The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1861-05-07

thin0 the reverse NJ ouI taIing. Our resdrt
will pardon us, therefore, for troubling thar,
j,.toc 10 ourselves, with the following co,rcc,
rr. INIT
| They Know not what They To.
| osE Of tho most sickcning in.sreSionts OF
civil var is the fact that in tho cloares, cssos-
aud there never ass clearer than this--thor,
're good and honest men on tho bad eide
W. theirs not only by blood--more excruei,.
ting is it hy far, that brothers in tho bonds o
Bternal lifa, tho dearest kindred Of the Rsdesmor
must meet each other in deadly strife whaI
mystery under the government Of Con, cau
equal this'
How shall We regard them' How shall W
account for the infatuation that make. their
bodies just forfeiture to d.ath, and in
hicts upon US the dreadful necessity Of execution,
: They know not what they do. Taey know not
their country aud their allegiance. 1t is thoir
mhtrtune, not purely their fault, that the,
have been bred in state Of public opinion that
fevcrses all civil order and tu ns the Stat its-
rally upside dom. For whole generation,
the teachings It that cold ahd narrow master.
mind, CALuouS have educated tho southern
people into a fatal herosy of which their rebel
lion is but the practical application. That he-
resy they call Liberty. In a bal sca5o, il /.
liberty. Tho dominant political IDEAS Of the
south spring out OF spirit of unqualified and
Unlimited personal Independence, which is il
practice impracticaLle AID unjust, and ruas d.
rectly to Anarchy. Tho struggle is really bo-
tweon Anarchy an Law.
An exaggerated sense Of personal indcrsu-
dcncc pcrsuaies tho Southern man that ke Ia
not only justified in vindicating his honor and
redrcssing his wrongs by his own red right
hand but Is impcratiycly required to do so'
II ia Is actually his supreme sense of allcsiance-
to his own personal rights, honor and will. Thus
the State is turned, as we said, literally upside
'owr. Tho supreme allegiance is given to the
lowest, instead VI the highest embodiment Of hu-
manity, and all tho ascending grades are ro-
verSod, IN their order, till the highest Is made
actually tho lowest and least OF all.
The next object to him elf, in a model South
srner's allegiance, is tho common sympathy and
sentiment nearest him. As tho most fornida-
ble and irresponsible power kaown in the South,
Is u mans own weapon in his own quarrel so
the next is that OF the smallest subdivision Of
the community. Judge LYNCH is q potion.
tate from whom ,hero Is no appeal.
Then follows the mans own state, or colonial
and provincial locality; and this centres al his
public allegiance, pride and pat iotism, a.
the thing he linds nearest he kind to tho
'overeign a." A whole country, like ours,
embodying whole Anglo-American RAcH, to
which all subdivisions arc but petty artif ial
or accidental limos, is an object too remote from
tho central "I, for him to feel any controlling
attraction or allegiance to it.
Low could anything be moro irrcconcii,bly
hostile to the tra, and Christian idea of
the state, which We hold, and which begins
by subje?tlng tho Individual to the whole,
under tho plainly revealed ordinance Of
God Tbs nation becomes tho supreme de-
poi,ary Of tho authority which Gods
word gives to "tha powers that be-" All
minor divisions follow in orderly aud sub
ordinat ranks, until tho lowest il rcached-and
that is ho individual citilcn-hore, subject
though nm equal member of tho commonwealth
There an aiI.deiyinS sovereign, bound to
others only by political league which suJsists
" may 20 dissolved at his pleasure.
We did not mean to say that ClLUouN crea-
ted the mos,tor which Is about to destroy th.s
country, or TO be destroyed by il. Ho was
the rcIrr,4ntItiv man whose teachings have
mainly contributed to give It form and ofIoct.
The wax VI priucip,c, Is as deep rs the coa,titu-
ton Of minds and tho character Of souls, and
involves the very eNstence Of society. 1t
would be incorrect to say, strictly, that this
rebellion even springs out oi Slavery. Slavery
also springs pcrpetually from this rebellious
Baturc--from the spirit of exaggerated and un-
regulated liberty. The coincidence aud recip-
rocd influence of these two bad gowths
from the same lust Of power-insubordina
tion to government, and oppression Of tie
defenceleSs- have been most remarkable from
the time of their great representative be-
fore mentioned. The same short period has
witnessed the triumphant progress Of a two
fold revolution in tho South, in favor Of tho
permanent and indefinite extension Of indi-
yidual and irresponsible power first downward
against the defenoeless African; and then up-
waId, against all legal and constitutional COZ
troll.
This two-fold revolution, having gained its
tootiDg in the opinions and passions Of the
more active minds Of the extreme South, now
tti,s its strength in arms against the constitu-
tional institutions Of the whole country, and Of
every state, northern or southern, without ex-
ception. Not q southern state, as We have be-
fore shown enjoys remnant Of constitutional
law and order on this question The question
between equality, order and law, on the ono
hand, and the universal independence of con-
troll, which the South have been taught 10 re-
gard and cOnsecrate as 'liberty."
This theory Of independence, as applied to
states, has its plausible and deceitiul aspect,
which deceives, as We began at first to say,
many good men. They are traitors In the ig-
noranee and darkness to which they were born
They know not country. Systematized and
taught disloyalty to that Whote which is the
only rightiul embodiment Of sovereignty, has
eaten up tho patriotic affections and the moral
perception of treason, in generation Of men.
They are about to learn II anew by the heroic
example Of Others, and by the terrible dis
cipline of the sword A people will DO sifted
from them who can at least learn to love and
reverence laws and rights not exclusively their
orr, and the incorrigible will b{lsupprossed
until u new generation can gov up In their
Dlaces "a Ter better instruction than they have
enjoyed. Pity them-but in Gods name, and
for humanity's sake, spare them not.
Battle TO be Fought.
During the last few days wo have talked
with southern gentlemen on the present Nation
(, .LnN