The Portland daily press., 1863-01-09

an assumption as this needs only to be mem
toned to be refuted. The rebels are entitled
at our hands during the war to nothing more
and nothing less than the treatment prescribed
by the laws of war, and we can, and ought and
will seize every legitimate weapon to conquer
Their military power and reduce them TO obe-
dience to the Constitution OF the United States
III Is on this ground that loyal men can
raily with enthusiasm to the support of
Ihe PRESIDENT. And it will not abate the
iorce Oh the new policy that its result is to
give freedom 10 a race long oppressed, and to
abolish an institution that has long been the
source of evil dissension at home, and the
cause OF shame ana reproach to us abroad.
1t will be clearly Within the dspensation OF
Gods justice that a&system of oppression
which violates the natural rights of man.
which has always stirred up strife and conten.
tion, and which was the direct cause Of our
present troubles, should wither and perish in
the wrathful storm which in its rage it dared
to provoke.
The enlistment of the negroes for armed
service in holding Southern "fOrts, positions
and stations" will be an immeasurable relief
to people OF the North, as it will remove the
necessity in any contingency Of farther call
for troops to serve in the malarious climate of
the Gulf States. To oppose this policy is to
wantonly sacrifice the precious lives of our
young men by exposing them to an extra
hazardous service which the negroes can
perform without any risk. The testimony of
our revolutionary Generals and of Jackson
and Harrison in the last war with Great Bri-
tam, conclusively establishes the fact that un-
der good discipline negroes make good SOL
diers. Let us give them generous opportu-
nifty to prove themselves. The war is one
which in its incidents is to result in their en-
franchisement, and they will be far better pre-
pared to enjoy their freedom nationally and
protitaby, by having participated in the con-
test which results in its requirement. No 9TH
er nation would have hesitated so long to use
this potential weapon, and we have endanger-
ed our cause abroad, if not at home by the mex
plicable timidity which has marked our course
inregard to it. Let US now give ii a vigorous
trial. Those among us who have no sympathy
with the result which this policy brings to the
slave, may at least congratulate themselves
that its firm enforcement will save the lives OF
thousands of white men who might otherwise
be exposed to disease, destitution and death
As loyal man, anxious only to do my duty
as citizen and Magistrate, can see no line
OF patriotism or of safety except in a cordial
unreserved support of the policy enunciated
by the President. To resist or combine agains,
| it is to run all the hazards of anarchy. IT. as
a people, we stand firmly By that policy, We
| shall conquer, and the nation will come forth
from the fiery ordeal through which we are
passing purified, strengthened, invincible. But
| five divide into hostile factions and spend our
energies in fruitless, petty contests with each
other, it needs no prophet to foretell the re-
suit OF the pending issue or to write the deeI
humiliation and disgrace to be forever associ
ated with degenerate people who had nei
ther the spirit nor the patriotism to maintain
the nationality bequeathcd to them by hero
| ic ancestry.
! We enter upon public duty, Gentlemen, at ;
time of unusual responsibility, when wisdom
alone may well be distrusted. But relying
upon the guidance of that Gracious Beins
who hath so bountifully blessed us as nation
and who chastiseth but in mercy, let us, in hu
mility and yet in confidence, address ourselves
to the conscientious discharge of the trust
committed to US by the people OF our beloved
| State. ABNER COBURN.