The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-02-13


fifteen years to reduce the Southern States
to the condition that three years have
Drought them. l was willing to have fought
either IN the ranks or otherwise, # il would
have effected the preservation OF Republi-
can institutions and would now be viii
ling to offer my life upon the battlefield to
secure peace. government, and permanent
cy OF Republican institutions TO the coun-
try, and those Of my own household. !
Knew many men who sneered in 1860 al the
efforts made TO save the country from the
caiamlties OF disruption, that We're then III
the pride Of aftuence, but are now expert
encing the bitter effects Of the revolution.
The innocent, TOO, are made TO suffer for
the folly Of others.
The facts connected with the revolution
exhibit confusedness which, when array
ed, prove the hopeless condition Of the
Confederate cause. The Confederate States
have no identity. They exist only in the
name. Define, if you can, the boundary
Of the Government. Specify, if possible,
the States that will perish in the cause of
the C0ntederacy. Dot the States that are
determined TO live and die with the effort
to establish Con Moderate nationality. Will
Maryland, or Missouri. or Kentucky, or
Tennessee, CIR Western Virginia, or Louis
lana. or Arkansas be marked and identified
as joined, linked and bound inseparably
with and rs a part Of the Confederate ma
tlonallty? How can the other slaveholding
States survive the revolution BY continuing
the war? How can these remaining States
contend III arms against the power which
can be hurled upon them? Where are the
men 10 come from to fight the hosts? Can
these States furnish the force necessary TO
resist the physical power that viii belong
to the United States army? Has not the
Almighty established the law Of physical
power? What is the part Of wisdom III the
a 81, Il rs,
the great law Of nature. What King go-
ing 10 make war against another King, sit
eth not down first, and eonsulteth whether
he be able with ten thousand to meet him
that cometh against him with twenty thou
sand. Or else, while the other is u great
way off, he sendetl an aIlbassage, and de-
sireih conditions OF peace And am sat
ished that the State of Ala bana can make
peace upon terms OF equality III the Union.
The property OF the country may he saved,
anu above all the honor OF the State ana the
freedom IF the people may be secured by
peace. have no argument on excuse 70
offer 10 those who presumptlously and ar
rogantly say that the South can make no
terms with the United States Government.
Such are without reason and are blind 10
facts. Nature has bound the South to the
United States Government, and the work
o. man has followed out, III al the improve
ments that have been made, the great de-
sign of nature. How can Tennessee sepa-
rate herself from kentucky, or Alabama
separate from Tennessee; or how can the
South get along without the ports of New
Orleans and Pensacola and Mobile? Or
how can the States of Missouri, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan. Ohio,
enjoy the free, unrestricted, unmolested
navigation of the Mississippi without
common law regulating the intercourse,
and that regulation Of itself, with the views
toVf oi ,06 fc yv,n
Northwest is unwilling to dissolve the old
Union, and they make common cause with
the East and Middle to hold all together.
have right to appeal TO the people of
Middle and South Alabama, and TO warn
you Of coming danger that you may take a
your honor and freedom. The danger is
much nearer to you than il was in 1860, and
l do know that you were precipitated into
the revolution against the Judgment Of q
large portion Of your own people. Your
homes have not yet been visited by an in
vading army. There are circumstances
surrounding you that will make an inva-
sion more terrible to you than TO US. If
anything was to be gained by further re-
sistance. it would be right to resist. But
you know, and now feel, that You were
prosperous under the old Government and
that you are not so under the new. The res
toration of the old government will renew
prosperity to great extent. ] mean no
alarm; l utter but warning voice. You
certainly cannot hate me for giving you
timely notice OF danger. And whether you
hate me or not, prefer to sound the bid
ding OF peace to the note Of war. l would
| rather be the messenger Of peace than the
conqueror Of a thousand battles.
The most orderly mode Of accomplishing
! the end has been indicated TO he by con-
vention. II the people Of Alabama wish
the restoration Of the old Government they
can resolve upon it; If they 90 not wish
it they can reafiirm the ordnance.
The authorities at Richmond can make
no proposition for restoration, for they are
not authorized to do so. We should, if pos
sible, avoid the disorganization of the State,
and in the mighty struggle and revolution
| in which we are engaged, exhibit the Ca
pacity OF State rule, action and power
Wild commotion, destruction of old lines,
demolition of boundaries, will inevitably
| result in military despotism. There is un-
| happily growing sentiment, even in the
South, favorable to the permanent estab-
lishment of military rule. If military rule
shall ever be permanently established in
this country, it is very easy to tell which
section will triumph, and that the rule will
be central despotisn. The hope is in
civil government, and the hope OF civil
government is in State identity and
organization. Self-preservation is law
governing alike individuals ana states
or nations. Alliances are formed between
political communities, some closer, others
more general. The Union Of the States was
a close alliance with common Govern
ment, and the restoration of that Govern
men. would be the renewal of that close
alliance. The attachment to nationality is
a natural feeling implanted in the very af-
| fections of man for great and wise purposes.
The privilege Of locomotion is a natural one,
and the attachment is great to that political
community which throws the fewest re-
straints around that privilege. Under the
old Government the citizens of every other
State in the Union had the privileges and
immunities of citizens Of each State-and
so extended was the territory of this privi-
lege. that it was natural that an attempt to
circumscribe that privilege would prove a
tremendous convulsion; and it is perfectly
natural that there should be a desire upon
the part of the people to restore the old or
der, the former privileges and the ancient
alliance, through the power Of which that
order of things existed. It follows, that the
disruption Of the Union did violence to ma
tural affection; it could have been effected
only by precipitation; and now that the
| DpOnlp nave had time to reflect they will