The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-07-17

| Of the Free States. the sceptre the Govern.
ment was preceptsbly falling from tie hands
ofthiS slave oligarchy, wber il at once adopts
the principles of Lucipher, "That it was
better to rel in Hell, than serve in Heaven
Then determines to overthrow the Govern.
ment it could not coerce into submission to
/ It's behests.
The process by which this desperate decd
was initiated, presented during every session
of Congress for the last four years, scenes
that would bring toe crimson to the chaek
Of Louis Napoleon or the Sultan OF Turkey.
Conscious Of its power to make tIo admin
istration at Washington quail before it, It
hastened to bring on the crisis that has
plunged the country into all the horrors Of
civil war. To accomplish this al the con
servative alliances with parties in the Free
States must be broken off Hence The great
and respectable democratic party must be
the first victim Of secession. Tie reso'rs
was quickly followed by the decd. The
great Charleston convention net; the eye of
the nation turns to it with interest, but
gazed ouly to witness the re-enactmcnt Of
the confusion at the Tower Of Eabel. The
gods Of slncery came down upon that great
est political body ever assembled on this con
tinent. The sequel! They were confused,
then confounded' Then dispersed, made no
choice! They re-assembled at Richmond,
Baltimore, but were doomed never to unite
again. Thus by the infatuation Of its own
madness, the God OF Nations wrestei a
despoled government from its slavery cor.
rupt grasp. But time fastened on, bringin /,
the most important Presidential canvass the
country has ever Witnessed. Ilco :0Leaa uow
divided the nation, slavery and freedom, rep
resented severally by Abraham Lincoln and
John c. Breckinridge The issue was easily
determined before the ballots were counted
The slave power seizes upon the occasion
Of the election Of President in lawful and
constitutional way, as sufficient cause for re-
bellion, for The dissolution Of the Union -
South Carolina sets about the work of Sc
cession, the other cotton States follow suit !;
Gala convention, declare themselves absoly-
ed from all allegiance to III General Govern
ment; without consulting the people they or
ganize a provisional government, appoint q
President, Vice President and other officers
of State, under the name and title of the
"Confederate States of America" They
proceed then TO seize upon the Federal prop
erty, forts, arsenals, magazines, mints, sub
treasures, custom-houses, navy yards, &c.
&C., and proceed to collect revenues ard ap-
propriate all to the benefit of rebellion
The monomanac John Brown done the
same thing "a year before at Harper's Ferry.
only on a smaller scale. He and his consed
crates were arrested, tried, convicted, and
hung for treason against the State of vir-
ginia, as they ought to have been. If these
received their just reward, what does The
archtraitor jeff Davis, his alies and sym
pathizers deserve for their treason against the
best government that ever was framed p
Then followed the obstruction of the NFis<fs-
sippi river, the issuing Of letters of naoue.
which is another name for license to act the
pirate on the high seas. against the shipping
and merchandise of cur private citizens, The
hanging and driving from their homes thou
sands of citizens for the crime Of patriotism.
the stars and stripes superccdca by .he fac
of rebellion
All this and more was endured in patience
At this juncture there did appear weakness
in our government that threatened its
fall; but time and change Ct circumstances
has proved that weakness 10 be only in The
Executive department then IN po1rer Had
there been at the helm Of tn, Ship of
State jackson, jefferson or Lincoln, Ia
have checked the rebellion in South Carolina
ir its ncepiancy, as did Jackson in 1882.
doubtless it wonld have stopped for time.
But a'aS when We wanted head to the
government the old man in his dotage could
find no authority to checkmate the rebellion,
and so set down to lament, ari finally see.
ing the enormity Of his crimes against MS
country actually began to weep, and said,
Let US pray" eve will save her by ,ievo-
ton Held under long suspense by the
imbecility OF its executive, the nation began
to feel that deliverance from ary source was
desirable
The 4th of March, 1861, finally arrived
the next greatest day in the history of our
nation TO that OF the Declaration Of cur In
dependence. For the first time in nearly
forty years. did power ascend the Execu-
tive chair free from party purposes and with
principles and a patriotism as wide as the
nation, an administration OF the people
Never since the foundation of or govern
meut did any man 90 to the Presidency, with
plorable condition. Tho man who feels no
sympathy for the rulers Of his country in
such crisis has yet to feel the first emotions
Of Patriotism. The treasury verse than emp.
ty. the country in rebellion, It's authorities
defied and and set at naugtt But Undue
| time the government is re-organized,a "a whole,
some administration OF law ensueS, Kind
words are spoken to the rebellious, but the
rebellion goes on, the Capitol is threatened
with invasion-stil the government forbears
violence or force, pleading for the majesty Of
law. Every where distress and alarm for our
country prevails, some complain that tht