Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-02-26
Address of the Rebel Congress to the
Reople Of the south.

the eQeFal NONeFHLutHt mas proven tnaL
it did not desire peace, and would not
consent TO it on any terms that We could
rossibly cencede In proof of this We re-
fer to the repeated rejection of all terms
! of Cancellation and compromise; to their
recent contemptuous refusal to receive
/ the Vice President, who was sent to ne
gotiate for softening the asperities of
war; and their Icornful rejection Of the
/ offer of neutral Power to mediate De
tween the contendng parties
The motives of such strange conduct
is obvious. The Republican party was
founded to destroy slavery and the
equality of the States, and Lincoln was
chosen as the instrument to accomplish
this object The Union was barrier to
the contamination of this policy, be-
cause the Constitution, which was its
bond, recognized and prott cted slavery
and the sovereignty of the States. The
Union, therefore, must be sacrificed,
and its destruction was determined on
The mass of the Northern people were
not privy to, and did not Sympathize
with srcl designs They loved the Union
and wished to preserve it, To rally the
people in support of the war, its object
was proclaimed to be restoration of
the Union, as if that implied involuntary
assent The Union could not be
preserved BY coercion. Ii is absurd to
ple'end that the Government was really
DESTROYS of restoring the Union when it
adopted such measures as the confsea-
ion Of private property aud the emanci-
patton of slaves Great efforts were
made inviting the slaves to instruction,
forcibly abductiuS them from their homes
and compulsory enlistment into the army
with the division of Il sovereign State
without it's consent, and proclamation
that one-teuth of the population of the
State, and that, too, unGer military rule,
should control rhe will of the remaining
nine-tenths The relation between the
two sections under such n policy is that
of conquer or conquered Superior and
dependent, it would hardly be fair to as
sert that all the Northern people partci-
pate in these d gnes On tie contrary
there exists powerful political party
who openly condemn them. The Adj
ministration has, however, been able
thus far by its enormous patronage and
its lavish xpen1itures to seduce, or by
it's legions of Hessian mercenaries to
oVerawe the masses, to control the cleo
tons and to establish an arbitrary des-
potism. 1t cannot be possible that this
state of things can continue. The peo-
pie of the United States, accustomed to
freedom, cannet consent to be ruined
and enslaved in order TO ruin and en-
slave us; moral, like physical expedien-
cies, have their periods, and must sooner
or ter be exhausted and disappear. When
reason returns our enemies will proba-
bly, reflect that people like ours, who
have exhibited such capabilities and ex
temporaries and such resources, can ever
be .ubdued; that vast expanse of ter
ritory and such a population cannot be
governed as an obedient colony until
some evidence is given of change Of
policy on the part OF the Government
and some assurance. Congress is
of the opinion that any direct overtures
for peace would compromise our selfre-
spect, would be fruitless of good and in
terpreted by the enemy as an indication
of weakness
We can only repeat the desire of the
people for peace aud are in readiness to
accept the terms CONSTANT with the
honor, integrity and independence Of the
States, and compatible with the safety of
our domestic institutions. We have no
alternative but to do our duty; we COM
| bat for the future of our children; the
preservation of our fair land from polu-
/ q. ID 60 lid IOau, oh 90
read both in the threats of our enemies
and acts of expression we have alluded
to- The situation Is grave, but furnishes
no Just excuse for Responding. Instead OF
harsh criticisms on the Government and
our Generals, intead of bewail-
ing the failure to accomplish
impossibilities, we should rather
be grateful for the results that have
rewarded our labors Remembering
the disproportion in population, in mills,
and in naval resources, and the de-
ficiency of skill and labor, our accom-
plishment has surpassed that of our enc
mics There is no just reason for hope
lessness or fear Since the outbreak Of
the war the South has lost the nominal
possession of the Mississippi River and
a fragment of her territory But Fed
eral occupancy is not conquest; the
fires of patriotism still burn unquench
able in tie breasts of those who are sub
ject to foreign dominion. We have ye
uninterrupted possession of territor,
which, according to past progress, will
require the enemy ten years to conquer
The enemy is not free from difficulties
with that enormous debt, the fnancia
! convulsion, long postponed, is surel
coming. The shortness in the crops il
J the United States, and the abundan
harvest in Europe, will hasten what wa
otherwise inevitable. Many sagaciou
: persons at the North discover in tn
, usurpations of their Government tn
) certain overthrow of their liberties;
large number revolt from the unjus
war, and would gladly bring it to a
4 end; others look with alarm on the CON
Y plete subversion of constitutional fre'
n dom by Abraham Lincoln, and fe'
in their own persons the bitterne:
c of slavery, which three years of wa
d have failed to infict on the Sout
d Brave and earnest men at the Mort
e have spoken out against the usurpatio
and cruelty daily practiced. The su
cess Of these men over the despera
faction which now rules the North ms
open the way to peaceful negotiate