Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1864-04-06

lor hverites or others; and the Governor ought to
see to 1t that sound and thoughtfui economy is l.
practiced BY NIL his subordinates. yhis vas prem
isedia 1862, and the promise ought To DO redeemed.
In reading the Governors Wilkesbesengh speech,
Mr. Editor, I was reminded Of the charge 70 fire.
quentiy made against you and others, of giving aid
and comfort to the enemy, because you publish true
accounts of the condition IF the country. Now,
none of us wish to aid or comfort the enemy, any
more than the Governor does. Such . thing 10 not |
m his nor your thoughts, nor my thoughts. But
when be, tho Governor Of the State tells the enemy
cession from the new Confederacy, and when he |
more than hints that war among ourselves is at our
very DOORS what will the enemy think and say |
VIII they not say to each other, let us eight it |
out! Will they not say, we are encouraged to |
light It out" for Gov. Vance thinks that the Con-
federates will soon be at war among themselves
Now, Mr. Editor, the Governor evidently either |
fears war Among ourselves or he attempted in bis
Wilkesborough speech to deceive the people. l
have teo much respect for the Governor Of my |
State to suppose that be would attempt to deceive
the people. Hermust, therefore, fear that we will
fight among ourselves Was it prudent in him to
tell the enemy of thiss No one will say it was. |
What will the federal Generals now on our sea-coast
think of is There are rumors Of increasing forces
ct Washington and other points. Who knows but
these forces have been massed e advantage of
this very iatss'ia. :.sif, yhiss Governer more
1t handl ~ ~
have no disposition tolcritcise the style Of the
Governors speech, and 20 heart to comment on the
spirit Of levity which pervades it His speech
was thoroughly prepared, and carefully reported
BY Richmond reporter, and afterwards revised
by the Governor himself. We must judge it &C
cordngly, anecdotes and all His anecdotes, not
the most chaste in themselves, if appropriate to
the occasion, sound, under the circumstances, like
"merry music in house of mourning" The good
Book tells US that "the heart of the wise is in the
house of mourning; but the heart Of fools is in the
house of mirth." Fun and jollity, in their places,
are not Objectionable. The wisest and the best
among US are cheerful and good humored when they
can be SO. have as little respect any one for the
prudery Of piety; but ITO every thing there is
season, and time to every purpose under heaven"
There is "a time to weep, and time to laugh;
coming in the head or patriarch Of the family to
indulge his fun and jollity when every house is
clothed in mourning? Is this g time to laugh |"
know the Governor did not design to wound the
sensibaitcs ofany one; but his anecdotes, however
telling or appropriate on former occasions and in
time of peace, must have grated harshly on the
hearts of those whe have lost their sons and broth
ers, and husbands in the war. am almost
tempted, Mr.. Editor, to apply the words Of Prince
Henry, addressed when he assembled the throne Of
his father, King Henry-the Fourth and when he
had put away his levty and begun to play the man,
to Falstaf, the former companion Of his revels
"Repy not to me with fooLbsrn jest:
Presume not that am the thing was; Il
For God doth know, shall the world perceive, 4
" That tsvs turnd away my former self;
V So will thoE that kept me company" v
M.--ssss;.as Sdr people, including the soldiers,
want peace. The poor old mother who meurns her
absent son, and who, for want Of his strong and
willing arm, chops her own wood, and carries her
small turn Of corn on her hip to mill and delvesand
slaves in the fed to make little corn, and lives on
dry bread, and fears the day when even'bread will
not be had longs for peace The gray haired father
as he sits by bis lonely hearth, and looks st the
chair which his son, now cold in death, euce filled,
and thinks Of the past and looks to the dreary fu'
tare wants peace,-aud he will give bis suffrages
to no man who will not promise him to labor for
this great blessing. The widowed mother, Is she
divides her scanty stores among her children. and
locks at them shoelsss, half clad, frequently hun.
gry growing up in ignorance for want Of schools,
and in spiritual darkness for want Of preach
sing of the blessed Word and thinks Of the happy
days long gone when there was no war, and OF the
distant sod which covers the remains Of that dear,
dear husband whom she will see more cries out in
her agony for peace The whole country, North and
South, wants peace. But there can be no peace
ssve by negotiation Let us fight for peace but let
US talk and pray for it at the same time. Ii the
| Kings name is tower of strength" We are aaso
told that the name Of the Lord is streng tower :
the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. And
.the Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord as the
| rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoeEer he
will" We must cease to pray for vengeance on our
| enemies before God will hear us. :" Vengeance is
mine: will repay, saith the Lord" And it we
would have peace We must use the necessary means
Those who really wish for this great blessing will not
| IL hsoh kAnA IN hat
Especially will they not attempt to make party
capital by assaing this or that plan, or by msre-
presenting the views and feelings Of their own fell
iow-citizens on the subject They will treat the
subject calmly and dlspassionately, and will hail
with joy any and euery plan, whether we'll d.
gested or not, which may seem to afford promise
that peace can be honorably secured. am one Of
those who believe that this will never DO closed
! without the intervention of the States and when
say this feel, and mean to express, no want OF
| confidence in our common government. That gov.
eminent is the agent of the States, aud there can
be no improperly and no disloyalty in the princi
pei coming in the last resort to the aid Of the agent
in the effort to effect so great an object If
thought the contrary, would say NO more about
the Intervention of the States. But am glad to
know that / am sustained IN this view by Gov.
Brown, Of Georgia, whose loyalty and devotion to
tho Southern cause no one has questioned. Ht
says the States have right to lnterpoee and that
it may be their duty to do so; and he also gives il
as his settled conviction that "the blood of hun
dreds of thousands may yet be split, and the wal
will still not be terminated by force Of arms. Ne
getiation will finally terminate it The pen of the
statesman, more potent than the sword Of the war
ror must do what the. latter has failed to do"
agree with Gov Brown, and deeply regret thai
Gov. Vance does not take the same view OF thu
vital question. g..
No one regrets more than do the strange politl
cal somersault which Gov. Vance has made. II
was elected as Conservative. He was elected b!
the friends of an honorable peace and Of civil lib
er:y, and it was expected he would prove true t.
the latter and do all he could to secure the former
He was elected in the face Of "a Otter opposition
as any candidate ever encountered, and he and hi
friends were denounced, 6seouss they hsld taes
piesos as Lincolnites and traitors. Where is b
nows Where is the civil liberty which he prom
ised To defendi Where ia his interest in the Con