Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1864-07-05

aourtas Of his great wickedusas. Ia demon
h~tration of their sympathy with his crime,
those people otoso Mort N -~ho WAS o wor-
shipper ut the shrine of the murderer.G Governor
Of q sovereign State-and to tho present day
have hcaped tie highest honors. upon him.
We hnve not Hpaoc, ciizm soldiers Of Viz.
sinia, more than to glance at these facts Of an
unlOubted history. We have thus grouped
them in condensed fnrm, that you may for
yourselves draw the Just conclusions.
IL mist 10 MANIFEST t. your reason, tLat
ttiesa mon, imbned will, Tho ~tiertcst hatred Of
the stakeholder, mud de:nIed with the belief
that every blow thoy struck was doing God
service only Wanted tho physical organism
ii government TO execute their fUif purposes.
Reason had covered bvfnre fnnaticism- argu.
ment WAL uuheeied in tho madness Of their
bigotry--!l,e constitution which guaranteed
ana tho Holy bib!a which sanctioned without
Ieprocl tins relations Of master and slave, welN
alike denied and ropudiatel. They denounced
tho book Of Cod. and the constitution Of their
'E:thers is leagues with hell and covenants with
sin. '-Z
1t YVES bat too clnsr tlat this soet, which
with ~ wild c,nsuSion. had oysrspresd all tho
fras STATS, only Gecdel that organism, which
possession Of the Federal government conferred,
to 0vcrwhalm the slave institutions Oftlie South
crn States.
10 WIS 1T this ordeal ~iiuiutura Of mar hiatr,-
~, ia November 1850, that Abraham Lincoln
YVES chosen President oil tho United States.
Ito was ai Obscure man, butlittle known at tho
South, whose life was achooqlered book from
which texts Of various ard conflicting signii-
ca,,re could be drawn, to puzzle public ox-
reclation. But there was one text craven On
the pages of this book that admitted Of but ono
reading. Mr.. Lin13,n WIS the author Of that
hideous sentiment that the States Of tho Union
could not renlaiu purt free md part slave
Sta!rs-that they mis-. he iphoUy. free or wA0L-
q S!ure. And rs tho Southern S:Atas had
never evidenced ~ desire or design TO imp,so
their institutions on the isee States, it follow
ed ~ Of logical sequence, that Mr.. Lincoln
Thought li.e FREQ States were bound, by q man
ilcs% issting, tucrueh out tho slavery institu.
i:aitin Tie South. This shocking sentiment,
which could only he made practical through
yeas of blood, endoarel Mr.. Lincoln to a people
nlrn,ly educated to that cruel issue.
We now llasLan this historic sketch to o con.
e~lnsion. AZ noon as Mr.. Lincoln vas elected,
\ sevan Of tl:s more Southern slave States, con-
sul.ia: the safety Of their own people, with
isew Irosl the Federal Union, and declared
themselves I'll independent nationality. They
thus withdrew, because they read tho nsgres.
ave nature nr nholiiinuism in it's past history,
and I..sraifnL tina. prssessiun of power would
ai,atc ita reckless / rarity.
Virginia and siy other II Tie more Northern
tllr1 States ut tirit refused t2ioin in tho revo.
luton and YET tiurg &c tho talon. Not that
they bad uui.ilenaa in Mr.. Liuucln or III !hn
iurlGarnnra Of ahulitiJnisin; but they trusted
{" ia" sirnIctil rf TIA laws at their country,
SUSTAINED ~ they believed tlloef laws would be,
bg the thln.','tul urus,r7I:iIm nl maj rrit!ea
oSen among tit. free Sntes.
Mr.. Lincoln was inausura.ed Oh tn, 4ti Of
March, 1851. II, tounl tho revolution consum.
mated III seven sovereign StateS, which em.
bracel Il white population OF ncnr,y three mil-
lions. These States hal quietly, without. Jis-
tnrbiDS the. p"aro Of tho country, aid without
s~hc,!iins y drop OF blood. sLUr'! II Of tho coil ri
Ia. liiiiou. AMI tlicn presented themselves i'll ~
: u4r":O na'ionai organization. This hal been
1T .ctcl hrti,ro Ins atl".Iit 10 power, and wi;EnIt
:nY responsibility Of his. 1t was. however. u
flc. p:!rit hoi5Io- tl.a wofll: aai II fact that hal
to b. treated ani sctcl upnu III accordance with
tho laws AMI constitution OF his country.
1t was now Inlpabla to every mans reason
that these three millions oil men, organized under
established State Governments and banded TO-.
kSsiSl ia oNiNhE IVA N-Apb ~
the laws ofthe old Union, could not be reclaimed
TO its authority, except i'll ono of two ways. They
must be cnerced by force of Arns, or their re-.
turn 70 duty must be voluntary and i'll conse.
GiencB of Il removal OF srievancea, and grants Of
additional guarantees.
Neither Of these remedies fell within the scope
Of Presidential powers. Coercion, ~ the caSo
STOOL, was war-war to bs wagod with AL Or.
gunize,l pn0pie; and the constitution hal cB
,...,Iu p..,,.1 Flo I.nT, hmcr, nj naunS Nn1
war to Congress alone. The President was
frbi'licn the exercise of this vast power, In
Ii!io manucr, it WAS will, Congress alono 10 nd Ist
tcrin9 Of posca AMI conci.intiOn.
Had the spirit and lottcr Of the Consultation
then been complied with, the momentous
question Of peace or war would have been
committed 10 the consideration Of Congress-
; Virginia. Maryland, North Ciroliua, Tennes-
seo, Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas would
iAyo boon heard in tho h6IemI rhunril.-
There can E: 10 q~uestinn taat the VOICE o;
thosc States, aided Ivy the strong oonser vatiyc
olomcnt Iron. tis free States, was evon at that
day ~T"tantiiI in the i,slls Of Congress to have
c1inul.n,iaI i.uac a'l b have savei tho hena-
t,mbI s.!r:. s]:ictilicel on tho affairs oil abali-
ton.
Eat tho spirit 1t ianm.icisnl, t~resling down
all law and G1nstitn,ian, usurpad the powers
20 carefully withheld from the Executive, and
IN tho 18th Of April, 1861, tho several States
Of the Union wcro summoned to prosecute q
war upon the secelei States by the auyereign
proclamation Of President Lincoln.
We shall not delay to cypose the shallow
eriiScc by which hc wGDtonly drew from the
South the first fire ut Sumter, and thus CO.
vcrad over hIH purposes with tho deceptive
ssmblanco CT defensive wnr. We desire to
trace THU Hood Of wiokelnpss to its truthful
source, and tn present its REAL ~Iu.lIora in un-
lvrilod dof,rmity to the cxecThtion Uf mali
KIDD. This proclamation Of Precedent Lin
cola, WIS thu ,taalaratim CT war by the Eysnu.
two of the Federal Government, without The
sanction Of Cinsress. The language Of the
constitution in regard to tho q~noS,ion of war
il too explicit t, 30 m!napprehended-"Con Con-
gress shall hnye power to declare war" Hays
the Constitution, and got in bold u~surpation Of
this yital grand, ~ essential to the national
safety, Mr.. Lincoln grnsped these forbidden
powers, m.d OF hiS own dospotic viii plunged
the country into tb!a terrible WIT.
Virgini: mel the in;,lent ,Iaurpatinu with
prompt ,ir,ri#l al l,is right l., anll out troops
hu. tie c%"nrtrIrt If thG people uf tho free
%.air4 it,i .iGW tncd the extreme ;lsis 81
rcyniuii11 rp"n the :rt.:criunce uf l.ar atAtos-
mar. The Inst issue IL Mar was pressed right
dean up,H them. lhoGo. WIS nd delay, liz
,iinn a l%,a:lt5 gi.ca. Tie whole r7hrla &!
The fee ,;i:.,ci h-I sanctioned tl,s lmalpa:i,n
ii Mr. liucnii with u headlonS cnthusiasm,
;.ad NJ one man had rushed t. arms ct liz
e mIuail.
Virginia statosmnn held but short Council
On the occasion. Wit, Il clear sasaoity they
pushed aside the llimay rratencss Of "5e-
staring the Union," with which the movement
WAS yelled, and accepted undisguisod facts
alone Tor judgment.
These facts were few, and Of direct signii-
cancs. They were:
FIRST. That war upon one half of the slave
States existed by presidential proclamation
Sacond. That in wss purely q sectional
war-the people of the free States against