follow, if the assassin's bullet or dagger did not execute the sworn purpose of the Order, but with an abiding faith in the justice of Heaven, with an approving conscience, and our earnest heartfelt prayer for our loved country in her dark hours, we took our course, and our only regret is, that we had not sooner entered upon the work, and thereby frustrated plans which have contributed to our national suffering; for who shall say how many have been its victims, how many homes has it made desolate, how many hearts has it broken, and how many graves now enclose misguided men, and misguided youths, who, educated in its fallacies, lured by its snake-like influence, arrayed themselves against their country, and fell victims to their fanaticism! We have heard the cry of our Union soldiers at the front, to protect the helpless in the rear, and we have tried to comply. We have given our own near and dear kindred to the bullet and the sword, a sacrifice to freedom, and staunched the life-blood of a dearly loved brother, upon the field of Antietam, and as we wiped away the dew of death, gathering upon his brow, we pledged our life--our all--to the cause of the Union; and if better service might be rendered in vanquishing the secret foe at home, than meeting the more honorable enemy upon the field of battle, we were ready for the work. Had it not been for the potent influence of Copperheads at the North, the counsel, the sympathy, the comfort extended to the rebels, the rebellion would have been put down long ago. Entertaining such views, we shall, under any and all circumstances, and at all times, be a bitter opponent of Copperheadism wherever found, and regard it as legitimate warfare to arrest the assassin of our country, wherever and whenever we can. If the disaffected find comfort in this, let them make the most of it.