The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-08-29
The Philadelphia Convention.

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1t would seem that nothing will satisfy
the malcontent secession papers of the South
but the unconditional submission of the
Northern people to such demands as they
may make upon them. These papers are
vexed with the proceedings of the Philadel-
phia Convention. They barely tolerate that
body, though it was given out when it was
called, that it was to be body against the
radicals, and therefore in their favor. They
will take nothing less than a recognition of
the Righteousness of the rebellion, and q
tender respect for the exploded theory of
State rights, until such time as they can
gain sufficient strength to re-assert those
rights, whether in the council chamber or on
the field Of battle. The Richmond Enquirer,
for example, still maintains the doctrine of
secession, and prides itself upon the fact
that it sees nothing to regret in the rebellious
action of the Southern States; and the last
Charlotte Times has the following inrelation
to the principles put forth by the Philadel-
phia Convention:
President johnson seems pleased with
the proceedings, The meeting will undoubt-
eddy strengthen him, and may result in the re-
turning to Washington members of Congress
who will be more regardtul of the Constitu-
ton and the indisputable rights of the
States. But will even that great boon COM
pensate for the humiliation of having to
know that the prominent men of the South
had to vote for dcgmas, such as declared
that the Federal Government only waged q
defensive war for the preservation of the
national life-that it was carried on consti-
tutionally-and that the South was fighting
as insurrectionists for the destruction of that
government 2 Now,we ask, is that PROPOSE
tion true 2 If SO, what becomes of the boosted
patriotism and selt-devotion of our noble
dead? If that proposition is true, then was
Lincoln and his myrmidons fully justified in
devastating the South and 1xterminating US
if it were necessary to the restoration of the
national authority. Then were we rebels
and ifcaught with arms in our hands were
not entitled to be treated as prisoners of war
but as traitors, and should have been hung.
These dogmas put forth in Mr.. Raymond's
address, if true, deprive our struggle of all
its grandeur, and sublime devotion to right
and justice, and dwindles us down to willy
set of conspirators who were, through dis
appointed ambition and desperate circum-
stances, like Cataline endeavoring to over
throw the government, for selfshness and
personal promotion. Nor will any amount
of success Justify the writing of such an cpl
taph over the tomb of the Southern dead,
and over the conduct and character of the
living heroes who did and daredto make the
"lost cause" successful"
Who went to Philadelphia from this State,
and silently subscribed to these dogmas p
Not the despised "straitest sect" Unionists,
but such war men as Howard, Graham,
Manly, and Barringer. We know of no
"straitest sect" man who proposes to cast
odium on the noble Southern dead" We
know of no Northern Union man who pro-
poses to do it. We look upon the leaders in
the rebellion, so-called, as criminals-we
mean such men as Davis, Slidell, Rhett,
Wigfall, Phelan, Toombs, Pryor, Clay, Banks,
dale and Benjamin-for they knew better,
and sinned with their eyes wide open; but
those who fought on the Southern side were
either misguided or conscripted, and but for
their valor and endurance. which saved the
honor of the South, every thing would have
BEEN host We have no lsarshfpithsts for these
men. The Northern people have no harsh
epithets for them They were rebels, and SO
was George Washington until he got to be a
successful revolutionist. But we do not call
them rebels by way of rejecting on them,
and we call no man traitor, except in self
defence when we are denounced as traitor
to the so-called Confederacy. 1t might be
expected that radical" Convention would
speak of Southern soldiers as rebels, and OF
those public men who led in the rebellion
as traitors but we agree with the Times that
it is a strange thing to see Messrs. Graham,
Barringer, How ard, and Manly taking this
view and speaking thus, in an Address and
in a Platform of Principles, which were
maturely weighed and considered before they
were sent forth to the country.
UNPARDoNED DELEGATEs.-Seycral of the
delegates to the Philadelphia Convention
were unpardoned persons, such as A. H.
Stephens and w. A. Graham. A Georgia
correspondent of the Richmond Examiner
says:
az do not know how many, but there are
several of orr delegates who belong to e the
excepted classes" and are consequently still
liable to be assigned to quarters in Fortress
Monroe by the divine Stanton and the angelic
Holt. In an assembly of freemen consulting
for the good of the Union, hemp neck ties
are not appropriate They obstruct free ut
terance and interfere with perfect enjoy
ment."
The Examiner comments ON the above as
follows:
"We very fully concur as to the absurditty
of persons protesting to speak as freemen in
a political convention, who are as yet, un-
parfloned, and who hold their very lives and
all their property at the breath of the Presi-
dent; If, however, they do not speak as free
men, it is clear they ought not to speak for
the South, but leave the work to those who
can do SO without having to encounter by
any possibility the Executive displeasure for
a slip of the tongue. Ii gentlemen are unpar-
doned, their ntterances are always open to
suspicion Of desire to placate the pardonipg
power and thus get out Of scrape. When
men are on the scaffold with rope about
their necks, it has been customary to hear
them as matter of curiosity, to know what
they would say under such peculiar stress
of circumstances, but their opinions have
generally been printed to satisfy morbid