The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1863-08-13

1
The next point which the young
man endeavors to make is against the
PaSSive Obedience doctrine. He says /:
--@Itis first our dutyzto render blind
and passive obedience to our rulers, no
matter how Or by whom appointed y
but while we are first taught our
duty, we arc at the same time informed
that obedience to a wicked law can
never be rendered without contracting
guilt.
This the young man calls dilomma.
We must obey, but five obey,we con-
tract guilt Now, we simplyand fatty
isay to the young man that Mr.. Van
Anda argued no such thing, Mr.. Van
Anda stated distinctly and clearly that
there were but three courses of con
duct one or the other of which any
people must pursue, viz l. Passive
obedience. 2. Resistance Or 3. Suffer
ing patiently the penalty of refu-
sing to obey an unjust demand. And
in the very next paragraph, In order to
sh0w that men must not in all cases be
pasSiueJy Obedient, Mr. Van AHda says:
4" Obedience to wicked law can never
be rendered without contractinggu gull"
Thus the argument which Mr.. Van
Anda uses to show that men must not
in all cases be passiyely obcdient, this
young man who was not able to con-
meet the two paragraphs, and,who lacks
the capacity to distinguish between a
proposition and the argument against It
this the young man calls an "absurd
contradiction"
The next point which the young
man, with all the gravity of man Of
Experience and mature Judgment, at,
tempts to make, is against the three
following propositions, mentioned by
Mr. Van Anda as conditions justifying
rebellion,
81. When all constitutional means
Of reform had been used III vain.
~. When the evils Of revolution
would be less than those Of the abuse
of civil authority.
20. Where there is such number of
aggricved people that there is a reason.
able hope of success. Such an instance
we have in the revolution Of the Anne
rican colonies against the aggressions
! of Great Britain" l."
The first the young man admits to be
Sound" Very likely because in his
opinion it is the ground on which the
S0uth rebelled. The second he says is
meaningless, because it is impossible
to determine beforehand what evils
revolutions may give rise to during
their progress. Is it? The young man
is totally innocent of history. If he
had read history he would see that it is
possible to know beforehand, with M-
most mathematical cXactneas, the evils
( to which civil war gives rise, viz. to all
the bad passions Of the human heart; to
destruction Of human life; to great and
universal suffering; to the destruction
of commerce and property; and to the
desolation of hearts and homes. The
third, if sound, he says, will justify
what he calls the Confederate States, y
in their rebellion, because they had u
reasonable hope of success. Now, it
was from the beginning and still is the
opinion of every friend Of tho Govern
ment, both North and South, it was
the opinion of q majority Of the South
crn people, that they had not reason
able hope Of success, Only the croak-
era, moral towards, Southern sympa-
thzcrs, and young men of tender and
mcagrc brains, like this young man,
believed that they had q reasonable
hope of success. The States in rebel
lion had a population Of seven millions,
nearly four millions Of which were
slaves; the loyal States had popula'
ton Of twcnty-threo millions, Their
staple product was cotton which will
not do to feed armies; the staple pro.
duets Of the loyal States were wheat,
corn and 1.-Two stock, the very staple on
which to subsist armies, They had no
established Government nor credit;
the United States had, They had no
navy and scarcely any manufactures
established for the production of arms
and munitions ofwW; the Government
of the United States had all these
The Iastpoint which thoyoung man
attempts to make, is against Mr., Van
Andas statement that Virginia came
to the Peace Convention "in spirit of
jictation and not of compromise, so
that nothing could be done by that
body The young man calls this
gross ignorance y or q deliberate pur-
pose to state falsely" ut is scarcely
possible (wc quote the young mans
words) to believe that man of com