The Portland daily press., 1862-12-08
Monday Morning, Dec. 9, 1862.
Judge Holt ON the War.

Hon. Joseph Holt wrote the following letter
to Collector Barney Of New York, in response
to an invitation to address public meeting;
but thought that it was too hastily written for
publication. 1t is now published with his con-
sent:
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 1862.
Hon. Hiram Barney.
Dear Sir,-Your favor of the 22d inst has
been received. An invitation similar to that
which you SO kindly urge upon me have been
obliged within few days to decline, in conse-
quence Of engagements here which occupy ev-
cry moment Of my time, and must now make
the same answer to yourself.
There win doubtless be present with you on
the occasion referred to, those capable by their
eloquence Of efecting all the good that popu-
lar addresses can now accomplish. / must b
frank, however, and say that to me it seems
that what is at this moment needed is not
words, however glowing, but heroic deeds.
The tongue of an archangel could scarcely
comfort aud animate the popular spirit in the
presence of the inaction of the army. After
an unparalleled expenditure of treasure, and
the marshaling of such armies as the world has
never seen, and after sacrifices which are cloth
ing the land In mourning, at the expiration of
eighteen months from the commencement of
the rebellion, we find il more defiant and de-
termined, and more successful in its invasions
and spoliations, than at any moment since the
struggle began. This is from no lack of deyo-
ton on the part of the people, who have pour
ed out their blood and treasure like water, nor
yet from any lack of courage on the part of our
brave volunteers. Our soldiers have been ev-
erywhere painting for a sight of the enemy,
while the great heart of the country, in its sol
emn and earnest solicitudes, is like ground
swell toward the battlefield. A sadened belief
is rapidly spreading that, unless the present
condition of things is changed, our cause will
be lost
An immediate, bold and aggressive move
ment upon the enemy-following up every
blow struck, and gathering the fruits of every
victory ganed-is what Is required for our de-
iiverance. To the accomplishment of this sin
gle object the thoughts, efforts and the pray
ers of the whole country should be directed
II those who are in the front will not go for
ward, the public safety will demand that they
be assigned position in the rear. What are
the sensibilities, what the reputation, or what
the cherished schemes of any General in the
field, as compared with the life of such gov
ernment and country as ours? Ii, with the
cloudless skies, and bracing airs, and fine
roads of the Autumn. our vast and completely
appointed army cannot do its work, when will
1t be able to do SO? If Lee, Jackson and Long
street can move with promptitude and dashng
celebrity in the cause of treason and barbaric
vandalism, why cannot our cheftains move as
promptly and as fast in the cause of honor and
loyalty? How much longer will the nation
endure that all its sacrifices be fruitless? Its
conviction that it possesses, twice told, the
power to subdue this rebellion, is not more
complete than in my Judgment, will be its de-
termination that neither the follies nor the
crimes of men shall render the power unavail-
ing.
1t is this torpor of our armies-this hope de-
ferred for the hundredth time--which has un-
furled that party banner, whose shadow is now
resting on so many of the loyal States. 1t is
not disloyalty which has prompted the deplor-
able movement, but WEAKNESS and discour-
agement consequent upon the losses, humilia-
tions and delays we have suffered; yet it is the
most alarming sign of the times, and can only
be arrested by decided military successes. 1t
is the law of the very existence of such politi-
cal organizations to seek strength by assaults
upon the Administration in whose hands, for
veal or woe, is the direction of those move
ments upon which necessarily depend the pres
ervation of the Union. These assaults will
grow in vigor and bitterness as they progress
and while thus indirectly affording ''aid and,
comfort" to the rebellion, will make continuous,
albeit unconscious approaches towar d an
open affliation with it. Let those who are
called upon to vote party ticket in the midst
of the tragic events now upon u.s. ponder well
before doing so, the disastrous consequences
of such policy-a policy from whose baleful
tendencies no purity of motive can possibly
detract. Let them hasitate long before they
sow the seeds of dissensions, whose bitter fruits
may be upon the lips of their children's child
ren. Let them not forget that, by thus presen-
ting divided front they degrade our cause be-
fore the world, they paralyze our own strength
and add immeasurably TO the hopes, the conf
dence and the power of the enemy. Already
the Confederate Press is pointing the deluded
people of the South to these rising distractions
among ourselves, in a tone not merely of hope
fulness, but of exutation.
IL any man, as a motive for such a course
SUD pes that he has ground of complaint
against the President, let him take heed that
his il-directed hostility does not put in jeopar-
dy the Republic itself, for whose preservation
from overthrow the President is necessarily
and loyalty laboring. What has controversy
with the President of the United States to do
with the question of loyalty TO our country in
the midst of such a struggle as this? If he
errs-as the best of men are liable to do-he
Is soon to pass away with all his deeds, but
our Government and country should, and il
we are true to them, they will endure for
countless ages to come The President, with
all the dignity and responsibilities belonging
to his position, is but pilot on the national
ship for single watch of the night. Who
will be so insane as to aid. however indirectly
in scuttling the ship, merely because he has a
quarrel with the pilot, from whose hands the
helm is soon to be wrested? Who is willing
that savage shout, as of victory, shall 90 up
rom the army of feroc ious rebels whose hands