Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1861-07-13

who own the soil and other property Of S.
Carolina consult their own interest as pro-
prietors in holding negroes in bondage Z
And so the meeting broke up, and the com
pany separated.
On the appointed evening, my friend to
whom | am indebted for the facts, and who,
being of New England birth, was one Of
the three or four who had volunteered to
champion the cause of Free Labor, repair
ed to the appointed place, and there met
his two or three friends Of like faith, but
ne'er an opponentl They chatted through
evening, slipped their coffee quietly, vainly
listening for footballs of their expected an
tagonists in the stipulated encounter but no
one appeared
1t became at length clear that there
had been q private consultation on the pro-
slavery side and an agreement that the pro.
posed discussion was nexpedient-that the
proper disposal of the subject was by what
what is called 'Gount-oup in the British
House Of Commons. So, at the hour Of
adjournment, the three or four bade each
other good night and wended their several
ways, little wiser than they had gathered
more but through the reticence than the
|
Yet the children of this world are wise
in their generation. Discussion and Slave
ry are Incompatible To discuss is to un
chain. Slavery owes nothing to discussion
has nothing to hope therefrom 1t is
founded in force and violence, and can only
live in the atmosphere which called it into
being.
To-day, the United States are divided
into two hostile camps, which lower on each
other across a line drawn from Chesapeake
Bay to the banks of the upper Arkansas.
Nay, even far-oif Arizona is an arena of
the contendng forces Liberty and Light
prepare to close in death-grapple with slave
ry and darkness In the event, whether
attained by negotiation or by battle, the
relations of the contending principles on
this continent must be very different from
what they have hitherto been. A triumph
Of the southern rebellion no matter how Sc
cured, will render even New England an
insecure shelter for an earnest outspoken
champion of Universal Liberty while
discontinue of the rebels will open the
entire south to argument, to evidence, to
demonstration, proving the evil and curse
OF holding Man the chattel of Man. Let
us scan the intellectual aspects of the ex
iSting situation:
Throughout the entire region wherein the
Rebellion bears sway which does not
include East Tennessee nor Northwestern
Virginia )-not voice dare mutter o cavail
as to the rightfulness of that dominion or
the justice of its quarrel with the Union.
Not a journal is published therein which
does not justify and uphold the long series
of robberes of the United States forts,
armories, mints, etc, as proper and lawful;
not one dare hint doubt of the triumph
of Disunion. No journalist could evince
dissent from the dominant madness with
out having his house promptly torn down
and his type scattered to the winds; if his
life were spared that would be regarded
as an act Of extreme and iIljudging elem
ency. In the darkest and densest phases
of French despotism, Bourbon or Bona
partean the Freedom of the Press was
never more utterly crushed out and aunhi.
lated than it is and has been under the
sway of jeff. Davis.
Now behold tho contrast: The city
Of Baltimore is the key of the Unionists'
position. 1t is the largest and most i'm
portant seaport of the Slave States. 1t
can very easily be held and profted BY
though Washington be lost, while Wash
ington is neither safe nor useful to the
patriots with Baltimore in the hands of
their enemies. To hold Baltimore is a
palpable necessity of our position, and ac.
cordingIy it as held, and is to be, deter
minedly. To this end, a large force is
there stationed under Governor Banks as
Major General, and no secret is made of
the purpose to lay the city in ashes rather
than suffer it to become focus and for.
treSS of overt treason. Practically, though |
not nominaly, the state of seige there ex.
lists and is there to be maintained. Yet a
majority of the widely circulating journals
of that city are thoroughly disloyal and
miss no opportunity to stab the National
cause and promote the success of the
traitors. Secession badges and photo.
graphs of JEFF. Davis are openly hawked |
through the streets and offered to the
marching regiments from the North; every
form of singing insult and vile abuse is
heaped on the patriot soldiers by the baser
portion of the mob; yet nothing short of a
bullet or particularly heavy pavng-stone
is ever resented. Were Baltimore in rebel
hands, and her Unionists had done on our
side precisely what her traitors have done
on theirs, at least hundred Of them, in
cluding the bridge burners would have
long since been put to death without Judge
or jury; Mayor Brown might have held
himself lucky had he escaped in his night
suit, and Marshal Kane could have reason
ably hoped for no such good fortune. Yet
the Unionists leave the civil government of
that vitality important city iu the hands of
known traitors, allowing them to peddle
openly the grossest indictments to seditiop.
we'll knowing that there is constant com.
munication between them and the arch.
traitors in Virginia, and that they have
concealed depots of arms wherewilh they
promise and expect to rise at some favora.
bic juncture, kill or expel the Union garri.
son, and turn over the city with it's vast
resources to the leutenants of JEFF. Davisl
Is not the contrast striking?
Look, now, Mt another aspect of the
same general truth
Throughout the Free States, there have
recently been, as there always are, thou.
sands of Southern men travelling on bust.