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Show 134 TilE GOLDEN HOUR. but a base and silly libel. Tho records show that cnlistlncnts tripled in number after Frc1nont's proclamation, all the soldiers wi~hing to go into his depart- 1nont ; and that they were seriously chocked when that edict of freedom was 1nodificd. As for our general , it would. be one of tho best things about such an cclict that it 1night cause so1nc of thon1 to ro ·ign ; - I hope the 1najority would go ho1no, with their fricn<ls ratter on and tone, who have gone before. Who ·would not be glad to hear that every half-hearted leader had been cowed back by tho dctcr1niuod front of Liberty, which he had protcnclocl to serve whil ·t really serving Slavery ? Once, says an old fable, the cat, hearing that tho hen \\·a. sick, \YCni to pay her a visit. After condoling with tho inYalid, tho cat said, " Really, I should like to servo yon in any ·way in my po\ver. What can I do for you?" Tho invalid hen cast an uneasy glance at tho ycllo\v eyes and hungry chops of the cat, and replied, " You can do 1110 a signal sor·dce by leaving me. I think if you will leave me, I shall be much bettor." Son1c people's room is bctLcr than their company ; and au1ong t those may be reckoned those \vho, in a war for Liberty, esteem it their duty to hunt down, to cru h with an iron hand, to refuse entrance within their lines to the innocent ancl wronged who seck their liberty al o ; or who know so little of the old Orphic strain to vvhich the walls of the universe arose, as to drive from their camp the minstrels who sing of LIBERTY. TO TilE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 135 With roforoncc, however, to this fear of dividing the North or their anny, we may admit that the kiucllino· b and spreading of such a fire would rouse up . ·on1e nests of serpents in both. But tho o who have studied 1110 t deeply epochs related to that through which we arc now pa · ·ing, know how fatal has boon any waiting for complete unity. No can ·c has ever kindled the cnthusias1n which coulu u ' Lain it to tho end, until it \vas elevated. enough to slough off it· baser adherents. No cause ever prouucod the heroes noccs ary to its real and final victory, until it was pure enough to separate, as on God's threshing-floor, the chaff fron1 the \vhoat. Our fathers of tho ltevolntion never gained any groat Yictorics until tho \Yar about iaxc · became a war for co1nplcte indopcndcnco; but when that period catuo, th y had to fight the rrorics with 0110 hand and tho Dritish with the other. For a long tin1c it was difficult to say whether Tories or Independents were in tho majority; but the world was given again to soc that strength docs not lie in 1najoritie , but rather in can ·es so glorious that e\·cry n1an standing for thetn i a hundred-fold the man he would. be fighting on the lowest plane. As for more division con1ing of the elevation of our cause than is in1pliecl in thi~ vveoding and winnowing of our ranks, a higher fon~c enters in all ·uch cases to prevent it. That higher force is IIEROI l\I. 'l'!tat electric battery has a line to every lnunan heart. |