The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 3, March, 1862Various
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 3, March, 1862
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
It should also be borne in mind that the most direct causes of our
sufferings all involve very practical benefits. The Southern press
taunts our soldiers with enlisting for pay. Let us admit that vast
numbers have truly been partially induced by the want of employment at
home to enter the army. It is a peculiar characteristic of all Northern
blood that it can and does combine intelligence and interest with the
strongest enthusiasm. No man was ever made a worse soldier by being
prudent, any more than by being a religious Christian. Taunts and jeers
can not affect the truth. The Protestant mechanic soldiery of Germany
during the wars of the Reformation, the men of Holland, and the Puritans
of England, were all reviled for the same cause--but they conquered. God
never punishes men for common-sense, nor did it ever yet blind zeal,
though it may prevent zeal from degenerating into sheer madness. The
war, while it has crippled industry, has also kept it alive,--it has
become a great industrial central force, giving work to millions. Again,
in the creation of a debt we shall find such a stimulus to industry as
we never before knew. Taxation, which kills a weak country crippled by
feudal laws and nightmared by an extravagant court and nobility, simply
induces fresh and vigorous effort to make additional profits in a land
of endless resources and of vast territory, where every man is free to
work at what he chooses. Taxation may come before us like a raging lion,
but, in the words of BEECHER, we shall find honey in the carcass. Let us
only cheerfully make the best of everything, and uphold the
administration and the war with a right good will, and we shall learn as
we never did before the extent of the incredible elasticity and
recuperative power of the American.
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