Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1861-04-17
The Rubscon has been Passed.

L will be seen By the news from Charles
ton, which VIC publish in another column,
that .hs fatal blow has been struck, and that
hostiliries have actually commenced between
the National Government and the seeding
States We have seen the commencement of the
struggle, shall we ever sec It's close? Have we
only beheIi the commencement of rebellion
which will be crushed out in a few months.
without affecting the stability Of the Union
or weakening the belief in the minds of thin
king men of the capacity ofnan for self gov
ernment, Or have We beheld the first death
tbroes of the last free Government on the
face of Gods earth? These are questions
which time only can answer The cloud
which rests upon the future Of our Country :
black and lowering indeed. It may nave
its silver lining but We cannot pcrceiTe 1t
Ages ago az inspired prophet predicted a
day of darkness aud gloominess, Of clouds
and thick darkness" We fear ne have be-
held the beginning Of such dag in tbs cOun-
try. The Unio1 row seems poised On the
verge Of destruction. I. i already weakened
If not broken, and nothing viii restore it to
US, as it was transmitted to Us by our rcTO-
lutionary sires, bat the interposigion of that
gracious Being, who hath made" and thus
far preserved rs 4 Nation"
As an American citizen, taught from our
earliest years to revere the our Country, the
Union which holds It together, lis consti-
tuition and its laws, its free institutions, had
become as dear to Us as the blood that warns
our hearts. We had marked Its progress for
years, in al the elements Of greatness and
prosperity with emotions of pride au2 pleas
uTe, and it IS with emotions of profound
sorrow VIC now behold the spectacle
Of tho States which compose /. occupy
ing hostile and bclligerent position TOW
ards each other, and mark the signs
which tell Us, that we shall soon see
the land Of cur love. drerchcd in fraernal
blood. Fanaticism has done its work. The
spirit Of false philanthropy, which has for
years been endeavorinS to elevate the Afri-
can Negro by the destruction of the fairsst
fabric of Government ever reared by the hand
Of man has we fear st length triampbed. IF
SO, there is at least some consolation in know
ing that the great national and conservative
Party, to which ne belong, and with which
we have always acted. had no hand in the al
most paIrIcidal act, but that on the contrary
it fearlessIy stemned anl endeavored to beat
hack the torrent of Abolitionism aud fa2ati-
cism which swept over the Country in tri-
umph, on that i'll omencl day in last Novem-
Der, when Abraham Lincoln. standing on
sectional platform, was elected President Of
the United States.
We are 10 believer 10 the secession doc
trine. We DO not believe that State pos
sesses the right uu1er the Constitution to
peaceably secode from the Union. aud we
therefore regard the proceedings Of the sece-
ding States from the very inception Of the Sc
cession movement up to present time, as rev
olutionary nothing more, nothing less -
They can ouly justify aad sustain their course
By the doctrine laid down in the Declaration
of Independence, that where a form of
government becomes destructive of the ends
for which it was established: when it fails to
protect the governed IN their lives, their lib /
erty, their property. aud in the pursuit of .
happiness, it Is their right and duty. to over
throw and abolish it. IF the Government of
the United States has really become destrue-
tive of the ends for which it was established
as far as the seeding States are concerned,
they are right in endeavoring TO abolish it,
sud erect a new Government which will pro
tect them in the enjoyment of their rights.
f lot they are wrong. very wrong But 1
bi. is question which Us not going 20 t