Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-10-16
FRIDAY MORNING, OCTOBER l6, lS6;
PEACE.

MISUNDERSTANDING the White Flag that
was seen in the heavens by d respectable "o-
man, and the march of aerial troops north-
yards, witnessed by q man of good character,
in the clouds, in spite Of all this, there is not
the slightest prospect Of speedy peace, visible
to US. There will be no peace until the MILL
tarY power Of the Yankee nation is entirely
broken, and its people so thoroughly sickened
of the war that we can exact on. own terms.
Save on eur own terms, we can accept no
peace whatever, and must fight till doomsday
rather than yield an iota of them and our
terms are
Recognition by the encny Of the indepeu-
dence of tbe Confederate States.
Withdrawal of Yankee forces from every
foot of Confederate ground, including Ken
lucky and Missouri.
Withdrawal of Yankee soldiers from Mary
land, until that State shall decide, by q free
vote, whether she shall remain in the old
Union, or ask admission into the Confederacy.
Consent, on the part Of the Federal Govern
ment, to give rp to the Confcderacy its proper
ton of the navy as it stood at the time Of se-
cession, or to pay for tie same.
Yielding UP CT all rretcnaon, on the part Of
the Federal Government, 10 that portion of the
old Territories which lies west Of the Confed-
crate States.
An equitable settlcmcnt-on the basis Of
our absolute independence and equal rights
Of all accounts CT the public debt and public
lands, and Of the advantages a~ccruing from
foreign treaties.
These provisions, we arprehcrt, comprise
the minimum Of what VIC must require before
we lay down On our arms. That is 10 say,
the North must yield all we nothing. The
whole pIetcnsion Of thar country to prevent
By force the separation Of the States must be
abandoned, which will be equivalent to an
avowal that our enemies were wrong from the
first and, of course, us they waged a cause.
less and wicked var upon US, they ought, in
strict justice, to 10 required, according t.
usage in such eases, to reimburse to ~ tie
the whole Of cur expenses and Losses in tic
course Of that war.
Whether this last rroviso is to be insisted
upon or not, certain we are that we cannot hare
any peace at all until we shall be in a posi-
ton, rot only to demand and exact, but also
to enforce and collect the treasure for our OWL
reimbursement out Of the wealthy cities in the
encmy's country. In other words, unless we
can destroy or scatter their armies and break
up their government, we can have no peace
and if we can do that, then we can, and ought
not only to extort from them our own full
terms, and ample acknowledgment of their
wrong, but also q handsome indemnity for the
trouble and expense caused to Us bysreir
crime.
Now, we are not yet in a position to dictate
those terms to our enemies; with Rosecrans'
army still in the heart of our country, and
Meade's still on Virginia soil but though it
is too soon to propose such conditions to them,
yet it is important that we should keep them
plainly before our own eyes, as the only admis-
siblc basis ofany conceivable ucacc. This well
fixed in the Confederate mind, there will be
no more fearful looking for Of news from Eu-
rope, as if that blessed peace were to come to
US over the sea, and not to he conquered on
our own ground no more gaping for hints Of
recognition, "filins the belly with the East
wind :" no more distraction or diversion from
the single momcntous business, Of bracing up
every nerve and sincw of the country for bat
tie.
1t is especially now, at a moment when
great and perhaps decisive battles are i'm
pending ut two or three points, that VI think
It most essential to insist upon the grand en-
tire magnifcence Of the stake and Of the
cause. Once moro, we say, it rs all or nothing.
This Confederacy, or the Yankee nation, one
or the other, goes down, down to perdition :
that is to say, one or the other must forfeit its
national existence, and lie at the mercy of its
mortal enemy. We all know by this time the
fate in store for US if are succumb. The other
party has no smaller stake. As surely as we
completely ruin their armies-and without
that is no peace nor truce at all-so surelyw we
shall make them pay cur war debt, though we
wiring it out Of their hearts. And they know
it well and therefore they cannot make peace
except through utter exhaustion and absolute
inability to strike another blow.
The stake they have to forfeit, then, if they
lose this dreadful game, is as vital as ours
c. -, kho cfol.a 70 ho rv-np &c chow 1rsn opyv
thing. 1t i, no less than entire possession Of
our whole country, with us in it, and every
thing that is ours, from the Ohio to the Rio
Grande, to nave and to hold to them and their
heirs forever. But, on the other hand, what
we mean to win is utter separation from
them for all time. We do not want to govern
their country; but after lerying upon it what
seemeth good to US, by way of indemnity, we
leave it to m its political life again
from the beginning, hoping that the lesson
NAV have made them sadder and wiser Yam
KEGS. We shut them out for ever, with all
their ~unclean and scoundrclly ways, intending
10 lead our lives here in our own Confederate
way within our own w~ell-guarded bounds; and
without-as St. John sa~ys-"without ore
dogs"
And let no Confederate of feeble knees and
tremulous backbone say to us, this complete
triumph is impossible; say that we must be
content with some kind of compromise, and
give and take. On the contrary, we must
gain all or lose all; and that the Confederates
will indeed win the giant game, we take to be
as certain as any future event in this uncertain
world. Meade's army and Rosecrans' snce
scattered, Lincoln can get no more armies
Thu draft turns out manifestly f~ruitless. -