The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1865-05-25

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the slave system as it wasl What a
realization OF He'll upon earth it would
have become had the armies of the
Slave power prevailed in the fight
In no instance has there been q
more distinct and definite duel be-
tween Aristocracy and Democracy
than in the American Civil War. On
tho one side The watchwords were
" Rights for all;'' on the other "Privil-
egcs for tho few" What Longfellow
calls tho mobility of labor" was in
scribed upon Northern banners, while
an exaltation of aristoratic robbery
and the degradation of toll were max
inns no less conspicuous on the slave
holders flags. Not only was the con-
test SO distinctly one between Demo-
cratic right and Aristocratic wrong,
but the fortunes of the war illustrated
the merits and defects of the two sys-
TENS as they came into collision. The
aristocratic wrongdocrs were the first
to get organized, and the most com
pactly knit together. They exhibited
that unity Of purpose which results
from the power of dominant class
to crush opposition. They evinccd
skill in the selection of leaders, and
their courage was conspicuous in every
field. The Northern Democracy was
slower in its motions and resolves
1t took considerable time to give tho
war purpose at all commensurate
with its gigantic expenditure of treas
uro and of life. The triumph of class
privilege and dcsposism was the known
and palpable object of the South; but
it required, year or two of struggle,
and frequent disasters, before the
North could perceive that the triumph
Of liberty was the only thing worth
fighting for, and that the restoration
of the Union upon any terms but
those of equal rights for all would
prove impracticablc or a mistake
Slow thinking, half hearted, inefficient
Mcclellan, good at book learning con
cerning the combinations great COM
mandcrs had effected, but quito una
bic to initiate them in the faculty of
seeing what to do and when to do it,
offered the Southern leaders chances
which they partly used and partly
tarew away. The North could gain
40 moral victory except upon aboli-
ton ground, and McClcllan's Bulls
RuG defeat was the proper accompa-
nimcut and result of the "moderate"
treatment of the slave question then
in vogue. Disasters taught the North.
crn Democracy many good lesson,
and us higher principles prevailed,
wishy.washy McClcllans gave place
to true Republican generals, with a
whole purpose and ali iron will, like
Sherman, Sheridan and Grant. Thus,
whatever obtusity or slowncss We may
trace in American Democracy, it
proved itself capable Of learning, and
of being taught by events. Not SO
tho aristocratic faction; which only
saw its own sordid, selfish inte, est at
the beginning, and could see no more
at the end Disasters taught it moth
ing. In all the higher concerns and
purposes of life it was wall-eycd and
pig g>headed when it began its revolt,
and so it remained. AS its best lead
crs porishcd it could not replace them.
1t could only turn out one Stonewall
Jackson and ono Lee. To the ra-
t;onal beholdcrs it was evident that
what talent the South possessed was
dying out, whilo tho free North cx-
hibitcd the natural capacity of great
Democracy to produce talent in abun-
dant crops as soon as the mind of the
nation was excited and its heart
aroused. As events moved on Grant
hammered ct the head and outworks
of the Confederacy, while Sherman
and others marched through the very
vitals of the land. Tho slaveholding
aristocrats were like the man in tho
iron shroud. Slowly, but certainly and
visibly, the Northern armies were
closing around them; bat though ho.
roic in the field, not one particle of
magnanimity could they show to the
black people whom they had opprcss-
ed. They were told that slavery
would be tho death of them; but not 4
slave would they set free, until, when
il was too late, these naughty and ar
rogant despots, after much chatfering
and wrangIing, made up their minds
to ask q few OF their human cattle to
fight for them, on condition of receiv.
ing liberty as their reward. In this
obstinate, stitf-nocked incapacity to
learn, even from bitter misfortune, that
other mon had rights as well as them
selves, the shareholders conspicuously
exhibited a popularity belonging to
all privileged orders. No arstocracy
over ceased to rob people until com
PEELED to desist by a judicious applica-
ton of force, or, what has sometimes
answered the purpose, by working up
on its fears. 1t was so with the old
barons Of tho middle ages in this and
other lands. The citizcns were plum
dered till their burghcr guards, with
tho help of gunpowder and pixies, had
military power of their own;and the
peasants were robbed by forced labor,
by having their corn ground at the
lords mill, and by thousand other
ways, until they gained friends and
supporters amongst the people in the
towns. ..i,'' o. hi.''. ''- '- .f.'''
1t was no wonder that aristocrats in
Europe longed for the success Of the
representatives Of their class on the
American continent. Popular Gov
ornment. Democracy, Liberty, would