The daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1863-1864, 1863-11-10
Whittier are we tendinga

We have now been at war for nearly
three years. The ship Of State has been
dashing msdly through the bloody waves,
and.to day she spreads every yard Of can
v,ss with renewed energy, and tears on in
her 3erco career. We may be- called
IN alarmist butternut, or somethir 2 more
terrible even, for saying it, but we never
thsless suggest that We do not feel quite
riding at suoti a furious speed.
Are there no breakers .head2 are the captain
and crew duly sob sr2 are the supplies am
'le7 are quesiio' IS that will sometimes come
up for solutir,n
Never bas the world seen such spec
tasla rs we are now presenting. One por-
rion Of orr country is dying of starvation,
in the cold of approaching winter
and allowing its own fields to be devastated
by persisting in a hopeless struggle for ID
dependence; while the other portionis sur
feiting with wealth, clothing itself in pur'
pls aud fine linen, and is free from the Inn
mediate presence of "grim visaged war;
But in this wonderful prosperity OF the
North do we see nothing to alarm ns-noth
ing to cause US to think and shake our
heads ominously, and ask "where will this
all sad9" Two years and a half of war,
and whore arewe? "Why," says the enthu-
siastic Republican, "den't you see the rebel
hon is nearly whipped out-slavery is near
ly dead, and money is more plenty than ever
before9' u And he looks astonished that any
one can be so stupid as not to rejoice in all
this remarkable national thrift. Grant
him all this, still the question recurs,
where are we? Before the war We haa
an independent judiciary, and the right of
trial by jury; but now we have only dumb
Judges and epauletted courtsmartial. We
may be dragged from our beds at night
hurried off to prison by a petty Govern
ment spy, and cry for habeas corpus in
vain. State lines are disappearing, and the
dsspotism at Washington strengthening
day by day. While the nation shakes with
the thunders of war, and grand carnival of
blood extends from the Atlantic to beyond
tue Mississippi, the Presidential mansion is
filed with giddy dancers, and rings with
bacchanalian revelries. Power at Wash,
ington says to Shoddy in New York "givs me
your liberty and will give you diamonds
instead; grace the Academy Of Music with
Jar presence, and astonish the Russian
bear. with the splendor of your tiara. but
let me manage the elections, and gather
up your liberties, lest you forget them
yourself in your wild whirl of giddy joys"
1t is not 50 much the monstrous strides of
power at the Federal Capital, that alarms
US, as the dreamy indifference of the peo-
pie. They have become so intoxicated
with the "pomp and circumstances Of glori-
Gus war;" and the glitter of our inflated
wealth they float on with no consciousness
Of the danger before them. Decentralization
is everywhere in the land. Human life in
staid, Puritanic Boston is held Of as little
value as on the borders Of Missouri; men
no longer consider themselves bound by
the old and wholesome restraints of we'll
regulated communities; mutual confidence
is destroyed; credit is seldom asked OF
given; persons pass each other in l5oir
dreadful hurry to serve the Demon of blood,
the customary salutations. A
broken heart and an anguished spirit excite
less sympathy than broken head, and
mutilated limb The material everywhere
crowds out the spiritual Feelings are
laughed at-twinges Of conscience called
,ickly sentimentalisms, aud affections trod-
den out by the iron heel of war. The very
mir is surcharged with corruption. Tho
people are changing in their mode
Ihought, ard their habits of lif> 5 OF
'he war the Adnis;strst; q Before
so ,s.. Ion served the
people, now the people it Then a hundred
men "" the outside number of
Government employees; two millions do
its biddip,s now-two millions take their
bread r. ON its hands aud call it master. Into
every nerve and fiber of this vast mass the
spirit of the ADMINISTRATION has penetrated
and subjugated all to its inexorable will
The army, the navy, the hords of contrac-
tors, are al placed under tribute to the
King ct Washington. Their political opin-
ious are dictated to them in the same breath
with their military orders; and they march
to the bsllot box with as much precision as
they march to battle. --
War has spread rich table, and the har-
pies from thousand Strophades have be-
fouled the repast Washington is the great