The southern aegis. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1857-1862, 1862-01-04
The Drift of the Conservatives.

IL tue ihcleasiuS IuuicdliSH-ds IL Houlu
have been called once-of conservative
leaders on the subject of slavery in connec-
ton with the prosecution of the war
They fearlessly assert that if slavery stands
in the way of the restoration of the Union,
then it must 60 down and they express
themselves in such terms as to render it
evident that they believe it does SO stand
in the way. I'm short, they advocate prac-
tical emancipation everywhere within the
advance of the Federal armies. Thus
Orestes A. Brownson says:
"It seems to us highly important in
every, possible view of the case, the FEEDER
al Government should avail itself of the
opportunity given it by the Southern re-
bellion to perform this act of justice to the
negro race t. assimilate the labor system
of the South to that of the North to re-
move a great moral and political wrong;
and to wipe out the foul stain of slavery,
which has hitherto sullied the otherwise
bright escutcheon of our Republic"
Hon. George Bancroft says:
"Now, has any new phantom risen up
to turn US aside from the support OF the
Union If Slavery and the Union are
incompatible, to the words that come to
you from the tomb of Andrew jackson
The Union must be preserved at all haz-
ards We send the army into the South
to maintain the Union, to restore the va
lidity of the Constitution. If any one
claims the compromises of the Constitu-
tim, let him begin by placing the Consti-
tut on in power by respecting and uphold
ing it"
Gen. Butler, always Democrat and
:, supporter Of Rrant,nridge in the last Pre-
81, entail election, has not only proclaimed
his belief in the, wisdom of emancipation
by military means, in his various dis
patches to the Government, but he has set
the example in his administration at Fort
reSs Monroe. How uushrinking he applies
his doctrine, may be gathered from the fol-
lowing extracts from his Rozbury speech
There is an antagonism between the
two sye TENS of Government, in which one
or the other must subdue and prevail, one
system making laboring man serf,
peon, aye, slave; the other recognizing
that every man who labors stands up in
the image Of God, a fair specimen Of what
! God intended.
Let us sweep down over the Southern
cities not for the purpose of subjugation,
but for the purpose of re-estabIishing the
Government of the United States. And
if in the march Southwark, it amounts to
subjugation, let those that sowed the
wind only repent because they have reaped
the wkirlwind. [Applause. Yes, while
weadid not commence and do not carry on
this war for the purpose of subjugation,
yet, if it is necessary to re-district every
State, and open new land office in every
capital, the government of the United
States must be maintained and its suprem-
acy verified"
Gen. Burnside, life long Democrat,
who, like Gen. Butler, heads an expedition
destined for the Southern coast, says:
owe are sending our sons to the field
pouring out their blood like water-and
are zoe to allo~ THIS SLAVE force to remain
,oithout endeavorta,g to turn 1t to our oaon
purposes ~
Hon. John Cochraue, long a conserva-
tive member of Congress and now Colonel
in the volunteer army, says to his soldiers:
"You have arms in your hands, and
those arms are for the purpose of extermi-