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PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTUS 1 ,!: 
 
 OR, 
 
 AN OBSCURE MAN'S EFFORTS TO 
 REDEEM HIS COUNTRY; 
 
 CONSISTING OF 
 
 THOUGHTS AND EEFLEOTIONS 
 
 SUGGESTED FROM TIME TO TIME BY OUR NATIONAL 
 
 TROUBLES; AND ADDRESSED TO THE 
 
 AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 By T. IT. WEBB, 
 
 * SAINT L0DIS: 
 
 OGAN AND VIVIAN, PRINTERS, S. E. COR, SECOND AND LOCUST S 
 
 16 6a. 
 
<c 
 
 
 Entered according to Act ot Congress, in the year 1863, by 
 
 T. U. WEBB, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the 
 
 Eastern District of Missouri. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The author of this little book deems that the 
 only preface which it needs, is a simple statement 
 that the articles comprised in it were written at 
 or near the time of their respective dates, and, 
 with a few exceptions, were published in some of 
 our public journals; — that he believes them to be 
 more or less applicable to the present statu of tilings 
 in our country ; — that he has never held an office, 
 made a political speech, nor been a member of any 
 political Convention or Caucus: — and that previous 
 to the breaking out of the Rebellion, he was unac- 
 customed to writing for the Press. 
 
 Should any one wish to know the author's politics, 
 they may be expressed briefly, in the following 
 words: The greatest good of the largest number 
 
 In morals, he believes that, The way of the 
 transgressor is hard ; that innocence is better than 
 repentance; and that to be good, is to be happy. 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTTISM. 
 
 A CALL TO ALL HANDS. 
 
 March 23d, 1861. 
 
 My Fellow Countrymen: — We are in trouble. 
 That noble ship, built and bequeathed to us by our 
 fathers ; consecrated by their toils, their suffering, 
 and their prayers; is nearing the breakers. I hear 
 the roar, and see the foam, of the billows. There 
 is a mutiny on board. Our gallant Commander is 
 about to make an attempt to restore order among 
 the crew, and save the ship. 
 
 Let us lay aside all party feeling, and rally to his 
 support. Without our united aid and sympathy to 
 sustain him, and give strength to his arm, his efforts 
 will be fruitless. The ship will go down, carrying 
 us with it, into the abyss of irretrievable ruin. 
 
 Let us forget we were ever Republicans or Demo 
 crats, and fly to the rescue. Is not the object 
 worthy of the sacrifice ? 
 
6 PATRIOTISM W1THOTTT PARTTT6M. 
 
 LOYE OF COUNTRY versus LOYE OF 
 PARTY. 
 
 To the Editor of The N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 Illinois, April 2d, 1861. 
 
 Sir : The rancor and malignity exhibited in our 
 political discussions for some years past, together 
 with the critical condition in which we are now 
 placed, have convinced me that it is extremely det- 
 rimental to the welfare of our people and the suc- 
 cessful working of our system of government, to 
 form political parties upon principles which bring 
 into direct antagonism two interests so vital and 
 dear as the Freedom of Conscience and the Right of 
 Property. 
 
 Will you oblige a sincere lover of his country, 
 and a devoted Republican, by publishing the above, 
 with any comments which you may see fit to make. 
 Yours truly, 
 
 T. TJ. Webb. 
 
 REPLY. 
 
 My De,yr Sir : You have started rather a good 
 idea — one very fruitful in its development. In order 
 to give it logical scope, we must further stipulate 
 that, whenever two nations engage in war, they 
 shall use cornstalk swords, and never fire balls made 
 of any harder substance than hasty pudding — that 
 no man who " pitches into " one who has offended him 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM:. 
 
 shall do so till he has first covered his fists at least 
 a foot deep with light cotton batting — that any one 
 who gets the better of his neighbor in a bargain 
 shall be careful not to make more than live dollars 
 out of him — that no lady meditating matrimony 
 shall understate her age beyond the term of twenty- 
 four calendar months — and various kindred safe- 
 guards against evil consequences, whereof the mere 
 mention would fatigue the general reader. 
 
 Knowest thou not, O, Webb! that this, into which 
 we have been precipitated, is a right earnest world, 
 wherein we must battle with obstacles as we meet 
 them, hardly finding opportunity to boil the peas that 
 from time to time drop into our boots, much less 
 making asses of ourselves by insisting that all peas 
 shall be grown ready boiled? For Nature has other 
 ways of her own, and is quite as stubborn with 
 regard to them as we are, being at the same time a 
 trifle the stronger. 
 
 Parties do not make nor choose the political or 
 other topics whereon mankind shall from time to 
 time be arrayed in antagonism to each o.her — these 
 grow irresistibly out of the progress of our race 
 — or rathei-, they are divine instrumentalities looking 
 to the gravest and most benignant ends. Many an 
 honest, good-hearted Tory in our Revolutionary age 
 n there wen' as good men on, the Tory side as 
 on the other) thought it a great mistake that people 
 did not go on righting Indians, clearing up forests, 
 catching fish and growing tobacco as of old, and let 
 
5 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 the King and Ministry govern as they thought best. 
 They would have dearly liked some regulation 
 whereby everybody should be constrained to pay 
 whatever taxes Parliament might see fit to impose, 
 and make no fuss about it — but you see that could 
 not be. 
 
 You cannot frame a tariff, nor build a Pacific 
 Railroad, nor (through the action of Congress) 
 improve a River, nor clear out a Harbor, nor do 
 anything else of the least moment, that does not 
 seriously affect private interests, and so interfere, 
 in some measure, with the Rights of Property. If 
 you undertake, by regulating the sale of intoxicating 
 liquors, to check by law the ravages of Drunken- 
 ness, you conflict materially with what are called 
 Rights of Property ; if you insist that loafers shall 
 not play ball too noisily under church windows 
 during Sabbath services, you are held to interfere 
 with their Rights of Conscience. In short, O, 
 Webb! this perverse world, in which you and I find 
 ourselves, has not been got up on the principles 
 which would have insured to it social tranquillity 
 (but I think at grave cost) had you created it, and 
 there is no course open to us but to take things as 
 they are and try to make the best of them. Which 
 is the course earnestly recommended to you by 
 
 Yours, &c, <fcc, 
 
 Ed, Tribune. 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTY1SM, 9 
 
 REJOINDER. 
 
 To the Editor of the X. Y. Tribune : 
 
 Dear Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge 
 the receipt of your reply to my communication of 
 April 2d. 
 
 You seem to have misconceived the purpose of 
 my note, and the spirit in which it was written. I 
 was merely trying to pour a little oil on the mad 
 waters into which the nation was being plunged ; 
 not seeking to make it appear that the Republican 
 party was responsible for the trouble that has come 
 upon US. 
 
 Were I of that class wmose faith and works are 
 the opposite of yours, it would not be difficult for 
 me to find in your reply, together with much that 
 has appearel in the Tribune of late years, ample 
 ground to justify the inference that you have been 
 a little more willing to accept, than anxious to avoid, 
 a civil war. But I will not judge you so unchar- 
 itably. I will ascribe to partisan enmity and political 
 prejudice what your enemies have imputed to baser 
 motives. 
 
 The compliment you have paid me at the outset 
 of your remarks, I can reciprocate without flattery. 
 You, likewise, have put forth not only one, but 
 several good ideas; and expressed them in a manner 
 that fully sustains your reputation. The idea of 
 two nations engaged in war, using cornstalk swords, 
 and firing: balls made of no harder substance than 
 
10 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYISM. 
 
 hasty pudding, is equal to some of the best in Gul- 
 liver's Travels. The allusion to the Tories in our 
 Revolutionary age, is another good thought, cleverly 
 written out, and will be likely to exert a "healthy " 
 influence on some of their descendants, who may 
 have inherited the weakness of their forefathers- 
 Covering a man's fists a foot deep with light cotton 
 batting before he pitches into one who has offended 
 him, is so closely allied to the gloves and practice of the 
 pugilist that it seems to lack dignity and originality. 
 
 Perhaps the most objectionable passage in your 
 reply is that wherein reference is had to a lady 
 meditating matrimony, and a man getting the better 
 of his neighbor in a bargain. Here you appear to 
 have exposed yourself to criticism. Your language 
 would seem to imply an elasticity of conscience, a 
 sliding scale of morality, which I was not prepared 
 to see exhibited by the Editor of the Tribune. If 
 a lady meditating matrimony may understate her 
 age without violating any of the moral principles 
 laid down in the Decalogue, why should she be lim- 
 ited to the term of twenty-four calendar months? 
 If, by understating her age forty-eight or seventy- 
 two calendar months, instead of twenty-four, she 
 would thereby be more likely to succeed in attaining 
 the object of her desires, why not grant her the 
 requisite indulgence? And if she may deceive her 
 lover or her betrothed in regard to her age, why 
 may she not, with equal propriety and innocence, 
 deceive him in other things ? 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. ll 
 
 Again, if a man may get the better of his neigh- 
 bor in a bargain without going counter to the 
 precepts of Christianity, why should his cupidity 
 and shrewdness be restricted to the paltry sum of 
 five dollars? Why not let him "make a good tiling 
 of it," and get the better of his neighbor — if he 
 can — to the amount of ten, fifteen, or twenty 
 dollars ; and so on ad libitum f 
 
 An experience of nearly half a century, on this 
 mundane sphere, has convinced me that it is in 
 truth, a right earnest world. Especially this part 
 of it. Here, the great irrepressible conflict is waged 
 on a scale, and with a method and constancy, that 
 have no parallel in any age or country. Here, the 
 wheel of fortune revolves with a rapidity that fre- 
 quently turns the brain. He that was down yes- 
 terday, may be up to-day ; and he that is up to-day, 
 may be down to-morrow. Here, it is push push, 
 push along keep moving; and woe unto him that 
 is not endowed with good propelling power. Here, 
 whoever would make a noise in the world, must 
 blow his own trumpet — but whither am I drifting? 
 
 One word about vegetables. If I am not mis- 
 informed, you have accumulated a respectable 
 quantity of that which enables one to make the 
 journey of life with his boots comparatively free 
 of hard peas. I do not envy your good fortune. 
 You have earned it by a life of industry and tact 
 in the practice of your profession, and have a right 
 to enjoy it. But had the Rebellion been the means 
 
12 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 of cutting off your business resources, and reducing 
 you and your family to indigent circumstances, per- 
 haps you would be better prepared to appreciate 
 the condition of those who have experienced a 
 similar fate. 
 
 With regard to "making assess of ourselves," 
 I have only to say, in conclusion, that if you will 
 agree not to make an ass of yourself by needlessly 
 increasing the number of hard peas, I will agree 
 not to make an ass of myself by insisting that all 
 peas shall be grown ready boiled. 
 
 Respecfully yours, 
 
 T. U. Webb. 
 
 THE SOLEMNITY, AND THE NEEDS OF 
 THE HOUR. 
 
 June 11th, 1861. 
 A few weeks ago, the commercial metropolis of 
 our country was visited by a young man in the 
 bloom and vigor of manhood ; of uncommonly pre- 
 possessing personal appearance, and the idol of a 
 large circle of friends. The purpose of his visit 
 was to enlist a military company ; to aid in pro- 
 tecting our Government, and defending the city of 
 Washington; the inhabitants of which, he said, 
 were placed upon a volcano. 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 13 
 
 Having organized his regiment, the young man 
 returned with it to Washington, and fell a martyr 
 to his country's cause, and to his own self-sacri- 
 ficing devotion to that cause. His body sleeps the 
 sleep of death. His spirit has doubtless gone to 
 commune with the spirits of the men who fell at 
 Bunker Hill. 
 
 This whole Nation is now placed upon a volcano ; 
 which has been giving out all the premonitory 
 tokens of an extensive and overwhelming eruption. 
 True, there is at this moment a comparative lull in 
 the war of elements ; but it is the calm that fore- 
 runs the convulsion ; the stillness which precedes 
 the last struggle of expiring nature. 
 
 Such being our condition, can we not be better 
 employed than wrangling about who shall .have the 
 place made vacant by the untimely decease of the 
 lamented Douglas, and contending about who shall 
 be Speaker of the next Congress? Are we so 
 accustomed to acting the part of political gladiators 
 that we must needs continue our petty quarrels 
 while the Nation is bleeding at every pore, and 
 writhing in the agony of attempted suicide ? Is 
 this the part of wise men and patriots? Are we 
 proving ourselves worthy custodians of a political 
 heritage fraught with so many blessings, an4 pur- 
 chased at the expense of so much precious blood 
 and treasure ? 
 
 Shade of Washington, of Warren, of Hancock, 
 
14 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAETYISM. 
 
 of Adam?, of Jefferson, of Jackson, of Webster, 
 and of Cla} T ! come back and awaken your country- 
 men to a just sense of their danger and their duty ! 
 
 A BRIEF POLITICAL SERMON. 
 
 June 16th, 1861. 
 
 When Nations become degenerate and corrupt, 
 like individuals, they need to be regenerated or 
 born again. If a man wax fat, and kick, he requires 
 chastening. Nothing does this more effectually 
 than a few lessons in the school of adversity. 
 This People having waxed fat, and kicked, are 
 being chastened. They are in the furnace of 
 affliction ; and ere long, I trust, will be on the stool 
 of repentance ; when we may look for reformation. 
 
 The germ of the disease, which has at length 
 reached the vitals of the Nation, was implanted in 
 our system. It has grown with our growth, and 
 strengthened with our strength, until the antago- 
 nism has become so deadly there must be a life- 
 and-death struggle between us and the disease. 
 
 Our Constitution being good, I trust we shall 
 outlive the malady, and be born again. 
 
 I hope, and fervently pray, that one of the first 
 effects of the new birth may be a purification of 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 15 
 
 the " pool of polities ; " so that honest men and 
 christians may " dabble " in it, if they choose, 
 without getting- "dirty." 
 
 For many years we have been more or less the 
 tools and prey of political gamblers; who have made 
 the Government and its emoluments the stake for 
 which they have played. Hence, those who could 
 not take part in the gambling, have had but a small 
 share of the winnings. 
 
 But I trust a new era will yet dawn upon us; 
 when the people, after being sufficiently ground 
 between the upper and the net her millstone, will 
 see and feel the necessity of employing men to 
 wield the machinery of government who have 
 some higher aim than a mere desire to enjoy the 
 " spoils,' 1 and be "dressed in a little brief authority." 
 God speed the day ! 
 
 A SUGGESTION TO SLAVEHOLDIXG 
 
 SECESSIONISTS. 
 
 June 30th, 1861. 
 To ihe Editor of the Charleston Mcrcvry. 
 
 Dear Sir : Will you permit me to tell you and 
 your readers what I would do if I were a secession- 
 ist and a slaveholder? Instead of trying to break 
 up this Union and Government, I would go to South 
 America, seek some healthful and productive region 
 wherein slavery is tolorated, purchase as much land 
 
16 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTTISM. 
 
 as I had the means to cultivate successfully, remove 
 thither with my family and slaves, and try to per- 
 suade my secession friends and relatives to do like- 
 wise. 
 
 OUR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. 
 
 July 22d, 1861. 
 To the Officeholder!, Ojficeseekers, Politicians, and Editors of Poli- 
 tical Journals in the United States. 
 
 Gentlemen: The interests and destiny of this 
 Nation are measurably in your hands, and under youi 
 control. Are you duly sensible of the momentous 
 obligations and responsibilities which rest upon you 
 at this fearful juncture of our public aff.irs? 
 
 If so, are you endeavoring to meet these obliga- 
 tions and responsiblities in a manner befitting their 
 solemnity, importance, and magnitude ? 
 
 Heretofore, the battles you have waged have been 
 comparatively bloodless ; and although the mode and 
 spirit in which you have conducted thQ warfare have 
 had a very pernicious influence upon the manners 
 and morals of the people, yet their material interests, 
 in the aggregate, have suffered no lasting, irrepar- 
 able detriment. 
 
 Now, the scene is changed. From a conflict of 
 opinion, interest, and passion, we have passed to a 
 conflict of arms ; from a war of words, to a war of 
 blows ; involving the destruction of human life, and 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTY1SM. 17 
 
 the dearest ties that bind society together. That 
 greatest scourge of nations, with its countless evils, 
 and untold atrocities, has come upon us. K"o Mexi- 
 can or Briton confront us now. Our foes are the 
 descendants of men who fought shoulder to shoul- 
 der with our fathers, in the great struggle which 
 achieved our national independence, and laid the foun- 
 dation of the Republic. 
 
 It is our fate to behold what the great American 
 Statesman and orator prayed he might not live to 
 see. " A once glorious Union broken into dishon- 
 ored fragments ; States dissevered, discordant, bellig- 
 erent ; a land rent with civil feuds ; and drenched in 
 fraternal blood." 
 
 People ! do you realize the vast change in the 
 condition of our country, and the consequent neces- 
 sity for a change in your habits ? 
 
 Lovers and servers of Party ! let me assure you 
 the only party which the country nee Is in this dark 
 hour of trial and disaster is a party of pure patriots, 
 and upright statesmen. 
 
 Officeholders! while you are enjoying the honors 
 and emoluments of your position, large numbers of 
 your countrymen are being reduced to bankruptcy and 
 ruin. Many a husband and father, who, a few short 
 months ago, were in the possession of everything 
 essential to the enjoyment of earthly happiness, are 
 now passing sleepless nights and anxious days think- 
 ing how they may pay their debts, and keep their 
 families from poverty and destitution, 
 
18 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTY1SM. 
 
 Republicans ! bear in mind that the cardinal prin- 
 ciple on which you fought your way into power 
 implies that you have a higher sense of right and 
 wrong than they who opposed you; but do not, I 
 adjure you, let the operation of this sense be limited 
 to considering the African's wrongs. 
 
 Soldiers! lemember that you live in the nine- 
 teenth century of the Christian era ; and that you 
 are fighting t^ save the Republic founded by Wash- 
 ington, Franklin, Hamilton, and their compeers. 
 
 THE RULING PASSION STOXG IN 
 DEATH. 
 
 August 20th, 1861. 
 
 I perceive that many of our people are still 
 calling and holding Republican, Democratic and 
 Bell-Everett meetings and conventions. 
 
 As an American citizen, deeply interested in 
 what is now transpiring in our country, I would 
 respectfully ask, For what purpose are these meet- 
 ings and conventions being called and held? 
 
 Are we to have Republican, Democratic, and Bell- 
 Everett brigades and divisions in our armyf If 
 so, I greatly fear the disaster at Bull Ran will 
 never be retrieved. In our political battles, ex- 
 cepting the last, wherein the people of the South 
 were purposely divided, they have generally 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYISM. 19 
 
 >eaten us because of their unity, aud our division. 
 Shall like cauces produce like results in our military 
 >attles ? Are we of that class who will not learn, 
 Even in the school of experience? 
 
 The Republic is in the agony of dissolution ; 
 icarly half its columns have been wrested from 
 heir place; thousands of lives and millions of 
 noney have been spent in trying to restore them ; 
 r et a portion of our people continue to pull the 
 vires and work the machinery of party, as though 
 here were nothing to fight for but the " spoils." 
 >uly, the ruling passion is strong in death. 
 
 Must we go down with the words Party, Re- 
 publican^ Democrat, and Abolitionist, ringing in our 
 are ? 
 
 AN APPEAL FOR UNANIMITY. 
 
 December 7th, 1861. 
 
 I desire to address a few thoughts to those who 
 rould have the Government emancipate and arm 
 he slaves in the revolted States. 
 
 A little more than a year ago, we were passing 
 hrougk a violent political conflict ; in which the 
 ombatants were divided mainly into two parties, 
 espectively styled Republicans and Democrats, 
 'he former had published to the world that the 
 wading object for which they were contending, was 
 
20 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PABTYISM. 
 
 to confine Slavery within its present limits ; but 
 not to interfere with it where it was already estab- 
 lished by virtue of local law. The principal aim 
 of the Democratic party seemed to be to oppose 
 the Republicans; and among the most effective 
 and frequently used weapons employed by them 
 for this purpose, was the charge that the Repuli- 
 cans were Abolitionists ; and that they wished to 
 use the power of the Government to abolish slavery. 
 The contest resulted in favor of the Republicans; 
 whereupon, a portion of the people residing in the 
 slaveholding States openly declared they would not 
 submit to a Republican administration of the 
 Government ; and immediately set about making 
 preparations to cast off their allegiance, and estab- 
 lish a separate independent government for them- 
 selves. The Chief Executive officer of the Nation 
 having constitutional scruples with regard to the 
 propriety of interfering in the quarrel, and the 
 Democrats of the North continuing to rail at their 
 successful rivals, the Revolutionists, meeting with 
 no serious resistance, made rapid and fearful head- 
 way. So alarming had the state of tilings become 
 at the close of the late Administration, that the 
 friends of the President elect, fearing he was in 
 danger of being assassinated, deemed it prudent to 
 call out a strong military force to protect him, and 
 preserve order during his Inauguration. 
 
 Thus rapidly were we drifting into the nuelstrom 
 of anarchy, when the Nation was electrified with 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAETYISM. 21 
 
 the intelligence that Fort Sumter was being born 
 barded. Immediately the dormant patriotism of 
 our Democratic brethren in the North " sprang 
 into newness of life;" and when our new Com- 
 mander called for help to suppress the mutiny, they 
 responded nobly to the call. From that day to the 
 present they have continued to swell the ranks of 
 our army ; to spend and be spent in the defense of 
 their country and Government. Of the six hundred 
 thousand men now in the field, I presume it is safe 
 to conclude that one-half are Democrats ; who, fifteen 
 months ago, were bitterly opposed to the immediate 
 abolition of slavery ; and to everything tending to 
 remove the social and political distinction between 
 the two races. Think you these men have so far 
 conquered their prejudices as to be willing to fight 
 side by side with emancipated slaves, or engage 
 heartily in the work of prosecuting the war for the 
 abolition of slaver} 7- ? Would it be wise, generous, 
 or just, to make them the unwilling instruments to 
 Barry out a policy which they have heretofore 
 opposed so strongly? 
 
 Countrymen ! ye who make it your vocation to 
 cater to the prejudices and appetites of your 
 readers and hearers! ye who fan the flames and 
 add fuel to the awful conflagration that is consuming 
 lis ! ye who trim your sails to catch the breeze of 
 every popular clamor ! can you not distinguish be- 
 tween a civil war and a political campaign? Is 
 your love of gain and your desire for self-aggrand- 
 
22 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISil. 
 
 izement so strong that you will trifle with the 
 destiny of your country in a crisis like this, for the 
 sake of a little short-lived popularity, or a few 
 dollars and cents? If you would have this fiend- 
 ish conflict brought to a speedyj conclusion ; if you 
 would not have it protracted until every household 
 in the land shall be shrouded in gloom for the loss 
 of some one of its loved members; if you would 
 not have the people of the two sections worry and 
 tear each other until both parties shall be compelled 
 to desist, from sheer exhaustion, like two dogs 
 equally matched in strength and ferocity ; if you 
 would not have them fight until they shall stand 
 aghast at the havoc and devastation which their 
 own hands have committed; if you would have 
 the horrors, the carnage, and desolation of this 
 bloody struggle confined to the States in which it 
 originated; if you would not' give aid and comfort 
 to the foes we are combating; if you would not 
 extinguish the last ray of hope in the hearts of 
 those noble men who have sundered the ties of 
 blood and kindred, and in the midst of treason, 
 treachery, and persecution, have clung to the flag 
 of their country, and labored so earnestly and 
 efficiently in behalf of our cause; I implore you 
 in the name of all that is good, great, and sacred, 
 to abstain from agitating and discussing those 
 questions and subjects which tend to excite divis- 
 ion and discord among the friends of the Union. 
 We need to be united in thought, feeling, and 
 purpose, A portion of those who were once our 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PATTTYISM. 23 
 
 political brethren have determined to pull down 
 and destroy the fair fabric reared for us and them 
 by our fathers. It is our duty to uphold and pre- 
 serve it. Let us go forward in the work with an 
 eye single to this great end; and see that we fall 
 not out by the way. Let us prosecute the war to 
 suppress the Rebellion, and restore the integrity of 
 the Republic. If we do this with all our energy 
 and resources, be assured, slavery will abolish 
 itself quite as fast as we are prepared for it. 
 
 And while we are providing for and disposing of 
 the slaves, let us do this in such a manner as will 
 meet the approval of our own conscience, and 
 least conflict with the prejudice of those who were 
 once our political opponents, but now helping us 
 fight the battles of our country. 
 
 Finally, let us remember that we are engaged in 
 a war in which fathers are fighting against sons, 
 sons against fathers, and brothers against brothers; 
 that human nature and human passions are pretty 
 much the same now as they were in the days of 
 Robespierre, Danton, and Marat. 
 
24 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT'S INJUNCTION OBEYED. 
 
 January 30th, 1862. 
 
 In obedience to the injunction of our President, 
 in his Inaugural Address, I, as one of his country- 
 men, have endeavored to "think calmly and well 
 on the whole subject" of our national troubles — 
 their causes and consequences. My reflections, with 
 my reading, observation, and experience, have im- 
 pressed me with the conviction that one of the 
 greatest blessings which the Almighty could confer 
 upon this nation at the present time, would be to 
 take from us and our foes every dollar of money 
 which we and they 'possess, and deprive us and 
 them of all power to make or get more for a third 
 of a century. 
 
 This would place us in a condition which, in 
 my judgment, would be most favorable to a 
 speedy reconcilement of our differences, and a re- 
 turn to peace and happiness. 
 
 REASONS FOR NOT BEING IN FAYOR OF 
 ABOLISHING SLAYERY BY MILITARY 
 POWER. 
 
 February loth, 1862. 
 Having done what I could, in my humble way, 
 to promote the success and sustain the credit of 
 the Republican party, from its inception up to the 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PABTYISM. 25 
 
 present, I wish to state my reasons for declining to 
 co-operate with that wing of the party which is 
 apparently seeking to make the extinction of sla- 
 very the paramount object of the war, on the part 
 of the Government. 
 
 I. It would be likely to drive from us all our 
 (white) friends in the revolted States, and nearly 
 half of those in the loyal States. 
 
 II. It would place us in great danger of having 
 the seat of war transferred from the slaveholding 
 to the free States. 
 
 III. It would be likely to plunge us into a state 
 of anarchy, such as the world has never seen; from 
 which we could be relieved only by a military 
 Despotism. 
 
 IV. It would make fighting the chief business 
 of the nation. 
 
 V. It would make us an easy prey to foreign 
 Powers. 
 
 VI. If we should succeed in conquering the 
 people of the slave-holding States, it would compel 
 us to keep them in a state of vassalage more humil- 
 iating and degrading than that of their own slaves ; 
 thereby converting our Government into a mon- 
 archy; or a hybrid between a Republic and a 
 Despotism. 
 
 VII. It would be likely to make the condition 
 of large numbers of the slaves worse than it is at 
 present. 
 
26 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYISM. 
 
 VIII. It would verify the statements and pre- 
 dictions of those who opposed the Republican 
 party. 
 
 A PARABLE 
 
 NOT FOUND IN ANY OP THE BOOKS OF THE OLD OR 
 NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 March 3d, 1862. 
 
 And it came to pass in the days of Elijah the 
 Tishbite, that the sons of Reuben the Hittite took 
 unto them wives and went into a far country and 
 settled. 
 
 And God prospered the sons of Reuben the Hit- 
 tite, and blest the land wherein they dwelt; insomuch 
 that they became a mighty Nation. 
 
 When their fathers had gone the way of all the 
 earth, the children of the sons of Reuben the Hit- 
 tite said, " We are wiser than our fathers :" and they 
 quarreled among themselves. 
 
 And the Lord sent a great scourge upon them, 
 which laid waste their fields and their cities, and 
 destroyed many thousand lives. 
 
 And the people being sorely smitten, said unto 
 their rulers, "Can't you work for lower wages?" 
 
 And the rulers said unto the people, "Go to, we 
 love you dearly ; and we love our beautiful country, 
 and glorious Government." 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYIKM. 2 7 
 
 After many days, when the fat of the land had 
 been consumed, and the sorrows and burdens of 
 the people began to press heavily upon them, the 
 people again said unto their rulers, " Can't you work 
 for lower wages ? " 
 
 And the rulers again said unto the people, " Go to, 
 we love you dearly; and we love our beautiful 
 country, and glorious Government.'' 
 
 ANOTHER POLITICAL SERMON. 
 
 March 12th. 1862. 
 
 With the close of the civil war now raging in 
 our country, we shall doubtless have turned over 
 a new leaf in our National history. God grant 
 that the record on the next page may be cleaner 
 and purer than that on the last. 
 
 As a Nation we have much to regret, as well as 
 much to be proud of. We have cause to be proud 
 of our origin ; of the wisdom, sagacity, and heroic 
 deeds of our fathers ; of the beneficent Govern- 
 ment which they framed ; of our unparalleled 
 prosperity ; of the general intelligence of our 
 people ; of the favored clime in which our lot 
 has been cast ; but, alas ! we are not what we were. 
 
 Love of money, and the desire to be " dressed 
 in a little brief authority," being two of the 
 strongest passions of human nature, I presume 
 that in all countries where the people choose thier 
 
28 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAETYISM. 
 
 rulers, there will be parties contending with each 
 other for the privilege of managing the public 
 affairs, and enjoying the money of the nation, 
 vulgarly called the " spoils." 
 
 History teaches us that the feuds and animosities 
 engendered by this contention for power and pelf 
 between large bodies of men, are the rocks upon 
 which the ship of state, in a Republic, is most likely 
 to split. It would seem, therefore, to be the part 
 of wisdom and exalted statesmanship to endeavor 
 to soften the asperities, and mitigate the evils, re- 
 sulting from this incessant partisan warfare. Such 
 appears to have been the view entertained by our 
 most eminent statesmen, for, from the formation 
 of the Government up to a recent period, whenever 
 our gallant ship got into troubled waters, there 
 were men on board who could " take her latitude " 
 in the darkest weather, and pilot her safely through 
 the impending danger. Two of the last and no- 
 blest specimens of this class of men passed from 
 among us about nine years ago ; having worn 
 themselves out in helping to work the ship through 
 one of the most fearful storms which she ever en- 
 countered. The one had prayed that he might not 
 live to see his country " rent with civil feuds and 
 drenched in fraternal blood." God granted his 
 prayer. The other was spared the pain of Beeing 
 his beloved State made the held of deadly strife 
 between his friends and neighbors. Peace to the 
 ashes, and honor to the memory, of these departed 
 patriots. We ne'er shall see their like again. 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISil. 20 
 
 Scarcely had the earth time to settle, and the 
 turf become green, over the graves of these men, 
 when the demon of ^discord seems to have been 
 let loose amongst us ; for, ever since, we have been 
 snarling and] snapping* at each other like cats and 
 dogs, until at j-last 'we^lhave got to shooting each 
 other down by thousands. 
 
 Parties, then, being inseparable from^a Republican 
 Government, I would respectfully suggest that we 
 endeavor to organize them hereafter on such prin- 
 ciples as will not bring' into violent collision the 
 Rights of Conscience in one half of the Nation, and 
 the Rights of Property [in the other half. Upon 
 these two great interests, mankind, in all ages 
 and countries, ; has ever been extremely sensitive 
 and tenacious. Men have suffered martyrdom 
 rather than violate their] conscientious convictions ; 
 likewise, they have died in resisting what they 
 deemed encroachments upon their rights of prop- 
 erty. The bloody and desolating wars between the 
 Catholics and Protestants originated from causes 
 somewhat similar to^those which have brought on 
 our civil war. 
 
 If I can get a second, I will propose that we 
 try to form a party, having for its objects: 
 
 First, The promotion of truth and justice, intel- 
 ligence and virtue. 
 
 Second, An amendment to our national Consti- 
 tution which will make the President eligible by 
 the votes of the peoj>le alone; limit the number 
 
30 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 of candidates for the Presidency at each electioi 
 to two; and provide .for a choice of candidates a 
 follows : 
 
 About four or five months previous to th 
 time of holding a Presidential election, let th 
 people meet at their usual place of voting an* 
 vote for their favorites; when these votes are al 
 polled and canvassed throughout the Unite' 
 States, let those two men representing opposin 
 principles and parties, and having the highes 
 number of votes in their favor, be the candidate 
 for the Presidency ; and in like manner select fror 
 the rest the candidates for the Vice Presidency 
 This method of choosing candidates and electin 
 a President would supersede the necessity of 
 National Convention, wherein the people sometime! 
 have no voice nor choice in selecting candidate; 
 and prevent a recurrence of the dilemma and en 
 barrassment resulting from the election of 
 President by a minority of the people. 
 
 ^k. 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 31 
 
 'HE PARTY SPIRIT IN THE NORTH MORE 
 DIFFICULT TO SUBDUE THAN THE RE- 
 BELLION IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 April 7th, 1862, 
 'o the Editor of the Chicago Evening Journal : 
 
 Dear Sir : I sympathize with you in your " re- 
 ret " that party spirit should continue so rampant 
 rhile the nation is in such great peril and deep 
 Erliction. Ever since it became apparent that a 
 Elision of arms between the people of the two 
 actions of our country was inevitable, I have ex- 
 ited what little ability God has given me in 
 •yiug to induce my countrymen to cease their 
 arty bickering. Bat I am almost ready to give 
 p in despair, being forced to the melancholy con* 
 [usion that it will be far easier to conquer the 
 Rebels of the South than to subdue the party spirit 
 f the North. I can see no remedy for this great 
 vil but in a miraculous interposition of Divine 
 ^rovidence. 
 
 How strange that, while our brethren of all po- 
 tal parties and creeds are in the field, fighting 
 ide by side to suppress the Rebellion, and restore 
 he Union, those who remain at home should per- 
 ist in the manifestation of that spirit and feeling 
 thich brought upon us our heavy calamities. 
 Vhile one portion of our people are pouring out 
 heir blood to extinguish the fire that is consuming 
 is, another portion are equally sedulous in adding 
 
82 PATBIOTISM WITHOUT PAETYISM. 
 
 fuel to the flames. While one man tells the people 
 of the South that we do not wish to interfere with 
 their slave property, another says that, " next to 
 the labors of William Lloyd Garrison, he deems 
 the labors of John Brown more valuable to the 
 country than those of any other American ! " 
 
 THE BALANCE OF POWER Itf A REPUBLIC. 
 
 April 15th, 1862. 
 There is probably no form of government in 
 use among civilized nations wherein the tendency 
 to rebellion, and the facilities for promoting it, are 
 so great as in that of a Republic embracing a wide 
 extent of territory divided into departments or 
 States, each having its own local government, 
 separate and distinct from that of the whole. For 
 the convenience of illustration, the two great 
 powers or forces of the social and political systems 
 in a Republic of this character may be compared 
 to those of the solar system; the State govern- 
 ments representing the centrifugal, and the General 
 government the centripetal 'power of the political 
 system. In the social system, the centrifugal power 
 may be said to reside in that large class of persons 
 consisting of office-holders, office-seekers, politicians, 
 and editors of political journals; those not in- 
 cluded in this class may be supposed to constitute 
 the centripetal power. The latter naturally inclines 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 33 
 
 to a state of rest or tranquillity : the centrifugal 
 delights in motion and excitement; hence, avails 
 itself of every expedient and occasion to keep 
 the centripetal stirred up. 
 
 The centrifugal power may be subdivided into 
 the u ins" and the ''outs." Between the "ins" 
 and the "outs," on all subjects relating to political 
 affairs, there has existed from time immemorial an 
 inveterate antipathy. Whatever the "ins" may 
 do or propose to do, the "outs" hardly ever fail 
 to condemn and oppose it. Consequently, when- 
 ever the political affairs of a confederate Republic 
 are so managed as to throw the entire centrifugal 
 power of a large section among the "outs," and 
 there is a strong sympathy and community of in- 
 terest between them and the entire centripetal 
 power of the same section, a Rebellion and civil 
 war will be likely to ensue. 
 
 THE SLAVERY OF PARTY. 
 
 May 28th, 1862. 
 We have seen much, and heard more, of the evils 
 of African slavery, as it exists in our country; but 
 there is a slavery prevailing among us which, in 
 my estimation, is almost, if not quite, as prejudicial 
 to the best interests of the Nation, as the bondage 
 of the black man. 
 
34 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 The latter is limited (at present) to about four 
 millions of human beings, and confined to about 
 one-fourth of the territory embraced in the Republic. 
 The other is restricted to no lines of latitude or 
 longitude; but extends from ocean to ocean, and 
 from the Aroostook to the Rio Grande; from the 
 pine forests of Maine and Minnesota, to the ever- 
 glades of Florida, and the chapparal of Texas and 
 Arizona. No class, no color, no station, is exempt 
 from its influence. Its chains are felt alike by the 
 occilpnnt of the White House, and the humble 
 dweller in the log cabin of the far West. The 
 manner in which it operates, and the effects which 
 it produces, are various and multiform. It distorts 
 the vision, contracts the view, warps the judgment, 
 and makes the whole man one-sided. It has alien- 
 ated friends, divided families, broken up churches, 
 and torn society into fragments. It has set brother 
 to warring against brother, son against father, and 
 father against son. It has caused our public men 
 to degenerate from a race of enlightened, liberal, 
 courteous, and dignified Statesmen, into a race of 
 quarrelsome politicians, and greedy spoilsmen. It 
 has converted our halls of legislation into arenas 
 for the exhibition of spleen, passion, and gladiato- 
 rial combats. It has perverted our public journals 
 from being — what they should be — the hand-maids 
 of truth, justice, and intelligence, into vehicles of 
 slander, abuse, and misrepresentation. It has impelled 
 men to magnify the sins and errors of one-half their 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT FARTY1SM. 35 
 
 countrymen, and wink at the iniquities and trans- 
 gressions of the other half; to revile and traduce 
 one class of their fellow-citizens, and pander to the 
 passions and prejudices of another class. It has 
 frequently excluded our best men from office, and 
 put in our worst. It has withheld from a Webster 
 and a Clay the honors which they earned so nobly, 
 and bestowed them upon men who were greatly 
 their inferiors. 
 
 Its galling yoke must be worn, its humiliating 
 requirements must be rigidly and vociferously com- 
 plied with, by all who would exercise any influence 
 in puulic affairs, or enjoy the slightest morsel of the 
 "spoils." 
 
 To the enslaved black man there may come a 
 year of Jubilee ; for the victims of this other form 
 of servitude there would seem to be no hope of 
 relief but the Millennium. 
 
 Reader, would you know the name of this species 
 of slavery? It is the slavery of party ; and the 
 bigotry of political opinion. 
 
36 PATRIOTISM WITHUUT PARTYISM. 
 
 A NEW IDEA. 
 
 May 12th, 1863. 
 Eureka ! After long and anxious reflection, I 
 have arrived at the conclusion that the best way 
 to effect a permanent adjustment of our national 
 difficulties, and re-establish our Government on a 
 firm basis, would be to divide the people into two 
 parties; make the number of each as nearly equal 
 as possible in every State, Territory, County, and 
 election precinct, throughout the Republic; assign 
 to each party an equal share of office-holders, 
 office-seekers, politicians, and editors of political 
 journals; then make it the organic law of the 
 Nation that no office in the Government, from that 
 of President down to that of a Town Constable or 
 country Squire, could be filled for two consecutive 
 terms by a member of the same party. In other 
 words, whenever any officeholder's term of office 
 expired, let his successor be chosen from the opposite 
 party. This would equalize the distribution of the 
 "spoils;" moderate the rancor of party strife; and 
 stimulate our public men to work for their country 
 and the whole people, instead of a party. Who 
 will help to set this ball in motion, and thereby 
 hasten the political Millennium? 
 
 ~^S$5tS?^ 
 
PATK10TISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 37 
 
 ANOTHER APPEAL FOR UNANIMITY. 
 
 July 30th, 1862. 
 
 It has been affirmed by one whose judgment and 
 patriotism are entitled to high respect, that the 
 Union, if restored at all, must be restored as it was. 
 To restore the Union as it was in the palmy days 
 of the Republic, when our Senators and members 
 of Congress could discuss questions ot public policy 
 and express their differences of opinion and feeling 
 in a manner befitting their high position, and the 
 great interests entrusted to their charge, " would 
 be a consummation devoutly to be wished ; " to effect 
 which, the little that remains of one poor life would 
 be willingly sacrificed. 
 
 But to restore the anion as it was, we must "make 
 that not to be which has been." We must call back 
 the departed spirits, reanimate the lifeless forms, of 
 those who have fallen in this demoniac strife. 
 
 We must replace the amputated limbs, and repair 
 the shattered frames, of its living victims ; silence 
 the wail of widows and orphans, the shrieks and 
 groans of the wounded and dying; and root out 
 from the hearts of a maddened people the bitter 
 hate, the fiendish malice, begotten by this inhuman 
 conflict. Without the power to perform these mir- 
 acles, it were vain to talk of restoring the Union 
 as it was. We might almost as well think of re- 
 storing the entombed cities of Herculaneum and 
 Pompeii as they were. 
 
 
38 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 Scarcely more feasible, in my view, Jwould be 
 the attempt to separate, and form ourselves into 
 distinct Nationalities. For, God and Nature have so 
 arranged our country — at least that portion which 
 lies east of the Rocky Mountains — that it would 
 seem to be our manifest destiny to live together as 
 one people, whether our Government be a Republic, 
 a Monarchy, or a Despotism. 
 
 What, then, shall we do to suppress the eruption 
 from this volcano of human passion which is deso- 
 1-iting our fair land? How shall we extricate our- 
 selves from the mad vortex in which we are plunged; 
 and escape the still lower depth to which we are- 
 tending? How shall we bring back the halcyon 
 days of peace ? 
 
 Muzzle the Abolitionists, says one. Many of us 
 have been trying to do this for years ; but the more 
 we try to muzzle them the more clamorous they 
 become. Like the ghost of Banquo, they will not 
 down at our bidding. 
 
 Abolish slavery, says another. Abolish slavery ! 
 Undo the work of two centuries ! Annihilate an 
 institution that existed in our country before we 
 were born as a nation ; which had fixed itself so 
 deeply and firmly as to baffle the efforts of the 
 framers of our Government to place it in course of 
 extinction; which has grown with our growth, 
 and strengthened with our strength! Make a 
 sudden and radical change in the life-long social 
 relations and relative position between ten millions 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYISM. 39 
 
 of people on the one hand, and four millions on 
 the other ! Convert men into a belief that that is 
 not property which they have been accustomed all 
 their lives to regard as property ! Eradicate the 
 combined influence of education, habit, and pecuniary 
 interest! Strike the shackles from four millions 
 of Africans diffused over an area of more than 
 700,000 square miles, while ten millions of Anglo 
 Saxons are determined to keep them on! Suddenly 
 elevate four millions of men, women and children 
 from a state of the most abject dependence and 
 degradation, to a position of self-reliance and free- 
 dom from restraint, for which they have not had 
 the slightest preparation ! 
 
 Countrymen! let us not imitate the folly and 
 madness of the Rebels. Let us not lose all by 
 attempting too much. Slavery is dying quite as 
 fast as we are prepared to have it die. Let us not 
 be so eager to hasten its death as to destroy our- 
 selves with it. 
 
 Again the great question recurs, what shall we 
 do to be saved? How shall we re-unite a divided 
 people? How shall we re-establish law and order 
 where anarchy reigns supreme ; and avoid the dire 
 necessity of erecting a military Despotism over 
 the ruins of nearly half the Republic? In the 
 language of the immortal Webster, how shall we 
 reconstruct the fabric of demolished Government ? 
 These are the momentous questions — "big with 
 the fate of empire" — which present themselves 
 
40 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAETYISM. 
 
 for our consideration. Who can answer them? I 
 will not make the attempt with my weak brain 
 and limited attainments. 
 
 There are a few suggestions, however, which I 
 will venture to express. They whom we are 
 fighting are united by the cohesive power of a 
 common interest, and energized by the hope of in- 
 dependence. We are not united, but have our 
 energies weakened, and afford aid and comfort to 
 the Rebels by our differences and dissensions as to 
 what caused the war ; how it should be conducted; 
 and how the Government should be administered. 
 They are consolidated. We are divided into Con- 
 servatives, Republicans, Democrats, and Abolitionists: 
 each faction or party seeking to have the Rebellion 
 suppressed and the unity of the Nation restored in 
 accordance with its own peculiar views and wishes. 
 If it be true that in union there is strength, then 
 the Rebels possess one very important element of 
 success which we lack. 
 
 Americans! descendants of patriot sires ! lovers 
 of freedom ! friends of the Union ! if we would 
 speedily crush the Monster which has risen up to 
 blast the goodly work of our fathers ; if we would 
 preserve what cost them so much to achieve ; if we 
 would perpetuate the xVmerican Republic ; if we 
 womld carry our Government triumphantly through 
 the severe ordeal which has come upon it, and 
 make the great heart of humanity, of civilization, 
 and of progress, beat with a quicker pulse; we 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 41 
 
 must relinquish our partisan views, prejudices 
 and predilections ; bury the animosities of party ; 
 throw overboard our platforms; and work together 
 for our country's good on the broad level of 
 patriotism ; in the spirit of conciliation, concession 
 and compromise. What ! compromise with Traitors 
 and Rebels ? By no means. Compromise with 
 ourselves, with each other, and with the loyal 
 people of the South. Emulate the spirit, and heed 
 the dying admonition, of the departed Douglas. 
 "Sacrifice party upon the altar of country." If 
 we do this, if we will but adopt this spirit and 
 policy, I think I can assure you that our noble 
 ship of state, which has been so long on her beam 
 ends, will right up once more ; her sails again fill, 
 her broad pennant stream out, and be hailed with 
 joy by every lover of freedom throughout the civ- 
 ilized world. 
 
 But if all parties factions and persist in clinging 
 to their respective platforms, and insist upon carry- 
 ing out their peculiar views and principles; if we 
 continue to feed and inflame each other's passions 
 and prejudices; to wrangle and bicker, abuse and 
 misrepresent each other; to irritate, provoke, exas- 
 perate, and "pitch into" one another, as we have 
 been doing for years past; if we have such an 
 itching for notoriety, and cheap distinction, that 
 we cannot refrain from giving utterance to lan- 
 guage and sentiments that shock the nerves and 
 wound the sensibilities of the nation ; if we con- 
 
42 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAPvTYISM. 
 
 tinue to be impatient at the slow progress of the 
 world, and over zealous to make it move faster' 
 I fear the war will continue until the Republic 
 shall have crumbled into chaos. 
 
 Then, tyrants will rejoice and their subjects weep. 
 Then, "Freedom will shriek, and Hope, for a season, 
 bid the world farewell." Then, " bitterer tears will 
 flow than were ever shed over the remains of 
 Grecian or of Roman art," for we shall have de- 
 stroyed "a more glorious edifice than Greece or 
 Rome ever saw." Then, the Genius of Liberty 
 which accompanied our fathers across the ocean, | 
 and cheered and sustained them under their pri- 
 privations and toils, will drop a tear over the 
 tombs of her beloved Washington and his com- 
 patriots, and flee to the Alpine peaks and more 
 congenial atmosphere of the land of William Tell. 
 
 But let us hope for better things. Let us work 
 and pray for the regeneration of our afflicted 
 country; and endeavor to hasten the advent of 
 that auspicious era, when men can be free with- 
 out being licentious ; and when the proud bird 
 of our national ensign, like the fabled Phoenix, risen 
 from its own ashes, with eye un dimmed, and plu- 
 mage unsoiled, shall again spread his protecting | 
 pinions over a peaceful, united, prosperous, and 
 happy people. 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 43 
 
 To Ron. Horace Greeley] Ed. N. Y. Tribune : 
 
 August 26th, 1862. 
 Dear Sir : Presuming that I am one of the twenty 
 millions of people whom you assumed to represent 
 in the prayer which you recently offered up in their 
 behalf, I wish, respectfully and briefly, to set forth 
 my reasons for declining to say amen. 
 
 I. In my judgment, it lacks two of the most 
 essential ingredients of a good prayer ; viz : humility 
 and faith. 
 
 II. I think it violates that commandment which 
 says: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
 neighbor." 
 
 III. It seems to partake of the leaven of the 
 Pharisees; who uttered long prayers in the syna- 
 gogue, and at the street corners, that they might be 
 seen and heard of men. 
 
 IV. It breathes not the spirit of charity ; without 
 which, the apostle Paul assures us, we are " as 
 sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." 
 
 V. You appear to forget that our Government 
 is a Republic ; that the President is not invested with 
 unlimited powers ; and that the people of the loyal 
 States do not all look from the same stand-point ; 
 nor hate the Rebels and their peculiar institution 
 with the same decree of intensity. 
 
 VI. I am one "of those who triumphed in the 
 election " of our present Chief Magistrate ; and 
 " desire the unqualified suppression of the Rebellion 
 now desolating our country." But I am not one of 
 
44 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 those who "are sorely disappointed and deeply 
 pained by the policy he seems to be pursuing with 
 regard to the slaves of Rebels." He has not yet 
 forfeited my confidence, nor my respect. Though 
 I think he has committed errors — among which 
 is the reply to your " prayer " — nevertheless, I will 
 not forsake him, nor judge harshly of his motives; 
 but, so far as I have the ability, will endeavor to 
 strengthen his hand, encourage his heart, and aid 
 him to discharge the momentous duties and respon- 
 sibilities which devolve upon him in this dark hour 
 of national woe and peril. 
 
 A CHANGE OF POLICY AND OF STRATEGY 
 PROPOSED. 
 
 September 18th, 1862. 
 To the loyal people of the American Union: 
 
 Brethren : I address you in behalf of an agonized 
 Republic and a distressed Nation. " Hear me for my 
 cause.' ' 
 
 For nearly eighteen months we have been waging 
 a conflict that has sent probably three hundred thou- 
 sand of our fellow-citizens into eternity; diseased, 
 demoralized, mutilated and crippled a number equally 
 large ; carried grief and mourning into many a house- 
 hold; devastated large districts of our country; and 
 impoverished the nation to an extent that is fright- 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYISM. 45 
 
 ful to contemplate. Notwithstanding these vast 
 sacrifices and severe afflictions, this copious "blood- 
 letting," and this enormous depletion of our finances; 
 and notwithstanding that we have greatly the ad- 
 vantage of our foes, not only in the righteousness 
 of our cause, but also in numbers and resources; with 
 every inlet and outlet of their coast guarded by a 
 Navy that has no"superior, and but few equals; with 
 seven hundred thousand men in the field, of the best 
 blood of the Anglo Saxon race ; well paid, well fed, 
 well clothed, and well armed with the most improved 
 implements of death ; and abundantly supplied with 
 the best munitions of war the world affords; after 
 nearly eighteen month's fighting, the rebellion still 
 rears its Gorgon head more defiantly than ever. 
 
 What, and where, is the malign influence that mars 
 our success, and impedes our progres? Is it the 
 "border State eunuchs ? "* Then let them "slide," 
 and make way for men that are not emasculated. 
 Has the President " not a spark of genius, and no 
 enthusiasm ? " * Let him resign and his place be 
 filled by a man of larger calibre, and more mettle. 
 Are our Generals incompetent, and unfit for their 
 stations? Dismiss them and try others. But my 
 purpose is not to find fault, nor cast reproach. This 
 would be emphatically a work of supererogation. 
 My object is higher, and holier. I have a change 
 
 * These expressions are quoted from an editorial article which 
 appeared in the New York Independent. 
 
46 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 of policy and of strategy to propose, by which I 
 think we can conquer. It is peaceful and humane. 
 It will receive the favor of Heaven, and command 
 the sympathy of the good and true. It will be twice 
 blessed — blessing him that gives, and him that takes. 
 It is easy of execution. The only serious impediment 
 to be overcome is prejudice. Who will not conquer 
 his prejudices to save his country? Mine are con- 
 quered, and they were strong. Hitherto, so far as 
 slavery was aifected by this contest, I have been 
 more conservative than otherwise. Not because I 
 did not think slavery a great social, moral, and po- 
 litical evil ; not because I sympathized with Traitors ; 
 but r because I was anxious to avert and mitigate 
 the horrors of war. But conservative ground is 
 fast disappearing beneath the bloody waves of this 
 devilish strife. Its angry billows are fast closing in 
 upon me, and I must prepare to meet them. I must 
 take a more decided stand either in favor of the in- 
 terests of Freedom, or in favor of the interests of 
 Slavery. Distasteful as it may be, I must draw 
 nearer to the Abolitionists of the North, or nearer 
 to the Traitors of the South. The decision is made # 
 I have chosen the former alternative. Every instinct 
 of my nature, and every impulse of my heart, are 
 loyal to Freedom. I see clearly that, henceforward, 
 the American Republic or its bastard offspring must 
 be the ruling power ot this great Nation. The con- 
 stitutional rights of slavery and of slave-holders, in 
 my view, are growing beautifully less. The obli- 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 4 T 
 
 gations that once bound me, bind me no longer. 
 They have raised their parricidal hands to destroy 
 the glorious fabric which my forefathers aided to 
 rear. By the help of God they shall not succeed in 
 their diabolical design. I see that Freedom or Slavery 
 must die. They are having their last grapple. Free- 
 dom must triumph. 
 
 " The eternal years of God are hers." 
 
 People of the non-slaveholdiug States, and soldiers 
 of the Federal army! whenever you grow tired of 
 this "unnatural and unnecessary" war, and wish to 
 see it brought to a speedy conclusion, just conquer 
 your prejudices, and say to the bondmen and bond- 
 women of the Kebels, " Come ye over the border." 
 
 Fear not that they will become our equals, or that 
 we will become their equals. "Can the leopard change 
 his spots, or the Ethiopian his skin?" "Who would 
 not rather see these degraded and oppressed Africans 
 diffused over the free States of the Xorth, than see 
 the Rebels triumphant and our Government over- 
 thrown ? Besides, they can be deported and colonized 
 just as well from the free States as from the slave 
 States. 
 
 " Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish," let 
 us not ingloriously fritter out our national existence ; 
 but if we must die, let us die speedily, and gloriously 
 defending the sacred trust committed to our keeping 
 by the sages and heroes who founded the American 
 Republic! Vive la Liberie! ! 
 
48 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 " The combat deepens. On ! ye brave, 
 Who rush to Freedom, or the grave." 
 
 "Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just." 
 Watchman, what of the night ? Pilot, how do you 
 head? 
 
 ON THE PROCLAMATION. 
 
 October 9th, 1862. 
 
 By announcing that he will proclaim freedom to 
 the slaves of all slave-holders who shall be in rebellion 
 against the Government on the first of January next, 
 our President seems to have made himself the subject 
 alike of unmeasured obloquy and fulsome panegyric. 
 I am not prepard to participate in either of these 
 " demonstrations." The sovereign power of this Nation 
 resides in the people, and the President, in the position 
 which he at present holds, is merely an agent em- 
 ployed by the people, for a limited period, to perform 
 the functions pertaining to one branch of the Govern- 
 ment, of whioh he is but an individual member. 
 
 We commenced our national existence with two 
 conflicting elements incorporated in our social and 
 political fabric. Whatever may have been the im- 
 mediate cause of our troubles, or whoever may be 
 to blame, the antagonism between these elements 
 has been made to culminate in civil war ; one part 
 of the nation having rebelled, and the other part 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT FARTY1SM. 49 
 
 being obliged to resist the rebellion. la the course 
 of the struggle, a seeming majority of the people 
 who have remained loyal to the Government — or at 
 least a majority of those who are loyal to the present 
 administration of the Government — have informally 
 signified that they wish the President to do what in 
 their opinion he has a clear right to do, and what they 
 think will greatly facilitate and expedite the crush- 
 ing of the Ilebellion. Having given the subject 
 due consideration, the President announces that if 
 the rebellion be not subdued within a specified time 
 he will accede to their wishes; which, in my judg- 
 ment, makes him neither a demi-god nor a demon. 
 
 If the President were possessed of Almighty power, 
 he could free the slaves in the same manner that God 
 sent light into the world; but being a mere mortal, 
 like the rest of us, he may say, " let the slaves be 
 free'' as often as the Muezzin exclaims that Mahomet 
 is the Prophet of the Lord ; yet, unless the mandate 
 be properly sustained and executed by the people, 
 it were better addressed to the slaves of Brazil. 
 
 To the Editor of the Chicago Evening Journal : 
 
 October 17th, 1862. 
 
 In the editorial columns of the Chicago Tribune, 
 of October loth, the following statement appeared: 
 
 " The Tories profess to be terribly shocked that any contra- 
 bands should come into this State. But we notice that wherever 
 a, Tory can pick up a nigger he does so. The Republicans gen- 
 erally will have nothing to do with theas." 
 
50 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 For the credit of humanity, and especially that 
 class of humanity called Republicans, I fervently 
 hope they will not let their political opponents outdo 
 them in benevolence to the poor escaped slave. 
 
 THE CONFLICTING ELEMENTS IN OUR 
 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FABRIC. 
 
 Novemher 30th, 1862. 
 
 The founders of this Republic were, perhaps, the 
 wisest statesmen, the purest patriots, and the most 
 unselfish body of men the world has produced. But 
 they were human, and had to contend with difficulties 
 that were above and beyond the control of human 
 agency. They had to frame a Government for a peo- 
 ple in whose social fabric were interwoven discordant 
 and conflicting elements, tending in opposite direc- 
 tions, and producing antagonistic influences. The 
 one tending to universal freedom, social and political; 
 liberty of speech ond of the press; and the general 
 diffusion of knowledge among all classes and condi- 
 tions. The other tending to an aristocratic state of 
 society, and a monarchical form of Government ; an 
 abridgement of the freedom of speech and of the 
 press; and the formation ef classes with exclusive 
 rights and privileges. 
 
 I think that a careful reading of our national Con- 
 stitution, together with the discussions that were 
 held upon certain of its provisions while it was being 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 51 
 
 framed, will convince any impartial and disinterested 
 person that the extinction of one of these elements 
 was confidently anticipated by a majority of its 
 framers ; and that the instrument was framed with 
 a view to this end. But owing to causes not then 
 developed or foreseen, this element has not become 
 extinct ; but, on the contrary, has increased in vitality 
 and power to such an extent that it threatens to ex- 
 tinguish the other element. 
 
 Arouse ye, then, my countrymen, and prepare for 
 the great work before you. Let us make this the 
 model Republic for future ages, and oppressed hu- 
 manity in all climes. 
 
 HOW, AND WHEN, OUR TROUBLES 
 WILL END. 
 
 December 12th, 1862. 
 
 How, and when, will our civil war terminate ? 
 is the great problem which is now attracting the 
 attention of the civilized world. 
 
 Though neither sage nor prophet, nor the son of 
 a prophet, I will nevertheless attempt to furnish a 
 basis on which some vague opinion may be formed 
 with regard to the probable duration of our national 
 troubles. The people of the United States are di- 
 vided into four great classes, or contending parties ; 
 one of which is distinguished by the name of Rebels ; 
 a large proportion of whom are armed with deadly 
 
52 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 weapons, and fighting — they say — to maintain their 
 rights, and achieve national independence. Arrayed 
 against these is another party, about equal in number 
 and equally well supplied with the means of destruc_ 
 tion, who are fighting to conquer the Rebels, and re. 
 subject them to the authority of that Government 
 which they are seeking to overthrow. 
 
 The other two classes — more bellicose than bellig- 
 erent — profess to have a common aim; to wit: the 
 sustaining of the Government ; yet quarrel incessantly 
 about the manner of sustaining it. In tenacity of 
 purpose, vigor and venom, these combatants are not 
 excelled by their more daring brethren upon the 
 battle field. Their weapons are mainly the tongue 
 and pen. Their mode of warfare partakes largely 
 of the Guerrilla; such as discharging shots from 
 masked batteries, firing under cover, shooting poi- 
 soned arrows, and making raids upon the defenseless. 
 
 Now, whoever can compute the length of time, 
 and the amount of suffering and slaughter that will 
 be necessary to bring these contending parties into 
 such a condition that their various conflicting opinions, 
 interests, and passions, may be reconciled and har 
 monized ; or tell when either of them shall have 
 become strong enough to subdue the others, and hold 
 them in permanent subjection, can tell how and when 
 our civil war will be brought to a close. 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 53 
 
 THE CONSEQUENCES OF DISUNION. 
 
 January 8th, 1863. 
 
 About forty years ago, our Government deemed it 
 proper to announce what has been termed " The Monroe 
 doctrine j" one sentence of which reads as follows: "We 
 owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable rela- 
 tions existing between the United States and the Powers 
 of Europe, to declare that we should consider any at- 
 tempt on their part to extend their system to any portion 
 of this hemisphere, as dangerous to our peace and 
 safety." 
 
 Soon after the flames of civil war 'had burst forth 
 among our people, the Governments of England , France 
 and Spain, discovered that their interests in Mexico 
 could not be suitably cared for without resorting to 
 the diplomacy of the sword. Influenced, probably, 
 by the consideration that in union there is strength, 
 or perhaps from motives of political economy, these 
 three Powers appear to have formed an alliance for 
 the purpose of mutually assisting each other in the 
 prosecution of their respective claims against the Mex- 
 ican Government. Accordingly, a fleet, adequate to 
 the emergency, was conjointly fitted out by them, 
 and dispatched to the waters of Mexico. The unsus- 
 pecting Mexicans not having been duly advised of 
 their coming, were not prepared to receive their dis- 
 tinguished visitors in a manner befitting the occasion. 
 Suffice it to say, the Allied Powers effected a landing 
 without having to overcome any very formidable 
 
54 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 resistance. Hardly were the troops disembarked, 
 however, when England and Spain apparently aban- 
 doned the enterprise, and withdrew their forces. What 
 impelled these two nations to do an act so unheard 
 of in the annals of war ; whether Mexico promptly 
 redressed their grievances; whether they found that 
 the end would not justify the means; whether they 
 conld not co-operate in harmony with the Emperor 
 of the French ; or whether they got ashamed of the 
 work in which they were engaged, has not been made 
 known to the world. Whatever the motive may have 
 been, these two Powers appear to have receded from 
 all active participation in the pending conquest of 
 Mexico. Not so Napoleon. He continues to push 
 his aggressions with renewed vigor; and, if our public 
 j ournals tell the truth, draws largely upon the resources 
 of this country for the ways and means to carry out 
 his designs. We are also informed — through the 
 same channel — that the Government of Mexico, 
 through its representative at Washington, has com- 
 plained to our Government that w~e are not acting 
 with due regard to the principles of international 
 comity; in brief, that we are not doing unto Mexico 
 as w r c wish others to do unto us. In what spirit this 
 remonstrance from the Mexican Government has been 
 received, and what influence it may have on the future 
 action of our Government and people, we have yet 
 to learn. 
 
 Is there not reason to apprehend that this Nation 
 has fallen from the proud position which it once as- 
 
PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PABTYISM. 55 
 
 sumed so fearlersly, and maintained so firmly? Are 
 we deterred from dealing justly with a sister Re- 
 public because she is weak and her adversary is 
 strong? Is the gold of the French Autocrat so 
 tempting that we must gratify our cupidity at the 
 expense of the Nation's dignity and honor? 
 
 He that crushed the budding hope of his own 
 country, and placed his iron heel upon the Genius of 
 French Liberty, is now driving his blood-stained 
 car over the land of the free; and, sad to relate, we 
 seem to have become his passive instruments. 
 
 A QUERY PROPOUNDED. 
 
 January 20th, 1863- 
 President Lincoln has given freedom to about three 
 million slaves in the revolted States. A large propor- 
 tion of the citizens of the loyal States, declare that 
 these emancipated Africans shall not come into their 
 presence. 
 
 Query : If we compel the people of the South to live 
 among freed slaves, and refuse to let freed slaves live 
 among us, will not this be a despotic exercise of 
 power ? 
 
 <M 
 
56 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 
 
 February 5th, 1863. 
 
 In my opinion, the attempt to enlist, arm and equip, 
 three hundred thousand negroes, and use them as sol- 
 diers on the field of battle in righting the Rebels, as 
 is proposed in the bill now being discussed by Con- 
 gress, will tend to demoralize the Army, sink the 
 Nation deeper in the vortex of anarchy, and disparage 
 our claims to the respect and sympathy of foreign 
 Governments. 
 
 If the officers of our army are invested with ample 
 authority to employ negroes in any capacity which, 
 in their judgment, will best subserve the cause in 
 which we are engaged, where is the necessity for 
 proposing and discussing this measure? 
 
 February 12th, 1863. 
 Ours being a Government of the people, deriving 
 ,'ts power from the consent and cheerful acquiescence 
 of the governed, if I were asked for advice with 
 regard to the general management of our public 
 affairs during the fearful crisis through which the 
 Nation is passing, I would say in reply, Strive to 
 pursue that policy, civil and military, which is best 
 calculated to secure the support of a majority of the 
 people, and meet the approbation of the civilized 
 world. 
 
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