The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1865-04-12

Of you to-day name one governmental oct Of
wropg, deliberately and purposcly ccne by
the Government of Washington; or which the
South has q, right to complain? Il challenge
tho answer" y, it does seem as if tho God
whose faScring providences have marked oil
the wars progress, was there working BY un-
seou and subtle forces 10 lead such. man in
such place, just before he with prostituted
patriotism became the bribed and forced nc.
.Quiescent aud participant in the plot Of trca-
son, to hurl a challenge in tho teeth OF trait
ors that they could not and dared not answer!
That caltn voice Of reason failea,to quell the
troubled Southern SEQ, but the words shall
stand. for oil time, as the triumphant vindica-
ton of " the best and frecst government" ns
he himself in that same hour :pronourcpd il,
"thc most cquul in its rights, the most just in
its decisions, the most lenicnt in its measures
TINT the sun ever shouc upon"
If then the leaders Of this rebellion could
point to no proofs whatever of the pcrycrsion
vi national authority, why did they so rcck.
lcssly cast Of their sworn alleGia:f:c, nnd
inaugur0te tho horrors we now see? Whit
urged them on iu their work Of ruin, with
such dire aud dreadful purposc2 Wkdt .eas
The cause; We are not left TO inference or
conjecture, for answer. Nor yet 10 the biased
judgment and, it may be, unwarrantcd pro.
judiec Of the North. Out Of their own n mouths
shall they be condemned. .. .-
call Stephens 10 the witncss-stand again.
In his celebrated cornerstone speech, de-
liverca in Savannah, March 81, 1861, just
prior to that dark day when our flag was shot
through and shot down Il; Sumter, he said,
Afrcan starery as ii crisis among m--he prop
er 5talu, Of the negro IN our form Of c'efli:aaon-
,hiI traI The immed;0s cdrse Of tie tate rmpt,re
and.pye,entreroiution;' and SaSannnhs Alhe-
nscun never before shook wit! such thun,lcrs
Of applause rs greeted that sentiment. Thus
| the Forum.
Now hear the testimony Of the Pulpit. pr.
Z. NJ. rulmer, Of New Orleans, n representa-
tive man, and one Of the ahleSt i'll the minis
| lry, in ! sermon preached November -, 1850,
after the Presidential contest was decided
just foor years aGp, declared it TO be thc1pres-
rnt solemn trust OF the South, ":c prcserve
and transmit our existing system CT domestic
| scrvitujc, WITH tho right unchanged by man
10 20 a..d roo, itself wherever Providence and
nature may carry it, This trust VIC will dis
charge in the face CT :he wor:t possible peril.
| 1t is this THAI -,akes the crisiH.
Whether We will or not, this is the historic
Riomcnt when the fate Of this institution
hangs suspended in the balance. .
One more witness as to tho cause and pur-
pose and inspiration Of this dark conspiracy,
and have Guuc. The Richmond EtamiHsr OF
Juue 1868, Q representative press, conducted
with marked ability, put Gu, before the world
the principles and deSigns nt tho rebellion
thus: "Thc establishment Of ;!rc Nonicdcracy
! ia di:,iuct reac:;cn against the wkose course
OF the mistaken civilization cl the age.
For Liberty, Equality, Fraternity We have
deliberately substituted Slavery, Subordina.
tion, Government. Gy these princi-
pies We live, and in their defense We have
! shown ourselves really ~ die. Revcrently We
feel tha. our Conicdcracy is q God sent mis-.
s:onnry 10 the nations, with great truths 10
preach
E@rc, then, is the evidence. The Forum,
the Pulpit, tho Press, leading esponcnts OF
the political, religious and social convictions
OF the South, unite in the distinct and un-
squivocal avowal that slavery was the cause.
This is nc charge Of Northern fanatics. II Is
the bold aud boastiul affirmation OF our enc-
mics. Net 10 bc rid OF oppression, not TO cs.
cape unconstitutional cnactmenis, did these
mcn plot their reasonable schemes and at
tempt their bloody execution but, rs they
themselves au;horitativoly declare, 10 reverse
tho tide OF mistaken civilization, to protest
against every idea which the world accepts Of
justice aud liberty, 10 pcrpcluatc and extend
II mons,rous outrage upon tho manhood OF Il
fellow man by making this stone, African
oluyerp, which was rejected by the first build.
ers, the chief s,ouc'of the corner of q new
governmental edihcc. They could not do this
in the Union. "Persh the Union, then
they said; "this /, our God-sivcu trust, and
We will be true to IT,"
Nor was independence their onlyobicct. It
gas not enough 10 curse their own soil with
The blight and mildew Of unrcauited toll 1t
was not enough to rend Freedoms only gov:
ernmeual iubric, that they might stand un.
,rrmr,eled sciorc the world aud impi0usly
'elaim their Contederacy as u God.sent mis-
siouary 20 thenations.. 1t was not enough 10
hold up 10 the scorn Of despotism and the
SCOTS OF aristocracy, the failure Uf free insti-
tution. u broken and. shattered Republic. 1t
was not enough TO mako ne rwcet. name
Liberty, Kissing and IL by-wo.d. But they
schemed and plotted fur the right Of slavery
"to 90 and root itself wherever Providence
and nature might carry it," They meant,
with their Northern allies, 10 wheel the loyal
States by force and fraud into the line Of ,rca.
SOD, and 10 fling to the breeze the banner of .
new government reared oil the ruins Of the
old, iuscribiug upon its folds not that immor.
tai declarations: "All men arc created equal, "
but the motto: "Thcre are slayo races born
to serve; master races born to govern" Tho
very dny that the booming cannon opencdHhe
tesruiyal Of treason in Charleston harbor, the
Confederate Secretary Of War, Mr.. Walker,
threatened at Montgomery, Ala, that before
tho 6rst Of May the Confederate tag should be
waving over tho Capitol at Washington, and
Faneuil Hall, Boston. 80.
Such were the dark designs Of these men.
Such their noustrous subyersion Of natural
rights. Such their 'hostility'to Him who said
He came to this world "to proach deliyerance,
10 the captive and to break every yoke" How
near they came to success VIC may never fully
lhx- Ths,, 1,i,l their nlans with tho craft