Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1862-10-24
What is the Prospect?

what Is the prospect?
Ne are asked this question many
tunes every day. in reference to the war
ard the condition and future of our
country Thr only definite answer We
can. give, is. that ;'Gop reigns,i and the
".ltbHK Of all tle earth will do right"
\ Ail"aeFand this is yelled in cluuds and
SSSkness impenetrable to human vision.
The prosperity Of 4 people does not,
or neerssify, consist in the increase of
wealta. or seeming power Cultiyation,
refinement. the ful development of the
moral sentiment which builds the struc-
ture ef snciety on the sure fun additions
ofiHsz&iesand scr"pulous irg7ra to the
RIGHTS df alt It's members, will render anv
r"opie great, prosperous ard happy,
wlretlprr wealthy or not. But. in the
lNng run, even wealth and power, the
) mJst external evidences of prosperity,
cinnot Tail to be attained in the highest
.tesreeses such IA people. Have we, as a
ritiop. bailt upon sach Foundations?
The fact that we have srcvelei on the
unpai,l labor Of millions of slaves suf
fciehty' answers this question. We
could raise cotton and sugar, rs we
thouc!f. cheaper by reducing the labor
rrs to the condition Of brutes, than by
dealing justly. For time, we seemed
to prosper, but it was only seeming
prosperity. The simple fact that the
slaves were, or at least were assumed to
be, an njr!,i0r race-made the cultIva-
ton of he moral sentiments, i'll connec.
ton with the syste I, an utter impossi-
biitv. In order to maintain the sys-
TEN, it became absolutely necessary to
ohi,erate from the minds OF men all
reverence fer justice, all respect for
right, all abhorrence of wrong-before
men GOULD stand up in the face of the
world and say "here is 4 race of people
inferior to us-a people who cannot
cope with us in power-we will there
fore ensave them utterly, and live sump-
tuously upon their toll. F" But che pro-
cess which enabled men to blot out their
moral sense so far as the rights of the
saves we're concerned. left them with
oat it aS 10 those who were not vet
slaves. Hence, a supreme sali ,hness
was necessarily fostercd which having
aready denied the distinctions between
rich: aud wrong, would submit to no
lw but its own Will, and bow to no
STANDARD but that of might
And when this state Of popular de-
moratizstion has been reached, ratTiju-
,ion, hy the very law which binds eff
incts to thcir causes, necessarily does
its perfect work, AMI vindicatcs the
moral governmeet of the worll, by
making the madness and cupidity Of the
Jcorle fhc lashes with which to scourge
them back to rectitude or leave them a
sraiI.ca and busted ruin another les
SON ofhistory, teaching over ag lin, the
ten thousandti repeated story, that.
"althouch the wicked join haHs to
land, they shall not prosper
The gigantic and wicked rebellion in
the" South is proof dcmonstrative that
the point sboye referred to has been
reached, when an orderly and prosper
Gus state of society, and especially Re
publican form Of Goyernmcns, is no
longer possible. Living upen the un-
paid labor Of slaves, AMI denying the
rights of men as men. the bold, amhi-
t'ous. desperate adventures grasped at
power by any means within their reach
for the purpose of their own aggrandize-
ment. Denying the obligations Of truth
and virtue, a system Of deliberate false
hood, which should utterly perveft the
public mind, was resortetl to, AMI when
this failed to secure them the power
they coveted, the last resort was availed
of, and tie arm Of treason was raised in
the determination to conquer and rule
by Drutc IOfcc. j HIS mas lHNOIEeu lHe
land in war and blood, and after two
years of deadly strife, the sacrifice OF
hundreds Of thousands of lives, and
thousands Of millions of treasure, tho
inquiry is in all our mouths: ;.What i:
the prospect rff
As we said before, the only definite
N~nswrr VIC can give, is. that st;od reign:
anaall will be right in the end But
whethcr> that end shall lie the suppress
sion "i' the >rebeliun, the restoration o
the Union, the permanent peace, pros
rerity and happiness Of the people, ol
the reverse, carrying with it all the hor
rors OF anarchy, ending in a military
d,spotism, is contingent on the actlo,
Of the people themselves.
For the wrong of the past, we hav,
Mothihg to do but reap the penalty =
Wrong and retributon are married to
@erher like cause and effect They are
IN Gact, cause and effect, and should tn,
. whole people now repent and do all il
their power to right the past wrong
they could not escape the penalty =
'Should the war cease Tomorrow. ant