American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1865-01-11


vassals and liege subjects forever. The
blind pal4;;o of the writer makes him even
unable to see that neither England, nor
France, nor Spain, nor the three combin-
ed, would touch us with the end of the
longest pole if We once made so helpless
an exhibition of ourselves. Nations are
not Good Samaritaus." IF they see a
weaker brother fallen among thieves,
wounded and half dead, they do not trou-
bic themselves about his hard fate. They
even pass by on the other side, but empty
his pockets, if peradventure there be
somewhat left to take away from him.
If neither England nor France will so
much as recognize us, not even know of
our existence, while we are vigorously
battling and beating back gigantic inva-
sions year after year, in naughty reliance
on our own prowess and good cause, and
able, to offer them advantageous alli-
ances, and reciprocal benefits, how
would they receive such an invitation
as this, now that we are sinking and
perishing under the mighty power
Of the Yankee nation? Now that we
are beaten and beggared, we pray
you to 90 to war with that nation for
our redemption, and having rescued
us, as we have nothing else to offer,
take ourselves and our children fer
vassels to- you and your children.
Take this land that once was ours and
partitionSt among you. This will not
do. The alternative is not offered
us, as panic-stricken mortals mag
inc, to be colonists under England
or France or subjects of the Yam
KEGS. We are not choice.
" The very proposal suggested to
be made to those powers would prove
that we are already subjugated. 1t
would be an admission that we had
set up pretention we could not sup
port and provoked an enemy we could
not fight, and they would coldly bid
us creep back into the Union and
stay there. They would understand
that the United States, if this Confed-
eracy be once subdued, must be the
ruling power of the West. They
would be glad to cement their friend
ship with our enemies by treating us
with contumely, and would so en-
deavor to make general treaty, set
tling the affairs of all America, and
giving guarantees both to Mexico and
Canada. One is ashamed even to
refute and rebuke this mean sugges-
ton, begotten by terror upon igno-
rance. 1t would be pleasing to think
one shonld never hear more of it, but
then there is another, and not very
dissimilar in kind or in origin. an
other counsellor who also, of course,
takes for granted that we are virtu-
ally conquered. He advises us to
make known to the European nations
that we are ready to abolish slavery.
That slavery shall not be permitted
to prejudice our recognition as a ma
ton, and we are assured that this
would secure recognition, and per-
haps intervention.
1t is not alleged that England or
France, or the Government of either
has ever said or limited that they
would make this bargain, but if they
would, then we are exhorted to say
that we would. Now this also, how
ever the idea may be muffled up,
amounts exactly to an invitation to
England and France, or one of them,
to make war upon the United States,
in order to save us from Yankee do
mination, and in return we are to of
fer them what? Destruction of our
labor power, which would leave us Of
no use to them, to ourselves, or any
body else. 1t is said, indeed, that
this would be great concession to
the opinion of mankind, which is
anti-slavery, and that the evil conse.
quences would fall upon the unfortu.
nate negro whom we should thus base.
ly abandon. Very well, then, il
would be a very humiliating confes.
sion of defeat, and would also, by
them, be taken as a confession that
we had deserved defeat. We must
not deceive ourselves.
" 1t signifies nothing to say that
we would rather give up slavery than
be subject to Yankees. On the con-
trary, when we should have made
this graceful confession to the public
opinion of Europe, then Europe would
very certainly cheat us, and seeing
that we were whipped, and the pluck
taken out of US, would make friends
of our enemy at our expense. What
does our brave army think of these
wretched outcries of alarm and self
abasement? They sound as if they
were shipwreckeda lreadyand drifting
on raft, having white flags TO every
point of the compass, anxiously scan
ming the distant horizon, and one
crying Lo here and another 'Lo
there. Matters do NOT so stand with