RADICALISM AND THE NATIONAL CRISIS. 11 What have we to do in such premises ? Shall we talk about peace-measures, and compromise-measures in the presence of an armed rebellion ? Shall we call those our political brethren who are our public enemies, who are traitors to the Constitution, and who are putting the knife to the very throat of our national existence? Shall we by party strife, and for party purposes, seek to foment discord in our own ranks? No—never—never. Our duty is to put down this rebellion, to crush it absolutely, using all the means which God and nature have placed in our hands for this purpose. Our duty is to blast and brand with eternal infamy the theory of secession, and prove to the world that this Union “ is a government in the highest sense of the term, the enforcement of whose laws, at whatever cost, is a fundamental article of its creed, just as fundamental as liberty itself.” This we must do, or die as a nation. I hence regard this war for the Union as an imperative necessity. I regard it as a holy war. The sword was never drawn in a more sacred cause,- and should never be returned to its scabbard till the end is gained. What shall be done with the rebels when they are conquered, is an af- ^r-question. Let us first conquer them. Let us beat them on the battle-field, as we can do, and I believe, we will do, dispersing their armies, and bringing them to absolute submission. This, I know, is a very radical measure; the land groans under the tread of contending legions ; blood flows, and families weep ; yet, in the circumstances of our position, no other measure meets the case. No other measure will give the death-blow to the wicked theory of secession. No other measure will preserve the integrity, the dignity, and glory of this government. No other measure will prove, that we are what we claim to be—a nation. No other measure will settle this controversy upon a lasting basis. We must conquer the rebels, or be conquered by them. We must lay the military axe at the root of the tree, with an earnestness and decision that leave no doubt as to our purpose. 'Th* second point is one of moral justice. We have practiced a great iniquity in this land. We have continued to practice it year after year, and generation after generation. In the bosom of the freest government on which the sun ever shone, we
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