The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-08-27

and its homes deSOlated at their hands. Ih(
ghost of servile insurrection which has been
mad , to dance before the eyes Of the nation
for the last fifty years has rarelr been visi
BILE to the natural eye though evory where
apparent to the disordered vision of A. dis
eased and prostituted conscience. Slave,
as such are not in arms against our govern,
ment to-day, though perhaps no other class
who have felt its influence could assail i
with equal justice or obtain so much sympa
thy from mankind throughout the civilized
world. @
| Neither is it the owners Of these slaves
as class, who constitute the force in con
flict with the government Men who have
the sagacity to mass weslth or who have
not wholly neglected that culture which it,
possession gives opportunity to acquire, car
hardly, as whole class, fail to perceive thu
utter madness and folly Of the present rebe
lion so far as any additional safety 70 slav'
property is likely to he secured Much al
all deplore the existence Of slavery, as al
evil, or reprobate it even as crime. it is
still gratifying know that thousands involv-
ed in it have not been dragged down t.
those depths Of depravity and treachery in
which this horrid and monstrous wicked.
ness had it's origin.
Neither is this rebellion the work of any
political party, nor Of any alliance between
one or more political parties. Corruptine
as have been some of he political influence,
pervading our country for years, We may
al ought to rejoice and bless God to-day
'ha from no one of these parties have there
been wanting the loftiest statsmen snd the
noblest men in the nation, who from the be.
ginning took their position openly and
proudly on the side of the Government and
have stood shoulder to shoulder with it in
its most vigorous and radical measures to
crush and sweep from the face Of the earth
the most infamous treason that ever darken
ed it.
1t is, too, slander on the South to say II
| is in arms against the Government. This
is no contest between the South and the
nation, much less between the South and
the North The Mississippi springing a. il
does from the snowy regions Of the North,
gathering its waters from the bosom of a
continent, and dividing its wealth among
cities and States along its shores. discerns
no isothernal line which marks the differ
ence between the North and the South, the
land of loyalty and that of treason, the ne
cessAry institutions Of one peop'e, and those
of another. The teeming millions who look
upon its waters, taught lesson by the ma
jesty of it's greatness, have acquired the
habit of thinking that drops of water have
no more righ. to freedom than man for
whose use it was to whose created made do
minion it was originally subjected. To sup
port this conviction they have freely mingl-
ed their blood with its waters, and rejoice
that the day cannot be far distant when the
smallest of its tributaries and the most se-
cuded of its bayous, shall, under the fsg
of the nation he open to the free access Of
every citizen.
If then it is not the South. no political
party, not shareholders as class, not slaves
as body, who are in arms sgainst the Gov
ernment, what is it that is convulsing the
nation and startling the world =? Why is
despotism abroad jeering at us and mock.
ing us by meddling with the practical af
fairs Of a sister republic on this coptinent,
thing which our Government, forty years
ago, declared it would not admit What
is 1t that imports Munitions of war from
foreign countries to be used against us p
What is it that has seized our forts, rifed
our arsenals, conscripted our citizens, desc.
lated vast regions of our territory and
again and again carried the torch CT war tc
the very door of our nations Capitol! II
is that which can be expressed in one word
| in but one word and that word means more
than any other in any language. 1t is trea.
son, simply treason, that which bstrays it
friends, and is dangerous to none but those
who trust it. Traitors are in arms against
government that has done them nothing
but good from their youth up. And if it has
done them evil It is only that kind Of evil
which mistaken parent infiicts on child
by tho much indulgence. The conduct oi
the rebellion has exhibited : rare amount oi
superior Generalship. Its leaders were ed
ucated under the tuition aud ut the expense
Of the Government they seek to overthrow.
At the outset they were wen armed. Their
arms had been supplied BY the National
Government. and plsced in their hands ~
its officers to be used in its defense. Indeed,
this treason was itself born, nuatured and
schooled in the his CHER departments Of our
Government, till like the giants of the old
world, it was supposed to be strong enough
not only to control the destinies Of conti-
nent but to dictate policy to mankind
Our foreign ministers had freely exhibited
its stalwart proportions and disclosed its
hideous purposes to despots abroad before
the unsu spccting masses at home could be
made to believe that things so monstrous
could have any existence in modern times
As nation We have been pushed to the
very verge Of utter and hopeless ruin, and
TO- day it become US 10 praise God for the
delversnce that has been signally granted
us. Our nations birthday witnessed the
flight of about one hundred thousand well
4 armed, well disciplined, veteran insurgents