Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1865-03-02
COPPERHEAD PROPHECIES AND
REBEL SAWS.

Jt0tn Def0fe anu dIecf tue "utpIe"h Va WV
rebellion, the very atmosphere teemed will
Copperhead predictions, spread oil over TIN
country by that set Of cut-throats, who styl'
themselves the knights of the Golden Circle
These wretches Piled their vocation with fury
and bitterness that was never surpassed, anc
with degree of falsehood, perjury, secrecy
and hypocricy that must have been very de-
Eghtful to Satan himself. But the success
Of these base conspirators against the Gov
eminent that had protected them from infancy
70 manhood, has not been proportiona.c td
either their malignity or their expectations
All their Vaccinations have failed. Every
breeze that now comes from the South fore
tells the speedy downfall Of their cause, and
sounds the death-knell of their guilty hopes.
1t may be instructive just now to call to
mind some of the once favorite catchwords
and stercotyped phrases of these chivalric
knights Of the Golden Circle in the North
and their allies and confrercs. the open mouthcd
Rebels of the South. Here are few Of
them:
In Maryland it was bruted abroad, "As
goes Viyinis 80 goes IM,rsla'm." In Vir-
gina the maxim was dinned into the popular
ear. Icons~t 90 agoina my natire State "
Throughout the South it was proclaimed from
she bousesops shat g Tile South nerer could Le
conqueyel' BY way Of giving cosntenance
to that Delphic utternnce. the Knights of the
Golden Circle and the rotten borough Dem
ocrats who had sold out the Government at
Cincinnati, grow hoarse declaring that " The
n~n Of the North ~ould nat ro'un'eer in The
army" and "Lincoln could not get money To
carry on the par," and that " Caphhisits
,couLI no, loan their money to the Gocernment."
All these outgivings of the Capperheads and
Rebels, by their secretly sworn instruments.
the Knights of the Golden Circle and propa-
gated by thcir venal newspapers. were mere
gull-traps. intended to influence the conduct
and shake the consistency of the great masses
of the people. But the masses of the people
have nobly vindicated their own common sense
and at the same time have rebuked the croak-
ing Copperheads by sending soldiers to the
field by tens of thousands 10 uphold the flag
of their country, and if it must be so, to bleed
and die in its defence.
Then there was another wise Rebel saw that
At the commencement Of the rebellion was ut
tered with oracular gravity by many lying
rebel Copperhcad, who knew ut the time that
he was lying like devil. 1t was simply
this, - We haze no Government -" This
idle speech was in the mouth of every dmiu-
utive, little sacesh orator in the country, whose
main object was to gull and deceive tho minds
of people who were supposed by them to lack
the faculty of discerning between truth and
falsehood.
The truth is that this monstrous rebellion,
SO pregnant with calamity to every part of this
country, is based on this one solitary idea
that the great masses Of tie people do M. possess
tie capacity Of SELF gorer"ment. This mon
strosity, the falacy of which has proved to be
the destruction of the Southern people them
selves, took root gradually in the minds of
the Southern politicians, and acquired strength
from their daily experience, till it was so firmly
fixed as principle Of action, that it became
the ruling maxim of their conduct in public
affairs. This type of thought and opinion
grew out Of their anomalous condition as
shareholders, shareholders and shee-dlcers.
The planters were the main producers of the
country. The lawyers, doctors, merchants
and mechanics were all dependent on the pat.
ronage of the planters and, to borrow the
southern phrase. "the poor white husA" were
obliged to exc out precarious existence as
best they could. The result was that the
shareholders became privileged class. ex-
crcising controlling influence, not only over
the negroes. but over all classes Of white pop
ulation. They were not only the masters, but
often tyrants, over the negroes in their fields,
but they welded great influence in politics
a planter who owned hundred negroes and
worked them on thousand acres of lond,
which he held in fee, was man of no little
importance in bis county, but if he owned
and worked five hundred negroes and welded
his sccptrc. tie couhide. over five thousand
acres Of alluvial soil in Mississippi. Alabama.
or any of the older and still more aristoeratio
States of the South, then be was little Ju-
piter in politics, and few men. particularly
if they owned no negroes, would venture to
gainsay his opinions about anything. As a
Glass, there never we're more prosperous men
than thes, for many years before they reared
the standard of rebellion. Prosperity made
hem drunk. and they vauntingly proclaimed
10 the world that other FROG mt s.w, that
J. Gt<ton i King!i" This cabai,stic Phrase
imply meant that the gro twa,rs, as the
produeess Of cotton, eud contr u the COM
r,erri:d int rx.s.s If the ID AZ wor. mel |.