Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1862-12-16
CJAINa SLOWLY TO TIE TRUTH.


il, war aud have been encouraged in its pros.
.uuuu hv series of deluslons in W hict
fb.; have in.!ugrd themselves, but, which
6I,l. time to time, they are compelled to re
rou,ce. We pass over that otticious dispc.
suan which has ever prompted them to in Ter
osit!t i'll the affairs Of others; that indus
rious srA gra-pmg avarice, which mocks al
f.i,h and justice and preys wherever it can
and t:st curious .pharisaism which complS
,sa,ly esteems the Yankee nation as The
standard Q: perfection. All these combine
10 make the Yankee an aggressive animal
Bnt nevertheless he would not, save for the
i,lasious to which ws have,referred, have
yeI,ursi tao sstteuiat to impo npsn;;ss sssIe
s;ulh that yoke, and visit upon her those
evils, which Ale the purpose Of the pending
var, and OF the prosecutions Which led to the
war.
The South Siumbcrod upon volcano, they
sid; and this would make her people shun
vars and cum,notions a. all hazards Rs GER
,,in to produce their ruin.
The South was indebted to the Union, they
said, for its safety. II WAS weak and help
less and entirely dependent on the North
Ileacs il could not be kicked out of the
lnion.
In conhie, with the North, the South
- !
.usll weIe ,lieuiuate or spiritless, and i'll any
even: wOuli nearly "a! he required to main-
tain do.nc>,i: qu,,t The great North would
crush tue Sauth "b-fure breakfast"
IL is not necessary to say that all these
IDEAS are n,w corf. sssd to be de!usions.-
Tae spirit and resolution Of our people, the
proweSs of our arnl.-s. the resources Of our
country, the energy Of our Govern
meut, are not better established and
acknowledged now. th,u is the fact that
the .;grest element OF weakness" on which
80 many prurient calculations were made,
IS portion Of Cur stsensth.
Tar enemies imagined, too, that there was a
Division Of sentiment among us. They de-
lujci themselves with the idea that msjori-
ty or at least con'iIrrsble proportion Of
tie citlzeus OF the Cvufederacy anX:ously de-
sired to be h.w-rs Of wood and drawers nf
water to the Yankees, and to have the yoke
riveted upon their necks. They have ionn'i
this, too, TO be miserable delusion.
They sve'supposed it was only to defend
cur peculiar property that We rasi2l sleir de-
sgns and that re deprive us Of this prop
erty, either ~ violence or by compensated
elnanc,ps'i"n, would undermine our resolve,
by reu.y,nig the animstng motive. They
have frunI, -ur viii fni, that the social an-
Us, is bed by Us IS HI evil Infinitely
greater I! an the lnss Of the mere prop
erty in slaves, great rs that loss would be.
1t would be an evil as repugnant and in
lolerahle TO the poorest man among US as
to the richest, to have our social system, dis
located: and the present indispensable subor-
dna,on Of the inferior to the superior race,
destroyed. This cherished scheme ofthe Yam
kess, aud upon which they are now essaying
to enter, will, therefore, but have tho eitcct to
doubly inhame our opposition, by the exas-
peration of a present robbery, and by the
necessity, admitting no compromise, Of avert.
ing an abiding social and material ruin.
Ii l., indeed, almost amusing to see what a
plute revolution the minds of the prime
suthors of the present commissions have
undergone! Even Seward, on whose hands
ue the blood Of hundreds of thousands, the
victims Of the war, n0w says that slavery Is =
tower Of strength to US, aud must be struck
1t as such. The means for doing this which
lie h9a advocates, was BY himself, in Feb
ruary last, proMunced ferocioas and iahumam; !;
and so it is. But Seward, the self-branded
temon, ut least confesses the error of Seward,
tue former prophet. The poor wretch and his
fsiows have but one step more to take. They
nave but to discover that the rising offspring
are an element of Confederate strength, and
proper to be destroyed as such, despite "the
ferocily and inhumanity" Of the means.
There is one thing Of which our enemi, S
secm not to have conceived, but Of which
they may pc, haps become sensible after
awhile. Have they fui gotten, or did ,hey never
know that there are such things as SELF.
q,reramem and ti6erty? Can they not at
taat imagine that freeman disdans to
make calculations where these are at stake
Oar fathers said "Millions for defence, not
a Cent for tribute" In the same spirit the
people Of the Confederate States determined
that they would resist to the last extremity, and
with all their wisdom aud courage and treas
ure, tho resolve Of an outside community to
rule us of their mere will; and the more es-
pecially as that community was avowedly
ha tile to us, and our habitual slanderer al
around the world. There is where they
took their stand Had they done less, they
would, indeed, havs been the mere creatures
the Yankees said they we're. Even friend
ly yoke is burning indignity and disgrace;
but who can till how intolerable the infamy
and how utter the ruin OF submitting 10 the
elimination ard wearing the fetters of an
av9wed enemy, who finds bis personal in
tsIest in the Indulgence of his malevoleDcei
Let the Yankees know that if there wss
r, ,,p, loS ~,
still ioreS-r refuse further association with
them. The ncero was but All occasion for the
Hnplay and elimination of qualities in them.
which inre'er repel us. Who can trust TO u
luhlc ia',h' Nay, worse than runc iuilh-
who c"n trust men who make compact and
appeal to Gods with hand upon his revealed
law, 'hut they will faithfully keep their en-
gsgenents, and then say there is a higher law