Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1861-06-20


can possibly be secured. which is three less
than the constitutional number.
Thus we have the extraordinary and dis
creditable spectacle Of revolution made By
certain States professedly on tho ground
that guarantees for the safety Of their insti-
tutions are denied them, and at the same
time, instead Of cooperating with their sis
ter States in obtaining these guarantees,
they designedly assume hostile attitude,
and thereby render it constitutionally i'm
possible TO secure them. This profound dis
stimulation shows that it was not the safety
Of the South, but its severance from the
Confederacy which was sought from the be-
ginning. Contemporary with, and in some
instances, preceding these acts of secession,
the greatest outrages were committed upon
the Government Of the United States, BY the
States engaged in them It, forts, arsenals,
arms, barracks, Custom houses, Post Offices,
moneys, and indeed, every species of its
property within the limits of these States
were seized and appropriated, down to the
very hospital stores for the sick soldiers.
More than half a million Of dollars was
plundered from the mint at New Orleans
United States vessels were received from the
defiled hands Of their officers in command,
and as if in the hope of consecratng official
! treachery as one Of the public virtues OF the
age, the surrender Of an entire military de-
partment by General, to the keeping Of
whose honor it had been con6ded, was deem
ed worthy Of the commentator and thanks
Of Conventions Of several of the States. All
these lawlcss proceedings were well under
stood to have been prompted and directed
by men occupying seats in the Capitol some
of whom were frank enough to declare that
they could not and would not, though in a
minority, live under Government which
they could not control In this declaration
is founded the key which unlocks the whole
luton. The proaigate ambition of public
on which republics have split. Such men
have arisen in our midst-men who, because
unable to permanently grasp the helm of the
ship, are willing to destroy it in the hope
to command some one of the RATS that may
float away from the wreck. The effect is to
degrade us to Il level with the military ban
dts of Mexico and South America, who,
when beaten at an election, fly to arms, and
seek To master by the sword what they have
been unable to control by the ballot-box.
/ The atrOciOus acts enumerated were acts
of war, and might all have been treated as
such by the late Administration but the
President patriotically cultivated peace--how
anxiously and how patiently, the country well
knows. While, however. the revolutionary
| leaders greeted him with all halls to his face,
they did not the less diligently continue to
whet their swords behind his back I'm.
mense military preparations were made, SC
! that when the moment for rstriking the Gov
ernment of the United States arrived, the
j revolutionary States leapcd into the contest
clad in full armor.
As ifnothing should be wanting to darken
this page of history, the seeded States have
already entered upon the work of confsca-
ting the debts due from their citizens to the
North and Northwest. The millions thus
gained will doubtless prove pleasant substi-
tute for those guarantees now SO scornfully
rejected. To these confiscations will proba-
bly, succeed, soon, those of lands and negroes
owned by the citizens Of loyal States aud,
indeed, the apprehension of this step is al
ready sadly disturbing the fidelity of non
resident proprietors Fortunately, however,
infrlnity of faith, springng from such a
cause, is not likely to be contagious. The
war begun is being prosecuted by the Con
federate States ina temper as fierce and un-
sparing as that which characterizes conflicts
between the most hostile nations. Letters
of marQue and reprisal are being granted to
all who seek them, so that our coasts will
soon swarm with these piratical cruisers, as
the President has properly denounced them.
Every buccaneer who desires to rob Alneri
can commerce upon the ocean, can, for the
: asking, obtain warrant to do so, in the name
, of the new republic To crown all, large
bodies of Indians have been mustered into
!, the service of the revolutionary States and
are now conspicuous in the ranks of the
Southern army. A leading North Carolna
/ journal, noting their stalwart frames and un
erring craftsmanship, observes, with an ex-
ultation positively fiendish, that they are
armed not only with the rife, but also with
the scalping-knJe and tomahark.
Is Kentucky willing to link her name il
r history with the excesses and crimes which
have sullied this revolution at every step OF
its progress? Can she soil her pure hand,
with its booty? She possesses the noblcsi
, heritage that God has granted to his chill
dren is she prepared to barter it away fol
, that miserable mess of pottage, which the
qualification of the uuholy ambition of hel
public men would bring to her lips? Car
t She, without laying her face in the dust fol-
very shame, become participant in the
spoliation of the commerce of her neighbour
: and friends, by contributing her star, hither
: to so stainless in its glory, to light the cor
sair on his way? Has the war-whoop which
used to startle the sleep Of our frontiers, ST
4 died away in her ears that she is willing Il
n take the red handed savage to her bosom a
e the champion of her rights and the repre-
: sentative of her spirit Must she not tirs
e forget her own heroic sons who perished
+ butchered and scalped upon the disastrou
: field of Raisin?
a The object of the revolution, as avowe
, by all who are pressing it forward, is the per
e manent tdismemberment Of the contoderacy
r The dream of construction-used during tn
: last winter as lure to draw the hestatio
Q or the hopeful into the movement-has bee
$ formally abandoned. If Kentucky sepa
r rates herself from the Union, it must be vi
! on the basis that the separation must b
final and eternal Is there aught in the OF
l. ganization or administration of the Govern
@ ment of the United States to justify, on he
i mart. an act SO solemn and so perilous 2
q Could the wisest of her lawyers, if calle
Is upon, find material for an indictment i
e any or in all the pages Of the history of tn
|, Republic? Could the most leprous-Gppc
n of its calumniators point toa single State
70 Territory, or community or citizen, that
F. has wronged or oppressed? 1t would b
l. impossible. So far as the slave States ar
e concerned, their protection has been CON
y, plete, and if it has not been, it has been tn
{, fault of their statesmen, who have had th
l. control of the Government since its found