New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-04-01
THE VITAL MISTAKE.

The ". Y. Times, in leader on 1.-The Pro-
iects and Prospects of Peace" says:
There is perhaps no special objection to the Pres
dent renewing the proers Of peace be has So often
made-no harm probably would result from pr0cllina
tion 10 the Southern people the subject II he cooo es
Issue But We do not see " bat good II could 40
is there the slightest occasion Tor H. Ihf htofs r
fRht as l0H9 thy cdn-ond, NheD they cannot tSM any
longer they rH submit
AS the misapprehcnsion embodied in the
above extract seems to us to have already done
much harm, while there is at least a possibility
that it will do still more, We must endeavor TO
expose and disspatc it.
The Times, with many others, speaks of - the
Rebels as though they were thoroughly homo
geneous, animated by one spirit, impelled by
ike motives, and likely to regard with equal
favor or dsfavor any proposal looking to Peace.
Now, the fact is that the adherents to the for
tunes Of the Rebellion are made up of the follow
ing distinct classes:
/. Nulifiers of 1929, generally men Of in
tcligencc and property, original disciples and
compatriots of Calhoun, who have for gener-
alton been plotting and striving to dissolve the
Onion and establish an independent Slavehold-
ing Oligarchy.
II. ultra state Rights" men, not ayowed Null
liiierS. who swear by the Resolutions of q"
and deny to the Federal Government any au-
thortv or power to "coerce State that IL
to vindcatc It's own authority and enforce its
laws within the territorial limits of State
which sees fit to repel and resist them.
III. Shareholders and avowed deyotees Of
Slavery belonging in the past to different
parties in whose Conventions and Legislative
resolves they have, time and again. publicly
pledged themselves to forcibc resistance to
abolition rule" and who more or less will
inglv. felt themselves called Oh to redeem
these pledge when, upon the first election Of
President Lincoln, the tocsin Of Rebellion was
sounded.
". The very numerous, influential and
closely affiliated classes Of negro-traders,
duelists, blacklegs, &C., &C., who-always
among the most pronounced, opcn-mouthcd
champions of ''SouthcrnRights"- themselves
summoned to keep at least even step with the
foremost of those who sacrificed ease and braved
peril in behalf Of their darling institution"
V. Great numbers Of Southern clergymen,
doctors, lawyers, merchants, artisans, &c, &C.,
who--recognizing the planters as the natural
leaders Of Southern society, the controllers of
patronage, the dispensers Of wealth and pros
peri,y-folowed where the latter led, not
because they thought the course wise one, but
because they, by doing otherwise, would ineyi-
taby expose themselves to ostraciSm, personal
peril, and pecuniary ruin
vi. Many honorable, high-minded, but mis-
guided men who utterly condemned and
deplorcd Secession as madness, leading TO
probable subversion and calamity, but Who
the plunge being resolved on regardless Of their
remonstrances- it q point of honor to
share the fortunes Of their friends and neighbors.
VII. The ignorant, ill-informed, unreAecting
mass of Poor Whites, who rushed into rebellion
~ order to battle against "Nigger Equality, "
and in obedience to the promptngs of their
wealthy landlords and neighbors.
VIII. The whole mass Of Southern towards,
who-fnding the fourishers Of bOwc-knives,
revolyers, &C., all on one side, hearing them
threaten to Kill every "submissionist' or
Tory" and seeing them, in many instances,
make their threats good, skunk into rebellion
in obedience to their own instinct Of selfpreser-
walton.
IN Many thousands who at the outset re-
gardcd the whole quarrel as simply game OF
brag, confidently expecting to see it speedily
settled by compromise after little or no blood.
shed. and who thought this would be more
easily and satisfactorily effected if the South
stood as unit against Northern abolition and
aggression.
X. A goodly number who 'elt bound to 90