St. Mary's beacon., 1862-10-30

latter relates expressly and exclusively 10
All the slaves 81 ahe States ID rebellion. I,
thus appears that the proclsfhatloa is not
and does not assume te be ytailded on .he
eon6scation or any ether lsw 1t is evil
IDENTIFY an arbitrary scf Of tie Pre.adent as
Commander-in-Cllief of the Army aLd
Navy OF the Union In short, il is a
naked stroke of military sece.iry.
We shall not stop no~At0 discuss the
character and tendency OF this measure.
Both are manifest The one Is as unwar-
rantabie as the OTTER is misehievet,s. The
measure is wholly unauthorized aad
wholly pernicious. Though it cannot be
expecsed In fact. and though its execution
probably will never be seriously attempted
its moral influence viii ID decided aud
purely hurtful. So far as its own pur-
pose is concerned, tits mere br.san, FIJI
men, but it viii prove only too cifectual for
the purpose of the enemy. II is gigan-
tic usurration, unrelieyed by the promise
Of solitary advantage. however, minute
and faint, but. on the contrary, sggrava-
ted by the menace of great and unnixed
evil.
Kentucky cannot and will not aequiesce
in this measure. Never. As little wall
she allow it to chill her devotion to the
the cause thus cruelty imperilled anew.
The government our fathers framed IS one
thing, and thing above price, Abraham
Lincoln. the temporary occupant of the
executive chair. is another thing. and a
thing Of comparatively little worth. The
one is an individual. the sands of whose
Official existence are running fast, and
who. when his Official existence shall end.
will be no more or less than any other in
dividual. The other is grand political
structure, in which is contained the trea-
snres and the energies of civilization, aud
upon whose lofty aud shining dome, seen
from the shores of all chimes, centre the
eager hopes of mankind What Abraham
Lincoln, as President does or fails to do.
may exalt or lower our estimate of him
self, but not of the grea, and beneficicnt
government of which he is but the tempo
rary servant. The temple is not III. less
sacred aud precious because the priest laws
an unlawful sacrifice Upon the altar. The
loyalty of Kentucky is not to be shaken
by any mad act OF the President. Ii ne
cessary. she will resist the act, and aid in
holding the actor to a jus, and lawful ac-
eountabili,y. but she will never lift her
own hand against the glorious fabric be-
cause he has blindly or criuinally ;.m'iten
it, She cannot De SD false to herself as
this. She is incapablc of such guilt aud
fsllv.
The President has fixrd the FIRST of next
January as the time for hi procla nation
to go into effect Before that time, the
Moth viii be called upon to elect mem
bers of Congress. We believe that the
proclamation viii strikc the loyal people
of the North in general with amasrment
and abhorrcnce. We know it, We APP
peal IL then, to manifest their righteous
detestation by returning to Congress ponc
but the avoscd and Jealous advrrs lrics of
this measure. let the revocation OF the
proclamation BE- made the over-slia lowing
issue, anu let the Voice of the people AZ
the polls. followed by the voice OF th.ir
representatives in Cungr SIS. he heard il.
such tones of rem" n>trance AMI cnniem-
nation that the President, aroused to ~
sense OF his tremendous error, shall not
hesitate to Withdraw the measure. The
vital Interests of the country demand that
the proclamation be revoked, the sooner
the better, and until it is revoked, every
loyal man should unite in vigorously
working for its revocation Ii the Presi-
dent by amy means is pressed away fr"in
the Constitution and his own pledges, h.
must be pressed back again and held there
by the strong arm of the people.
The game OF pressure is one that two
can play at; aud it is ITO slight reproach
to the conservative men of the county
that heretofore they have not taken their
fair share in this game as played at the
National Capital. The radicals have been
allowed to have the game too much to
themselves. We hope this reproach will
now be wiped away.