Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-01-07
From tho Philadelphia Age.
Mr. Eincolu's Pardous.

"I'y tillig II seems almost lnCrCulDlU tina
an American citizen should, in the shor
space OF not quite ninety years forget, mucl
less that an American President should re
peat in his administration, one of the meas
urcs Of our former rulers which was tn,
most Odious TO our ancestors and one which
as much as amy other, stecled the hearts o
a people, as yet unwilling to sever their an
clent ties, to II sense Of the inevitablenes.
and necessity OF their separation. Yet this
Is Just precisely what Mr. Lincoln, in hi,
Proclamation, has DONE and done it.
too, with additional appliances of insult
and evaporation, such as even George III.
in al his ianatical hatred of the rebels, could
not have accomplished
History has repeated itself very rapidly
here. In December l775, after deaf car
had been turned by the king and his blind
advisers to the many expostulations of the
Americans and prayers for justice and rec
onclliation, an act Of Parliament was intro
dqced by Lord North, and rapidly passed,
which was afterwards known as The Pro
hibitory Act" BY this act, says Mr.. Ban
croft, after consolidating the special acts
against the port Of Boston, and enlarging
them into prohibition Of all the Colonies,
no American grievance was removed. but
Commissioners were to be appointed to ac-
cept the submission of the Colonies one hv
one, with power to grant pardons to indi-
| ylGuaIs, or to whole community in the
lump. The atrocity of this measure was
explained in the House of Commons with
out effect. Really, we would think that
this act had served as the model on which
Mr.. Lincoln Proclamation was drafted so
completely do they tally in idea and means
of execution. except that the royal manles-
to was more kind in this that the Ameri-
! cans We're only required 10 submit to the
StatGS qUo, but not to deliver up their prop
erty, or to give up more than the King him
self claimed aS the object for the recovery OF
which armies were employed, King George S
ofIeris exactly the same as Mr.. Lincoln ;,
and, strange to say, was defended by his
supporters in almost the identical arguments
! which we to-day hear from the mouths of
Abolition orators. l. it Mr.. Everett or
Lord Mansfield who is speaking? "If we
don kill them they viii kill Us. If we do
not, my Lord get the better of America,
America viii &C, the better Of us Are we
to stand idle because we are told this is an
unjust war; do not consider who was
originally IN the wrong we are now only to
consider where we are. The justice of the
cause must give way to our present situation
and the consequences which would ensue,
should we lecede. would, nay must be, in
finitely worse than any we have to dread by
pursuing The present plan or agreeing to a
final separation Notwithstanding these.
Us Mr. Bancroft styles them, infamous "
sentiments Of Mr.. Everett--we beg his par
don; we mean Lord Mansficll-this act, so
lar from accomplishing any submissions orr
pardons, had the directly contrary effect.
IL placed before the people to be affected by
il, as Mr. Lincoln does, if possible, more
distinctly than ever before, the inevitable
dilemma Of submission or subjugation =
"rhe Commissioners, says letter-writer
Of the period to friend in England, "who
are said to be coming, will meet very cool
reception, unless they bring other offers
than those Of pardon but it is generally
considered rs Il scheme to divide Us, that |
believe the minds of the people of the coun-
try are very lily disposed to attend to or
treat with them; and lady--an English
woman tOo-then in this coulxry, and
strong in her love for her old home, says
,lf these are the only terms offered, ! fear
they viii not be accepted; for ,chether the
peoPie here are right or tCroRg, they think
they merit the applause of every friend of
liberty and mankind. Thus principled. it
Is hard they should be stgnatized with the
names Of rebels, etc, and driven to the hard
necessity Of defending themselves at the
lllEdfu Ol tlCit DNCS.
1t this, then, was the feeling of our an
! ccstors at a proposition for submission only,
why should we imagine that similar one,
with Il superadded penalty of the relinquish-
mont Of that which they hold especially
dear, should be eifcacious with the South
cm people? Is experience only, the light
at the stern Of the ycsscl-of no benefit ill
she has bumped ON the rocks? What rea-
son have We for believing that proposal
which fired the hearts as one man, in 1915,
will weaken and di>pirit their descendants
in lSO3? Have they shown themselves less
brave, less set-Sacriticing, less scll-denying?
Have they not proven themselves capable of
suffering? What kind Of craftsmanship is
that, which in the face of history repeats
after century Of teaching, the actions of
accepted folly and tyranny ?
Why exact, a. conditions Of peace with
the South, that peculiar duty which to them
would be most especially difficult to grant
Why put on any individual Southern man
that which is particularly repulsive to his
soul! Would it be II fair condition of
peace with Mohamedans, that they should
be homogamists? Would not every South
ern man-nay, would not every Northern
scon and loathc n Southcrner who could
take such an oath as Mr. Lincoln would I'M
pose? Nobody knows this better than he
who proiIered it and it was for this reason
that II was proilered, because il was known
1t could not be accepted, save by some base
and paltry soula--Soi distant Yankee squat
tiers who would contrive to qualify them
selves into the ranks of that glorious 1.-THE
of the population which, Offering itself up
on the sacrtcal altar of Aholitiuni,m, wo' d
regenerate the disenthaled States from the
yoke OF tho 0ppres,or-,'uSt in time to as
sist at the Presidential election. The Proc
lamation Wa never intended to be an olive
branch, and its title should be a Procla-
nation TO dishonor our kindred, to degrade
manhood, 20 destroy faith in virtue and
honor, and 10 ensure everlasting strife. -
Such is its real meaning, and such the in
tontion of its authors That personal hate
Of the Southern people which General Da-
M, in his call to Philadelphiuns to arms, de-
clared should be the normal sentiment of
every patriot here finds its true expression
and seeks its true object. Merciful Presi-
dent! What execrations would not the
civilized world shower on the heads of those
who would be Infamous enough, by accept
ing its terms, to desert those who have
wrought for them and upon him who sho'd
dare to carry ont the bloody design of in
dieting as criminals enough people to be the
population of district
When will Mr.. Lincoln and his advisers
learn that the duty of the Government is
TO adapt themselves TO the wishes of the
communities over which their jurisdiction is