Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1863-06-15

From the Ia ctt.ville Observer.
4 Restoration .of TIE Union Torev.r I'm.
p2<.Tnfa.

people e the Confederate States ia tl.- most
remarkable AMI able State papsc, bis Hes
sage at toe opening os the last session Of Con-.
gross, on the 18th Of January. We haae
been so much in tie habit Of regarding this
as a point settled beyond controversy, that i
we have presented it less Frequently than,
perhaps we should Lave done. Tae al,nis-
sion, perhaps Inadvertently, into An iafinerwi
tial paper Of q communication in favor of re- |
construction, surprised and grieycd us, snd !
induces US to remind our reader: that they /
must eveI keep before their own minds, and /,
inStil int the minis Of their ~neighbors who /
may not read and reflect on the subject, Gfl
any such there be,) he great leading idea !
that the Union IS foT6uer diSS0lco9-Gts reSt0 I
ration .fors1er impossible. {
"a long series of impertinent and malig-t
nant interferences with the most delicate of
| all the institutions Of a people, by WHICH an
immense party Of The North, nov in MAORI.
ty and controlling the Government, had en-
deavored to stir up 8 servile war among us:
and the practical denial Of the most essential
constitutional rights Of the South on that
subject, by the Ietusal to execute the fugi-
tive slave law, hadJustifeda separation be
fore it occurred, and would have caused it .
! before but for the long suffering devotion Of
the people for the Union.
when, however, Sit dio take place, and the.
faithlessness of the North. was exposed, and
its open attempt made to subiugate US By
the call for z 5000 troops, there vas an end
of all hope ofpeace without dishonor, or of
the maintenance of any constitutional right.
The only remedy was to resist force by force.
And in the progress of the gigantic and san
culinary war which has followed, it was soon
manifest that the most atroclous and devilish
malignity that ever stirred within the bosom
of any creatures out Of the lower regions,
controlled every movement of these late
brethren OF ours towards the Southern peo-
pie. They murdered aud plundered and
outraged wherever they went; neither age
nor sex escaped their fury they coveted our
lands and houses, and openly proposed to
their soldiers, as an incentive to fight, a di-
vision of those lands and houses amopg them;
they have not lifted for the termination Of
the war or any formal act to appropriate all
movable articles of private property /; these
they have packed up and shipped to their
own homes in the North. Silver spoons, gold
breastpins, watches, books, pictures, pianos,
sofas, beds and bedding, everything in short
that enal5L~~-~vsannn+Ad -has 1~a~A-nff
to adorn the persons and the pariors and the
chambers of officers, from the commanding
General down to the lowest subaltern who
could manage to steal and carry them away
and what they could not thus carry of, they
L have wantonly destroyed. Should a South
ern man ever so far forget his .self-respect
as to enter a dwelling at the North, he will
4 almost surely be confronted and silently re-
II proached by some Of these articles robbed
G from his friends and neighbors at home,
d "All this was sufficient to put an impas-
sable gulf between the North and the South
) But if any one doubted that we could never
e live with them again in peace, all such doubts
were dispelled when Lincoln issued his eman
cipation proclamation, and since, be has no
y only carried it into effect wherever he hat
the power, but has also armed against us hi
sable recruits wherever he could induce then
to shoulder a musket, by decking the1n out il
the gaudy %trappings of the soldier. As Pres
: ident Davis said in the same admirable Mes
sage, this act can lead to but one Of th1e
re possible consequences: the determination Q
the slaves, the exile of the whole population
Re from the Confederaey, or absolute. and tota
separation of these States from the Unite
l. States I
y '"This is too manifest for argument. Shoul'
ea we again become connected with the North
they have power and will to carry that proc
e. lamation into effect. Either the whole bop
Sc ulation CT the South would be compelled t
IN leave their country, or they would be com
a. compelled to externinate their servants
& The latter would not only be abhorrent t
s. every feeling of their natures, but would
at once bring them again into collision with th
IN North. Reconstruction would be no end
the war; it would rather be the begin
70 ming of interminable war. Peace with Ii
United States can only be secured by separ
De alton. And that separation every dictate
be honor, of interest, and of humanity demand
u God forbid that we should ever again be w
ted WITH a people wao have so deeply GU
ragged our every gsshng and right, and who's
intentions towards us are as black as the il
lig fernal regions.
sn' "Let no nsu, therefore, tolerate in ain
OPP self or others 4 thnnrht Of so fatal a nnli,