Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1865-06-01
The Old woman ana the Bear.


On the borders ofa vast ferest wbicht
abounded all manner Of wild beasts,the
once lived an old woman with her husband,
John. Driven by hunger, bear one day
made an attack on the rude cabin that shell |
tered them. John promptly retreated to
safe position in the loft, and calmly survey
ed the battle between his wife and the bear
not caring much which side whipped. -
When at last the old lady proved victorious,
he came down aud hailed her with the con
graduation, " Goodness dIiue, Ps9gy, ant
that Jig bear Dl,at zoe killed'p
SO, new that Uncle Sam has killed his
bear" the Rebellion, the "Jobnnles" are
coming up and slappiDg him good naturodly
on the shoulder, with Goodness dtiUel ant
that big Rebellion uhat zoe killed." 1t
was evident to every intelligent mind willing
to admit that f,co were greater than one, that
the "bear" would be slain. But the men
who adopted the declaration of the Chicago
platform that the war was a failures; the
men who wanted the south to have her
rights" who didn't believe In Abelltion;',
who called slavery "a Divine institution, and
the normal condition Of the. black man."
who prated about ''the weakness and cor
ruption of the. Administration" who dc,
clared that "the chivalric SouthroDs could
never be conquered" who piled the public
mind with wearisome dissertations on the
enormous debt" "the high taxes: the
public extravaganza" who called MIR. LIN
coin "buffoen" and 'tyrant;" who never
rejoiced at Union victory because 1T was
only prelopging the war;" who put on long
faces when they saw wounded soldier, but
never put their hands 10 their pockets to
relieve his suffering family; all these men
stood quietly by while the fight was going on,
without word of commentator for those
who were fighting the battle for them, ex-
pecting and many of them hoping that the
'bear" would whip. Then there were
others, such men as are well-known 10 our
own midst, who were even more decided IN
their "sympathies" for the bear" Men
who kept at safe distance from the light,
but were active in their encouragement and
secret aid; who winked at the bear, as
much as to say, "Go ahead, Old Fellow, we're
with you heart and SOUL" who gave him
all the support they couldi in their cowardly,
underhanded way; who declared the govern
ment a tyranny and the Rebellion
heaven born cause" who swore allegiance
to the government, enjoyed the mild pro.
lection of its Laws, and yet heartily wished
for its overthrow. These men shut their
eyes to the glorious history of our past; they
forgot that there is Power who rules the
destiny of nations, and is able to bring good
cut Of evil they forgot that there is such
thing as eternal Justice; they forgot that
our Government is founded on the brosdest
and noblest principles of humaRity; they
gloried in the idea of an empire which rested
on the blood ofhuman bondage, andin their
infatuation they verify believed that treason
and villiany would triumph. and that right
and Justice would be overthrown. The hope
was father to the belief They couldn't
tell exactly how it was to happen, for might
as well as right was against them. But
somehow they kept dreaming OF foreign
intervention. they auxieusly awaited an
uprising in the North against "the cruel
war;" and 'the burdensome debit" they
believed in the "lions" that were waiting
upon Sherman they were hopeful of the
"event" which Lee was preparing to
"astonish" the world in their folly and pre-.
judice they were given over ito make and
believe lie."
But the bear is dead Their last. fsnd
lingering hope died out with the fall of Rich
mond and the surrender of he Rebel armies.
The big fights over. And now these secret
cowardly Traitors, are coming down from the
''loft," and with mock jubilant faces, chuck
ing Uncle Sam familiarly under the chin,
with THAT was big job; but always knew
we'd whipl' ..i.
1t was rather amusing to see how fond Of
the "Old Flag" these men suddenly be
came, when the Rebel capitol succumbed;
how they ran about town buying, begging
and borrowing everything that bore stripe
or carried star; how sociable they suddenly
:, became with contemplate Union men,
, ''mudsills'' of the community; how ''glad
they were that the war was ever and tht
: Government re-sstablished; how well they
t always knew it weuld end in his way
: and how ridiculous" il was for the Soutl
0 ever to take up arms against such grea
0 and good gevernnen as oursl
8 We have little faith in death-bed repent
!: ance With all his well-known forbearance
s we have always doubted whether the AL
Q mighty would be justified in listening TO tn,
s dying prayer of lifelong villain. His re
f peHtance springs from fear rather than love
g SO with these eleventh hour Union men. =
n While the slave confederacy was fourishing
Q they were buoyant and hopeful ''Th
It South could never be conquered" was tn
r burden of their daily speech Now that i
o is drawing its last gasp, these men, will
,e the coolest impudence, gather within tn
Q. sanctuary of the Republic, claim place an,
protection under it, and declare that the
always were for the Union y Before re
,r ceiving them into full connection with loyal
/, ty, let them bring forth fruits meet fo
10 repentance" We are in favor Of putin
., them on probation like other foreigner
2, who happen to be in our midst. To tn
Z Union men belongs the honor Of killing tn
,e "bear"-To them belongs the privilege G
er disposing Of the carcass. They don't inten
IN to bo interfered with in the enjoyment {
is that privilege. They have fairly slaughte
ed the bear" and they mean to do wit
his body just what seems best to them.-
,e Rest assured they will bury him safe an
es deep Baltimore County Union.