Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1865-01-27

TO TIE PEOPLE OF THE FIRST coNGREs

sSI0NAL. DISTRICT OF GEORGIA..
have often addressed you in times Of compare
tive prosperity; claim the privilege OF saying d
few words you IN the hour OF Your adversely
You have a right TO know what viewsI entertain,
Your Represfntative, in reference to the present
state Of our political affairs.
rs Georgians, you have been called upon, in tire
wise dispensaton of Providence, to experience
great aud gricvofs troubles. Your State ias been
oyerrun by the enemy from the mountains to the
seaboard A wide track OF desolation and misery
marks the course pursued by His army. Your chief
city has. fallen into his hands, and almost your en-
tire district is at his mercy. -
You would be more than mortal If this condition
of affairs did not excite some feeling OF dependency
in your breasts. The blow has been so1leayy ana
80 unexpected that you may well stagger undcr its
weight. The troubles that Cypress you / share
equally with you. Wife, children, property-eyery-
thing that is Dear TO man, or which can give him
happiness or comfort, i have lost they are in the
hands of the enemy. fstand to-day homeless and
beggared man. can. sympathze with you in Your
Affections and have right TO counsel with you as
to your future course.
As TO what that course should be have not one
moments hesitation OF doubt. Ii Is the course
which honor, principle aud policy alike dictate oil
entered into the contest, in which you are now en-
gagged, for the attainment of Independence a ou de-
sired 10 dissolve your connection.wlth government
which1iad passed into the hands OF the ayowed enc
mics OF. your institutions, and people who had no
disposition TO respect your rights under the Consti
tuition In dissoving ths connection you exercised
the simple rights for which the ancestors OF that peo
pie, in common with your own, had strugsedin the
Revolution.
+ FOR Jour years you have been engaged in contest
for these rights, stupendcus, bloody, and
more remarkable in nature than any ever waSed
between civilized Nations You have astopished The
world by the ya0r vi your troops the extent OF your
resources, and your willingness TO endure all the
miseries and suterings incident TO so gigantic and
brutal war. You nave sacrificed upon the altar OF
your country your sons an1-your brothers, those
dearer to you than life itself.
win not insult you b. single momepts suspicion
that not5 when for the first time, an invading army
has come amongst you, and with ire and sword Desc
lates your fair fields, and threatens to deprive you
of yout property you will entertain single thought
of submission or compromise. True, there arc some
amongst you Who If report speaks correctly, have
bowed their knees in abject submission to Shaughty
and exulting eneny--inen, who prefer properly TO
honor or countrywide would sacrifice the SPURIOUS
recollectons OF the past the hopes OF liberty in the
future even the memories Of their own gallant sons
who have shed their patriot blood in the cause Of
independence, for the chance OF saving theF ILL
gotten gaus the products of their specu9tions and
extortion during this war. But these are few in
number, "amongst you but not Of you, y. in many
cases aliens you BY birth, and in every instance
foreign 10 your nature. And even In their case,
treason is reaping its just reward. The naughty
enemy seizes their property end requires them 10
establish their right TO it by the tedious process OF
Courts of Lava virtual coniiscation, - and the
traitors themselves are treated WIKI contempt by
the very men 10 whom they bow the knee. Think
of II my countrymen TO Nhat lower depth Of deg
relation can men descend than 10 becoVe the OBJ
ect of contempt to 4 Yankee.
independence is as dear and desirable now rs it
was when Ynp irst entered upon this struggle; aye,
tar dearer because the course Of this contest has
developed all the endish passions, and brought to
light the foul purposes OF tile people With whom you
are al war; and has proved the wisdom of your ac-
ton in seSering your connection With them. They
offer you no terms except your unconditional sub.
mission or exterminaton,' They openly ayow their
purpose to emanppate your slaves, aud bring you
under constitution changed to suit their own viows.
There is no hope for yop in submission OF eompro-
misc. You cannot resume your position in the
Union upon the same footing yOu formerly occupied.
A powerful and fanatical majority will control the
affairs of the nation 20 your degradation and ruin.
No paper GUARANTEES of Constitutional clauses can
protect you.~ What position would Your fepfesen.
tatiyes occupy in the Federal Congress? no men
of honor or selfrespect would expose themselves
to the insults and contgmely thai would be heaped
upon them. PictaLe to yourselves the reception
they would meet with from sncering and exulting
majority, looking with contempt upon the represen-
tativcs of 4 conquered peopb, What&eryice could
they render you against the encroachments Of a ua
tity of a Constitutions
Our only hope Is In the attainment of our indie
pendenee. And firmly believe, my countrymen
that this glorious result is in store for us. God in
his wisdom, may see fit to aIilict as with more and
greater missries, but never viii he desert cause
nAye and just a. oars and sanctiied by th0blood
of so many patriot martyrs. We cannot and will
not fall. in the vocabulary of ireemen, struggling
for all the.rights which dearest TO man, and M
cited by such gOfi0ns exemplars as have Illustrated
our history, there isno such word as fail
There is no just reason for dependency Thc-en-
emy j. 10 nearer the attainment OF his object to-day
than he was four years ago. The capital of your
country still stands proud aud defiant, surrounded
by the gallant sons ofeyery State in the C0nfede-
racy, The army under Hood is still powerful aud
unconquered, in spite Of the boasts and false de-
spatches of the enemy. Although the enemy oc-
cpy the seaport Of Georgia. the whole OF the inte-
rior is free from their presence, Shormans further
advance viii be contested Inch By inch, and trust
and believe successfully. Your sons and brothers
in the field have no thought OF Submission. For
wears they have perilled life and limb in our
cause. Let not US ut home weaken them by des-
pondency and doubt.
As Georgians, you may think, and perhaps with
some show of justice, that your State was too much
abandoned TO her own resources, that an opportuni
~ was lost TO infiict mortal blow upon the enemy,
that great and serious have been committed
by our military authorities. But remember that
even IL these things be true, the sacred cause st re-
mains, and our country still demands our aid. We
have been proud ofcountry in the hour of her appa
rent Success let not desert hes IN e time of hes
trouble.
Although the enemy have marched from one end
OF their State to the other yet, Georgsns have lost
nothing of their honar. if men. ask you why this
march of Sherman was not prevented, tell them it
was because Georgians were fighting the battles of
the whole country and Of our sacred cause upon the
soil OF almost every State of the Confcdefacy; that
they verc guarding the Capitol that the yestal Gre Of
liberty may be extinRuishcd that they were keep
ing sswatcl and ward around Charleston that they
we're striving to redeem Tennessee; that they left
their own'homes TO the protection OF old men and
boys unable to meet a powerful and disciplined foe
Let by ouASorgiycnes oferrors, patient endu-
rance opr firm determination to struggle on preserve
the name OF Georgia untarnished IN the future as
II has been kept in the past. Let st trust in the
wisdom aud projection Of an overruling Providence