can be safely un.
dertaken. ~


Peace obtained at such a price means
also the EQUALIZATION of our national spirit,
aud the utter extinction Of national honor
among PrEselyes or prestige abroad. And
without gl7s national existence is worse
Ihan WOrthlesS. itherto there has been
real honor in the nam Jlls American. We
have so taught 1t 70 our cH fdren It has
been wrought into our literature , We have
breathed il in our prayers we have con-
4 templated It as the heritage given us by
our fathers, as a sacred trust to be trans
mitted intact and untarnished TO our chill.
dren from generation to generation. Now
II is proposed 10 barter all this for pres.
ent release from the manly duty Of defend-
ling It, and like Esau, to sell our birthright
for mess of potIagsi Gan it be that the
heart of our people has come down to so
low level as this We cannot, We will
not believe 1T. Mast We, indeed, become
aliens and exiles In the, place Of our nativi-
ty2 Shall our national hag,ssO long our
glory and defence, become not simply
meaningless by the memento of our degra-
dAtion2 Shall our children look mp to us
and ask for their country, and be denied
Shall the5nams aud renowh ofiWashington
and of the multitudes of heroes and states
men -of our earlier and latter history
stand only to reprove us2 Shall Bunker
Hill and Saratogai aud Trenton, and York
town cease to be talismanic names among
us2 These are considerations that must
be dealt with when the proposition to make
peace with the rebellion is entertained
The casting down of all things is part of
the price at which the proposed pegce it to
be bought:


The people of this country and of this
age have committed to them in trust the
most valuable deposits, which indeed are
theirs for present, use, but which they
also hold and are bound TO keep uninjured
for others than themselves. The cause of
human freedom, the ibertiesvOf peoples
aud tribes throughout the world, and In
future times are involved in these issues
their failure 10 our hands, or their betray-
al by our pusillanimity or infdelity to our
| trust, will be their loss and our infamy.-
Our children who have to live after us have
an interest in these things. If we could
for ourselves meanlyi consent to escape
painful duty, and purchase inglorious ease
at the price of our manhood and patriotic
self respect, have we the right also to
squander the heritage of our children and
bequeath to them instead our own dishon.
or 2 Can any man with the heart of o
father in him look upon his little child,
and then looking forward a quarter of a
century, consent to sell the birth-right Of
that child, as native Anerioan, for pre-
sent exemption from the tolls of WARP We
trust that there are very few among US cap.
able of such baseness; and yet that is real
.ly what is proposed by these false peace
makers We have also the interests of the
colored race cast upon us. God has made
us, however reluctant we may be, our
hrothers' keeper. Bnt bis direct aud com
plete sacrifice is among the first conditions
of the proposed peace. We ask the Cod
fearing man Of this nation, Are you pre-
pared for this2 ~


To return to our starting point. The
call for peace, is usually pleasant and ac-
ceptable. II has tone of kindliness, and
often of piety; but in. the present state of
our world :it is very often deceptive and
dangerous. On account of the prevalence
of evil apd wrong, war with its conflicts is
the normal condition of man. The Saviour
brought the sword among men, and the
Church itself Is militant. The magistrate,
as God's minister, bears the sword not in
vain. Civil government, which is not less
divine institution than the Church or the
family, is sustained and guarded by force,
aud the custOdians of its powers are sacred
Iy enioined to defend and not to betray
their trust. War Is the legitimate calling
| and the bOnnden duty of the people whose
civil iliustitutions are assailed by the hands
of violence; and while the foe is thus
/ threatening it is treason and impiety to
talk of peace.


And why talk so earnestly of peace at
this time We have already paid largely
4 of the costs of war, why now forego its
promised recompense2 We have doubt
less endured most that was prepared for us
at the first; why not endure to the end and
so receive the reward The terrible work
| going forward at this time is telling fear
Ifnlly against the enemy; why remit our
blows when SO much has been done and
comparatively so little remains to be donef
The resources of the rebellion, especially 10
men, is almost exhausted. Nearly year
ago UNIVERSAL conscription of the whole
male population from sixteen to sixty gath
cred in the entire harvest of fighting men |;
only the scantyi gleanings remain from
which to draw another army. Persistent
aud vigorous effSrts on our part for an nother
year can scarcely fail of complete triumph
to our arms. The nearest way TO peace Is
Through the armed hosts of our foes. The
sword of the warrior, aud not the pen of
the negotiator, must, under God, be our re-
6ance.


/ WHERE WE ARE.


i From the New York Tribune.