Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1861-08-21

ted by the disgrace and disappointment of
crushing and overwhelming defeats, the real =
objects and designs of their invasion of the
South have been more and more boldly
avowed. The thin veil of a pretended regard
for the Constitution has been rent in twain
and rape, rapine, Instruction, arson. and !,
murder are their ayowed objects. :,
The war in which we are engaged has been U
made by the savage brutality of the North b
as desperate as any which a frontiersman ever |,
fought with the painted savage when the fate =
of his wife and children depended unon the :
unerring aim of the rife, and the sharn Q
quick blow of the hunting knife. Cowardiy j
but savage as the hungry wolf, the North I
has invaded Us, lusting for the dishonor Of
our women and greedy for the confscation Of
our property. The burning village. the
emancipated slave, the ravished wife, the de.
y~astated plantation everywhere mark the
progress of the Yankee foe. What more
have the Indian or the pirate ever done when
they aroused a slumbeting hamlet at mid
nigh. with the war whoop. or hoisted the
black flag upon the deck of a rich merchant
man than the Yankee hordes have consum-
mated in Virginia? Could the Camanchcs
and the Blackfeet, with the tomahawk and
frebrand have made a fair land more dreary
and desolate than the country around Old
Point has been made by Buffers rufiians {?
Could the pirates of the Gulf" in the dark
est days of piracy, have been more brutal
than McDowelrs fast trotterS in their raids
near Alexandria
We have to thank our invaders for having
at last completely thrown off the mask.-
The Southern people now Know precisely the
character Of their foe. No submissionists,
however base, has now the hardihood to avow
that this:is not a war ofsubjugation, rapine,
roDo rn,r1ar :io~o orcnr accommodation
and negro emancipation upon the part of the
North. IF conquered, we have no more to
expect from the brutal robbers who have in
vaded US than had the poople of Florida to
hope from the Seminoles, or the early settlers
in the Northwest from Tecumseh and the
! Prophet. We must conquer, or we must be
beggared and dishonored by the basest race
which the world has ever known. If the
t final triumph of the South required that
: every man should offer bis life and his pro-
perty to achieve it, we should withhold no
f thing for the enemy have avowed their de-
e termination Of taking everything.
! The evidence CT the intentions of these
!. men is conclusive. Among the spoils which
f "McDowel's racers " left upon the battlefield
: at Manassas were innumerable letters, con-
stitituting the correspondence Of the Crane
: Army with their fathers, mothers, wives
4 sweethearts and friends. DecencI will no
: permit US to mention what were.the infcrna
: and diabolical intentions of these ~rufians, S
~ far as our women were concerned. Let ou
q gentle and pure minded ladies remember t
thank God that their heroic defenders scat
tered at Manassas the vast army of sensua
' beasts, and covered the ground with thei
|. dead and wounded. If they would wish t
j. avoid a fate too horrible to mention, let theI
pray that when the South again meets tia
e. a,,oxy ,,no, H. IaAI, Eo1l - VII
: may be left to tell the tale of Souther
= prowess.
The intercepted correspondence also prove
" that confiscation and emancipation, not les
than crimes which we will not name, wer
J. intended by the Grand Army. A thousan
, illusions to "snug little farms in Virginia,
~ and tracts in favor of emancipation furnls
~ damning proofs of the vile intentions of IL
. Yankee army. Southern valor has, we r
s joice to know, dedicated among the histor
=, hills and valleys of Manassas, many a " sevt
- by two" farm 80 the Yankee aspirants aft
10 Virginia freeholds," which they will enjc
" by a sort of " statute of mortmain," free fro
20 taxes and other snblunary cares, until
=; the apocalyptic seals are broken.
As private diaries and familiar correspon
ence best reveal the most secret intentions
- men, the Manassas manuscripts will forev
Y prevent the Yankee soldiers from denyi
that plumber, rape and confiscation were t
real incentives which made them, as o
'G man, cry coward to Richmond"
the The real intentions of the North, are
longer concealed. Their Legislators oper
avow that subjugation and confScation are
r. go hand in hand with their armies of robb'
- andmurderers. A bill has passed both hous
:. of the Yankee Congress, declaring that !"
property employed in resistance to
~ laws of the United States" This swee
10 every acre of land, negro, horse, mu
- &c, &C., in the Confederate States, for "a
of our property is directly or indirectly e.
90 ployed in resisting Lincoln's armies. 1t '
charged in the debate upon this bill, on
I'd of August, that the Black Republic;
nv "were making a positive, imperative law
fecting property in slaves" Even that p
old half dotard and whole traitor, C1ittend
could not avoid making that discovery
L. The Black Republican members admitted t
slaves could be confiScated when used
W, the advantage Of rebellion" and every 81
in the Confederate States is now used to
advantage in the rebellion" Thaddeus S
a. vens, defending the bill said, "oohen Il
slGUes Of the South are contscdted and
'r1;l free, God forbid that they should erer be
u turned to their masters"
~ This bill, we imagine, is now a law.
lands, our slaves, our horses, our cattle,
nd debts, our stocks, our property OF every /
lie and description, have doubtless been con
Gated. The only difficulty in the way Of
49, execution OF the Yankee sentence Of out
ry and confscation is that which made
~ amiable Mrs. Glass in her direction for c.
ing a hare, judiciously remarks: First c
your hare, and then skin him."
,;rst There will be ere long some half a mi
80 of dauntless Southern volunteers interpo
between the intent and the execute
Mic the law reducing US to .beggary. But
time for the millions of free white M
at the South to know that they have not
to depend upon but their artillery, musl
Con- rifles, reyolvers, Bowie knives, sabres,
the bold brave hearts.
We cannot pun sh too severely the eff
u cry of the detested and cowardly race,
1aoo have impudently, although harmlessly,
80 iscated' the property of the citizens of el
sovereign States. The a%trocity of the il
NJ makes the matter too grave to be laughe
c. That act of conilscation relieves US iron
s,ono compunctions of mercy in our future dea
80 with the invaders. As they have avow'
tbree the world their purposes of coniscatior
% s~ubjugation, we must meet the issue
esday - aiu elo peopnI aa"aSs eh
NJ f@iscate and e~lrslaye. Upon their own g
vana heads must now rest the blood of every
, kee invader of our soil. In future ba
" Uhan fha Ga,,tharp cOJ1iar H0btc rif