Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1865-06-29
THE PRESENT PERIL

Lnis country tuat urs Will Durn
Against the in ;tincts of the human
heart, against the dictates Of common
sense, against reason and all expert
ence we insisted upon yielding eYerJ
thing to Slavery in a free Govsrn
nent, until Slavery took the Gofern
ment by the throat, and only BY the
most prolonged and desperate strug.
gle was thrown of In like manner
against all reason and. ezeerience
which assured US that sovereignty is
one and can not be divided, that 8
nation can be injured in no part with
out suffering every where, that the
law of life in communities is like that
in individuals, we allow the mis-
chievors Kentucky and Virginia reso-
lutions to remain as q vague apology
for treason, instead of seeing, that
where such resolutions could be
adopted an6 defended there was the
utmost necessity of a solemn national
renunciation of them by eonstitu-
tional amendment forever settling
the question. Suferance made trea-
son insolent servility made itstrong;
until the authority of the State struck
at the national supremacy, and only
by flooding every hearth stone with
blood, and loading our children with
debt, was the national authority re-
stored. -,
Have we yet learned that the
spirit of Slavery. whether it actually
buys and sells human beings like
cattle, or despises and outrages them
as pariahs, is the spirit of eternal
war; and that the doctrine of Stste
Sovereignty. whether it haughtily
calls kings patent, or civil engi-
neer's division of land, nation, or
asserts the reserved rights of States,
means, substantially, treason? 1t
would be ludicrous, if it were not too
sad, to see those who are still stunned
by the war doubling whether the men
who excited and conducted it can
possibly be capable Of any naughty
action. There are the horrible pens
of Millen and Andersonville; the
unimaginable suffering inflicted up
on innocent men; there are the cold
blooded slaughters of Fort pillow
and Lawrence; the hangings anp tor
lures of Uniou men in East Tennes-
see, in Texas, in all the. South and
Southwest; there are the plots to
burn great cities, the firing of hotels
and -rnuaeuaas and thestr&s full tR In.
nocent women and children; there
are the plans of injecting whole dis
tricts with fatal disease by the yell
low fever rags: there are the nassa
cres of helpless negroes in the
streets; there is the murder of the
President in a theatre; the murderous
attempt upon the Secretary of State
lying i'll in his bed-and some good
soul asks, ''Do you really think they
would be guilty of murder? They
may be politically mistaken, but do
you seriously think they would do
any thing unfair2
Could we seriously think other
wise? How is it natural to suppose
tiIat these who breed children for
sale, whose laws and social and in
dustrial habits are designed to i'm
brute human beings, would wage
war? 1t is not by every foul and
dishonorable means? 1t is not by
poison, by assassination, by massa-
cre2 Why should not savages be
savage? jefferson Davis was called
&c high toned Southern gentleman"
Doubtless lie was as much of a gen.
teman and as high toned as any
man bred in such q condition of
things could be. But what his gen
tlemanhood and high tone where you
discover when you read his speeches,
in which Yankees are hyenas, and
Grant and Sherman are spaniels to
be whipped. There we're lovely and
accomplished women in the Slave
States; but when they spoke of slave
ry their bald barbarity dehumanized
them. The blood chilled in the
heart to hear their fippant or fiery
talk. They were like the smooth
skinned wives and daughters of
ogres in fairy tales.
Its unkind to recall these things?
Is it a poor policy of conciliation to
recur to the old offenses? Oh no;
they are not old offenses. This was
the spirit of that society, and it is it's
spirit still. Can we wisely forgetit? /.
Can we make it otherwise by pretend. !
ing not to know it? Are George n. |
Sanders and Jacob Thompson and
Tucker and Clement c.
Clay any the less criminal foes of
the Government of the United States,
any less infdel to its fundamental
any less dangerous and
men, to be Stunned in
every way, and exposed to public
obloquy and constant suspicion. be-
cause Horace Greely calls them
distinguished Americans of the
other party to our civil WARP Are
Hunter, Campbell, and Stephens any
less traitors because the same authori-
ty calls them eeminent Confeder-
ates2" Is the ostrich the model of
statesman? Are wolves mild and do
cile because You call them lambs2
The men who control Southern
sentiment are baf1ed, they ire not
changed. They are beaten jim the
war-that is all. Are they lsss hos
tile? Do they confess that they had