The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1865-04-12
CHARLESTON. WEST VA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL H. 1865 "

bloT' The trcachcreus devices Of their hearts
were framed with protracted and covert prep
aration. But they have failed: They were
Send m YOUR thanksgivinss for this, 0
nation Of frermcn. Let the peal ring through
tba a;r This is the great salvation in which
wc re;o;cs to.day: not only that the Govern.
me..,of these United States in saved from
honelcs, d;sintegra,ion and ruin, but tina. It is
also saved from :hc ritiating, degrading, de-.
fornino noiscuing presence md power Of the
;nf.rnei sniri, OF slavery. The spirit that
I'm, over hecu the nurscr Of unholy ambitions,
mi ~. freder OF unhallowed lusts. The
,pir;t that prompts such utteranee. as this,
rb;cb ono,e from the Richmond Examiner,
an, or ,bc ablcs, cf the Southern press :."wc
havc ont 70 hating everything with tho prefix
sfrcr Frce farms, free labor, free society,
FREQ viii free thinking free children, and
frce schools, MI belong To- tile same brood Of
I,mn,b,c isms. But the worst OF all these
examinations is the modern System Of free
Tire spirit Of slavery, cay, that nursed
nr;,l. oni passion and lust Of power in the
Lc,r,s Of men until they were urged 10 the
;nonruration Of civil war, with the hope and
nnrpose OF mailing their black. .banncred motto
n the nations flagstaff Of freedom. The
en;r;, TIA, has added to the horrors OF war
,Lc h;rlecus barbarisEs Of men who have
crown up under its fell and foul dominion.
TTh, sn,rit that has led to the raising Of the
h,c,. Noo' "not conrage3usly on the battle
ErlI but over prisona and hospi;Hls in the
Sou,h full Of surrendered and helpless men,"
Tn. spirit, whose odious features are revealed
hy the sworn testimony Of scores on scores ol
rSoarc,l and exchanged prisoners taken ny
| Commission of Inquiry appointed NY the |.
= Sanitary Commission, and whose testimony
conrc)s these men constituting tho Commits
.;o,, T., sny. alt is the same story everywhere: Il:
rr:.ouers of war created worse than convicls,
sbut ND either in su.locating buildings or III
ONT door enclosures. without even the shelter
Inn, ;s prcviGed for the tras;3 Of TIC field;
u,supplicd with sufficient food supplied with
food and water injurious and even poisonous;
csnnrllcd to live in s"ch personal unclcanli.
ness rs to generate Verinn; compelled 10
breathe an air oppressed with an intolerablc
stencil; hemmed in by fatal drnd.lnc, and
in hourly danger Of being shotb by unrestraincd
and brutal guards; dependent even to
madness, iaiocy and suicide sick OF diseases,
nnrcarinc anil spreading like the plague,
caused hv the ,orrd sun, hy decayiss food,
by slh hr yc.-nin, hv malaria and ny c7ld !
,rmoyrl 4, the las; moment and by hundreds
a. n ,imc, 70 hospitals corrup, as n sepulchrr,
ihrrc with few remedies, little care and no
sympathy, 10 die in wrc.chcdncSs and despair,
not only among strangers, but among enemies
too rc>cnttul to have pity or 10 show mercy.
nThcsc arc positive facts" say this Com
mission in their official report now published
to the world. items Of thousands Of helpless
men hxvc Lcea and are now being disabled
anil destroyed ky process as CERTAIN rs
poison, and rs cruel as the torture or burning
At the stake. . No supposilion OF
negligence, or ,lteuglAlessncss, or indifference,
%: accident, OF ire!licicncy, or deStit1uon, or
necessity, can account for oil this. So many
and such positive forms Of abuse and wrong
cannot cotnc from negative causes. The
conclusion il unavoidable, therefore, tha,
thc.c prvaiions md sutEc:iass have been
designedly inflicted By fhe military md other
authority Of tho rebel government, and cannot
have been due 10 causes whic! such authorities
could not control
And here turn from this historic record,
some Of it the very .languagc'of Our enemies,
some pc il tho statement Of scores Of credible
witnesses under the solcmniiy OF all oath, ana
all Of it supported by an overwhelming mass
Of collateral cvidcncc--l turn from this his
,oric record and boldly brand Slavery as the
cause of eH !his crime and woe. In the name
Of Christianity, impalc 1t here before high
| Heaven Irhc ambitious souls that wcn!d rule
|.or ruin, were bred in thy bosom, y black bar.
barsm Of pcrdiion! The thousands Of braves
who have made their last charge and fought
their last battle, and whose rough mounds tell
where they were buriel tho blood" Of our
precious slain that crieth unto God ,-the
shrouded homes aud dcsolate fresides,--t
'crphaned and widowed and sonless henrts al!
over this fair iaud ,--thc marred forms anu
mnneled limbs Of the heroes, battlc Scared
in tic holy cause Of Frectlom,--the poor vic
tins Of heartlcss tyranny who perlshed IN
numbers cyery 'sRy inst winter on Belle tSi-
and under the very walls Of Richmond, whom
the cold fro1e because they were hungry and
whom the hunger consumed because they were
cold,-the new comers who entered the. "hor'
rlblc rottcnness' of the prison pen at Ander-
sonvillc, exclaiming 10 this hcll?"-thc hu.
man skeletons with their 'ptnchcd nnd pallii
features Unu' looks Of physical and mental
agony, End the driveling idiots and mental
imbecilos that have come forth from rebel
prisons aud worse !han rebel cattlc-pcns, oil
make their dreadful arraiSnmcnt, and say
"it:wns thou, y Slavery, Pes:ilcnt, iniquilous
md damning mother OF Treason. 'aad child
Of lIelrr' And jury Of millions Of legal
freeman have heard tho indictment,- have
weighed the evidence, and by their millions
of roicclcss ballots, on the eighth day Of No.
1ember, 1854, thuudered tho verdict: Die
0 Slavery, pcStiIent, iniquitous and damn
Ting; mother Of Treason aud Child Of llellP'
This, my hearers, is the scope and grandeur
and high significance Of the salvation NO cell
cbrute in our rOns to-day. The Nation is not
only saved, but is saved TO freedom and the
rights Of man. The evil possession has been
exercised By agencies Of which we little
dreamed, but allpf them under he ordering
6at of Almighty God. We here grasp the
i greatness Of the dcliycrancc, We get some ode.
quatc conception of'thc spirit and aim and