Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1861-11-27

~ tnS perl0d curing which we could conduct a war 5
against the adversary whom We now encounter. This 7
very efforts which he makes TO isolate and invade rs. r
must exhaust his means whilst they serve to com
pfete the circle and diversity the productions OF our
industrial system. The reconstruction which hs {
seeks to effect by arms becomes daily more and more
palpably Impossible. Not only do the causes which
induced Us to separate still exist in full force. but
they have been strengthened. and whatever doubt
may nave fingered in the minds of any has been COM
Pletely dispelled by subsequent events. If instead Of
peing a dissolution of aleagae, it were indeed a re-
Deltion in which we are engaged. we might find am.
pie vindication for the course we have adopted. in
the scenes which are now beingIenactsd in the United 1
states. Our people now look with contemptuous as-
constituent on those with whom they had been so re-
Gently associated. They shrink with aversion from the /
bare idea of renewing such a connection. When they
see a President making war without the assent of Con
.gIess; when they behold judges, threatened because
they maintain the writ of habeas corpus so sacred I'd
freemen: when they see justice and law trampled I'M.
der the armed heel OF military authority, and upright
men and innocent women dragged to distant dun
geons upon the mere edict of a despot when they
nnd all this tolerated and a~pplauded by a people wfo
months ago-they believe that there must be some
radical 1ncompatability between such a people and
themselves. With such q people we may be content
10 I'VE at peace, put the separation is final, and for
the Independence we have asserted we will accept no |
alternative.
against US, must be characterized as barbarous wher- |
ever it is understood. They have bombarded unde-
ienasu villages without giving notice to women and
children to enable them to escape, and in one instance,
selected the night as the period when they might sur
prlsethem most efectually whilst asleep and unsus-
psclous OF Danger. Arson and rapine, the destruction
OF private houses and property, AID injuries of the
iaueI altU character, even upon nom COmDatantS,
nave marked their forays along our borders and upon
our territory. Although we ought to have been adj
mohlsned by these things, that they were disposed to
make war upon us in the most cruel and relentless
spirit; yet, we were not prepared to see them fit out
a large naval expedition, with the confessed purpose
not only of plumber, but to incite a servile insnrrec-
ton in our midst.
Fthey convert their soldiers into incendiaries. and
Involve US IN a species of war which claims non-com-
batants, women and children as its victims. they
must expect to be treated as outlaws and enemies Of
mankind. There are certain rights of humanity
which are entitled to respect. even in war. and he who
refuses to regard them forfeits his claims, if captured,
pect to be dealt with as an offender against all law.
human and divine.
But not content with violating oar ri shts. under the
law OF nations, at home, they have extended these
injuries to us within other Jurisdictions. The distin-
gadsnea gentlemen whom, with your approval, at the
eracy at certain foreign courts. have been recently
seized by the captain of a United States ship of war,
on board a British steamer, on their voyage from the
neutral Spanish port of HAVANA to England. They
have thus claimed a general jurisdiction over the high
seas, and entering a British ship, sailing under it's
country's flag, violated the right of embassy, for the
most part held sacred even amongst barbarians, by
selZlng our ministers whilst under the protection and
within the dominions of a neutral nation. These gen
tle!nen were as much under the Jurisdiction of the
British government upon that ship and beneath its
flag as if they had been on its soil, and a claim on the
part OF the United States to seize them in the street,
OF London would have been as well founded as that tt
Z apprehend them where they were taken. Had the,
, , eeen m tao and citizens evan of the Dni!e,
) shlpor on British soil. unless under the express pro
9 visions of q treaty and according to the forms therein
pIONluCu " III CALFdulb1On OF CRIMINALS.
r But rights the most sacred seem to have lost all re
I spect in their eyes. When Mr.. Faulkner, q forme
ed before the secession of Virginia, his native State
Q returned in good faith to Washington to settle hi
e accounts and fulfill all the obligations into which h
+ had entered, he was perfdiously arrested and impri
oned in New. York, where he now is. The unsu
+, pecting confidence with which he reported to his 90,
q eminent was abused. and his desire to fulfill his trul
u to them was used to his injury.
Il In conducting this war, we have sought no aid ar
we nave asked Tor q recognized place in the ere
family of nations, but in doing so we have demandt
! nothing for which we did not offer a fair eouivalen
ts The advantages of intercourse are mutual among
~ nations. and in seeking to establish diplomatic +
al course under the regulation of public law. Perhal
r. we had the right If we had chosen to exercise it.
nc ask h to Know u whether he the principle that 'blockades
es ed by the great Powers of Europe at Paris. is to
IN generally enforced or applied only to particular p'
p ties.
ne When the Confederate States at your last sessi
n became a party to the declaration r~e-affrming IL
e principle of international law. which has been recC
ny nized so long by publicists and Governments, we c.
"a tainly supposed that it was to be universally enforce
re The customary law of nations is made up of tn
ne practice rather than their declarations; and if su
'nt declarations are only to be enforced in particular
as stances at the pleasure of those who make them, tn
the commerce of the world so far from being plac
We under the regulation of a general law, will Decor
ne subject to the caprice of those who execute or 81
NY pend it at will. If such is to be the course of natio
sse in regard to this law, it is plain that it will thus
u come a rule for the weak and not tor the strong.
on Feeling that such views must be taken by the NJ
Old, trail nations of the earth, | have caused the evider
TO De corrected WHICH proves completely the utter
II efficiency of the proclaimed blockade of our Goa
and shall direct it to be laid before such GovernmeI
a as shall afford US the means of being heard. But
Up, though we should be benefited by the enforcement
-ed this law SO solemnly declared by the great powers
Ias Europe. we are not dependent on that enforcemt
for the successful prosecution of the war. As 10
." as h~ostilities continue the Confederate States "
exhibit a steadily increasing capacity to furnish tn
me troops with food, clothing and arms. If they sho1
VI be forced to forego many of the Injuries and so
gu of the comforts of life. they will, at least, have
~ consolation of knowing that they are thus daily
tts' coming more and more Independent of the rest of
nns, world. If, in this process. labor in the Confeder
% States should be gradually diveeted from these or
10 Southern staples which have given life to go mucf
: Se the commerce of mankind into other channels. sc
10 to make them rival producers instead OF profta
~ customers. they will not be the only or even the ci
losers by this change in the direction of their ind
hos try. Although it is true that the cotton supply Fl
u the Southern States could only be totally cut off
,I H. the suhyersion of our social system vet it is p
10y that a long continuance of this blockade might
80 diversion of labor and an investment Of capita
"a, other em~ployments, so diminish the supply as to bT
Ns ruin upon all those interests of foreign count1
so which are dependent on that staple. For every la
~ er who is diverted from the culture of cotton in
bpn South, perhaps four times as many elsewhere, '
10 have found subsistence in the various employing
on growing out of its use, will be forced, also, to cha
OH mir nNnunofia1,