Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1862-08-02

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which affect the Emancipation embodied
therein. That stands more distinctly, EN-.
phatcally approved than if no objection
had been taken 10 other features Of the
bill
Congress, then, has decreed, and the Presi-
dent assented, that the Union and its armies
shall no longer recognize legal persons as the
Slaves If Rebels, nor permit such persons,
with its assent or by its connivance, to be
held in chattel bondage by Rebels. On the
contrary, such Of them as are able-bodied
men are to he expressly invited and eucour.
aged to shake off their bondage 10 rebels
and engage as fIeemcn in the service and
defence OF the Union
Is this deadly blow nt the vtals of the
Rebellion 1t is, or il is not, as it shall
be regared and obcytd. If it is to re.
main mere formal euactment--an empty
threat--an idle brsvado- it will simply add,
if addition be possible, to the alarm and ex-
asperation Of the rebels, without weakening
their clutch on their slaves. If it is to be
enforced reluctantly, sheepiShly ,grudgingly
II were better il never had been passed.
The slaves are mainly scattered, ignor-
ant, spirit broken, disruStful of White pro.
feSSions, and in mortal terror of their mas.
ters. They know that G cd is good and the
Union powerful bat then the masters are
very near, their cowhidcs lacerate, their dogs
track and bite, aud their rifles MAIN and
kill. They will for the most part wisely
forbear to brave tor ure and death for any
doubtful chance of acquiring their freedom.
But let it be distinctly and openly pro.
claimed-so plainly that there can be no
disputing it-:hat cccry slare of rele
toho comes or IS found Uithia tie lines of tie
Union armies shall hereap0n be entitled 10
his freedom and protected in asserting and
defending u-and the glad tidlngs will soon
reach the most secluded plantations on the
Santee or the Bruzls. The rebel chiefs
will themselves difruse it, hoping
thus to stimulate the tagging energies Of
their slavehoding abettors. Within 80
days from such PRONUNCIATION, the last slave
in the South will know-what half of them
will learn within the first week aud another
fourth within the neXt-ihat Canada has
suddely come down to the Tennessee the
Sea Islands, and the shores of tho Gulf,
and that, to escape for ever from the dreary
toll and frequent lashiugs Of the plantations,
each OF them has but to make his way by
night TO the nearest or most accessible point
at which he can 6nd Union picket or a
Union flag. Aud that know ledge will ccr-
tainly be impI oved--not by tens of ,tou
sands the first day nor by hundreds of thou
sands the next, but by steady aud con.
stautly increasing fight of fugitives from
the land Cf darkness and bondage o that of
light and liberty.
Among the advantages Of frank, bold,
decisive Proclamation Of Liberty to the
Slaves of rebels from the White House.
reiterated from the headquarters of every
Union army and from every fort and ship
over which the National flag is floating,
these are conspicuous
l. An that is generous and humaue in
the Old World, and in foreign countries
generally, would be fixed fer ever OH the
side of the Union, and would become its ac
tive and enthusiastic champions. AS yet,
while the prevalent opinion of all but the
aristocratic caste has langnidly upheld the
Right, the fuct that we are maintaining and
protecting that horrible "iustitution" which
SO Indignantly aSsails us, has amazed
perplexed, and almost paralyzed our
friends.
Q. The Rebellion would everywhere be
placed on the defensive. 1t would realize
that it had blows to take as well as blows
10 give. llitherto,it has been safe through.
out the reVolted states to be passive trai
tor, but certain death and in most cases to
be known as ever so still Unonist. But
let it be everywhere understood that the
Union pointedly denies to rebels the right
TO hold Unonists in bondage, and tens of
thousands would have full employment for
their time aud faculties in watching and
hunting their uneasy slaves. The master
might remain as traitorous at heart as ever
but they could no longer afford to give half
the time or means to the support of the re-
belIion that they now do. Either the me-
groeS would find little mpediment to their
escape, or their masters could do little be.
side watching their negroes.
3. Scouts, spies, guides, and aborers,
n, so deficient in the Union service, would
speedily become abundant and effective.
The rebels have always had each in plenty :
we have sadly needed them. This would
soon be reversed under a bold policy of
emancipation. The negroes aocking to our
camps in quest of freedom will know the To-
cation of the rebel camps and pckets they
have been obliged to evade they will be
acquainted not only with the roads but the
by.paths of their several neighborhoods ;
they will know how to traverse the country
iu the darkest nights, by ways unknown
even to their masters, and bring back It'd.
ings of whatever is to be seen. They are
not few who can render this inestimable ser.
vice, while their duler compatriots can
serve us as cooks, teamsters, pioneers, or in
| the trenches.
a. As to the use of slaves as soldiers, il
is certain that Washington found them ser,
viceble in the war of the revolution-that
the Shareholders of Virginia sent them by
hundreds to fight as their substitutes in that
protracted struggle, and tried to cheat
them out of their promised freedom when il
was ended, SO that the legislature then in.
spired by such men as Washington, Jeffer.
son and Patrick Henry, was constrained 10