Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1863-05-13

n ne was aole to make outsth0t 8 Can9e was
waxing strong, be went mp and offered tc
lead it, and so reigned. a.
L.
From the Cincinnati Commercial.
The Enemy with Whom we have tc
There never was a greater delusion than
that the rebels would accept terms of peace
upou the basis of separation alone. The
hope of conquest is as strong as the hope
of independence. The avoWed intention
with which they set out 10 the war was the
conquest of Northern cities and the humiI-
iation of the loyal States, They have re-
! peatedly attempted to wrest MARYLAND
| West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri
from the Federal Government. They have
extended their field of operations to the
Territories. -Arizons and New Mexico have
been invaded by the armies. Nothing but
inability to,accomplish to itprevented an at
tempt to conquer the States bordering on
the Ohio and Missouri. Il they were able
to wrest the border slave States from Fed.
eral authority, who doubts for moment
the attempt to make the.Northeru States
the theatre of war2 We have the declar-
alton ofsJeff. Davis on record that it would
be tried. They fight upon their own soil
because they are compelled to; they con-
tent themselves with the idea of defending
their own borders because they fnd that il
requires all their energies and resources to
preserve them; they do not talk of North
ern subjugatiou, becausethey are compell-
ed to employ all their forces to preserve
themselves from conquest.
1t is criminal folly to aGt upon the pre-
sumption that the rebel hordes would ac-
cept terms of peace, based upon the fact of
recognition: Were such q peace made, it
would be broken the moment they felt
themselves strong enough to undertake
enterprises of conqnest. No peaPle are
more ambitions for territorial aggrandize-
ment and political predominance. Before
the war it was the distinguishing trait of
Southern. State craft. 1t led to the annex
alton of Texas, the Mexican war, the ac-
QUESTION of California, the various proiects
tor the possession of Cuba, and the inva-
sion of the Central American States. In
all of these conquests, which may be char
.acterized as legitimate, Southern ideas and
Southern influence were predominant. In
illegitimate enterprises, Southern gold and
Southern men were lavishly supplied.-
They failed because of the conservative
influence of the, Northern, and now loyal,
States. It was this hope of aggrandize!
ment, and the preservation of the prepon-
deraucei of the political power of slavery
in the councils of the nation that lead to
the rupture of compromises, to which the
pledged faith of the nation had been given.
| Whatever stood in the wAY-pf the extension
of this power was bound to yield. What
could not be obtained through diplomacy
was gained by bribery and menace4 1t
IS the nature of slavery to be agpres.
sive. 1t is, in the simplest, form, a
conquest of natuarl rights, and in it's more
complex character, denial of civil immu-
mites, and at war with all systems of gov
ernment, and all institutions which re-
cognize and maintain those rights and inn
munites. Il destroys them wherever it
can, and was only prevented from doing it
while the Union was still recognized, by
constitutional obligations which it could
not assail without at once making war
upon the Constitution and the Union them
selves. Relieved of those obligations, aud
erected into national power, its first act
would be that of aggression and conquest.
ltMould violate treaties as it has ruptured
compromises. If the policy of annexation
failed, the policy Of fconquest would be sub.
stituted. No nation could live long at
peace, contiguous to such a power AS in
the past its interests outweighed its pledges
of faith, SO, in the future, they3would out
weigh its treaty obligations IL the coni-
L " VI SuO " d4SS0 NokhJSb 1GUulO suOB DC pre-
served on its part, neither would it pre-
serve the comfy. of nations If it was
faithless as neighbor, it would be treach.
erons as and ally, and dangerous as a rival
power. - ..i, Sc -, -
AT present it vibTates between the fear
of failure and the desire for revenge
I1What do we hope for 2" exclaims the
Chattanooga RsbeL /" Not for peace more
than revenge upon a worthless, heartless,
cruel enemy. We hope,n it continues,
and we hope it earnestly, to live long
enough, if no longer, to see our cavalry
tride through every city, village and hamlet
lof the Yankees. To see their women beg.
ging protection, the ploWs torn IRON the
hands of their farmers, and broken into
Epleces-their farms laid waste and their
houses in fames-their wives and children
driven into exile and hooted from their own
country by aninvading enemy. The erebel-
lion Will not be crushed. The Abolition
despotism must be, if we so determined
This Is the rebel programme. EothiDg
Il prevents its tulhllment but the wall of liF-
Il ing men which our Government interposes
between our Cities villages and farms, aud
this terrible enemy. What would they
care for the peace propositions of Valland-
; igham and Richardson. They would cut
the throats of the imbeciles who tear down
the American flag, encourage desertion0
from the army, protect those who desert,
aud are loud in their ceaseless haraugue
about constitutional rights and privileges.
The word Democrat has ceased to be q
talismau with them. To have been Dem.
ocrat would be no guarantee of safety
Democracy was good enough as long a
they could use It; when it Was no longer
!. serviceable they discarded 1t. While II
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