Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1862-07-10
Yours truly,
From Harper's Weekly.
IMPORTANT POLITICAL MOVE,
MFNT

We have obtained information of
very important political movement which
has lately taken place in this city, and
which is likely to exercise no small inHu-
ence upon the destines of the State and
the Union. 1t seems that a few evenings
since select party of bankers, shipping
merchants, politicians, lawyers and edi-
tors met in private room at one of our
hotels, and resolved to organize a new
party, to be known as "The Antedelu-
vians"
A prominent merchant observed that,
in his opinion, things had been going
from bad to worse for many years. The
encroachments of the executive we're be-
coming :-.selo~ohia witness the execution
of the martyr Gordon. For his part he
believed in leaving trade entirely free,
and if a maH chose to import negroes
from Africa he saw no opjoCc','oh : 1t was
notorious that the spiritual condition OF
the slaves in South Carolina was far SUI
perior to that of the negroes in Ashantee
Or Dahomey. He went in for saving
souls where he could. He thought the
legislation of the United States rotton.
and advised a recurrence to the old colo
NAL laws, under which his ancestors in
Rhode Island had done uncommonly well
for several generations.
An editor, in rising, wished to say that
he was in favor of the prosecution of the
war. But he wished it prosecuted with
some regard to humanity. He was op-
| posed to the shedding of blood, especially
| of the blood of our brethren in the Slave
States. He could wish that General Nc
Clellan should be directed to fire several
volleys with blank cartridge in the direc.
ton of Richmond, after which a deputa-
ton should be sent to Jeff Davis to offer
him the reversion of the Presidency on
| condition of peace. His blood boiled when
he thought of the number of slaves who
had escaped from their masters during the
present war. He understood that Gen.
Lee, whom he was proud to call his friend,
had lost two valuable slaves. Why were
they not returned? Was the Govern
ment common thief? He was not a
church member himself, but he had
friend who wentregularly to meeting, and
who informed him that in Deuteronomy :;
Here the speaker was interrupted
by a boy who came in with list of our
killed and wounded at Fair Oaks, which
the editor began to copy for his paper.
A lawyer remarked that the authors of
the war were the people of New Eng
land, and that they were the real dis
unionists. A popular impression existed
that it was the people of South Carolina
who fired the first gun in the war. This
was mistake. 1t was Massachusetts
which sought a severance of the Union,
not South Carolina. He was bound to
admit that the former had sent a few
troops to support the President, while the
latter had despatched her volunteers
against Washington. But appearances
were often deceitful. The South Carroll
mans were whole-souled people, incapa-
BILE a dishonest dealing ;-whereas he
knew from experience that the New Eng
landers were rogues. He had case
He was called to order by the chair
man, who remarked that while he was
glad to hear that their friend, the lawyer,
had got case at last, it had nothing to do
with the object of the meeting. They
had met there to see if something could
not be done to stem the tide of human
progress and civilization, which was
sweeping before it the time-honorcd pre-
JUDGES, abuses and wrongs to which they
all naturally chung. He would call upon
his neighbor, the banker, to ventilate his
opinions. .e..-.s
The banker remarked that the great
trouble in the country was the want of an