Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1862-11-12
Prayers for Peace.

we very cheerfully comply with The request of a
lady friend to publish the following, and in doing
so We do not hesiete to give to it our hearty and
unqualified endorsements
To the Editor Of the Raleigh Standard:
S1s-1 wish to mske public through your COL
umns, and those of various other influential Jour-
nails, suggestion to the women of the South.
1t IS, that q day be appointed on which, at Ger
tain hour, they, with one consent shall unitedly
beg for PEACE from Him in whose hands are the
hearts of men and the destinies of nations Pray
er has been made continually for the success of our
arms in battle, and these prayers have been an.
swered, in many instances beyond our hopes
Every prayer has doubtless breathed an earnest pc
tition for peace, but it is suggested that now our
faithful women should unite to pray in an. especial
manner for it-that God would forgive our enemies
and tdrn their hearts, and that lie would also for
give US our debts, and would Speedily open a door
Of deliuerance for US from tho hands Of bloody
men,
Let Monday, the LIST of December, be appointed,
and that day, at IL NJ, let the hearts of every
wife, mother, sister and daughter, in every State
in our Conederacy 60 out in solemn fervent prayer
to God for PEACE
In places and churches where female prayer meet
ings are usual let the women themselves order the
matter. Where such meetings are not usual, or
are considered unadvisable mpracticable, let
the women at home stop all work at the hour
named-suspend the carding, and spinning, and
knitting, and weaving, and sewing and teaching if
for only one-half hour, and alone with God plead
with Him for their country. Let the sick woman
on her bed remember the day and hour let the
busy forego her business, and-I was going to say
let the gay suspend her gaety, but trust there
are not many gay women in the South now. But
let the young, and beautiful, and hopeful equally
with those who can lay no claim to such titles,
think OF the broken.hearted the destitute, and the
homeless-think of the dead, and the dying, and
the mangled-think of the widows, and the father
less, and the childless of this awful war-and let
every woman's heart 5e raised as with one voice on
that day to God for help and for PEAcE-an honor
able PEACE.
A TRUE SOUTHERN WOMAN.
All papers friendly to this suggestion are re-
questcd to copy
Another lady friend, writing to US from one of
the Counties west of this, under date November
the Sth, says:
"a thousand thanks for the article in the last
number Of the Standard, entitled peace-Blessed
Peace! Ten thousand than Ks for all the articles
on the subject of the Black Flag May the God
of Peace bless the Editor for the justice manifested
in the STANDARD towards the Society of Friends
the Peace Society of the Confederate Sates-tAe
Peace Society of the United States-the Peace So
ciety of the world for than two hundred years.
The God Of Freedom bless him, who has stood up
so nobly for civil and religious liberty; but oh my
friend for the sake of the Prince of Peace 60 on
to advocate the cause Of 'Peace-Blcssed Peacef"
But for the WOMEN of the Confederate States, the
have been ten times worse. They have laborcd,
and suffered and prayed for the cause while others
have dcsponded. Their delicate fingers have been
to the quick, making garments for the soldiers
and for the poor around them at home, while the
fingers of others have been blackened with the ill.,
gotten gains Of speculation and extorton. Rcpress-
ing their anguish, and struggling to seem cheerful
when their hearts were almost breaking, they have
sent their husbands 'and SONS, and brothers to the
war; and during their absence, they have not only
undergone increased labor to support those who re-
manned, but they have freely given of their dimin-
shed means to cothe and render comfortable those
who are fighting our battles. They have visited
and nursed the sick and the wounded-they have
cared for the poor, who have been orphaned and
! stricken by this war-they have knelt with the
minister by the bed of Tire soldier, and, thinking Of
his mother, and wife, and sister, and of what they
would do if they were present, they have moistened
his lips, and smoothed his pillow, and composed his
limbs in death. All this, and more, have they
done for Duty and for Peacc. 1t is peculiarly ap.
propriate therefore, that their voices should .be
raised together, in supplcations fer an honorable
peace. They will consent to no peace which would
degrade or dlshonor their husbands, and sons, anc
brothers. A woman's impulse is truer to honor
than mans judgment But it is not impulse alone
that inclines our women to pray for peace. They
are moved by reason, based upon what they hav'
seen, and felt, and endured. We repeat then, tina,
We heartily endorse the suggestion of our fair cor
respondent; and we trust the suggestion will be
adopted by every Christian woman in the State.
But what shall we say of those persons in the
shape Of men, who arc prospecting and growing ricf
out of this war, and out of the necessities of many
of these women and their children? What shall
we say of the tapner who gives three or four dol
lars for hide and sells it for fifty ?-of the dst;ller
who is even now buying up corn, hoping that tn
Legislature will not continue the prohibition oy
the Convention of the dstillation of grain 20
those manufacturers of all kinds who are not con
tent with the seventy five per cent. allowed then
by law, but who ave making five hundred per cent?
Of those who are purchasing -four at twenty dollar
per BARREL and holding it up until they can get for
ty for it ?of those slave holders who are shielding
themselves and their sons and nephews from ser
vice. under the exemptionlaw, by buying, or hiring
or borrowing few more negroes, SO that they ca,
stay at home, and sell their produce at high price
to the wives and children of our soldiers now in tn
field, or soon to be called to go ?-of the thousand
who look upon the war as good thing, as long a
they can keep out of it and make money by 1t, bu
who, true to their mercenary instincts, wtAld h
the first to swear allegiance to the Yankee sne
These people will not pray for peace. Their prayer
will be made to Mammon-
Mammon, he least erected spirit that fell
From heaven for cen in heaven his locks and thought
Were always downward bent. admiring more