The Oxford intelligencer. (Oxford, Miss.) 1860-18??, 1861-04-17

Tered, anAi replaced by 49, OF o
IsovenAest. k0n thsmsni.g q Fdday, the
9TH iasis our batteries opened fire upon the
fYry dpiug great damage to Ii during the
day, and on the next day Major Anderson,
finding his position no longer tenable, sur
rendered at discretion. Honorable terms
we're granted to him BY Gen. Bcauregard.
An immense uuInber' q shot and shell were
thrown onboth sides, and 10 u a most re.
msrkable circumstance, wholly unexampled,
50 far as ge know or believe, in the annals Of
warfare, that no lives were lost on either
side. THIS fact is to be .ascribed, no doubt,
SO FAR as the South Carolina forces are con
ccrncJ, to the care and skill with which
their. defences were constructed. The great
strength of the Fort, on the other hand, en-
abled its defenders to fight in security SO
long as they were able TO maintain the strug-
gle. The victory which has crowned our
arms is most signal and brilliant one, and
We rejoice that it has been won without a
great sacrifice of life. We have never
doubted that Providence would be on our
side in the coming contest, for we had an
abiding faith in the justice of our cause |;
and it seems, indeed, as though Heaven d.
rectly interposed in our behalf at Charleston,
through the storm which rendered it impos-
sible for the war vessels outside to enter the
harbor to- relieve Anderson while tho can
nonadc was going on. With humble thank
fnlness to God for the mercies already
vouchsafc,l TO us, let us 90 forward. in the
path where duty and honor beckon us on,
confidently expecting that He will be with
us to the end, and that we shall not be left
to fight our battles alone. aE
War, grim-visaged war, is now actually
upon Us. When our citizens learned that
Fort Sumter was assailed, they were greatly
excited, as was natural under the circum-
stances, but no man doubted what the re-
suit would be- 1t was feared, however, that
the coming success would be purchased
Win Hldul HHHNIcuS VI btdNc iIch hNcS,
and that the shouts of victory waited to ms
from the scene of the conflict, would be
mingled with the sad tones of lovely and in
noccnt ones, wailing over heaps of slain. 1t
was, therefore, with an intense feeling of re-
! lief that the details Of the battle were re-
cciycd. Tic feeling now pcrvadins the
minds Of our people is that Of settled and in
flexible determination. A stranger, unac-
quaintcd with their temper, might be misled
by the abscncc~sf any loud demonstrations
of enthusiasm among them, and 80 conclude,
if he did not minglc with them and listen to
their speech with ono another, that the re-
cent news had made no very deep impression
upon their minds. Nothing could be further
from the fact. Our people arc now one.
Without reference to past divisions, they are
unanimous in their resolve to do, to dare, to
give, to labor, aud TO endure, all that may be
necessary in order to enable the Confcderacy
to maintain the position it has assumed.
They feel that the Rubicon has been passed,
and, come veal or come voc, they will 60
toward, leaving the issue in the hands Of Him
who rules over all things. There is no re-
pning among them now, no looking back
upon the past with any rcgretful wish that
things might have been ordered otherwise.
1t is sufficient unto them that their country
is engaged in war, waged in defence of its
impcrilcd lbcrtics-the hottest cause in
which the sword was ever drawn. Never,
while life shall last, will they weakly retire
before the enemy, or consent that peace
shall be made upon any but the most honor
able terms. arae
We have long believed that war was in
evitable. There has never been time when
the seeded States could have made a treaty
with the others upon grounds OF fairness and
cquality.sIhc bloatcd pride of the North
must be humbled by rcvcrscs before it will
Weld to our just demands. II mist first be
convinced that the South docs not lie at its
mercy, and that it is itself most vulnerable on
many vital points. When the hum of the
spindle and the loom shall have ceased
through all her borders; when her ships,
which she dares not send forth upon the
deep, shall lie, idly rotting, at her wLarcs
when grass shall grow in what are now
her busiest marts of trade; when gaunt
Famine shall stalk through her cities and
lay its hand upon myriads of victims; when
her starving poor shall become madly clam
orous for "brcad or blood" and Capital shall
feel that there is no security for its careful
boards; when her entire social fabric shall
be upheaved from its very foundations, and
men shall gladly welcome the calm of dcs-
potism as a relief from the untold horrors Of
anarchy and universal disorder, then, and not
before, may the Confederate States expect to
receive even-handed Justice from the North,
or, rather, from him who shall then be the
master of the North.
The sole purpose of war is to obtain peace,
and it should be so carried on as to secure its
object as speedily as possible. We doubt