The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1863-08-13
FIOm Forney's War Press.
\ Tho South as il is To-day.

sEFfIhoSe VINO pTeulct tue IuluTe UoW tue
pisl idle prophecies. A new element
his changed the nature OF the war. one
yssr ago il was believed thst the South.
en- people were united and resolved,
cad such a people, it was said, no pow
LEI could conquer. Whether the belief
add the statement wers then true or
l,lse is little matter, for now the condi'
tion Of the South is altered, Il is diff
cult to estimate the value Of the recent
Federal victories, for beyond question
t6ey have domoralized the people Of the
rsbel States. The entire South trom-
bles before our advancing arms No
lpyal man can know this ruth SO well os
Fhlis known lo.day in Richmond. Tho
sictors realize their own victory, but
llOy fail 10 comprehend fully the terror
aad distress of the defeated. Let no
man douSt that the faith of The rebel go.
gstnment ir the people il has SO long
deceived is shaken now. 1t has betray'
ed them into war, useless, unholy ard
lniricidaE it has urged them to dreadful
saCri6ces oil honor, prosperity, and life;
4 L has forced them to oppose power
which their weakness could not posi-
/ bly, resist; it has tempted them with
ldreums Of vague ambition to realities
IolIearful suffering; through two years
ofunintermitted, bloody, and gigantic
var, il has led them TO the brink Of in
eyitabO ruin. Through all these mise
Iies, the rebel government has believed
in the fidelity Of its victims, nor has it
wanted reason for its faith. There is
GOT battle field from Virginia to Ar
kansOs upon which the men Of the South
have moi proved their yalor; thousands
Of graves hide the bones OF the men who
lell.in hopeless cause at the command
Of their desperate rulers. The revorses
ihe national armies have met prove the
courage Of their enemies. The small
band of fheartless conspiraIors who crea'
'gcd tile rebellion had ample cause to
4 ,Fast in the ragged troops who followed
Stonewall jackson; the starving men
i Nho,hold Vicksburgi the blinded people
4 gho,submitted to every misery and ev-
4 ery.tyranny in the name Of Southern in
l dependence. We can afford TO pause for
n moment in our words of gratitude to
\ the noble armies OF the Republic, tho
II RTayest Of The brave, 10 pay 40 reluct-
\ Snt tribute to the volor Of our enemies.
/ They we're brave; they were patient
Rey fought to mighty purpose, and do.
rYed D better cause.
BntD0,g tho mon who have 50 long
IN The South al their mercy. doubt
wors question .the fidelity. Of
| thoiT people. Il is not that the men
whose strong arms have so long held
hp the rebellion are less brave than for
erly, but that they arc more wise
Wine has taught them that they are
lighting in hopeless cause. They
have discovered that they are betrayed.
With broken spirit all the armies Of the
rebellion retreat. From no quarter do
they advance; Rosecrans marches trium.
phantly into Georgia; Grant strikes
with energy into the heart of the Missis'
sippi, and Meade, with more caution,
but, we trust, with equal resolution, fol-
lows the defeated Lee into Virginia.
The entire South is crouched in the atti.
tude of one expecting blow from which
he is unable 10 escape.
To this condition have two years Of
war reduced the South, and now, when
its people begin 10 complain Of unexs
pecled calamities and disappointed
hopes; when their newspapers paint the
danger in the darkest hues, and brand
as CO wards all who do not instantly 6y
to arms; now, when wo hear Of treason
TO the rebel government, and secret 10y
atty to the old flag; now, at the very mo.
ment when the enemy is most diSheart'
ened, and the nation moro than ever
exultant, Jefferson Davis in his despair,
commands every man Of the land he has
betrayed to hasten to the defence OF her
betnyer. With one stroke OF that fatal
pen which has already written the death
warrant of hundreds of thousands of
Americans, he transforms the popula,
ton Of his country into an army. He
orders CONSUMPTION which has no par.
rallel in the history Of the century, he
threatens with death all who refuse to
submit to il; he declares it to be neces-
sary for the preservation of the cause.
Desperate indeed must be The condition
of any power whose safety is only to be
secured by means SO terrible as this
To conquer the enemy it has alrondy de-
leSted, the United States has summoned
but one e.fourth Of the fighting population
oftho country. Nine hundred thousand
fighting men unsummoned remain in re-.
serve The disproporlion of power is
insignificant. l"H Ta 3
Such draft will drain tho blood Of
the South, already depleted to weakness.
Additional proof of the severity Of the