The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1865-03-21
ADDRESS OFCONGRESS TO TIE
PEOPLE OF TIE CONFEDE
RATE STATES.

|
Peace Commission is known to the
country. The hopes Of those who have
hitherto believed that an honorable ter
mination might be put to the war by ne
gotiation have been rudely disappointed.
The enemy. after drawing us into con-
ference, abruptly terminated it by in
sisting upon terms which they we'll knew
We could never accept. Our absolute
surrender and submission to the will of
the conquerer are the only conditions
vouchsafed by our arrogant foe. We are
told that if We will lay down our arms,
and place our lives, liberty, property and
domestic institutions at the feet of Pre-
sident Lincoln, that he will bo mcrciful
to us! Upon his clemency we must rely
to save us from universal confiscation
and determination Yes! these are the
conditions upon which the people of the
sovereign States composing the Confede-
racy may be allowed to do-what? To
return into "the Union from which they
solemnly and deliberately withdrew
themselves because their interest and
their honor required it, and their repug-
nance to which four years Of remorse-
less and cruel war have served but to
intensity! Thanks be to God. who con-
trolls and overrules the counsels of men,
the naughty insolence of our enemies,
which they hoped would intimidate and
break the spirit of our people, is pro
ducing the very contrary effect From
every part OF the country there comes up
in response shout Of mingled pdigna-
ton and defiance!
A noble enthusiasm teammates our
gallant army, who have been battling so
long for freedom and independence Let
US all be united now. Let there be no
parties or factions among us. Let us
rise to the height of the great occasion.
Let us all be willing to spend and be
spent in the cause of our country. Let
US contribute freely all that we have, if
need be, to carry on the war until our
final triumph is secured. Let us take
fraternal counsel together, and calmly
consider our condition and prospects.
Such survey, we believe, must tend to
re-assure and encourage even the least
sanguine. We have, it is true, recently
met with serious disasters. Our forti-
tude is being severely tried. We have
suffered much, and must be prepared to
suffer more, in the cause for which We
are struggling. Is the cause worth the
sacrifice? TO answer correctly we must
constantly keep in mind the end for
which we are contending. What is our
object in this war :? The establishment
of our independence, through which
| alone are to be secured the sovereignty
| of the States and the right of self-go-
| vernment. What is the alternative !?
Our subjugation as q people! Is it
possible to over~estimate tho hor>
rors of this terrible alternative !?
Can the imagination over color the
picture which would represented in the
event of our failure? live fail, mot only
political degradation, but social humilia-
ton must be our wretched lot. We
would not only be political vassals, but
social serfs. An enemy that has shown
himself destitute of the ordinary sensi-
bilities Of human nature, and whose
worst passions are embittered and en-
famed against us, would assume the
absolute control of our political and So
cial destinies. In vain would proud,
though vanquished, people look even for
that mercy which the conquered receive
from a generous foe. Those Estate
Rights" which We have been taught to
prize so dearly as the greatest bulwarks
Of Constitutional Liberty, and which,
from the earliest period of our history,
we have so jealously guarded, would bc
anDihilated. The Confederate States
would be- held as conquered provinces
by the despotic Government at Washing
ton. They would be kept in subjugation
by the stern hand of military power, as
Venetia and Lombardy have been held
by Austria-as Poland is held by the
Russian Gar. Not only would we be
deprived of every political franchise
dear to freemen, but socially we
would be degraded to the level of
slaves; if, indeed, the refinement of
malice in our enemies did not in
duce them to elevate the negro slave
above his former master. Not only
would the property and estates Of van
quished "rebels" be confscated, but
they would be divided and distributed
among our African bondsmen. But why
pursue the hideous picture further p
Southern manhood revolts at the bare
idea of the spectacle presented. Can
you think Of it unmoved? Can pro-
perty-can life itself-be so dear to you
as to allow you to weigh them for one
moment against degradation so abject-
against misery SO profound We do
not, and cannot, believe it. II the proud
memories and traditions Of our first
great revolution do not nerve you to
eternal resistance to such consumma-
tion-nor the example Of our forefathers,