Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1865-06-23
eThc South and the North. ;,

thinks it unreasonable and unwise to OK
pect too much of the Southern people JUS
yet, and is disposed to pardon them the bit
terncss Of the feeling that highspiritee
race can not but feel in the contemplation
Of hopes overthrow. and military powe,
defeated
For this much is the Times 70 be thank.
ed, and ESPECIALLY should we feel grateful
70 that paper for the utterance Of the follow
ing language,-
| '.Nor should we desire to break the spir.
! it. or crush the self ,respect Of the people Of
the Southern States Their courage, their
resoluto and determined spirit, is now amor 9
the priceless possessions of the whole coun-
try =; y z ,1hc rebel
South has yielded to our arms. They con
fess and feel themselves cvercome-subdued
subjugated. From no quarter do we hear
the faintest hint Of any wish even to renew
the contest. Il is not for us to poison the
wound we have inflicted on their pride. nor
to stab. with insulting blows, the dead body
Of their ambition. Far wiser will it be for
us to prove to them, by our civil policy,
that they have been quite as much mistaken
in their judgment of our principles as they
were in their estimate Of our physical pow
err"
! It is good to know that the Times does
not, in reason, expect too much of us. and
that, as above, it is not aversc, even at the
thirteenth hour, to acknowledge that the
South has not been venting in courage. !"
resolution and determined spirit" in
| its hate tilt with the North.
Upon another point too, is the Times
equally honest in its declarations. It makes
acknowledgment of most important fact
when it says, in the same article, that
''Men do not thus instantly change their
whole natures on compulsion. And any os-
tentations PROHIBITIONS of such a change
would be hypocriticul. The greas DO y Of
the Southern people were nn1uestionably
honest and sincere in the opinions. the pref.
udices, and the reseptments which led them
! to rebel against the Government; and it
would be folly to suppose that those feelings
would all be at once eradicated by the sim
pie fact that they have been beaten III the
field"
Here the Times implies, tacitly, that it
would not desire the South to become ma
I!ion Of dirt eaters for ''any ostentat;ous
pretensions" OF happiness and content that
they do not feel would be ''.hvpccritical' 10
'he opinion Of that paper. OF course a
mans opinions and purposes are judged by
his actions and strange enough would be
the spectacle of the defeated South. stagger
hing under her monrpful record of misfor-
| tunes. bleeding az ef.ery pore and lament
lug. like Niobe, her lost children, stillianc
ing grote que dance Of joy, and singing a
choral song Of happiness, above the wseck
and ruins Of her affairs. social and political
4 ~ery scornful picture, indeed. weuid that
be to be gazed at by tho whole civilized
world-of people'uho lavished Flood and
treasure for four years as a preparatory
prologue to the great ultimate scene of the
| l'loody drama, wherein, arrayed in the pie
bald gear OF the light hearted jester. the
South should wear motley and carer to She
measure of her jim cling bells above the grave
of her buried hopes-her dead sons her
broken- hearted women. inasmuch
as the Southern people. are =. honest and
sincere should she maintain the garb OF
the mourner. Better beit her, the weeds
Of death and the funeral chaunt: and il
there be those who care for her, if in the
broad earth, and under the universal sun,
thcss be one people who sympathizes at
least with her noble courage and devotion
let them testify to that sympathy by stand
ing apart unit her grief be past-until in
| deed, under the soothing influences Of Time,
she shall have learned, if not to forget, at
least to look back calmly upon tho melan>
choly days that brought to her only tears,
the fruitagc of disaster.
But there are many in the North who
refuse to afford her even chat poor boon -
They invade, under the garb Of the partisan
the saaetuaries other grief. and seek to di
rect the avengipg sword ,a;nst her helpless
and unprotected head IF the South was
"honest and sincere" in he. impulses du.
ring the war as is admitted by the Time.
why seek to crush her now, in her defence.
less days? Why array against her the
press, ie pulpit and the forum to heap the
penalties of the wrong door upon her ! arc
Why not rather, honorably acknowledging
that her actions were swayed by pure mo
tives, and that in waging war she was act
uated by the simple impulse Of defending
Cause that she believed a righteous one
remove from her the odium that is sough
to Re Fixed upon her in allyiug Der effort!
to the stigma Of .'rebcllion" and 'streason?'
Take but that stigma from her people
and she would the sooner forget the calam
tiles that have overtaken her; and in this
work. the press of the North should become
the pioneer, leading the Northern masses
to better valuation Of the purposes Of tina
people who, whilst proudly proclamine
themselves Southerners, have never forgot
ten that they are no less Americans :
Rich Cun,, Bulletin.
PRESIDENT JOHNSON ON NEGRO SUFFRAGE
"A delegation of Friends from Philadel
phia had an interview with President John
son on Wednesday, and made him a speec
on the subject of neglo suffrage:
sin response. President johnson said
he would not make a speech, but woul
talk to them in the spirit Of friendship an
fraternal regard. Tie wished to talk to ther
as though they were all members Of tn
!. !. same family. He told them Of the diffieu
:. iea in tie way Of comforting the right c
Al,