Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1863-07-25


wailing cities of the Union. Oh, that
such change should have come over our
country in day, as it were-as if all men
in every state of the Union, north and
south, East and West, were suddenly
smtten with homicidal madness, and "the
custom of fell deeds rendered as familiar
as lift were part Of our inborn nature; as
if an avenging angel had been suffered by
Providence to wave sword oil flaming
fire above our heads, to convert so many
million of good men, living together in
brotherly love; into insenate beings, say
egely bent on the destruction of them
selves and of each other, and leaving but
smouldering ruin of conaagration aud ot
blood in the place of our once blessed Un-
ion. | endeavor sometimes to close my
eyes TO the sight of woe, and to ask my
self whether all this is can be--to inquire
which is true, whether the past happiness
and prosperity of my country are but the
fattering vision of happy sleep, or its
present misery and dessolation happily the
dalusioh of some disturbed dream. One
or the other sees incredible and impossi-
bic; but alas ! the stern truth cannot thus
be dispelled from our minds. Can you
foget, ought | especially to be expected to
forget, those not remote days in tho his
tory of our country, when its greatness
and glory shed in reflection at least Of
their rays upon all Cur lives, and thus en-
abled us to read the lessons of the fathers
and of their Constitution in the light Of
their principles and thoir deed Then
war was conducted only against the for
eign enemy, and not in the spirit and pur-
pose of prosecuting non-combatant 20, ula-
tons nor burning uudefeuded towns or
private dwellings. and wasting the fields
of the husbandmen, Of the workshops of
the artisan, but Of subduing armed hosts
in the field. Then the Congress of the
United States was the great council of
the whole Union and all its parts Then
the executive administration looked with
impartial eye over the whole domain over
the Union, anxious TO promote the inter-
ests and consult the honor and just pride
ol all the states, seeing no power beyond
the law, and devoutly obcdient to the de-
mauds of the Constitution. How is all
this changed And why? Have we not
been told, in this very place, not two
weeks ago, by the voice OF an authorita-
tive exposter; do we not all know that
the cause of our calamities is the vicious
intermeddlsing of too masy of the citi.
zens of the Northern States with the con
stitutional rights of the Southern States
cooperating with the discontents of the
people states Do we not know that the
disregard Of the Constitution and Of the
security it affords to the rights of states
and of individuals. has been the cause OF
the calamity which our country is called
to undergo! and now, war! war, in its
direst shape-war such as makes the blood
run cold to read Of the history of other
nations and other times-war, on the
scale of a million of men in arms-war,
horrid as that of barbaric ages RACES in
several ofthe states of the Union, as its
more immediate field and casts the lurid
shadow Of its death and, lamentation
athwart the whole expanse, and into every
nook and corner Of our va st domain.
Nor is that all for in those of the states
which are exempt from the actual ravages
Of war, in which the -oar oil the cannon,
and the rattle Of the musketry, aud the
groans of the dying, are heard but as a
faint echo of terror from other lands even
here in the loyal states, the mailed hand
OF military usurpation strikes down the
liberties OF the people, and its foot tram
plies on desecrated Constitution. Aye,
in this land of free thought, free speech
and free wrlting-in this republic of free
suffrage, with liberty of thought aud cx-
pressions as the very essence Of repubIi-
can insttutions-even here, in these free
states it is made criminal for citizen sol
der, like gallant Edgerly of New Hamp-
shire to vote according to his conscience ,or,
like that noble martyr oi free speech Mr..
Vallandigham, to discuss public affairs in
Ohio, aye, even here, the temporary agents
Of the sovereign people, the lran,ilory ad-
minlstrators OF the government tells US that
in time oil war the mere arbitrary will OF
the President takes the place OF the Con.
,titution, and the President himself an
nounces to US that it is reasonable to
speak or to write otherwise than az he
may prescribe nay, that it is reasonable
even 10 be silent, though we be struck
dumb by the shock of the calamites with
which evil counsels, incompetcncy and
corruption have overwhelmed our country!
| will not say this without referring to the
authority upon which Irely. In his let
ter Of June II, 1863, adressed TO Erastu:
Corning and other citizens of the State ol
Now York, the Pre- ,ident makes use of tbs
following extraordinary language: "In
deed, arrests by process Of courts aud ar
rests in eases of rebellion, do not proceed
altogether upon the same basis, the for
mer is directed at the small percentage o
ordinary aud continuous preparation o.
crime, while the latter is directed al sud
den and extensive uprising against the gov
ernment, which, at most, will succeed OF
fail in no great length Of time. In thu
latter case arrests are made, not so mucI
for what has been done, as for what prob
ably would be done The latter is NOR,
for the preventive and less Tor the vindic
tive then the former. In such cases thu
| af ail,,