, 1863-12-24
THE PROCLAMATION AT THE

When the President called for seyent,
five thousand volunteers to suppress til
rebellion, the news Of it was received il
the rebel Congress with horse laugh. !
seemed to that conclave IN enormou
JOKE. 1t has 80 proved, and an expcnsiy
one at that; and the rebels hare laughed
good many times since, sometimes Q,
one side Of the face, but generally On tht
other. The proclamation of freedsm tt
the slave seemed to them not quite Sc
laughable a matter; but they thought them
selves stout enough to defy it.
But this Proclamation Of Amnesty seems
20 stir up all their rage From the way
they receive it, it must be that the time
has now come wien they vii. do That un-
dcfnable and dreadful thing which our
conservative prints have assured us all
along they would do, if we were not care
ful how VIC "exaspcrated" them. It must
be tl,at they are now /" eraspcra:cd," and
We advise al the tin1id to get out Of the
way ill VIC see what they will do. But it
is comforting to know that they do not
laugh now; there is not 3 particle of
mGth in them. On the other hand, they
are houifed at the audacity Of President
Lincoln in presuming to offer what no
man ut the South has the least idea Of
wantingg-a pardon. Of course it will be
perfectly imperative and futile then.
But We have heard such talk before
We know now exactly what weight to
attach to all these assurances Of perfect
unity in the rebellion in the insurgent
States These declarations amount to Just
: this :, that the managers Of the rebellion
mean rebellion, to the limits of their
strength and Of their wits both; but per
hups it may add to the comfort Of these
fellows to know that nobody offers them q
pardon. The President proposes differ
=. cnt eort Of treatment for their case.
But That there is lot of rGbels of the
middle and lower classes and not Of them
only-who will not disdain the Presidents
Amnesty, we hare the pleasure of knowing.
Norfolk is not so far from Richmond but
TINT JEFF. Davis himself might learn it also,
If le would. But Richmond is welcome to
this satisfaction that VIC do not expect the
rebels to avail themselves Of it, oil at once
and in body. But as fast as orr lines ad-
canee, we think they will continually in
cludethose that will gladly purge themselves
Of the. rebellion. And when we can pro-
tect them as citizens Of the United States,
we have no doubt they viii hasten to enrol
themselves assucll. Wesnall be very much
disappointed if North Carolina has not
some suc]l-if Georgia has not few-~and
even if we cannot find u small cou,pany in
Richmond itself.
The, Southern papers complain that tic
!" one: tenth" Of the Proclamation il not
fair principle to set upa State with. Their
powers Of argument and dcnunciation are
fairly exhausted upon this point; and the
secesh organ in this city will do well to
hook into them for lclp in carrying on the
fire-in'the-rcar. Well, there is no account
ing for tastes. The Shareholders hsve 1ith-
crto been very content with this principle,
when the boot was on the other leg. It
scarcely took breath TO govern South Car
o]ina; 1t was not 4 great deal better in the
States further South; and the case in all
the e1ave Suites was fast becoming no bet
ter, but good deal worse.
But toe do not propose perpetual oil !
garchy Of this sort We intend the tenth
"a theentering wedge-thc germinant point,
which we expect to grow to include the |
whole people. We do not expect nine I
OF the people Of any State to remain j