Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-08-03


The New York Tribune Of the Slst con-
tains what purports to be 8 letter from
Richmond, written to the Tribune as the
leading journal Of the North, and claiming
to Sc. set forth accurately the mission Of
Alexander h. Stephens to Washington
some time since. OF the letter the Tribune
thus speaks:
awe must premise that though dated
" Richmond, July 16," we have received it
through q Baltimore Secession channel,
aud we have doubt that it received form
and shape in the Monumental City. That
its statements and representations, how
ever, all emsnate from high Secession cir
cles in Richmond, and that they embody
aud elucidate the views that imPelled the
recent attempt Of Vice-President Stephens
70 proceed on q Confederate embassy to
Washington, we have ample reason to be-
lisve."
The sum and substance of the matter is
this: The COnfederatss are alarmed and in
dignaat at our arming Of negroes to fight them
and desi'e ed to send Ar. Stephens to Wishing
ton to enter an imposing remembrance against
il and g'Ue our Government fair notice that,
if 0e di5sot gios Il up, they you'd also en-
bark in isrOith all their might and arm ten
negroes to our one. This is what Mr.. Ste
phens would have impOsingly announced
to the President, hsd-he been permitted to
proceed in his gunboat Torpedo to our
capital, and been received there as Con-
federate Embassador.
With this as text the letter writer en-
larges upon the fidelity Of the slaves to
their masters; the number of sble-bOdied
negroes that may be put into the field; the
modified sepOy system which it is designed
to organize the blacks under; and all that
sort Of brsgadOcio, putting the climax to
his absurdities by declaring that not Ons
single regiment OF corps of negroes has
ever been brought into the Confederate
service to be turned against the North.
Every one of these propositions Except
the one regarding the sepOy-negrO system
has been so clearly disprOved that it is
strange the Tribune will give any such
character as it does to its correspondent.
As to t. fidelity" the whole history of the
war shows that the slaves have eagerly left
their masters upon the approach of the
Federal forces, and now comes Richmond
paper, which sets forth the following con-
fession
"a sufferer by the Combahee raid sums
up his sorrows in the following sentence
What contributed most to my mortifcs-
ton was, that in my whole gang of slaves,
among whom there were any amount OF
Asrons, Abrahams, Isaacs and Jacobs,
there was not Abdiel-not one remained
loyal to the rebel This is the complaint
of hundreds and thousands Of other suffer
ers. The most petted, trusted and seemingly
devoted sgGVes are found DaHting in the hour
Of triqJp
The letter-writer says that 10000
able-bOdied fellows, loving and trusting
their masters, &c. may be organized Out
Of the 4, 600, 900 negroes Of the South. But
he must bear in mind that from the aggre.
gate Slave States we have taken possession
of Maryland, Delaware, two-thirds of Vir.
ginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Ar.
kansas, Texas, Louisiana and almost all o.
Mississippi In the small territory left tC
the rebellion the slave population of 1850
was az folIows in round numhars.