Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1863-12-23

CLEARFIELD, Pa, DEC. %, 1863.
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE JOURNAL
Letter from Fort Reno, Va.
Fort RENO. VA. Dec. 9th, 1863

| DEAR ROW AS 1t seems TO be the Pc
culiar turn of some folks to be over anxious
and over ambitious to thrust upon a gener-
Gus public through the public Press, any
etfuslons that may generate in the empty
wards of their attic, | trust that you, at
least, will not charge me either with egot-
ism or desire simply to see my initials in
| print, If L should venture upon a correspon-
dence without proper subject, and, like a
ship at sea without a rudder, be liable to
drift about with every passing breeze. Hav-
| ing been lndulglng In short visit to Clear
field, the home Of nay adoption, and having
seen many of my old friends and received
from them the grosping token of friendship
with such apparent goodwill that seems to
| say to me, absence has not detracted from
our former professions.
| / have now returned safely to my post,
! irvigorated in frame and strengthened In
my resolve to do my best for the redemption
of our common heritage from the grasp of
the Southern Oligarchs, with the reassu-
rance that the efforts of the humblest sol
dier are really appreciated by the right
thinking portion OF the people.
While among you L failed to see many, L
| should ike to see, for want of time-the
shortness Of my furlough precluding it. 1t
| is for them, | wish to state some Of the I'M
pressions made upon me in my visit to and
| from your neck of woods, away up in the
| free, pure atmosphere Of the Alleghenies.
Here, in the army, everything is necessari
| ly subordinated TO military rule, and as the
individual is considerably circumscribed
so the mind is, to some extent, defeated in
It's range. Do not, however, understand me
as attempting to convey the idea that the
soldiers mind is really fettered at all but
the idea which | wish to get at Is, that the
necessary result, which ought TO follow from
proper and liberal excuse of the mind, up
on the great questions of the hour, are more
or less defeated for want of reliable and
proper standards from which to draw truth
| tul conclusions Frequently we find our
selves engaged in heated discussions upon
the general policy of Government, and the
relation and duty of the citizen in their
proper spheres thereto; when it is plain,
the longer we talk the wider the differ
ence, in the details, although there is scarce
ly any difference In our views Of the main
question.
With our only reliance, for data, upon the
daily periodicals we could never harmonic
our ideas, because, in these troublous times
when everything is disposed Of at 'dou-
BILE quick, newspapers are too often not, as
they ought to be, the faithful exponents of
public opinion-and hence it is, that we, at
distance, become strangers to some extent,
TO the sentiments of the people ON all ques-
tions affecting the public veal. When one
is released for season, and is permitted to
mingle with the people and observe for HIM
self, he finds the tables almost directly re-
versed from what he was led to believe from
the helps before at his command. | found
| this, at least, to be my experience as soon
as | found myself outside the immediate in
huence of military law. When [ started
from the army, | was prepared to hear any
amount Of invective and complaint, against
the powers that be, by those who seemed to
range themselves distinctly against those
powers, but | found, upon comparing notes,
there was not now, after all, such radical
difference in our views. Being somewhat
deficient in my auricular apparatus, | may
not have been as close an observer as some,
but | certainly did take note Of many things,
coming from sources | least expected which
was really a matter OF qualification to me,
and which went far to convince me that there
is great change stealing over the minds Of
the people, and that they are rapidly and
surely coming TO the conclusion that, after
all, there can be no such thing as compro-
mise, on the part of the North, with trail
tors but the great problem, whether We
shall be great, a glorious and united ma
ton of freemen, a beacon light to the nations
of the earth, or whether we are to be sec
tional provinces, rent and torn by dissen-
sons, IAN easy prey to the ravenous men of
any European monarchy who might take a
fancy to extend their domipions in this di-
rection, must and can be solved only by the
red-handed authority Of military power.
Whether, in the floating palace, in the
Railway carriage, or the numbering Stage
coach, [ found this all important theme the
subject of deep, earnest, and anxious sollcl-
tude and it was pleasing to observe with
what general unanimity every sensible, in
telligent man accorded to the general Gov
ernment the right to maintain its life upon
all occasions, whether assailed from enc
mics without, or foes within, and their de-
termination to give to that Gov rnment
their cordial and hearty support That ma
ny have only lately changed their views on
this point, for the better, have no doubt.
The causes which superinduced the change
may be many, but chief among them L be-
lieve to be the following: that nearly three
years of war has demonstrated that this Gov
ernment, instead of being exhausted and i'm
poverished in its resources, is more formi-
dable and better able to cope with its adver-
saries, than ever before; that its credit is
unimpaired, it's cause just, and is unques-
tionably determined never to sheathe the
sword until those who appealed to the sword
are satisfied and acknowledge their wrongs,
and every cause which led to this stupen-
dous quarrel is obliterated-while, on the
other hand, during the same period, the reb
ell resources, we have every reason to be-
lieve, have been gradually and surely dwin-
q l,X H. I-a knI Nov,fa aror