The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-11-18
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a.sss sssaifsss saRfs yon WHolH No.503

ssei3as}t6a Esl5 5ld5 - 81
country, flourish as. fresh as evera They could
sink their armies TO day, and raise pew leyies
| 70 crush u.s. aid not feel it.
How, is 10 with us 2 The man is in the
| field, half our territory overrun, our cities
gone 10 iwreck-peopled alone By the aged,
the lame and halt, and women and children
While deserted towns, and smoking ruins.
and plantations abandoned and laid waste,
meet us on ali.sides, and anarchy and ruin,
disappointment and discomfort lower over all
the land. -.... i,
:. He discusses the question of Foreign Inter-
yention, g Dissensiors IN the North,o and
o her kindred topics; but finds nothing to en-
| courage, hope in any of them. OF negro
slavery, he says. altt 10 esa9ast y
/ am asked if Mr. Lineoih's Emancipation
Proclamation will staud.9 Il you continue
the struggle, certainly. He has the physical
force at his disposal TO carry it out. Jf you
cease now, you may save all in your hands,
or compromise on gradual 9eInancip patioIi.-
| But let. beseech you, the negro no longer
stand in the way of the happiness and safety
of friends and kindred. 5f;F al se.{ e.5s a
t5e The changes Of sentiment upon this ques-
Iftiou, iIF the South, have been curious. Not
many years since, it WAS by no means unusual
fer the press aud public men,a.as well3sas for
the people, generally, in the South, to con-.
iscede that slavery was an evil, and regret that
! it should over have existed; expressing,
however, nosdispositioh or desire to be rid of
#. Yet, few years more--the demand for
cotton having increased, the price of negroes
| I,haviHg advanced, and the agitation of the
! slavery a auesiion laving increased III vrufence
finds us defending slavery as a divine insti-
| tuition. De bows Review, and other South
-ern papers and periodicals, with Senator HAM.
{lnoud Of South Carolina, were prominent in
4 this defense. Their object was to educate
/ the Southern mind to this belief. Such
course has been vital Ete,the existence of slav-s
/ cry because. to concede that negro slavery
was morally wrong. was. virtually to concede
| the whole argument to the abolitionists. As
the controyers warmed; We Became sensitive.
/ And So morbidly so,s that the North might
have threatened with impunity toEieprive us
Fef horses, or other property yet the whole
i South would be ablaze if some matte took
/ one negro. Such was public sentiment at the
I South, at the cOmmencement of this most un-
/ fortunate and bloody struggle. But revolu-
I tians shake up mems thoughts, and put them
! in different channels. l have recently talked
with Southern Shareholders from every State.
| They are tired Of negro slavery, and believe
hey could make more clear money, and live
more pe&ceably, without than with it. As
+ for the non-savehoider of the South, I hon
I estly thought the struggle was for him more
than for his wealthy neghbor-that to free
! the negro would reduce to comparative slave
1 ry the poor white men. l now regret, that
instead of war to sustain slavery. it had lot
/ been q struggle to colonize it. This will clear
/ lV he the ntyf Stri1 1trcrle
Let us live in hope, my grief-stricken
brothers, that the day is nos far distant when
Arkansas will rise from the ashes of her des-
olation, TO start on a path of higher destiny
/ than, with negro slavery, she ever conld have
/ reached while the reunited Government,
freed from this cankering sore, will be more
vigorous and powerful, and more thrifty. OPP
ulent and happy, than though the scourse of
war had never desolated her fields, or made
sorrowfal her hearthstones
The sooner we lay down our arms, and
quit this hopeless struggle, the sooner our
days of prosperity will return -sa .s5s
EssI hesitated long, my fellow-citizens, before
i I determined to issue this address, ] dislike
TO be abused and slander9d. But more than
all, l dislike to live under . cloud with those
ffriends who have not yet reached my stand
I DOlIli. ana, D6SlueS, DOSS0SS lSyltl tilo
Confederate lines Their leaders will de-
prve my family, of slaves, home, property
debts due me-in word, reduce them from
competence and ease to penury. Aside from
what have inside the Confederate lines, |
could not pay for. the paper this address is
written upon. But it may all 60. Did T. de-
BssiTe future promotion, and could bring my
conscience to it, would do=likei the j Johnsons,
! safe from bullets and hardships themselves,
/ they assist in holding you on to this hopeless
and ruinous struggle, and, at the END of5the
conflict, will come back and say 80 I staid
nth you to- the last h' " Honor me and mine i',
| God deliver me from such traitors to human
ity, and to the interests of our bleeding peo-
! plei To me, the path of duty is plain. 1t
is to lepd my feeble aid to- stop this useless
effusion of blood. And, though it beggar my
i family, and leave me esno ray of hope for the
/ future, shall follow it. ssslie2sa 5sa 7s
i, / have witnessed; the .desolation of the
Southern States from one end to the other
This hopeless struggle but wideDs it Each
I. day. makes new grave new orphans, and new
mourners Each hour fingsainto this dread-
I.ful whirlpool more of wrecked hopes, broken
fortunes, and anguished hearts! The rich
q have most fallen. The poor have drank deep
of the cup of sorrow, while surely, and not
slowly, the tide of ruin in its resistless surge,
j sweeps toward the middle classes "a few
4 more campaigns, and they will form part of
the general wreck / Each grave and each
4 tear, each wasted fortune and broken heart,
j puts us that much further off from the object
of the struggle. and that much further off from
4 peace and happiness! e,f .ax
) Viewing it thus the terrible question was
presented to me, as to whether / should con-
tinue my lot in an enterprise so fruitless and
so full of woe, and help hold the masses of
n the people on to this terrible tdespotism of
4 Davis, where only ruin awaits them; or
! whether I should be aquiet observer of itiaH,
or lastly, whetherI sh uld assist in saving the
, remnant of you from the wreck. -
: sl have chosen the latter. / shall send this
! address to every hill and corner of the Stale.
to the citizen and soldier, at home or in. pris-
on, and shall send with.it my prayers to Al
J mighty God to arrest them in their pathway
, OF blood and ruin. Why trust Davis longerf
Had he twice our resources he would still fail.
With success he would be a despot. But the
I whole thing is tumbling to pieces. Soldiers
} are leaving disguised and disheartened; and
whole States have gone back to their home
in the National galaxy. rFae la
! He then speaks Of Delaware, Maryland,
J Kentucky and Missouri. as wholly lost in the
! Confectionery; of Tennessee, soon to be
wheeled permanently into line, and of the
growing loyalty in North Carolina. and con.
cludes :,95s .'...'
: The shortest way. in my opinion, to re-
t sumo our relations with the Federal Govern
nlent, is, to instruct Hon. w. K. Sebastian to
H.