The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-05-16

Letter from . Rebel.
I'VE have reason to believe the following
which comes to us from Tennessee, il what
it purports to be, a letter from rebel who
means what he says.-Eds. Conn.,
-%sas4gs Dixie, April.
Eps. CoMEERcIAL:-My patience is al
most exhausted, and ! must give vent
to my feelings, if am 'srebel.n Now,
don't throw this in the fire on account of
that announcement, for, as everybody else
is giving their opinion of the Compromise
Democrats" I'd like to give mine. ttseems
they wont believe our papers, but say that
they express the sentiments of our rulers,
and they never supposed the "leaders''
would be willing to compromise, but that
the people of the South, their poor, dear.
deluded brethren, would like to come back
IT they were sure of their constitutional
rights. Now, as one of the people, of the
South, desire to give them the opinions
We, THE PEOPLE, entertain of them, their
love for us, and their plan of reunion.
In the first place, let me tell them, we
may be wicked, rebellious, traitorous, and
all that, but we are not "deluded;'' we
know what we are doing-what we have
done-we have acted deliberately and in
tcn:sOndllg. They offer us the "old Union"
and don't the fools know ,ue broke it up9
If we had wanted it, we would have kept
1t when we had it; we destroyed it, so far
as we were concerned and instead of re-
garding it as a boon for which we should
be eternaily grateful to our Democratic
brethren, tell them it's the..very thing we
don't want, and Uo,,ldn't haze, if they'd
offer it on their Blended knees. They offer
us our constitutional rights" Much OBJ
iged to them for their kind intentions, but
President Davis has never violated our
Constitution, and if he ever should, we feel
perfectly competent to punish him our
selves, without their aid. A friend says
they mean our constitutional rights under
the Federal Constitution; but that can't be,
because, If they've any brains at all, they
must know that whentwe threw off our al
iegiance, We lost, of course, all claims to its
protection, and our previous rights under
it. The idea is perfectly absurd. They
might as well offer us our rights under the
English Constitution. We have just as
much under one as the other. If they are
stupid enough to suppose We have rights
under their Constitution, they're pretty
set of fellows to offer to guarantee them to
US, when, themselves being witnesses, they
can't get their own / don't profess to
know whether their constitutional rights"
have been violated; it's none of my bust
ness, and haven't sufficient interest in my
affectionate brethren TO care; but respect
fully suggest to them, if they wish to avoid
contempt and ridicule, either to stop offer
ing us our rights, or quit bowling over the
loss of theirs.
The soldiers and officers Of the army, and
you yourselves. Messrs. Editors, have
made q mistake, and very natural one,
as to the designs of the compromise Demo-
Gratis. You and they csn not realize that
any man or set OF men, could be SO incon-
ceivably stupid as to doubt the sincerity of
the South in the words she speaks to you,
when she has written her resolve in the
blood of a hundred thousand of her sons.
Your armies realize her determination;
they have learned il in two years of bloody
war, at the point of the bayonet and the
mouth of the cannon: hence they. suppo-
sing the Democrats must know it also, be-
lieve that when they speak of compromise,
they mean separation. 1t is quite a mis-
take. They dread the independence OF the
South more than any thing else, for then
the party would be hopelessly gone. With
= out the vote of the South, the "great, I'M
= washed, unterrified' Democracy would be
numbered among the things that were
The poor, hrainless fools believe Tor else
they are the veriest hypocrites) that all the
South is fighting for with such desperation,
is what they had at first, what they could
get now if they would ask for it, and what
there never has been q moment they could
not have obtained and all without the help
OF the Democrats.
One queer thing is the time they take to
make their efforts. One would think they
should have done so in the early spring
d last year, when the South was defeated
time and again, when it might be supposed
her determination was broken and she
would despair of gaining her independence
and be willing to compromise. Then was
the time, 1t would seem, for her affectionate
friends to approach her with words of pity,
love and entreaty; but no; then the Demo-
Gratis were loud as any-aye, the loudest of
all-in their shouts "Hurrah for Farra-
gutf' "Three cheers for Foote!'' $50
tInl Il Il Ont 1,n,. l,r11
and hang the uahoty conpirdtorS.' All!
we were not "detuded 6rethrea' then! But
when for months the tide OF success had
been mainly with the South, when defeat
after defeat had driven the grand Army of
the Potomac from within sight of the stee-
pies OF Richmond to the Qualifications Of
washington, and the whole South was iu-
bi!ant with victory, then they set up pitt
tul whine-tdear deluded brethren, -
sweet hayward sisters! please come back
let's compromised If honestly and
frankly, like Conway, of Kansas, they had
said to us, 1--WE hate you cordially, but we
have been whipped, we can not conquer
yOu, two years Of warfare have taught US
tins, therefore we consent to let you go,
and recognize you as a sovereign nation
let US make treaties with each other" it
would have been just what we wish; and
you who think differently would have re-
spected their honesty and straightforward
AOacs puo w SCI W q seIltiLic1ltstl Willie 10
wards us bah! 1t affects my stomach un-
pleasantly 10 think Of it Some dogs will
lick the foot that kicks them, won't they?
John Van Buren's skull was not quite SO
thick as some seem to be, and he has got
tho idea at last that the watchword of the
Southern people as well as ''leaders'' is
liberty or death, and if you will only take a
bayonet and punch a hole in the heads of
tie rest, large enough to let in little light
YOU will obiige every body. Tell them to
shout either peace or war, recognition or
subjugation, but to quit making them
selves the laughing stock of the world by
their stupidity.
Compromise Pray what is there to COM
promise? The question is shall the South
be an independent nation? Ifshe is not,
there is no compromise, for she gives up all
she is contending for; if she is, that's worse.
then, flor the North yields oil her points.
ask Vallandigham to tell me, and as am
one of his "deluded brethren" hope he
will answer, what he proposes by way Of
compromise? l wish he would give us an
outline. l can't see any for the life of me