West-Jersey pioneer., 1865-09-09
DIFFERENTIATION"

submission, subjugatlon, or extermlnatlon
was everywhere discussed, very few, we
apprehend, realized the extent to which
the Southern people were then being
exterminated Like rebellious chill
dren, their leaders said plainly, that they
would rather die than submit; and they
died! 1t is true there were many who
still clung to life, and finally laid down
their arms in submission; but who be-
lieves that the leaders considered them
selves conquered? Who believes that
they for moment regretted the course
they had pursued? Where are the man
ifestations of repentance We have seen
nothing of them. Time may wear off
the spirit of hatred towards Abolitionists
and Northerners which has taken such
deep root in their minds, but the loss Of
property and the loss of power have not
yet nodded their spirits into anything like
penitence, meekness, or humility. On
the contrary, the spirit of resistance is as
strong to-day as at the beginning Of the
rebellion on the part of the leading rebels !;
and if they have anything to regret 1t IS
that they did not succeed in their attempt
to overthrow the United States Govern
ment and establish an aristocracy OF their
own. based on slavery. For all the re-
pentant rebels one may meet, he will meet
q hundred uhv would IiDo in 1vsiets"0S,
tomorrow if they saw the least hope OF
success. But how many Of them have
been exterminated, the following will help
to show: -,
Not long ago, lady of distinguished
family from Mississippi, whom we had
met at her own beautiful home in the
capital of that State, called at our rooms
on Broadway, partly to renew old acqualn1-
tance, and partly on professional errand
To the inquiry as to other members OF her
family, she answered: " Would you be-
lieve it? I am one of the most desolate
and unhappy beings in existence. Since
this war began I have lost my husband
nv father and mother, two sisters, and
other relatives by DEATH" We inquired
the cause. Were they in the army
How was it? She replied: :" My parents
were somewhat aged, though apparently
in perfect health, and it may be said that
that they died with old age; still, their
chances seemed good for many years more
NV husband was in the prime OF manhood
and died without a visible cause. The
same is true of my sisters-they seemed
to be completely broken-hear She
added, that large numbers OF the best
families in our State have dropped off anc
passed away without disease or protracted
illness; they lose their appetites, become
pale and desponding, and give up the
| ghost almost without struggle.
We inquired if there had been any cpl
demic like that Of yellow fever or cholera
to which this region of country had some
times been subjected !? She replied.
No, nothing of the kind; and why
the Almighty permits me to remain alone
| in the world, as it were. | can not under
stand. Life is only burden to me, and
| have prayed that 1 might go too. ou'
property has been wasted, our servants
scattered, our homes invaded by reckless
raiders and foragers from both the Fed
eral and Confederate armies, and we whf
survive have suffered living deaths"
We inquired if this state OF facts ex
J tended beyond her own city and State
I She replied
eyes, it is true throughout the South
| and thousands of the best families-thos
in afauent circumstances, have been thu
cut off as if by pestilence, and there ar
but comparatively few left to suffer alone.
To us this was sad but evidently
ture revelation, and we then saw wha
I was meant by the term " extermlnatlon.
} It was not to be brought about, as on
would infer, by the direct application 0
the sword or the bayonet-by lmprlson
ment or starvation, but by broken spirit
and wounded PRIDE; by despondency AM
humiliation by ''subjugation." lhss ma
taken the lives Of thousands, and to-da
the flower of the Southern aristocracy IL
in the grave, never to be resurrected unit
the day Of Judgment. Nor let this ez
termination be charged upon the NORTH
1t was the bad, ambitious, political leader
of the South-those rabid fire-eaters, un
principled demagogues, who in deianc
Of the powers of man and God brough
|, destruction and death upon themselve
and their families. Broken hearted, orc
ken-spirited, impoverished, subdued hk
!, a tree stricken by lightning, stripped
, its foliage, its branches, and its granace!:, !,
the South stands dead skeleton OF II
former self. -.
We relate these facts in no spirit 9
malice Init in sorrow for the weakness
I and wickedness of our fellow-men. Le
! the dead bury their dead; let bygones ,
: bygones; let the past be forgotten; let !