St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1865-05-04
LETTER FROM MRS. SWisSAEtm.

| s.. ts~z%f{.s 5'tly II .DS"#.tni
| = WAsn,saroS, April %.
EDI2oR OF THE. DEHocRAr.-Did
it ever occAr to you that the Devil is u
fool? Certainly the Bible might teach
us to think 50; for in it Righteousness
is spoken Of as "Wisdom." -.
The folly Of in..ncver, perhaps, was
more strikingly cxempli6ed than in the
whole history Of this Rebellion, and the
climax Of that folly is the assassination
Of President Lincoln. If We admit
that the Prince OF Darkness inspires bis
followers with plans and purposes to
further the interests OF his kingdom,
We must regard him as little less than
idiotic when contemplating his achieve
ments in attempting to spread and per-
petuate his pet ''institution." The
means devised to spread the dimen.
sions Of slavery over the continent will
certainly result in its entire expulsion
from the face of the civilized world
So, according to promise, God is ma
king "thc wrath Of man to praise Hin"
while the remainder Ct wrath he will
restrain. In permitting the murder of
the President, He allowed "the man
who is Thy sword" to hasten his de-
parture to that better land for which
his late acts have shown he was rapidly
ripening. God has thus removed from
this important place one. who was to.
tally incapable Of understanding, or be-
lieving in, the wickedness, the cruelty,
and barbarism Of the Southern people,
or rather of that portion of them who
inaugurated aud prosecuted this rebel
lion, in defense of their right to whip
women and rob cradles Without this
understanding it was impossible he
should mete out to them that punish
ment which divine justice demands !;
and his death places one in power who
knows them thoroughly and has every
disposition to reward them according to
their work. l can think of no other
blow at Satan's Kingdom, which could
have been SO telling as this, struck by
his Amounted servant and special ennis
sary. Who would want 10 serve under
a leader so stupid-one who SO turns
his resources against himself? Yes -; let
it hereafter be written down and read
by all men that-the Devil is fool.
On the day We received news OF the
capture Of Richmond, Vice-President
johnson appeared on the steps Of the
War Department and addressed dense
crowd. He repeated what he had said
in U. 5. Senate at the breaking out Of
the Rebellion, Of those who were then
concocting it.. II would arrest them,
would try them, l would convict
them, and 1 would hang them" ~r.s.
To those who did not hear him,
could convey no idea Of the earnestness
with which he uttered those words.
There was no: rant, no buster it waf
deep, calm, conscientious conviction.
aud made me shivcr; aud when he nd.
ded,, "Leniency for the masses-hah.
ters for the leaders,. l thanked God
that President Lincoln stood between
those sinners and. the just reward Of
their crimes =; for, just then, in the hour
of victory, l bad fit Of relenting. Be-
)ieving they had surrendered or would
surrender, l felt like Uncle Toby fol
the fly, that there was room enough iu
the world for them and US, and that
they were no longer toes worthy Of pur'
suit. .,. .t..,... .... .:.., -. :..:.>1@.
1 had just been talking; with an
old colored demonstrating in front o.
the War Department beside her bun
die Of soiled linen, and gesticulatine
violently, weeping, shouting and thank
ing GOD that Richmond was not burn
ed. When I corrected her aud sale
"You mean, Aunty, that Richmond il
takep," she continued "Oh, yes
Missi<, 1 tank God for dat, but I tani
Him dat dey surrendered an dat d
town isn't burnt. De precious soul'
am not lost. Dey couldn't a burnt it
Missus, 'out KILN great many people
an I tank my Jesus dat de preciou'
souls am not lost. / feared dey woult
burn de town an many souls 4 beer
lost!" ltd. 80. ras aat1 u -.5allI
"But, Aunty, they are rebel sousp
II knows dat, Ma'am, / knows dat
but hell am too bad for cat or dog. !!
don't want nobody to 60 dar, an I tanl
!, my Jesus dat Richmond isn't burned
"Were you ever slave, Aunty ?"
Il -