, 1863-01-24
KL0ODIETk STILL.

The belief that the war will grow still
more sanguinary and furious is justified by
the atrocities to which jeff Davis and his
murderous government stand committed. |
They pefuse an exchange Of our officers !
who arc taken prisoners, and ayow their |
intention to try them by State law, on the |
charge Of exciting the insurrection Of their
slaves. Our readers know how atrocious
the penalties for that offence are, and how
easily, considering the animosity Of the &C.
cesh, the charge may be proved. Again we
call upon the Government ut Washington |
to be prepared to mike the reta1iatory act
which must follow the conviction Of the |
first man who wears the Federal uniform,
both signal and terrible.
There is another thing that demands at
tcntion. Common humanity and common
deccncy require it. We mean the treat~
ment of colored laborers attached to the
army and navy. Lately, a few Of
these have been taken by the enemy
and have been put to death in a manner
so barbarous and revolving that all must
shudder with horror when they read the
accounts. Now, these negroes were under
the protection Of our flag They, in their
humble way, were soldiers Of the good
cause, doing service as necessary as
drilling or fighting. To protect them in
that service, and to punish the barbarians
who c,,uselessIy torture them, is q duty SO
clear that no sane man can dispute it. And
if that duty is neglected, the men who
shirk it will be unworthy Of the trusts re-
posed in their hands. They would be in-
famous.
From high to low, the Government
should make its servants and agents rc-
,epected. Cost what it may, they should,
whether white, black, yellow, parti-colored
or ringstreakcd and speckled; whether
generals, corporals, priyutcs, tcamstcrs or
cooks, be safe in rebel hands from all but
Tint humane treatment TINT the laws Of
wnr permit. And il, TO insure this, rctalia-
tory measures are u necessity, it must,
however dcplorable, be accepted. And il
that is not to bc the rule, every soldier in
the ranks md every officer at their hcad
would be justified in grounding arms.
JEFFERsoN,S PROPHECY OF NE.
GEO EMANCIPATION.
We doubt whether there is anything in
all the history of craftsmanship, the world
over, 50 rcnarkblc as Jcf1crson's develop.
ment Of the nature and tendencies of Amer
ican slavery and its fate in the far future.
He was not satisfied with laying down
general principles in regard to it, as he has
done in the Declaration Of independence
and in his other writings in defense Of lu
man rights, and in denunciation Of tyranny
and oppression he went still further
and showed the incompatibility Of thcs'
principles with the particular wrongs Q
the African slave in America. He neye
concealed his conviction that slavery wa
an outrage upon justice that ought to b
:: arrested and abolished at the earliest mo
mcnt possible. In his Notes on N,yinia,
written in 1781 and 1852, p. 124 he says
"Under the mild treatment our slayescz
periencc, and their wholesome, thougl
coarse food, this blot on our country in
= creases as fast, Or faster, than the whites
During the regal government, VIC had a
one time obtained law, which impose
such duty On the importation Of slaves, d
amounted nearly to prohibition, whe'
one inceasiderote assetn5ly, placed under
peculiarly Of circumstance, repealed th
= law. In the very first session held undo
the republican government, the assem6l
passed Law for the perpetual prohibitio
of the importation Of slaves. This will j
:. some measure stop the increase Of this gre.
:: political and neral ern, while the minds
our citizens may he ripcning fora cor
pIcte emancipation Of human nature
But the dearest exposition Of his feelin:
in regard 10 it, Of his view Of its inhuen'
upon the character Of the master, and
incompatabi1ity with democratic or Or r
publican institutions, as also its final te
1nination aud the fires and blood of rev
i luton and rebellion, if not arrested an
- abandoned before the final catastrophe
nn Mia is most graphically and clearly S
1or'h n*Query XVIII" pp. eo1 to 229
INC "otk 9aas quoted. We commend Il
study OF this paa<age to our whole poop
- st THIS time, but espeeially to our Dem
cratic politicians who have 90 npch IN 90
about the Presidents Proclasaa,;on of FRI
dom to the slaves Of rebels, ana exs, +
-. .-claims to the character Of statement. ~
a. ,.4%. nF