Arkansas true Democrat., 1861-08-01

T. - volted colonies, took possession of ever g now occupied by the troops of the Unite e States; the houses inhabited by the peopl
 after being respected and protected by thos
 avowed invaders, are now pillaged and de stroyed by men who pretend that Virgi , nians are their fellow citizens. Mankin, : will shudder at the tales of the outrage committed on defenseless families, by th ! soldiers of the United States, now invad ing our homes; yet these outrages ar,
 prompted by inhamed passions, madness and intoxication; but who shall depict tht horror they entertain, for the cooler anc deliberate malignancy with which under
 the pretext of suppressing an insurrection said by themselves to be upheld by mi
 nority only of our people, makes special
 war on the sick, including women and
 children, by carefully devised measures to
 prevent their obtaining the medicines neces-
 sary for their cure? The sacred claims oi
 humanity, respected even during the fury
 of actual battle, by careful diversion of
 attack from hospitals containing wounded
 enemies, are outraged in cold blood, by a
 government and people, that pretend to
 desire continuance of fraternal connec-
 tions-all these outrages, must remain un-
 avenged save by the universal reproduction of
 mankind In all cases where the actual perpe-
 trators of these wrongs escape capture, they
 admit of no retaliation. The humanity of
 our people would shrink instinctvely, from
 the base idea, of waging like war upon
 the sick, the women and the children of an
 enemy--but there are other savage prac-
 tices, which have been resorted to by the
 government of the United States, which
 do admit of repression by retaliation, and
 1 have been driven to the necessity of en-
 forcing this repression. The prisoners of
 war taken by the enemy on board the arm-
 ed schooner Savannah, sailing under our
 commission, were as am credibly advised, l treated like common felons, put in irons,
 confined in the jail usually appropriated to
 criminals of the worst dye, and threatened
 with punishment as such. l had made an
 application for the exchange of prisoners to
 the commanding officer of the enemy's
 squadron off Charleston, but that officer
 had already sent the prisoners to New
 York when my application was made. l
 therefore, deemed 1t my duty to renew the
 proposal for an exchange to the constitu-
 tional commander chief of the army and
 navy of the United States, the only officer
 having control of prisoners. To this end l dispatched an officer to him, under flag of truce, and in making the proposal, l inform ing President Lincoln of my resolute pur- pose to check all barbarities on prisoners of war, by such severity of retaliation on pri- soners held by us, as should secure the abandonment of the practice. This commu- nication was received and read by the officer in command of the United States forces | and message brought from him, by the bearer of my communication, that reply | would be returned by President Lincoln, as soon as possible. I earnestly hope this promised reply, (which has not yet been received will convey the assurance, that prisoners of war will be treated in this un- happy contest, with that regard for hu- manity, which has made such conspicuous progress in the conduct of modern warfare. As a measure of precaution, however, and until the promised reply is received, still retain in close custody some officers cap tured from the enemy, whom it had been my pleasure previously to set at large on parole, and whose fatr must necessarily depend on l,-A.e presldent ana bold -hy the enemy. the army and navy of the United States, , and of the report of the officer charged to deliver my communication. There arc , some other passages in the remarkable pa f per which have directed your attention to- , having reference to the peculiar relations !, which exist between this government anc 5 the states usually termed the border slave states, which cannot properly be withheld from notice The hearts of our people arc animated by sentiments toward the inhabl tants of these States, which found expres l sion in your enactment, refusing to consld ) CT them enemies, or authorize hostillties against them.
 r That very large portion of the people : of these States regard us as brethren, ant if unrestraincd by the actual presence 9 , large armies, and the subversion of civil au thority, and the declaration of martial law Q some of them at least, would .joyfully unit f with us; that they are with almost entire , unanimity, opposed to the prosecution o the war waged against us, are facts whici daily recurring events fully warrant the as :, sertion of.
 , The President of the United States re fuses to recognize ill these, our late slste States, the right of refraining from attacl
 on us, and iustifes his refusal by the asser II |, tion that States have no other power tha II that reserved to them in the Union by tn e constitution-no one of them ever having : been State out of the Union. This view c ' the constitutional relations between tn States and the general government, IS . fitting introduction to another assertion : : the message, that the executive possesses tn power of suspending the writ of habeas COT 2 pus, ,and of delegating that power to mllitar e commanders at their discretion. And bot Il these propositions claim respect equal t $ that which is felt for the additional statemen : of opinion in the same paper, that 1t IS pro a per in order to execute laws, that som l. single law made in such extreme tendernes Il of the citizens liberty, that practically rt e lieves more of the guilty than the innocent |. should to very limited extent be violated D We may well rejoice that we have forevt | severed our connection with governmer g that thus tramples on all principles of COT a q stitutional liberty, and with people ! whose presence such avowals could be hal ' arded.
 # Operations in the field will be greatly e, # tended by reason of the policy, which hereto IF fore has been secretly entertained, and is no d avowed and acted on by Lincoln. The force Q hitherto raised, proved ample for the d 2 fense of the seven States which originally O ,- ganized in the confederacy. Such IS evince !. by the fact, that with the exception of thr' ,r fortified islands, whose defense IS efficient d aided by preponderating naval force, u d enemy has been driven completely out a these States, and now at the expiration aa five months from the formation of the g , n vernment, not single hostile foot press 70 70 their soil These forces, however, mu