Smyrna times., 1862-08-07
OUR POSITION,

maintain, with whatever ability God has
given US, the position of unconditional fcal-
~ to the Government and flag of our faith
ers. When the parricidal hand of rebellion
has been laid upon the throat of nationally
when men, the most wicked ana deyiIish.
have banded together for the purpose of
Overturning the foundations OF the Republic
which was established by the labors and
suiferingS, and cemented bv the blood Of
oar Revolutionary herOes-when the awful
and momentous issue is presented to the
people OF America, whether the Union shall
be l'erpetuated, or war. anarchy and blood
Shed shall be the future of our destinv-it
Is worse than tolly-it is treason. topretend
to be neutral. In war like that in which
we are now engagetl-a war in which an
ambitious band of conSpirators, appealing to
the b;ISer passions and prejudiccs of human
nature, have deluded large portion of the
people into the madness of fendS and Incl
ted them to attempt the ruin and destr,lc-
ton of the best and trcest form of govern
mcnt ever known on earth. no patriot or
phIinthropiSt can hesitate in taking Sides
with those who are seeking to maintain and
uphold the supremacy of the Jaws and thu
existence of the nation. There is no half
way houSe-thcre is no neutral ground be-
tween loyalty and treason.
The duties OF allegiance and protection
are eoFelatlve obligations. 1t is the duty of
The government, whatever may he its form
or structure, whether democratic or monar-
chicd' To protect the subject or citizen {:
whilst 1t IS equally the duty Of the subject
or citizen TO render to the government of
which he is the lawful subject or citizen, in
return for It's protection, Il willing obedience
to ITS laws; and to do all that lies in Ills
power to support and defend it in the hour
OF Its peril. lie who can, without cause.
raise his hand to destroy that government.
whose flag has protected him in his infancy
and ripper years, is no better than he who
would willtully murder the mother who
gave HIM succOr, the father who had reared
AMI educated him to manhood and he who
would give aid and comfort to those who
are engaged in the wicked work of subvert-
lug this best government on earth, however
elevated may be the position he has hereto
Ire held i'll society, is no better than he
who Is accessory to the basest of human
crimes, He who, knowingly, as every i'll
teihgent man must know; that the present
unhOly rebellion was begun without any
just cause whatever, by Southern traitors.
only for the cause that they might ruin when
they could no longer rule the country. will
still persist in preaching "peace, peace." to
the loyal people now engaged in defending
the threatened life of the nation. instead Of
beseechlng his ".Soutte1n brethren" to Law
down their arms and return to their allep;-
anss, belongs to the effective corps of g S,1p-
Pe's ana Miners" whose aim is to create dis
senslon and party strife in the loyal States,
that Southern treason may be made trium-
Phant 1t is high tihe that the people of
Delaware were fully apprized of the charac-
ter OF those contemplate demagogues who.
preferrlng party ascendency to the integrity
OF the Union, are raising, throughout the
State the miserable and senseless clamor Of
Aboiltlonlsm and Black Republicanism.-
We are no AbOlltiOnist or Black Republi-
can. But we hesitate not, now, to avow
that if the glorious Union. the boritoc,r
transmitted TO US by our fathers, or the in
stItution of slavery must one or the other
go down in this mighty struggle, we shall
DC found fighting g till the last of our blood
ana our breath " for the priceless and ines
Unable legacy bequeathed us by our sire.
Of'76.
We do not believe that the terrible con-
tlict now being fought will necessarily 70.
suit in the destruction of the institution of
domestic slavery, in order to restore and
maintain the Union but we do believe that
that institution will emerge from this horrid
civil strife desperately wounded. But the
fault is not Ours-it is not the fault of the
loyal people. 1t is the fault of those who
> eT'ed the Southern heuf' into treason and
they and their institution suffer from the
awful confagration which themselves have
kiRdied. on them alone must rest the res
possibility
We wish it distinctly understood that,
although we did not vote for Abraham, Lin
c0in' we believe him to be an honest man
ana an able statesman and as such we in
,eild honestly 20 support his administration
IN Us efforts TO crush the rebellion, to pun
isn traitors and to restore the Union in all