The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1863-01-31
NO 25l

ing Off II the little Dutch Republic
could maintain q war Of twenty years
against the InquisitiOn IL Prussia
could endure war seven years, and sac
ritles on the field Of battle one-sixth Of
her able bodied males, in order that she
might become q kingdom instead Of a
put twelve hundred thousand mel into
the field, aAd, inspits Of all the first re-
verses, succeed in saving the nationality
which all Europe had combined TO ami
hilats; il EnglSRd could prosecute .
twenty years war 10 thwart the am
bition Of Napoleon, and holding on up to
the last crushing WaterloO-who aud
what are we, 10 tire in this second year.
and faint aud droop, aad sink Abjectly
at tho feet Of rebel Sssmiss Of one third
our numbers, and let 60 the most pre-
cious heritage ARd the most transeen-
dent destiny ever committed 10 man
since time bsEAnP
The bare hypothesis that this thing is
possible is fouler libel upon our people
than the bAsest sycophant of tyrants
ever uttered. Gould il be proved that
eur republican institutions have so sapped
the stamina Of American manhood, uni
versal humanity might justly hold them
detestablo and Accursed. Better thou
sand times the worst Of earthly despO-
tisms for never, never has there been
enc so baleiul that, in the short space Of
three generations, il could deteriorAte
such . race as were our revolutionary
fathers into such q mErrowless breed ~
We must have. become, according TO this
assumption. Even il iron tyranny ever
succeeds in grinding out the last high
quality of a once noble stock, IL is not
done in less than many centuries. IL
three quarters Of one century has sufilced
10 rot out, under our institutions, tho last
trace Of our ancestral heroism, these in
stitutions will desorvedIy 60 into history
40 the most effective mechanism Of de-
noraliEatiOn and deprAvity il is possible
for the miAd Of man or devil TO invent
We tell these paltering cravsns and
ihese shutiling miscreants, that they do
not know this people They imagine a
| degeneracy which does not exist. They
have made a capital error in judging the
popular heart by their own. The people
by which we mean no subterranean
dregs or flOurishing f'.raGr who arc ever
the sport of circumstance, but that great
| body of freemen in town and country,
who have homes, and characters, and
wills of their own-wo say the people
arc neither spiritess nor faithless, but
are courageous and true. II is one thing
to make the people dissatisfied with a
war administration, by parading its real
faults and shortcomings, and adding
imaginary ones, and quite another thing
TO make the people dissatisfied with tho
war itself. Up to certain limit they,
| perhaps, may be misled by designing
and decei'ing demagogues but there is
no earthly power that can wheedle them
| out Of their assurance that this is n Just
and necessary war, or out of their
resolution to fight ii manfully and
faithfully through. Whatever their com
plants, whatever their censures, they
have no intention Of succumbing Be-
meath all this frettsd surface, there is
yet n reserved force Of energy and sac
ri6ce far transcending any that has yet
bSSn disclosed. II needs but q veritabls
emergency TO bring it out. Let these
Northern monials Of the Confederacy
but put their secret cravings into some
palpable shape, let them distinctly com.
nit themselves TO some definite PROPOSE
ton for an abandonment Of the war and
submission 10 jeff Davis, and they
will quickly raise q tempest tempest
that will sweep them before il as chat
is swept before the whirlwind. Talk a.
sharply or as smoothly Rs they may,
they have an instructive feeling that this
iS 40 and in their practical action, be-
yOnd = certain point they will not ven
turs. Hence their pitiful hesitAncy and
unSteadineSs ever since the election
their perpetual letting 81 dare not wait
upon | wSuld"
We have never borrowed much trouble
about the influence Of these anti-wAr
schemers over the Northern mind. Our
firm belief from the outset has been, that
however crAftily they might mask their
real purposes, they could never cajole
the people into sustaining them.
Though the people were and perhaps
still are in a humor TO bear with much
disAfTected talk, they have been in no hu-
NOR 10 back disloyal plans; and a reAc-
tion was sure TO set in 40 soon as these
last were openly announced and serious
ly undertaken. All this peace plotting
might flourish we'll enough in the dark
but il was bound TO shriyel up when e1-
posed to the light. Its main mischief
has been that the knowledge Of it's eIis-
tence has encouraged the rebels Of the
South, and their coadjutors abroad, To
look for effective service from II, and t,
hold with the greater tenacity to their
unhAllowsd ends. Hollow and ohimeri
cal as il is, il has still operated as =
practical aid and comfort to the enemy
and the burtful effects Of this will re-
main for a long time yet.