Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1863-03-16
The Duty of the North.Ysst

those Of the Northwest arc at this moment Their
fate hangs trembling In the balance aud not an hour
20 be lost If they would decide their destiny free
Ten millions Of people composed in great part Of
men Of Southern nativity or extraction and inhabitng
beautiful and fertile land the sun shines upon are
called upon to choose between Liberty and Despotsm-
between AFFECT slavery and the constitutional freedom
beQuea,hed ie them BY the sires of the Revolution
The choice is TO be made once for every instant of
delay rivets their chains Perhaps it already too late
for successful attempt to overthrow the tyranny at
Washington tyranny oathsome beyond measure, be-
cause it binds them captive the chariot wheels of
mercenary race of Yankees whom they despise. But
no. it is never too late for people resolved to be free
10 strke the blow that loosens the shaekes imposed
BY towards in power. The dispersal Of the Convention
at Frankfo the tricks resor,ed by the Republicans
IN Illinois aud Indiana, the imperial powers vested in
Lincoln by the Abolition Congress tParthau arrows Of its
maiguity these exhibitions of the supreme authority
which intends to hold the North-West "loyalr subject
OF "the best government the world saw" the
a!ave OF the grinding mOnOpolsts o. New England need
mot deera people braver hardier wiser than their would
be Yankee from asserting inaenable rights guar
nnteed them by that Constitution which Lincoln and Sew
ard have CONTEMPORARY roddea under foot under the
sPecOus pleas OF military necessity and Saving the
Union but in reality maintain their l-go;ten power
and 10 themselves the Ears Lords and Barons of
an ensayed people. Il may be difficult for the irtemrn
=" che Northwest to their right in the legitimate
mode OF popular conventions and the unresaiued ex
erton Of the franchise may be impossible 10 secure
concerted action when an Abolition spy is in every
household and Yankee bayOnet at the door of every
public building but where there is will there is a way
which intelligent men are slow fluid and courage
Gus men love to follow, however bese with danger it
may be.
The argument il used here at the South that Lincoln
vii encounter no serious difficulty in enforcing his cou-
serpdon in the Northwest If he will but exercise little
Yankee cunning and call on; tenth only of those who
have been enrolled. 1t will be to the interest of the
other nnetenths see that tue victim who is chosen
does bis duty aud marches promptly TO the field Of bat
ile for BY doing they themselves from eonscrB
non. We canno. think so meanly Of the men of Hi
nois aud Indiana. Even were they insensi5le to the
suerings Of fylOWei;izen, perhaps areatiye or friend
who is hurried war waged not for his benefit but
for that of the negro every Of in the dis
affected States know that armies rapidly melt away
under the fearful diseases Of the Southern swanps and
that they who escape todsy will surely have their turn
tomorrow.
But apart from the mean consideration Of personal
immunity from the diseases Of camp and the dangers of
battle there are higher motives inci,e the better
classes Of the Northwest to resist the tyranuca
patious Of the New Eugand faction lordiug it so
br4vely in the high places washngtou-the inherent
love of liberty respect for the Constitution; sense of
ght; detestaor of fanatcism, and thousand other
/, IA ,,uI.. ,,1 froI
tue blood of true manhood when threatened by the base
brute force of a Government not his o~n and the Gu
ridtT of people hostile to him aud 10 his. Mr. Val
l,ndigham has more than once called attention to the
difference in race between the settlers Of Southern Ohio
and these who came from Connecticut to inherit the
rich lands which they bad shadow Of Just title, of
the Western Reserve. The two peoples, though sepa-
rated by only the imaginary lines Which divide the
counties were as distinct the English aud the HndOo
tue French and the Arab They had and could have no
dealings with each other There in Virginia or
South Carolina the Southern born hated the live Yam
lee with his low cunning aud his sordid parsimony If
this be the in Ohio it is much in Southern
ludiana and Illinois, where still larger proportion Of
the population boast good blood in their veins and
sound in religion aud politics It is the duty Of
tis population TO maintain their rights and 10 rule as
iature intended ther to do the fanatics and maduen in
their midst They may assured that they have no
Other choice but rule be ruled and the party who
would get the upperhand aud hold it. lose not a
moment The AbolitiOnists OF the Eastern and Middle
States have done well cIothe Lincoln with the impe
rial purple for the Unborn hwlessneSs aud love Of med
ding Of the Puritan can be curbei only by the iron
arm Of the one-man power. Not so With the peo-
lle Of the Northwest; they, or at least portion
al them, are abundanuy capable Of sclEgoy-
c.uaent and they will be recreant to themselves
4, dc memories Of the past and the hopes Of the fu
trc if BY lstlessuess by hesitation in asserting their
tights or doubts Of their ability to maintain them, they
throw away their liberties and with their own hands
IN away the independence of themselves aud their
children to the remotest generation.
Nor are the Southern born citizens of the Northwest.
alone interested in fong the bold coup iat by which
Lincoln andhis Congress have transformed themselves
into the masters instead Of the servants of the people
Was il to fasten upon their necks yoke CALLING
than any of the desposms Of Europe that the foreign
iorn population OF the Northwest le their latherand
cad made themselves eGes forever from the homes Of
their ehildhOodg Was find in the land Of their
adoption taxation incOmparably greater than they
Yer knew in the land OF their nativity, that they
Tue ps''iss aud associations Of early life, brayed
'u0e "'" O''',-nandgred the hardshirs Of exist
What becomes Of their Chem -. ,,oo,l.
Equality and fraternity, that Lincoln - a.,
eat of America with the power and determinations
leep them a jebased and tOling people, while his Duke
tou and Prime ples layished upon the Yankees Of
New England-the native born Americans" par ezccl-
I,nes2 Where are nov the fond hopes of acquiring
fortunes large enough TO return them in honor and in
ease TO their own country and to leave to their pOster
~ the Inheritance of independence and high social
Qstion? This is no longer possible that they
und to the earth BY taxation and forced to abandon