338
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1863
cheered the soldier as he bid adieu to the endearments of home to avenge his country's wrongs on the battle field. Their noble devotion has nerved him to endure all that man is capable of to accomplish the ends of liberty. Never before has the devotion of woman been more strikingly displayed. Wherever her hand could sustain our cause, her toil has been freely given. Wherever the opportunity for good has been afforded, she has willingly embraced it. The soldier remembers her devotion and becomes doubly a hero. The laggard and timid, witnessing her zeal and coi:istancy, is stimulated to zeal and courage. Let those who have abundance aid her therefore, in her effort to be the ministering angel of the sick soldier, the guardtan of the wants of his wife and little ones. Sustain her glorious work, and she will be equal to the task. The period is approaching when the great issues of the war will be decided. The turning point must soon come. From our army we may expect everything. Let us expect but little from foreign Powers, but be ready to make the best of the condition of things abroad, and by a wise foreign policy endeavor to make them tend to our advantage. We can afford to wait for the future. A peo- ple whose expansive energies have carried our institutions thus far Southward, cannot be restrained if destiny points the way. Fellow citizens, you have before you the scheme of your in- dependence. It is to be accomplished through the triumph of your arms, the sustenance of your currency, devotion and unity of purpose in your relations with your government and each other, the wisdom of those who control your affairs, and the blessings of Providence. Convinced that the separation of the Yankee and the Southern people is fixed and certain, that fanaticism and conservative principles of government cannot harmonize, I long for peace, and with it, the happy dawn of a nation, whose gloomy period has given such evidence of greatness the world may hope for its long and prosperous existence. I trust the day will hasten, that stimulated by the dangers which surrounded us we shall remain united, that our Constitution may be maintained .sacred, that territory may be added to our limits, and that we may emerge from the scenes of war, with our liberties unimpaired at home, or tyranny abroad. I come to the conclusion. May the blessings of Heaven be upon us and our cause. May our glorious heroes living return to bless their kindred and friends, and over the fallen may monuments imperishable rise to show posterity where lie the men who fell for
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