Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-11-14
JOSEPH HOLT ON THE WAR.

JOSEPH HOLT ON THE WAR.
The Voice Of the Neblsst Ksntuek;
go Homo TO the Hearts OF the PeO-
wAsHrSerOx, Oct. %, 1862.
Hon. HIRAM BARxEY-Dear Sir. Your
favor of the 22d inst. has been received
An invitation similar to that which you 80
kindly urged upon me have been obliged
within few days to decline, in conse-
queuce of engagements here which occupy
every moment Of my time, and must now
make the same answer to yourself.
There will doubtless be present with you
on the occasion referred to, those capable,
by their eloquence, of effectiug all the good
that popular addresses can now accomplish.
must be 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 archaugel
could scarcely comfort and animate the
popular spirit in the presence of the iuac-
tion of our armies. After an unparalleled
expenditure of treasure, and the marshall
ing of such armies as the world has never
seen, and after sacrifices which are clothing
the land in mourning, at the expiration of
eighteen months from the commencement of
the rebellion we find it more defiant and
determined and more successful in its inVa-
sions aud spoliations, Than at any moment
since the struggle began. This is from no
lack OF devotion on the part of the people,
who have poured out their blood aud trea-
sure like water, nor yet from any lack of
courage on the part of our brave VOlun-
teeTs, Our soldiers have been everywhere
painting for a sight Of the enemy, while
the great heart of the country, in its
solemn and earnest sOiicitudes, is like a
groundsWell Of the ocean, pressing on our
forces towards the battlefield. A sad
dened beliefs rapidly spreading that, un-
less the present condition of things Is
speedily changed, our cause will be lost
An immediate, bold and aggressive move
ment upon the enemy-fOllowing up every
blow struCk aud gathering the fruits of
every victory gained-is what is re-
Quired for our deliverance. To the &C.
complishment of this single object the
thoughts, the efforts and the prayers of
the whole country should be directed. If
those who are in the front will not go
forward, the public safety will demand
that they be assigned positions in the rear.
What are the sensibilities, what the repu-
tation, or what the cherished schemes of
any general iu the field, ss compared with
the life of such government and country
MS ours If, with the cloudless skies, aud
bracing airs and fine roads of the AUTUMN,
our vast and completely appointed army
cannot do its work, when will it be able to
do so? If Lee, Jackson aud LOngstreet
can move with promptitude and dRshing
celebrity in the cause of treason and bar
bario vandalism, why cannot our chieftains
move as promptly and as fast in the cause
of honor and loyalty How much longer
will the nation endure that all its sacrii-
ces be fruitless2 Its conviction that it
possesses, twice told, the power to subdue
this rebellion is not more complete than,
in my Judgment, will be its determination
that neither. the follies nor the crimes of
men shall render that power ,unavailing.
1t is this torpor of our armies-this hope
deferred for the hundredth time-which
has unfurled that party banner whose shAd-
ow is now resting on so many of the loyal
States. 1t is not disioyalty which has
prompted the deplorable movement, but
weariness and encouragement consequent
upon the losses, humiliGtions and delays
we have suffere II yet it is the most alarm
ing sign of the times, aud can only be ar
rested by decided military success II is
the law of the very existence of such polit-
ical organizations, to seek strength by as
saults upon the administration 10 whose
those movements upon which necessarily
depend the preservation of the Union
These assaults will grow in Vigor and Bit
terness as they progress, and while thus
indirectly atfordiug said and comfort to
the rebellion, will make continual, albeit
unconscious, approaches toward an open
utilization With II. Let those who are call
ed upon to vote a party ticket ia the midst
of the tragic events now upon US, ponder
we'll, before doing so, the disastrous con
sequences of such a pOlicy-a policy from
whose baleful tendencies no purity Of mo-
tive eau possibly detract. Let them hesi-
tate long before they SOW the seeds Of dis
sansiOus, whose bitter fruits may be upon
the lips of their childreu's children. Let
them not forget that by thus presenting
divided front they degrade our cause before
the world, they patalyZe our own strength
aud add immeasurably to the hopes, the
confidence 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 q
tope not merely of fhopefulness bat Of, f,exul-
tatiop,t ss,l San if
II any man. as motive foF such
course, supposes thsthe has ground Of COM
plaint against the President, let hin take
heed that his ilI-directed hostility does not
put in jeopardy the Republic itself, for
whose. preservRtion from overthrow the
Peesident Is incessantly aud loyalty labor.
ing. What hasa controversy With the Pre-
sidsnt OIithS Gqited States 20 dc. with the
question Of loyalty 70 our country @ tia
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