The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-10-07

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1868.
A II { on o N Y


From the Baltimore COMMERCIAL
! This ia The name by which the States
/ OF ancient Greece expressed their idea
! Of state Sovereignty. They claimed TO
| be a tdtU Ia Themselves, aud maintained
| 4 perpetual jealousy of any influence
outside Of their own little borders. The
history of their struggles is sucCnctIy
and eioquently skrt"hed by Professor
( Taylor Lewis in timely ana admirable
pamphlet published shortly before the
last Presidential election. These an
cieni States, th0uGh bound t0eether by
similar language. and by Identical in
terests and traditions, were perpetuaiiv
ut variance through the absence Of
central power similar 10 that which
holds the United States of America in
their orbits.
The history Of t3e ttrecian States is
a history Of continual wars with one
another a { one time ii ia the Thehans
I who attack the phocians and the Lace
! damonians; and then IL is the Atheni-
/ ans who make war upon the s5partana
and so they 20 on, year after year, cXas
pefated by jralousies. clamorine for
autonomy" stirring up the suspicious
/ of the smaller States against the ambi-
/ iiaus plans of Athens, or of Thebcs,
miil ut length, exhausted and disheart-
rhfd by interminable civil warl, the
whole Of them fall al easy prey to their
watchinl neighbor, King Philip Of Ma
oedOnia, and there is an end OF the Gre
clan Republics, and we hear no more Of
them
But though the name has almost per-
ished, the idea it represents was revived
by the active originators OF the late re-
beliion in this country, and Wa still &C
! oasiunally hear q somewhat timld and
! doubtful voice raised in its behalf. Ii
/ anything would seem To- have power "a
dissipate the deiusions OF those cham
pions OF state rights who cherish the old
Grecian lalacy, it ought-to be the fac
that the late Confederacy, whose flnda
mental principles lay in the autonom,
Of the States, found itself compelled L
usurp all the prerogatiyes ofthOsn state
even such rs had existed undcrth Fed
eraI Constitution. With what contempt
and anger did the Richmond editors TN.
+ der the rebellion rebuke the modest eX-
] postulations that came upnOw and then
/ from Georgia or the Carolinas, appeal
ing TO the plain language of the Confed
! crate Consultation against the encroach
ments Of the Davis dynasty! II was
proved that autonomy" or the stat,
sovereignty system would not stand thu
first strain put upon IL in time of eXi
geucy. Those men who had for year
been crying out State rights until the
! were hoarse We're now the first to ext
crate Governor Brown and others VIII
murmured hecaiisc these rights weF
tfampled on and ignored
The experience OF line war'cannoi iai
to convince those Southern theorists wh
are honest, that the state snvereieui,
system will not Work-tbat il has in
the seeds Of imbec!iity, confusion ant
decay. There must he q central regula
ting power If we would not have chroDi-
civil wars and retrograde civilization
Furthermore, we must nave faith Ill tn
possibility Of q pure democratic republic
with universal education liberty an'
Justice. We must give il o fair trial
Thus iarit has not been fairly tried, evel
in this country owing to the one anon
aous institution that has made our de
mocraey an inconsistency and a mock
cry. We believe ihabihere are man,
good men al the South WHO are noN
/ ready 10 endorse heartily these words o
! Henry 4. Wise, i'll reference 10 the abo
! iition OF slavery
! " unfeigncdiy rejoice at tho 'act. ana
:
| iamitics OF tho war, because / am now
! " convinced that the war was n special
" Providence of God, unavoidable by the
i " nation 1T either extreme, 10 tear loose
| @ from Us n black idol from which We
" could never have been separated by
i +" any other means than those Oi lire and
blood, sword and sacrifice
We do moi doubt that these brave
! words came from the heart The great
| fact OF free Republic is destined to he
/ accepted, Loyalty and unreservediy, by
| the leading minds Of the South and in
| reckoning up ourS5tate rights we small
! hereafter regard aa our highest and most
/ priceless right that Of sharing in the
! heritage OF this magnificent country,
| from The Atlantic TO the Pacific, uufet-
/ tered by any narrow local exclusions OF
/ restrictions.