Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1865-02-10

-. rscsnstructiou OF the Union. he came herN
.,,uv inpres,ed with the idea that We were on the
o;,t NJ exhaustion aud that any future resistance
=, r,.l,t make would be merely the last efforts oil
e.,r,i, despair. lie fsncied that our 'trugSls was
-, ,,,,er for independents, cut 20 Protract Tor
80 s-,oe an existence which seemed 10 be men,
..,l ,r,,r destruction and 10 avert the impending
.-.-..--s OF the couqueriug North tie could not
- understand the universal determination
.,sc,ls no enter into no terms OF accommo-
80, ,,,rh did NOT involve the recognition OF
s,r.bo-r independence as a precedent cooditlon'T
". :.,.i,e4 t1a- after four years Of bloody and
- vv,-ea by o., iu defence OF Our separate
.v;s,s,,. VIC would greet as boon, what we had
80. %, esrape from as a curse; that the object
q, ,.,,s We were fighting was to get back into the
rr,i,, ON casv terms, tearing indeed, thar we
might never De suffered TO return to II at all except
on terms Of intoersbls severity and hardship. Inc
No., result Of all which would be, that. where's
Sc Yankees commenced the war III order to force
the South back into the I MON, ana tue '0"'n IL
sistsS +, osder 70 maintain the independence
which Size had asserted, now, on the contrary, 'Ne
S,,,b WIS strlygIils.to restore the Union, aud the
North-or, at least portion o. the North Fl"
,rsvept a.recoustructi0u With q view OF recon
cling little msconceptioa which he considered 70
,svsH among * and 20 convince ms that the North
and the Northern Government would reali! e'nseo'
20 recorstrust;on. Nr. Blair ceme 10 Richmond
With las opinions a, that tame IL was no 1901 CT
rand. Il, only iouudit 10 be sto'.s err"nd Wh'h nc
learned greatly 70 his astonishment tnat tne 'eI!
thing yre dia not want Was the very thing he mac
come To ODER. II is understood that' While MI
Blsir was in this city, be declared himself really un-
able 20 account for the intensity OF the antagonism
a-aorut:u 10 positive hatred, which be found TO
prevail among our people. he did not know any
-hirs Of the aendsh maEguity with which the NORM
has prosecuted the war, OF the ruin ana oe1oIa''on
rhict bad Ike twin demons attended the march o!
Lincoln armies OF the thousand nameie5s atreci-
tie, which his sollicry had committed II the name
o: the .sacrss Union. ut these ,tiugs he was TO-
tau- iguorlut, and be though, IL would be an easy
matter % soften the hearts OF the Southern people
towards the enemy who had done nothing more than
blockade their ports, invade their territory ana
endeey0r 70 s,arye them into submission 10 Gov
eminent which they had repudicted. All the past
Ea5 20 &c forgotten even the memory OF the hun
dred thousand heroes whose graves dot the surface
OF the land. and all the future was TO De one per
snnia Jubilee over the triumph fortunately gained
BY the one side and the wrongs SO happily forgiven
BIZ the other. When Mr.. Blair left Richmond lac
was ucrsuaie5 II Is said, that what he considered
the temporary lall1cius;iou of the South might be
dispeled by conoihatory policy on Lncoin's part.
At vcrst the refusal O; tue CJntetcracy TO accep'
- benign an otter would put her conspicuousiy II
the wrong. aud deprive tie so-cal,ed peace men oi
The North OF their sole pEeJeNJ tcr opposing the dc
term.neI var policy Of the Washington Admins
tration THIS after ALL as We have more than once
declared was tine object AIMED at by Lincoln aud
Seward IN tue whole Of the peace" interiude.
They kaew that tue populace OF the North
politicians, editors ami ductfe m0b-shared the
deusion which possessed Blair and Singleton, and
the Kinks and Jacquesses who, al various times,
have undertaken the business OF bringing this oh
durste Couiederacy to terms. They knew II wa
supposed thar no, hing wanting to put an end to
the war but O simple oder otlamuesty 70 the rebel
Nous States; and that this very delusion had weak
ened the zes Of tue Northern people for the prose
euton Of the war precisely to the extent that an
early peace was imagined 10 be attaiGable. The do
rlinion which this hallueination had obtained over
the Northern mind, is testified by the almost uni
verssl beLef that peace was near at hand-not a
peace such as some credulous people here believed
might be maje-but peace resulting, in the opin-
ion Of some, from kind Of Undesirable recon
struction; aud Of others from tAs unqualified sub
mission OF The Confederate States. Hence the
,.biter Disappointment" with which the news Of the
result Of The Fortress Monroe Conference was re-
ceived IN New York and hence, likewise, the ex
pressioas OF rage and modification, mingled with
those OF Jnquestionable dependency, which come
10 Us from all parts Of the North
The ..peace" men md themselves forced to sue
,T.f. Io,,s
tend that negotiation might restore the Unon-just
as peace men heSe no longer contend that nego-
raiiou az this timo migd secure our independence.
Fernando Wood thanks TO Lincoln for 1.-THE honest
effort he ha, made 10 stop the war, declares that
the peace party veil. nos join hands with their polit
cal alversarcs IN q yigorou, support Of the wax II
has taus taken Mr.. Fernando aud his friends four
year, 70 discover that the South meant what She said
when she retired from the Mon and that there
was something more than that sound and Jury,
wch guilty nothing in the thuadeEs OF the guns OF
Manassas, and fredericksburg, Malvern Hill and the
Wilderness. The Baltimore Anricaa, true to the
bloody instincts OF its party, and faithful to the
'preconcerted programme, now calls loudly for the
determination Of the whole people of the South
Not universal condscation, not the banshment OF
some and the execution OF others, viii an the mea
sure Of adequate revenge NVliiu5 SUO'' VI 'Ota
humiliation win he sUlicent punishment for the
nsrs;steht v-ickeduess Of the South. ''She has re-
s,,sd 10 bow down before the f0otstool Of Lincoln
sc has rejected the Yankee as master she has
rid,ulsd the Ola Flag she win not suffer her lands
to be occupied by The New EnglandeT, and her homes
TO be possessed by the Pennsylvanian she Will not
allow the negro to be exalted 20 her high places or
acknowledge her people to be the degraded and
miserable slaves Of the North. She does not be-