The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1862-08-28

1t is easy for you, who have become rene
gade from your ancient Free Soil profess
ions, 10 presume others gifted with like
facility. For you 10 b. come consenting
party TO vast, indefinite extension of the
area of Human Slavery may be mere po-
calariaLgement; in me, it would be IA
grant and abhorred crime. can bear mis-
fortunes, if it please God TO send them
hope never to stain my soul with conscious,
henious guilt. Come defeat disgrace,
penury, odium, exile, wounds and death, if
such be the Divine purpose; bat let me
never be betrayer of the most sacred
rights ofmillions yet unbornl
By what right do you and yours assume
to judge for me and mine in the premises
You profess TO think the Crittendeu ar
rangement fair and proper one: | fully
concede your right TO vote and act accord
ing to your convictions. I regard that ar
rangement as ineffably base and wicked-a
purchase of quiet ard safety for myself at
the expense of the dearest rights Of the in
nocent, poweiless, aad deeply wronged.-
How can you assume that shall not vote
or act according 10 Your views in defiance
of the dictates ofmy own conscience You
are not God to iorgive-nor even priest
to absolve. How caG you decide that l
should assent to that which feel to be in-
tensely wrong2
Your party bss been in power most of
the time that we have been on the stage of
action. If the Critienden arrangement is
the true one, why has 1t not enacted it2
Repeatedly has ii been presented to Demo-
cratic Congresses, and always enphatically
rejected, receiving not one-fourth Of the
Democratic votes from Free States. Had it
then been adopted, those who think as do
would have been unable TO unsettle it,
Why do you blame US for not doing what
you might have done yourselves, but would
not?
The Republican party had, by Democrat
&c help, chosen its FIRST President on a sim
gle, plain, we'll understood principle Hos
tility to Slavery Extention. The Crtten-
den Compromise was a plain, palpabls ne
cation of this priucipie. 1t could have been
passed even in 1861, if all the anti-Repbli-
can Members had ben in their seats and
had chosen to support it. But that would
not answer: it was the great Object to CO.
cree the Republicans TO surrender their
principles, in order that they might quietly,
securely, enjoy their spoils of victory"
thank He ven that but few of them were
base enough to pay the price demanded -
Had they generally succumbed, their very
name would have been stencil aud his
sing through all time. They would have
been hooted out of public sight.
Such were the circumstances under which
nr. Lincoln, on the 4th of March, 1861,
took the prescribed oath as President of The
United States, and read that Inaugural Ad-
dress which will remain through all time
the meekest most patient, lucid, pleading,
convincing dissussion from organized in-
surreeion and civil war ever uttered by
man. Every American heard or read il
who can read at all; and not one did so
who did not knolo Iherefrom that the new
President would scrupulously respect and
guard the rights of all sections, States and
persons to the extent of bis ability that
simple obedience to the Constitution and
laws on their own part was all that was or
could be required to secure to the Slave
States all their cherished institutions and
privileges. II there had been room for ap-
prehension and doubt before, there was
room no longer. Simple loya ty-ful6l-
ment of Gacred obligations freely assumed
ON the part of the SHAREHOLDERS, would
have secured peace and prosperity to the
country aud every conceivable immunity 10
themselves. And no man heard or read
that Address without knowing that Mr.. Lin
eolu felt himself solemnIy bound by his in.
augural oath 10 cause th; Constitution TO be
Upheld, the National authority to be res
pected, and the laws of The Union to be
obeyed, in every portion of our common
country. Gladly as he would have been
spared the necessity of using force to this
end, no man doubted that be aOould use il if
it shouId be found indispensable,
Mr. Lincoln found a rival Government,
hostile to and plainly Incompatible swiih
that of the Union, already established in
and bearing sway over one-fourth of The
country. he found at least third of The
fottresses, ,arssnsls ,armories, custom-houses,
minis, sub treasures, &C., of the Repub-
lie, already in The hands of that hostile
Government, having been wrested from
ours by force and treachery. He found
the larger portion of the army of the Uni
ted States. with all its belongings already
betrayed into the power of that hostile Gov
ernment and either prisoners or on parole
as captured enemies. He found Fort Sum-
ter-almost the only remaining stronghold
of the Union in the seeded Staies-already
closely invested by an overwhelming force,
whose iron batteries had been carried al
most to its walls, while its slender garrison
was on the verge of starvation. He found
citizens who averred or discovered their
loyalty to the Union treated as traitors or
alien enemies over one-lhird of the area of
the nation, subjected TO threats, scurgiDg,
and all manner of mob violence, in punish
ment of their conlumacy in refusing to be-
come traitors. This was war-oIen, fla
grant war-aud it had already been prose.
cuted for months. All that blinded any
eye to the fact was the unparalleled circum-
siance that all the blows were given 10y
the traitors and neekly endured by tie
Unionists. Ii was only required that the
loyal should demur to being longer robbed,
scoureed, and slaughtered INCREASINGLY,
and the resistance of war would be undeni'
able. Ia.
The President had but this choice to
become peijured traitor himself, or to as
sert and maintain the constitutional pJwer
of the Federal Government He Inquired,
deliherated, pondered, aud decided TO re-
livve Fort Sumter-that is, TO send food TO
its beleaguered, fainting garrison. You
say be should have dispatched that succor
secretly Buchanan had tried that sneak
| ing trick, and been defeated by the watch