The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1862-08-28
AUGUST %. 1859.

nominations must pass the ordeal of Pro-
Slavery Senate. And the Republicans, un-
able TO pass a single act, were publicly
pledged TO the most unscrupulous non-in-
terference with Slavery in the States.
Sir, there was absolutely no excuse.
there was no plausible pretex. for revolt.
The only shadow of pretext-the election
of Lincoln-had been engineered for by
the traitors for this very purpose. And
Barnwell Rhett very justly remarked in
the South Carolina Convention, "That
election is not the cause of Secession, but
its opportunity" Opportunity had been
sought in Notification times, when Gen.
jackson soon showed them their mis-
take; it was sought again in 1850, when
the Compromise measures of that year were
made the pretext, and JEFF, Davis ran for
Governor in Mississippi, and was beaten by
barely thousand majority. South Caro-
lima thereupon decided to await co-opera-
tion."
If impunity, and cossetting, and turning
the-unsmitten cheek 10 the smiter, was-as
you urge-the right policy to b. ffis such a
Rebellion, 1t was surely tried here TO the
utmost. For four weary months, treason
lenged- President Bcchanan looked on
with the heIplessness of imbecility, if not
of positive collusiOn. Even bis Cabinet
swarmed with active traitors. Two-thirds
of bis Office holders were in full sympathy
with the conspIrators. Disunion speeches
of the most bullying stamp were openly
made in Congress. Forts, arsenals, armo-
ries, in the Cotton States, were openly
seized by the traitors before the end of De-
cember, and no show of resistance or of re-
sentiment was made by the Administration.
Custom Houses, Post-Offices, Sub Treasu-
ries with their contents, were coolly turned
over by Democratic Office holders to the
aid and comfort of the growing rebellion.
Jan. OH, 1861, the first gun OF the open
ing struggle was FREQ by the South Csroli-
ma Rebels at the steamboat Star of the
West, which had been secretly dispatched
from this city to provision and re.enforce
Fort Sumter-:be traitors having been
warned of her coming by dispatch from
The Herald Office here and another from
Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, Mr.. Blu.
chanan's Secretary OF the Interior, who
stayed only TO perpetra'e this treachery and
then resigned TO embark openly in the Re-
bellion. Jan. llth, all the forts and ar
senals in Louisiana were seized by the Reb-
els. Jan. 18th, the Pensacola Navy Y ard
and Fort Barrancas we're likewise captured.
Jan. 14th, South Carolina gave notice that
she would resist any reinforcement of Fort
Sumter as an act of war Jan. 24h, the
arsenal at Augusta, Ca, was se.z d, as
Forts Pulaski, Jackson, Macon, &c, bad been
some days before. In short, before single
shot had been fred, or an order to resist
force by force given, on the part of the
Union, the traitors had forcibly captured
and turned against US forts, arsenals, navy
yards revenue-cutters, cannon, small-arms,
munitions, provisions, and money, to The
value of millions on millions of dollars
Did ever before on earth a Nation so
meekly submit to be despoiled and disarmed
by audacions treason2 Was forbesrance
ever b, fore carried so far beyond the verge
of pusilanimitg And all this lime, the
declared traitors were procuring arms by
thousands from loyal cities as well as from
Europe, and when our Police undertook to
stop consignment to Georgia, Gov. Brown,
an avowed traitor, wrote an indignant let
ter to Mayor Wood demanding their instant
surrender, and Wood in response deplored
his lack of control over the Police, but for
which he would soon stop such outrAges on
Southern rights
February 4tb, the Rebel Congress met at
Montgomery, Ala Howell Cobb (fresh
from Buchanan's CabineD in the chair
Feb. 9Th, JEFF Davis was chosen President,
and Aleck. Stephens Vice President of the
Cotton "Confederacy," then coufined to six
or seven States. Feb. 2lst, JEFF. announced
bis Cabinet. Feb. 18th, news came that
Gen. Twiggs commanding the Department
of Texas Ito which John B. Floyd, Hs
Buchanan's Secretary of Var, had pre-
viously transferred most of our army, so as
to have it ready for the operatioD) bad sur
rendered-that is, betrayed--the whole of
it, including more than Three Thousand
veteran soldiers, with all their artillery,
arms, equipage, munitions, provisions, wa
gons, &C., &C., to the traitor Confederates,
leaving the Union with scarcely regiment
at its back, save a few companies scattered
widely through the savage wids OF New
Mexico, Washington Territory, sc, Sc.
All this, mind you, bad taken place be-
fore the Republicans had any Uoice IN the mat
ser--before Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated--
while Buchanan sat trembling in the White
House, alarmed by anonymous letters,
threatening him with instant assassination
if he dared do anything obnoxious to s'the
South" They might have saved their pa
per.
Meantime, the snti-Republicans of the
North were mainly intent on that ready re-
source of towards and snesks-a compro-
mise Yes, Sir ! while armed treason was
cody stripping the Republic by wholesale,
as though it were dead body on a lost bat
tle-6eld, Peace Congress met at Washing
ton simultaneously with the Rebel Con-
gress at Montgomery and, while the latter
made every preparation Tor war, the former
(presided over By the traitor John Tyler)
was profoundly intent on peace For
peace meant concession-surrender OF prin-
ciple--a fresh abasement on the part of the
Free North I; and this, though spurned aod
spii upon by the traitors, would have served
still further to weaken and demoralze the
loyal States. The upshot Of this gathering
was--"The North must agree TO the Crit.
tenden compromise, consigniug positively
all present and future q. S. territory south
of the parallel of 36o 30N to Slavery, oil
submit to Dsuuion and Civil War" But
not one of the seeded States was repre-.
seuted in this bogus Congress-not parti-
Gle of evidence proffered that such abase.
ment on the part of the North would have
reclaimed a single traitor. We were tC
grevel in the dust at the feet of armed, de.
iant, triumphant treason, and hoped thai