The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-12-05

the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
THE PROPHECIES OF STEPHENS FULFIL
LED.-In January, 1861 Alexander III. Ste
phens, now Vice President of the rebel Con-
| tederacy, made a speech against secession,
in the Georgia State Convention, the pro-
phetic warnings of which he already sees
| fulfilled. Here are some of the striking
| things he said:
'When we and our posterity shall see our
lovely South desolated by the demon of
war, which this act of yours will inevitably
invite and call forth; when our green fields
of waving harvests shall be trodden down
by the murderous sodiery and fiery car OF
war sweeping over our land; our temples
of justice laid in ashes; all the horrors and
desOlationS of war upon us; who but this
Convention will be held responsible for it?
and who but him who shall have given his
vote for this unwise and ill-timed measure,
as l honestly think and believe shall be
held to a strict account for this suicidal act
by the present generation, and probably
cursed and execrated by posterity for all
coming time, for the wide and desolating
ruin that will inevitably follow this act you
now propose to perpetrate?
pause, entreat you, and consider for a
moment what reasons you can give that
will even satisfy yourselves in calmer mo-
ments-What reasons you can give to your
fellow sufferers in the calamity that it will
bring upon us. What reasons can you give
to the nations of the earth tc justify it?-
They will be the calm and deliberate judg-
es in the case; and what cause or one overt
act can you name or point to, on which to
rest the plea of justification? What right
has the North assailed? What interest of
the South has been invaded? What Justice
has been denied? and what claim founded
in justice and right has been withhold
Can either of you to-day name one govern
mental act of wrong, deliberately and pur-
posely done by the government of Wash
ington, of which the South has a right to
complain? 1 challenge the answer.
Leaving out of view for the present the
countless millions of dollars you must ex-
pend in a war with the North; with tens of
thousands of your sons and brothers slain
in battle, and offered up as sacrifices upon
the altar of your ambition-and for what?
we ask again. Is it for the overthrow of
the American government, established by
our common ancestry, cemented and built
up by their sweat and blood, and founded
on the principles of right justice and hui
manity? And, as such, l must declare
here, as I have often done before, and
which has been repeated by the great
est and wisest Of statesmen and patriots in
this and other lands, that it is the best and
freest government, the most equal in it's
rights, the most just in it's decisions, the
most aspiring in its principles to elevate
the race Of men that the sun of heaven
ever shown upon. Now for you to attempt
to overthrow such a government as this
under which we have lived for more than
three-quarters of Il century; in which we
have gained our wealth our standing as a
nation, our domestic safety while the eie-
ments of peril are around us, with peace
and tranquility accompanied with I'M
bounded prosperity, and rights unassailed,
is the high:h of madness, folly, and wick
edness to which 1 can never lend my sane
ton or my vote" .-. ..
MAJOR VAssER ARRESTED.-The Cairo
dispatches to the Journal of yesterday
mentioned the operations Of the notorious
Major Vasser, (not Vassee) in that city,
who had been a party to defrauding the
Government out of $500, 900 in that city,
and stated that he had been seen in Chica-
go. Upon reading the dispatch, Captain
Nelson, Of the South Division Police, re-
solved to visit the different places of amuse-
ment, last sht, to see If he could disvoer
him. at McVickers Theatre he discover
ed the gentlemanly operator doing the ami
able to a couple of ladies. Captain Nelson
was not in his uniform, and so the arrest,
which Immediately followed the discovery,
was made without attracting any particu-
lar attention. Stepping up to the Major,
the Captain said in a low voice, ''Good
evening, Major Vasser.r The latter start
ed and returned the salutation. "Will you
take ride with me, I have carriage at
the door? ?" continued the imperturable
police official. The Major at once compre-
hended the "situation, :" and quietly ac-
companying the officer, and said, "By Cd,
I expected it, He was driven to the Gen.
trail Station, to await orders from Govern
ment. 70! $50 @faa d a.r
This Vasser is known by reputation all
over the country as one of the most accom-
plished forgers in existence. An evidence
of his skill and ingenuity has been on ex-
hibition at Gleeson's Matteson House Sa-
loon for a long time. 1t is miniature
Temple of Liberty, constructed of small
bits Of wood, and framed together in a
common glass bottle. Major Vasser con-
structed it while serving term in the In.
diana State Prison. Chicago Journal LIST.
The campaigning carriage" which
with our horses was to be presented to
General Sickles by the officers and men OF
the Sd Army Corps, is now Completed
The whole equipage, which is to be mag
| A