Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1862-10-11
.rI From the N. Y. Independent
THE PROCLAMATION OF FREEDOM.
ny HORACE GREELEY.


When great end which has been ardu.
ously struggled for through months--per.
hnps years of doubt and depression, is at
length attained, The 6rst impulse is one of
profound exnltation, Of intense satisfaction
the next is too apt TO be one of criticism
aud cavail Where is the blessedness ye
spake of 2 Why might we not have had
all we asked for as well as lhisY Why stop
short, after going SO far2 Is this adequie to
the cxigenry7 Does it fully rcqaite all the
effort and sacrifice it has cos2 Aud thus
the reaction following great triumph is
apt to induce discomfort if not apathy
Mrs. Hemans' Traveller at the Source of
the Nile will be remembered by thousands
as euerying, after the first sensation of tri.
umph had passed, And is this all 2
The Presidents Proclamation of Freedom
is not what l desired and sought. l did
hope that the President would feel con.
strained to declare Slavery abolished bt
once and In every part of the country.
hoped that Maryland, Delaware, and Mis-.
souri,, would have been made Free States
forthwith, Compensation Of course TO be
made to the few thoroughly loyal slave
holders in each,) and that every slave now
urder the jurisdiction of the Uuion should
likewise be freed at once, and the residue so
fast as they should come or be brought
within that jnrisdiction firmly belipvd
i still belleye--the exgency such as fully
and clearly to warrant and demand such an
exercise of supreme Military authority for
the saving Of the life of the Republic.
But the President has determined on
more cautious, limited, tempori>ing of
procedure. His Proclamation frees abso
lulely only such slaves as acts Of Congress-
punshng the crimes Of rebels, had alreday
anticipated. Nearly three months must
yet eIapse-a full hundred days from
the date Of the Procamalion-befor the
potter of Freedom toal slaves of Rebels
and of persons passively remaining and re-
siding within States and districts hitherto
under rebel jurisdiction, will take ,fect.
Hence some say, The Proclamation is II
soap bu5blc-a mirage--a deluSiou. 1t
does not abolish Sluvery--it may never free
a single slave. The Rebels may succumb
and return to loalty; or they may be beaten
and their States restored by force to the
Union; or they may triamph and achieve
their independence through foreign aid or
otherwise, so that Slavery may emerge
from this contest strong and defiant as ey.
er. What will avail, then, the proclama-
tion of Free dom?'
Now it is true that the rebels mag save
Slavery by promptly and thoroughly re.
pndiating their treason in so far, the de-.
- orr,,nnlnA Wnrn fbou fn
lay down tLeir arms to morrow, and an
nounce their unqualified submission to the
Constitution and adhesion TO the Union,
Slavery would doubtless survive the Rebel.
lion. But while this is physically possible,
it is morally otherwise. The dupes of the
RebelIion-the ignorant Millions of the
Southern whites-know nothing of the re.
cent reverses of their arms. Their ears
are constantly crammed, their vanity in.
famed, by tydings of Confederate victor
les. A Il over the further South, it is cur
rently reported, and by the Poor Whites
believed, that S'oncwall Jackson has taken
Washington City, missing the capture of
the President and Cabinet by barely two
hours. aud that Gen. Lees victorious ar
my is on its conqering way to the great
Northern cities Even in Rchmod, the
battles which resulted in the expulsion of
the CoufederateS from Maryland are habit
ualIy treated by the press as Rebel lri-
ump. 81 How, then, is it possible that the
Confcderates should give up their rebellion
and submit absolutely to the supremacy of
the Federal Constitution and Laws?
A suhiugatiou of the Rebel hosts, vir
tue conquest OF the Rebel States, before
j January, is by no means impossible, but
that ac0uM not Sare SLarery For, by
The terms of the Couhscaton Act, express
ly recognized and their enforcement enioin-
ed upon our Military and Naval officers by
The Proclamation, Slavery in the Rebel
States disappears before the advance of our
arms, giving place at all points to Impair
tial Freedom Every Rebel State overrun
by our armies becomes inevitably Free
State.
That the Rebels may triumph, and die
tate q Disuuion Peace to our Government
is of course possible. This contingency
could by no means have been excluded If
we are beaten in the struggle, no act OF
Congress, no Military ORDER no Executive
uecTGe, eau VI COuiu W NuHNulSH
Slavery. Being our conqueror, it will pre-
scribe terms, not accept them. The most
sweeping edict of emancipation can avail
nothing in the absence Of power to enforce
it. ....... ......
But this is what the Proclamation of
Freedom will and must do for the Union
cause, and justiiieS all, and more than all,
the gratitude and gladness wherewith that
act has been hailed by the loyal Millions.
/. 1t places our Government distinctly,
on the side of Freedom as
against Slavery. 1t recognizes Slavery as
the melting cause of our National calami
ties and pers. 1t looks to Impartial Free
dom as their unfailing, eifectual cure
Whatever gloss may be placed on the facts
by blind, beSotted partisauship. the Procla.
nation is an official recognition that the
enslavement of some has imperiled the lib
erLY and happiness of oil.
ii. For more than forty years past, it
has been generally held and taught in this
country, that hostility to Slavery was neal
ly akin to disloyalty TO the Union. The
tables are now turned In recognizing