The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1863-08-06
1--WE Have not Yet Begun to
Fight"
From the Richmond Dispatch. July Il.

hulk OF an lndlaman an hundred years old
(the Bon Homme Rchard), was engaged
in his desperate conflict with the Scraps, a
new English frigate of the 6rst-class, just
out of port-aftcr single broadside had
riddled her so completely that he was COM
PEELED to lash her to the Englishman to
avoid sinking-when nearly all his guns
had bursted, and half his crew had fallen
a momentary cessation of firing induced
his adversary to hail him and inquire
whether he had struck. 1--WE have not yet
begun to fight" was the laconic and pithy
reply. and, after two hours more Of mortal
combat, he had the proud satisfaction OF
walking the Engl;shman's deck. a victor
under circumstances so desperate that at
one time there appeared no chance Of es-
cape. Such is the reward Of valcr when
allied to constancy, and directed by al
indomitabie will.
Lincoln. Seward Halleck, and the whole
Yankee press are hugging themselves in
the ie.u sion that they already see the end
of the war, and that that end is. to Us, the
death ofour liberty, AMI the beginning of an
in.erminable servitu le To their taunts
and sneers we reply. in the defiant language
of Paul Jones, I'VE have not yet begun to
fight" They think they have seen pitched
fields, but the hottest of those they have
seen are. to those which must come, but as
the frc ,hness Of an April morning to the
fiery breath OF the dog -day--but as the
snow upon the side of Hecla to the whirling
gulf of fame within-bu. as December 20
Ju1c-but as an ice house to furnace
heated an han Ire fold
This people has never ye; put forth its
strength to half its extent, furious has been
the war in which it has been engaged.
mighty as have been it's struggles. glorious
as have been its victories, unparalleled as
has been the result What we have done
is scarcely atype of what We can do. The
present situation, far from being desperate,
is only trying enough to induce new energy
in the contest to call for new exertions and
new sacrifices, TO remind our people of the
nature Of the conflict. and the object of the
enemy, to bring out our whole strength and
to let the world see of what we are capable.
While the Yankees think they have sub
jugated us by taking Vicksburg, we repeat,
in the language of Paul Jones, 'we have not
begun to fight"
Such is the spirit of our people, such the
resources ofour countrymen in their own
determined Will, such the obstacles which
the enemy will have to overcome before he
can ever subdue us. We have lost Vicks-
burg and Port Hudson What of that?-
Suppose we lose Charleston, Savannah
Mobile, Wilmington-all our seaports.-
What of that, we ask again.
-"What th,usb the field be lost,
All is not lost. The unco rluerable will,
And study ofrere"ge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield,
Ali these remain"
These We would still have though every
thing material were gone.
But we are reduced to no such straits
On the contrary, we sIeik the solemn
truth when We declare that in our opinion
our situation, although it is one which calls
for the utmost exertions, so far from being
desperate is not even gloomy. The enemy
has taken Vicksburg AMI Port Hulson.-
Does he open the navigation of the river
thereby? Not at all As We showed the
other day, and, we think, showed satisfac-
torily. On the other hand, he weakens
himself by the garrisons he is obliged to
put in those places, and he strengthens our
armies by returning the garrisons which
have been so long shut up there. He
would do the same thing by taking Charles
ton, Savannah and Mobile. Having no
longer any detached ports to defend, our
army could then complete the policy of
which, but partially pursued,
has already been attended with such mem
orable results
Retiring to the interior as he advances
we shall we ken him and strengthen our
selves with every step that he takes in leav-
Ing his base of operations. We have made
our calculations long ago that all the towns
within reach of the enemys navy would
fall; and giving them, for the sake of ar
gumeI;, up to him, We conceive that We
are more able to beat him without them
than with them. Let it not be forgotten,
i'm the meantime, that we have IA powerful
army that has never been beaten
with General at its head who may rank
with the most renowned leaders of whom
history makes mention. Let the despon-
dent think of these facts and tell us what
there is gloomy in our situation. For our
part, We see nothing whatever We may
be called on to destroy more cotton and to-
bacco to prevent their falling into the hands
OF the enemy; but, in our opinion, this