Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1862-11-21

against the rebels, would foreign Intervention
be, in my opinion, defensible or excusable
and in such case there could be no r eed Of
such intervention, as the quarrel would be
adjusted between the contending parties
according to their relative strength "f
sis.'7-'f - HIRAM BARNEY.
New York, Nov. 10, 1862. ,,sii..
JUDGE HoLT's LETTER. 55 ~.
WASHINGTON, Oct. %, 1862.
HIRAM BARNEY-Sir - Your favor1of the
22d inst has been received An invitation
me have been obliged, within few days, to
decline, in consequence of engagements here
which occupy every moment Of my time, and
| must now make the same answer to your
SELF ,,i.. a ..... i sai. s.rs9 3D. d.
There will doubtless be present with you,
on the occasion referred to, those capable by
their eloquence of etfecting all the good that
popular addresses can now accomplish. I
must be frank, however, and say that to me
it seems that what is at this moment needed
| is not words, however glowing, but heroic
deeds. The tongue Of an archangel could
scarcely comfort and animate the popular
spirit in the presence of the inaction of our
armies. -''t'i-'s' 4. ~"F i
After an unparalleled expenditure of treas
ure. and the marshaling Of such armies as the
world has never seen, and after sacrifices
which are clothing the land in mourning, at
the expiration Of eighteen months from the
commencement Of the Rebellion we find it
more defiant and determined, and more sue
cessful in its invasions and spoliations, than
at any moment since the rebellion begau.-
This is from no lack of devotion on the part of
the people, who have poured out their blood
and treasure like water, nor yet from any
lack of courage on the part of our brave vol.
unteers. Our soldiers have been everywhere
painting for sight Of the enemy, while the
great heart Of the country, in its solemn and
earnest solicitudes, is like ground swell of
the ocean, pressing on our forces towards the
battlefield. A saddened belief is rapidly
spreading that, unless the present condition
of things is speedily changed, our cause will
be lost 'ei'.s eFl'a issa ~
An immediate, bold ard aggressive move
ment upon the enemy, following up every
blow struck, and gathering the fruits of every
victory gained, IS what is required for our de-.
liverance. To the accomplishment of this
single object the thoughts, the efforts and
prayers of the whole country should be d.
rected. Ifthose who are in the front will not
60 forward, the public safety will demand
that they be assigned positions in the rear
What are the sensibilities, what the reputa-
ton, or what the cherished schemes of any
General in the fold, as compared with the
life of such government and country as ours?
If, with the cloudless skies and bracing airs
and fine roads of the autumn, our vast and
completely appointed army cannot do its work,
when will it be able to do So? ,.s ~U
If Lee, jackson, and Longs:reet can move
with promptitude and dashing celebrity, why
car not our chieftains move as promptly and
as fast in the cause of honor and loyalty
How much longer will the nation endure that
all it's sacrifices be fruitless? u.s.
Its conviction that it possesses, twice told,
the power to subdue this rebellion is not more
complete than, in my judgment, will be its
determination that neither the follies nor the
crimes Of men shall render that power una
vailing. .-rti1..- 1904 .sal..
1t is this torpor of our armies-this hope
deferred for the hundredth time which has
unfurled that party banner, whose shadow is
now resting on so many of the loyal States
It is not disloyalty which has prom pied the
deplorable movement, but WEAKNESS and
discouragement consequent upon the losses,
humiliations and delays we have suffered yet
it is the most alarming sign Of the times, and
can only be arrested by decided military sue
cesses. 1t is the law of the very existence of
such political organizations to seek strength
by assaults upon the Administration, in whose
hands, for veal or woe, is the direction of
those movements upon which necessarily de-
pend the preservation of the Union. ..s
These assaults will grow in vigor and bit
terness as they progress, and while thus indi-
rectly affording ''aid and comfort" to the re-
bellion, will make continual, albeit uncon-
scious, approaches towards an open utilization
| with it. Let those who are called upon to
vote party ticket in the midst of the tragic
events now upon us, ponder well, before do
ing so, the disastrous consequences of such q
policy policy from whose baleful tenden-
cies no purity Of motive can possibly detract.
Let them hesitate long before they SOW the
be upon the lips of their children's children.
Let them not forget that by thus presenting a
divided front they degrade our cause before
the world, they paralyze our own strength
and add immeasurably to the hopes, the con-
fidence and the power of the enemy. Already
the Confederate press is pointing the deluded
people of the South to these rising distractions
among ourselves, in tone not merely Of hope
fulness, but Of exultation.
If any man, as motive for such a course,
supposes that he has ground of complaint
against the President, let him take heed that
his ill-directed hostility does not put in jeop-
ardy the Republic itself, for whose preserva-
ton from overthrow the President is inces-
sanity and Loyalty laSoring. What has con-
troversy with the President Of the United
States to do with the question of loyalty to
our country in the midst of such struggle
as this? If he errs-as the best of men are
liable to do-he is soon to pass away with all
bis deeds. but our country and Government
should, and if we are true to them they will
endure for countless ages to come. The Pres
ident. with all the dignity and responsibilities
belonging to his position, is but pilot on the
national Ship for single watch Of the night.
Who will be so insane as to aid, however
indirectly, in scuttling the ship, merely be-
cause he has quarrel with the pilot, from
whose hands the helm is soon to wrested p
Who is willing that savage shout as of vic
| tory. shall 20 up from that army of ferocious
rebels, whose hands are doubly dyed in the
blood of our people? Who is willing that a
thrill ofioy shall run throughout the entire
South. and that bonfires and Examinations
shall be Endled in the city of Richmond over
the triumphs of the Opposition in the great
Empire State? If such there be let him vote
a party ticket. The occasion demands the
developement of the sublimest phases of hu.
man character. If, with the duties to our
land and to our race which are pressing upon
us, we cannot rise above miserable scramble
for party spoils and power, then the sooner
we creep into our graves the better.
Another danger which is threatened from
the inaction our armies comes from abroad
!, This rebellion is as ubiquitous in the curses