Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-01-20
To the SeCessionIsts OF CInrIxsburE
and Throughout Western Virginia.
From the ClArksbnrg Telegranh.l

lrEOuh the CIarksDnrS Telegraph.
We feel like giving the sccessionists in
this region little kind and fatherly adj
vice. They may think we are presuming
TOO much, as we are stranger, but this is
not the case, for we are citizen of the
United States, and SO are they, however
they may de dissatisfied with the position.
We have right to talk to them, and we
intend doing it, not in an arrogant style,
but as one who desires the welfare of his
race, and is solicitOus for their happiness.
Many of you in this portion of Virginia
nave been IN arms against the Government
1ou have either become tired of the SER
wee and returned for the purpose of enjoy
ing the society of your friends aud families,
or else you have been attracted by bad mo.
tVes, endeavOring to seek some advantage
tor the enemies of the Government
by acting as spy. Whatever may
have been your motives, you have returned
and taken the oath of allegiance to the
Government, and that Government has
generously overlooked your hcinous sin of
rebellion, and is now protecting your per-
son and property. You, by your actions,
h0d incurred the most rigorous penalties
of Il viOlnted law, but simply upon your
taking the oath of allegiance, your crimes
are forgotten, and you restored to all the
privileges of citizenship. Now, if you
have one spark of gratitude, or one grain
of that honor that should actuatc true
man, you will refrain from abusing that
Government that has manifested such
Lcniency and forbearNucc towards you.-
You will not be engaged i'll holding COM
claves at night and conspiring with the
enemies o! the Government. You will not
be bOasting OF your rebellion You will
not be constantly cndeavoring to bring the
Government into disrepute. You will not
be trampiing upon the rights of Union
men, but you will attend to your own
business, and if you cannot honestly APP
prove of the acts of the Government in
crushing out the rebellion, you will at
least keep silent. Gratitude to the Gov
crnment that has been so kind to you,
ought to make you do this if you have a
spark of the soul of man in YOU We
are talking to yon solely for your own
good, and it will profit you to give heed to
our talk.
Do not show to the Union men that you
are still their enemies. They evince dis
position to treat you kindly. And as you
have sOiemnly promised, and called God to
witness that promise, that you will by 10y
al to the Government of the United States,
school your heart, mind and actions TO
keep that oath iuvioIate. Remember that
your actions are taken cognzance of by a
Tribunal infinitely higher than any earthly
power, and that the sins of men nre not on
ly punished iu that fearful hereafter; but
they are frequently visited upon them with
fearful vengeance, even in this world.
There is no kind of quibbling sophistry
by which you can evade the obligations
implied by the oath you have taken. 1t is
bona tide a judicial oath. The Government
of the United States is one of the powers
of the earth, and the tribunals created
by this power havs legal right to admin
lister the oath, and you are legally and
morally bound to keepit. Again, if you can
by any kind of flatterng sophiStry persuade
yourself that the oath is not obligatory in
a legal point of view, yet there is prin-
ciple of honor involved in it that you can
not evade without showing to the world
that you are utterly unworthy of conf
pence. BY taking upon Yourself this oath
you pledge yourself in tho sight of your
neighbOrs to bea good loyal citizen, and if
you do not intend keeping it, but have just
taken it to compass some selfish end you
have violated that high principle of honor
that insures confidence among men.
Our charity inclines us to believe tha
many pass heedlessly on without properly
Investigating the nature of their obIigG-
tions, and if they can be led to view them
in the true light will control their actions
accordingly.
A Singular IncIdent.
7