The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1862-12-12
letter from Ex-senator Bigler, Of
pennsylvania In Favor OF Peace.

- I'LL !9A-SSAdCOT RkSl0f, Oh
pennsylvania In Favor OF Peace.
CLEARF1ELD. PENN, Nov. l, 1862.
), NY DERA SIR: In reply to your favor of.
5ne 50th ultimo, l have to say that you
nave been rightly informed l do not
intend to be a candidate for United States
senator at the coming election, and have
50 expressed myself to friends on all prop
eT occasions. have a number of reasons,
puoi1e and private, for this course, one of
which Is that the eastern and northern
sections of the State, make special claim
10 the Senator, at this time, on the ground
tnat We have one in the West recently
elected and cannot reasonably claim
Goth for the long term.
T, The other question you ask, "what can
: oe da,1e to save the country" is re- so
t.A4liiy answered. ,5The.usual response is,
sd Knows. Few of our best thinkers
eseeasto hayesany oleav Views onsthe eues-
ttIon; and it is not even certain that the
Administration at Washington has a
wen defined policy to that end. l have
SOME thoughts on the subject which do
not hesitate to give you. They may seem
10 yos crude, and on some points even
novel and startling; but they are the re-
suit OF sSine reflection.
me sword is the only agency at work
u
agent OF obstruction. 1t may chastise
ana silence tue rebels in the field; but it
cannot make Union of States; itcannot
restore contldeace and fraternity among
the people estlanged and alienated to
eacn other. 1t tae war was against the
leaders IN the South only, as many at the
beginning supposed then the war might
put them down ana the masses could re-
turn TO their allegiance. But the conflict
turns out to be with the whole mass of
the people within the Seeded States, old
aEd young, male and female, numbering
many millions. With such a power.
sooner or later, we shall have to treat and
negotiate. The sword alone will never
restore this people to the Union.
I ou we'll know that when the present
calamltles menaced the nation, | was for
peaceful means to avert the blows. Then
our present sufferihgs and sacrifices could
nave been avoided, and, as believe, uni
ty OF the States preserved for generations.
without the sacrifice of principle, honor,
or conscience on either side; passion,
prejudice and fanaticism would only have
been required to gives way; and I still
think, nay, ] am sure that other means
beside war are necessary to save our coun-
try-our whole country-from present af-
know how easy it is to talk about war
and carnage; about strategetic positions
and brilliant victories; about the prompt
subJugatlon of the South by the North;
how pleasant it may be to some to float
IN the common current of expectation
and passion, and especially how unpleas-
ant, II not unsafe, 1t is to stem this tide
But the time is coming. if it be not now,
when the man who would render his
country a substantial service must do this.
He must look at the whole work before
Us and strike for the rinht -rAnoraless=-eAf Of
We have had war for eighteen months.
the like of which the world has seldom
Witnessed before, to sustain which a ma.
tional debt OF startling magnitude, which
must hang over posterity long into the fu-
ture, has already been created, and more
than a quarter Of a million Of invaluable
lives sacrificed on the Union side alone,
in addition to the many thousands that
have been crippled or diseased for life;
| and yet but little, if any. substantial pro-
gress has been made in the good work of
re-establishing the Union, or even of
maintaining the Federal authority with
in the reyolted States. Has not then, the
experiment of war. as a means of extuca-
| ting the country from its present deplo
| rable condition, been already tested-tes
| ted at least to such an extent as to prove
its utter futility unaided by other means
1t was happy thought of President
Lincoln, expressed in his Inaugural, that
| If we went to war we could not fight al
| WAYS; land when after much loss on both
sides and no gain on either, you cease
fighting, the identical old question as tc
terms of intercourse are again upon you. y
| This prophetic and highly significant sen
| timent shows that even Mr.. Lincoln, be
fore the war began, anticipated the time
| in case it did begin, when it would be
necessary to put the sword to rest, at least
| for a season. in order to resume the lden
| tical old questions about intercourse ane
! settlement. 1t does not seem to have oc
| Cured to him that the sword could dt
| the whole work, but that, inevitably, W.
would have to come back to the origina
| point to compromise and settle. If, then
we cannot fight always, what amount o
nshtlhg Is necessary to render 1T prope
W prepare to cease or suspend in order t.
consider terms of reconciliation. Their
mas already "been much loss on botf
sues and no gain on either;" and while
tne tune TO cease fighting may not yet be
the period has surely come when othe
| means beside the sword should be EN-
| P-OSOu III tLc ehOrC 10 save the GoYern
meht and country. Certainly the objec
OF the war, and the extent to which it i
to go, should be definitely known to tn
country. If it be intended to subiugat
the States in rebellion. and hold them
not as States in the Union, but as conquer
ed provinces, then the sword must b
Kept IN constant motion, and war an,
carnage be the order of the day. Ne,
1eVles and fresh supplies may be proper
~ raised, for it will require formidabl
army In each of the seeded States to es
ecqte and maintain this scheme.
II determination be the object, the,
tile sword should have unrestrained L
tense to deal death and destruction anon
ulie fe6els In all parts of their country
Iegafdless of sex, or age, OF condition. L.
t , n9t neither of these purposes, if pract
taoie, would re-establish the Union, a
| onough there might remain a Union
e ~ tttI"Posed OF certain States. But, whel
t unS onlon IS re-estabiished, the South q
S Mei as the North must be in it; the fam
=, y y VI states must exist as heretofore, els
r ht tS @Ht not be the Union about which w
lave talked so much, and for which S
S I;nay Ialy brave men have offered I'D thei
/. Noa.i The physical triumph OF th
7 Nortn Nn over the South in the field, as th
HofSh In the7end may triumph. is not tb
Snose OF the task. The States must b
! nIo Ight together; the feelings of the PEE
t "a VI both sections must be so eonstrair