Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1861-05-23

the past, and traditional glory, all call upon
her to remain IN the Union," he virtually adj
mits that she has no divided duty! He says
that Kentucky is still in the Union, that she
is in "some sense" loyal, regards secession as
no remedy for existing evils-and certainly
not till all practical efforts for remedy IN the
Union shall have been made-and yet, in
view of existing circumstances, he asks
What should be expected of US? What
can Kentucky do?"
Now the answer to these questions, as it
seems to us, is exceedingly simple; and had
the Kentucky people of to-day, in view OF
the difficulties which now surround them,
maintained 1.-THE of that GOODNESS which so
much contributed to the success of Gen. jack
would now ask as ''what should, or can, Ken
lucky do?" But our correspondent says
that the KentuckIan of the present day has
| divided love and divided interest-not as
| between the North and South, for there his
love and interest runs one way; but as be-
| tween a SSouthern Confederacy" conceived
ID iniquity, and born of treason, and thus far
nursed in traitorous camp-and that other
glorious old confederate constitution for which
our common torefathers fought Sc nobly, and
the guardianship of which they so confidently
transmitted to us, that we might preserve and
hand it down to our posterity in all coming
time.
Now with this divided interest, and with a
full and admitted appreciation Of her duty to
the Union we cannot see why Kentucky has
not plain and open road before her. She
certainly will not love her Southern brethren
any the less in the Union than out oft. Her
interests, we are quite confident, will not be
advanced or better guarded and protected
under secession rule than they have been
heretofore, and she certainly must know that
her relations with the South will be far more
profitable and pleasant when we are all once
more under an undivided and united govern
ment. Let Kentucky, then, cease 10 be loyal
to the Union sin one sense and begin to show
herself loyal in every sense, and to the full.
Let her heed the promptings of that duty
which our correspondent says she so fully rec
ognizes-and listening to the call, let her
place herself fully and at once in the ranks
of those who, while they stand sworn to sup
port the Union, have never had design nor
desire TO interfere with the peculiar inst
tuition in any State where it now exists Let
Kentucky, and the other border slave States,
but once place themselves unequivocally on
this line of duty and show that they are in
earnest in their devotion to the Union-and
our word for it, the scales will soon fall from
the eyes of her people, and instead of cropping
in the dark, as they now seem to be, they will
emerge into the effulgence of glorious light
the genius of liberty will continue to spread
her wings over her-Union men in the seced-
ing States will begin to take hoFe-the arch
traitors who have placed their feet upon their
necks will soon flee before the wrath OF an
incensed people-and the flag of our Union"
will again float over happy and prosperous
people.
But alas Vermont, 1t would seem, in the
opinion of this writer, presents the great
stumbling block to Kentucky in her path
way of duty, and assuming that her people
have right to complain of Us, he asks, " can
Vermont point to single act of Kentucky
that can be construed into unkindness TO her =
and how, he asks stands " our record" in
regard to Kentucky and hereupon he brief
" alludes to the fugitive slave law and the
personal liberty bill Now we have no dis
position to reopen any discussion on either of
these points. The time for this has gone by.
But as our correspondent has asked us the
two questions above quoted, we Will answer
them briefly. As to the first, We are quite
ready and happy to say that Kentucky per Sc
has never, so far as we now remeu ber-done
us an unkind act-would that we could say
as much of her in her past condition as Con-
federate slave State. As such, she has aided
and abetted in the passage Of laws in every
way wrong in themselves, and IN the highest
degree insulting to Northern freemen. BY
the law of South Carolina (and other slave
States,) Northern free colored seamen have
been unconstutionally imprisoned. BY the
provisions of the fugitive slave law every
Northern freeman lntuitively shrinks from
"a slave catcher, Under the provocation
Of such laws as these the Vermont personal