Smyrna times., 1863-04-09
Unity in Support of the Union,

Upon one most important point our peo-
pie seem to be just at present absolutely
unanimous. Men of all parties to agree
that, whatever else may happen, the Union
must be presaved We hear nothing now,
from any quarter, of letting the South 60 in
peace. Six months or a year ago there
were thousands among us who were halt
inclined to regard the attempt to quell the
rebellion as hopeless, and who were more
than half inclined to end the war by conced-
ing independence to the Southern States
We hear no such talk now. Even those
who are most impressed by the magnitude
OF the struggle, and by the sacrifices which
1t costs to carry it OH, seem to have become
satisfied that ltthere is no way out oft except
by disunion, it must be continued indefin-
ltely. Thousands who would willingly
grant the rebels large and liberal terms Of
peace, who would concede whatever they
might demand in the nature ofguarantees
and enlarged powers under the Constitution,
who would even put the Government of the
country into the hands of jeff Davis, and
substitute the Montgomery Constitution for
that of the United States-even these men
would not consent to a division of the
Union. They will fight two, three or five
years longer if necessary to prevent such
resut.-N. y Times.
Our New York contemporary does not
seem to be booked up. The editor must
certainly have overlooked Delaware, or,
perhaps ne forgot there was such place,
for when he says 1--WE haer nothing now
from any quarter of letting the South go in
peace he could not have had our Legisla-
ture in his minds eye. They boldly declare
for an armistice and an abject peace, their
two organs in our State, the Gazette and
Dc!1'sGrea", are continually crying ''peace,"
until the very word smacks of the assassin,
and the devotees Of slavery catch it up and
ring 1t in our ears until it seems the dirge
on our national dissolution. We hope the |
Times is right, though ourselves compelled
to make Delaware an exception This
change is the result Of instinct, for the peo-
pie are beginning to see that we can live
for year or two at least under bad gov
ernment; but we cannot live without a |
country. When we let the South 90, we
lose the sentiment of nationality-the bind
ing force Of the Constitution that gives US
aspirations for national grandeur. The !
instincts Of the American people fasten
upon this as the only condition for national
greatness and recognize the Union as an
absolute necessity.
Oar contemporary is right, we hope, when
it SAYS:
SO long as there was any considerable
portion Of our people willing to "let the
South CO." we were in danger of national
ruin. So long as anything else was regard
cd as OF more Importance than the preserva-
ton Of the Union-so long as the maintain
ance of slavery, or the abolition of slavery,
the writ of hdJeas corpus, or freedom of speech,
was held to be more important than the
of the Union, we were exposed to
very serions peril. We regard that danger
as past Our people are now united on
this cardinal point of the contest. They
will differ on other points. Some will sup
port and others will oppose the policy of the
administration. Some will sustain while
others will condemn the conduct of the war.
Some will praise and others will denounce
the President, the Cabinet, the Congress,
and all others in authority Some will ad-
vocate concessions, compromises, terms of
peace-while others will demand suugation
and unconditional submission as the only
ground of peace. But all will unite, sub
stantially aRd practically, il demanding that
the Union shall be preserved.