True Democrat., 1863-03-18


 est in declaring his positions, the bravest in main
 taining them against whatever storm of opposition
 and obloquy. Milton chose the devil for the hero of Paradise Lost;" and however devish he was made to appear, he was certainly very striking hero, from many of whose qualities one could not l withhold his admiration. MT. Valandigham best deserves the distinction of the Northern devil of our Paradise Lost, our shattered Union and crumb- ling nationality. Dislike him as one may, there is | no denying his devish ability, and therefore no -dismissing him with contempt. :.
 He begins boldly, deiantly even. and is speedi- l ly preaching the very doctrine of fdevils. You can never subdue the seeded States. Two years of fearful experience have taught you that. Why carry the war? 1fyou persist, it can only end in | final separation between the North and the South. And ir that case, believeit now, as you did not my former warnings, the whole Northwest will go with the South.
 He waxes more earnest as he approached this keynote ot his hnrangue, and with energy and force that makes every nearer, his moral nature revoits from the bribe, aeknow ledge all the more the splendid force with which. the tempter urges his cause, with flashing eyes and lvd features and extended hand, trembling with the passion of his utterance, he hurls the climax of his threatening argument again upon the Republican side of the Horse: "Believe me, you did not the solemn warning of years past, tke day uhich dtoides the North from the Ssuth, the self same day d'erfss eer nat dioorce betreen the Vest and the Eat!'
 murmur of indignation runs through the hall, members turn to each other, exchange whispers and turn back toward the speaker as he returns from the inner line Of desks next the clerks desk where he has moved in tho energy and excitement of his declaration, to hs former place in the midst of the opposition. Half dozen leading members are seen clustering around BinghaIn'S seat oli the extreme right, and asking him something. He shakes his head once or twice, then listens to them again, finally consents, and is noticed to begin making f inst bppn ed v Republicans to reply to this dangerous speech on the spot-to match hasty, extenpore effort agans. this considered, compact, polished and elaborate plea for northern treason.
 The group of republicans standing in the open space before the clerks desk increases; they crowd down the aisles among the opposition and cluster around the speaker as he resumes. Even the eternal chatterng R the ladies' galleries has ceased, the seats are all crowded, the corr"spOn dents and reporter, have been attracted by the in terest of the scene, and for wonder the reporters gallery Is full and attentive.
 An effort is making on the lHar to get joint session of the military and naval committees, to hear proposition from Cyrus ". Field, backed by the Secretary of War, about submarine cable to New Orleans. One me nber after another tiatly refuses to obey the call of the chairman, and leave the fdebate. The eminent teegrapher waits an hour in the committee room, and finally gets to see three out of the fourteen members. Such is the interest the discussion of treason's argument is arou5ing.
 The speaker resumed: "There is not one drop of rain that falls over the whole vast expanse of the Northwest that does not find it's home in the bosom of the gulf We must and ne ,oiH fol}s,c 1t, with travel and trade; not by treaty. but by rights freely, peaceaby and without restriction or 'rbute der the same government and flag"
 It Is eloqueIltly spoken, and none are more will ing to concede 1t than his opponents. And yet, forcible polished, stirring as it is, what is it but tx.- II. ,l, considerations, the islander on the people of his home, that for the paltry sake of @ little easier mode of floating their corn to market, they will forsake the Union of their fathers trampie upon all the tradition. of their national existence, and themselves tributaries to that body of gin and death, slave breeding, purely slave civilization, treason born Southern Cortederacy'-
 There are many more words in the speech, words boldly conceived and iorcby spoken, but that is its substance The administration Is censured, too often only justly, but with the eager haste of hate not with the slow-spoken condemnation to which the friends of the government often feel forced. The stupidities of our military management, the foolish e1tlavagaHcss of boastinG with which thoughtless portion of the press and an excitable people entered upon the work of subduing the re bellion, are rightly enough exposed; but the tone of the exposure is not that which the friends of the union and the government would give it.; it sounds like the malignant sneerinS of the Londoh Times, or the ueflll>n OI tue iner There is prayer for peace to descend, but 1t Is not the prayer of the patriot, anxious that after honorable and triumphant wars that have Nindica- ted the nation and subdued it's enemies, the bloody benners be borne back and folded away; it is the prayer of the sordid shop-keeper who clamors to heaven that his craft and his profit are in danger. And there glowing promises for the future, but that future is to be-not progress to pnrer cvli- sation, but degradation to the basest out growths of the present.
 He has spoken over an hour and quarter, and has accomplishld that rare feat compelled the closest attention of the most disordery deberatve body in the world, from the beginning to the end. He has not quite finished, but one extension of time has already been granted. More is refused, and he closes without peroration.
 There ia gradual relaxation, sudden hum ming of conver sation again the floor and through the galleries. The democrats and border states men, with faces wreathed in smiles, crowded around their champion with their congratulations. At single step the stunned and execrated Vallandig- ham has risen to the leadership of their party. Deny it, as some of them still may, henceforth it i. accomplished Plantation hammered old MT Wckliffe, little MT. Samuel Cox, and All the rest are but tails 10 the kite of this man, bold enough, honest enough, and able enough to avow and do- fend the real sentiments of them all.