American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1864-01-27
REPLY 0F

Messieurs Aqeuor de GaspariR, EdoUard
Laboulaqe, Henri Martin, Augustia
Cochin, and other friends Of Anerica
IN France
TO THE LOYAL NATIONAL LEAGUE OF N. Y.
Concluded
Tn short, the Rebellion is already re-
duced to such narrow proportions that
should it ever become a distinct Confed-
Grafton, accepted as such from weariness Of
war, the Confederacy thus created will
not be born with the functions of life
Neither European recognition nor your
own could give it a serious chance Of du-
ration. 1t would end in return to you.
But yc delight to believe the re-establish-
ment of the Union less distant And, in
the presence of that prospect which thrills
our hearts with joy permit US, as your
friends, to offer you some sincere advice.
The dangers Of victory, you are aware, are
not less than those of combat. We give
you, therefore, our loyal, frank opinion,
sure that in the main it will agree with
your own, and feeling, also, that these COM
munications between us have an aim more
serious than simple exchange of words
Of sympathy.
We hold it to be Of the first importance
that the cause of the war shall not survive
the war; that your real foe, Slavery, shall
not remain upon the field. We have Of
ten asked ourselves these last three years,
why God permitted the prolongation Of
this bloody struggle. Was it not that
the real issue might present itself with
perfect clearness Conquering earlier,
the Federal Government would, perhaps,
have been led to make concessions, to enter
anew upon the fatal path of compromise.
To-day all eyes. not willingly blind, see
clearly. The New York riot, breaking
out at an appointed day to aid the invasion
of Lee, and falling instantly upon the ne
gro in a way to show to every witness Of
its cowardly ferocity what kind of spirit
animated certain friends of the South
the New York riot was a supreme warn
ing to your country. Your line Of action
is clearly traced. SO long as any trace of
Slavery remain, there will be a cause of
antagonism in the bosom of the Union
There must be no longer any question Of
Slavery. 1t must be so ordered and set
tied as never to return. An amendment
to the Constitution to this end must bepro-
posed and adopted before the return of
the States.
The condition of the free blacks must
alsobe secured against the iniquities which
they have so long endured No more
plans of colonization abroad, no more dis
abling laws, no more inequality. Those
whom you have armed, who fought so
brayely before the walls of Port Hudson
and Fort Wagner, can never be other than
citizens. Leave the problem of the races
to its own solutiou-the most natural So
lutions are always the best. Under the
rule of the common law, the free blacks of
the South and of the North will find their
legitimate place in your society, of which
they will become useful members, honor
able and honored.
In thus ordering in defnitive manner
all that relates to Slavery and the colored
race, you will have done more than is gen
orally imagined for the lasting pacifeation
of the South. What remains for you to
do on this point may be stated in three
words-Moderotjon, Generosity, Liberty
There can be no question, as you have
often said, of an occupation of the South,
of conquest of the South, of reducing
the Southern States to the condition of
provinces where the conqueror will MAIN
tain his garrisons and the public life will
be suspended: Save in the districts yet
ravaged by guerrillas ara in the heart of
which the Federal troops must finish their
work, victory will bring everywhere with
the re-establishment of the Union, the re-
establishment as promptly as possible of
Constitutional rights. You hope, gentle
men, that those whom you conquer to-day
will tomorrow meet you in debate, and
youwill accept in all their truth the strug-
gle OF the press, of the Legislative hail.
and of the ballet, which will replace the
strife of the battlefield.
We all feel it is much better that you
should have to encounter difficulties fruit
full of liberty than that you should seek
for yourselves the deeeitful advantages of
.dictatorial regime. To apply to the South
an exceptional rule would be, alas, quite
easy. 1t would be easy also to pronounce
the death penalty, to outlaw, to execute
confscation bills; but in treading this
path of vulgar tyranny you would sacrifice