Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-09-14
w OR c IL S ERR
MONDAY. SEPT. IA 1903
The Rebels Putting the Qu"''io" to
Each other.

Each Other.
We notice in southern papers that various !
prominent men in the "contederacy are con-
strained to publish letters announcing their I.
"unshaken devotion to the cause of the south" |
The ,'eonfederacy" appears to have resolved I
itself into an inquiry meeting" in which each I!
troubled rebel puts on a bold, fierce air, and
asks his neighbor, -''Are you still true TO our
cause? Or must we believe the current ru-
NOR that you are in favor of submission and
reconstruction?" The rebel states are aStir
with this spirit inquiry, and those who have
been loudest and worst among the rebel lcal'
ers, are questioned no less anXiously than
others.
The latest reply to such questions comes
from that laundering volcano of south
ern treason, Toombs of Georgia. Sus-
picion has assailed him. 1t has been
rumored that even Toombs was ready to
give up the struggle and submit. Perhaps it
was not unreasonable to suspect him. The
loudcst fury is never the most persistent We
hement passion, that tries to seem terrific
usually gives way soon, coolS off, and yields
to reaction. 1t is true that Toombs has Just
been compelled to speak and respect his oath
of allegiance to treason. A ~ DR.. BebS" o.
Americas, Ga, was the questioner, to whom
he reples,-"I can conceive of no extremity
TO which my country could be reduced in
which l would for single moment entertain
any proposition for any union with the north
on any terms whatever" He adds, that
''when all else is lost he will rush to the bat
tie field and die. He left the army, sometime
since, in disgust, it was said, and furiousy
angry with JEFF Davis. He went home; and
there he means to until 'all else is lost,'
when instead of hurrying to the battlefield,
he will probably hurry out Of the country to
find safety.
1t is evident enough that the south is full
of doubt and apprehension in regard 10 the
fate of the rebellion; and, among .ae rebels,
every man utters fierce suspicious q his
neighbor in order to hide his own despair. II
is said, that, at Richmond, the rebels have felt
nothing more deeply than the loss of East
Tennessee and Chattanooga, to save which
their armies dared not risk a battle. The
force OF the rebels is now confined to Alabama
and Georgia aud parts of the states of Vr-
ginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina
They can no longer get supplies from Texas,
Tennessee, or any part Of the southwest; ere
long, they will be compelled to leave Alabama;
and finally, the rebellion will be completely
crushed They see this; and they see no
possibility of preventing it if the war con-
unues. Their only ground of hope is in the
copperhead conspiracy at the north, which, at
aRe--time -gaye- them great encouragement.
The Richmond papers anxiously discuss the
prospects of the opposition party at the north,
and suggest that another raid of Lees army
into Maryland and Pennsylvania might afford
livery important service. Such a raid, says
the Richmond Enquirer. would render the
success of the democratic party no longer
doubttul;" and the success of that party it
believes, would give the rebel conspirators
the triumph they seek, for our northern cop
perheads are their friends, and would not at
tempt to thwart them in anything. Undoub-
ly the copperheads, in power, would humbly
beseech them to come back, reconstruct the
government in their own way, and rule the
country according to their will; but they
would also meekly allow them to divide the
republic and go on in with their "confedera-
cy' as an independent power. Is it not the |
steady aim of the copperheads to compel the
federal government to withdraw its armies
and leave the rebel leaders to have their own
way?
Nothing has done so much to encourage the
rebels and prolong the war as the disloyai
Vaccinations of the opposition at the north
The whole aim of those who control this par
ty is to embarrass the government, weaken
our armies, and create such division and dis
traction of public sentiment in the northern
states as would save the rebellion from over
throw and compel the government to submit
to its audacious demands. Seeing this, the
conspirators strain every nerve to prolong the
strife, until, as the Richmond paper says,
" the democratic party can succeed,
They have no hope Of success, without such
aid; and, if there were no copperheads at the
north, if there were no attempt to organize
tactious opposition to the government, the
war would now be substantially ended; for,
the rebel leaders, no longer able to hold out.
would give up the contest in despair and turn
their attention to devising means to escape
from the country. Yes, it is the copperhead
influence, more than anything else, that pro-
longs the war and threatens to wreck the re-
public.
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