The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-07-12

Spouse Of the citizens Of st. Louis to appeal Of
Gen. Halleck in behalf Of the suffering FAMILIES
Of rebel soldiers, says: sst
ave may safely assert that the men OF st.
Louis, in the act here noticed, have achieved
the most splendid victory Of the war, and We
may hope, one pregnant with good. The South
ern rebel who hears Of it. unless his heart
is steeled by hate, will find it hard to strike
another blow" 81.
We have no doubt that this act will bring
forth abundant good. And yet we greatly fear
that the generous belief expressed in the last
sentence Of the paragraph quoted, will bring
forth an equal abundant harvest Of evil. We
have watched carefully in Southern Kentucky.
Northern Kentucky, and in Tennessee, to see
how far the velvet policy would avail in sub
DUNG the rebellion. Disposed by nature to
rule BY kindness rather than by force, and to
persuade rather than to menace, We have ever
hoped that our own anticipation would not be
realized, and that the gentle policy would
prove to be the enc. Our observation satisfies
Us fully it win only embolden them to defy
the people, and to resist their authority to the
utmost. He who hopes to tame bitter rebels by
charity, by indulgence, and honied expostula-
tions, excites our establishment at his igno-
rance of human nature as much as he wins our
admiration for his humanity. We fully believe
that the hearts Of nearly all the prominent
rebels are s'steeled by hate"-yes, they are
harder than adamant itself. Dark and fierce
and malignant passions rage within them, like
those flames Of
ever burning sulphur unconsumed'
that make darkness visible" in the regions Of
the damned. We have thrown grass long
enough; we have patted violent rebels with
velvet gloves long enough-too long, we fear,
for the welfare of the nation. If persisted in.
it will cost the nation thousands of valuable
loyal lives and hundreds Of millions Of money.
To hope that the hearts Of active rebels will
not be 'ssteeled by hate,'' or that leniency will
make it harder for them to strike another blow
is ss likely to be blessed with realization as
it would be to hope to gather ''grapes from
thorns and figs and from thistles." Why look
at the rewards offered in Southern papers for
thesssssassiation offederal Offers ,
Thousands Of them areFeady to step from tres-
son to assassination and the policy Of the gov
eminent in many lnstancns, and the arguments
bf too many loyal Congressmen and journalist,
is actually emboldening the rebels to this hor-
rid practice, borrowed from the Sicarii Of Ven
ice, AID the skulking cut-throats OF Madrid.
Unless We change our treatment OF avowed
and malignant rebels, assassination will soon
become more frequent than guerrilla raids
Just so long as loyal editors of influence argue
for the constitutional rights Of rebels, and
protest against the legality ofany measure that
will cripple the resources OF the rebel 8, and
contend after the close of the war the political
and personal rights will exist just as they did
before the beginning of the rebellion, and that
the rights of war and the rights of sovereignty
cannot co~exist, as one of our contemporaries
contends just so long will the virus Of rebellion
spread itself, and become more deadly and
perhaps finally ineradicable. 1t seems to US
that such reasoning is experimenting with the
very life Of the nation. We cannot stop to
chop logic and parley about the constitutional
rights Of traitors, who have four hundred thou
sand men in arms against us, who murder our
people by guerrilla raids, who threaten to as
sassinate our officers, and who imprison, i'm
press hang, and exileloyal people and conhsca;e
their effects without hesitation. This war
would have been ended months ago had we put
forth half the energy and severity displayed by
be rebels.-[ Nashville Union.