I carry my intelligence to the polls on election morning, and am elbowed
aside by an American boor or a foreign drunkard, and, with opprobrious
epithets by law officers and rabble, am driven away. All this in the
North; all this without excuse of slavery and of the feeling it
engenders; all this from arrogant hatred and devilish malignity. At
last, the country which has disowned me, the government which has never
recognized save to outrage me, the flag which has refused to cover or to
protect me, are in direct need and utmost extremity. Then do they cry
for me and mine to come up to their help ere they perish. At least, they
hold forth a bribe to secure me? at least, if they make no apology for
the past, they offer compensation for the future? at least, they bid
high for the services they desire? Not at all!
"They say to one man, 'Here is twelve hundred dollars bounty with which
to begin; here is sixteen dollars a month for pay; here is the law
passed, and the money pledged, to secure you in comfort for the rest of
life, if wounded or disabled, or help for your family, if killed. Here
is every door set wide for you to rise, from post to post; money yours,
advancement yours, honor, and fame, and glory yours; the love of a
grateful country, the applause of an admiring world.'
"They say to another man,--you, or me, or Sam out there in the
field,--'There is no bounty for you, not a cent; there is pay for you,
twelve dollars a month, the hire of a servant; there is no pension for
you, or your family, if you be sent back from the front, wounded or
dead; if you are taken prisoner you can be murdered with impunity, or be
sold as a slave, without interference on our part.
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