Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1866-02-06
BILL ARP TO MS OLD FRIEND.
Mr.. JOHN HArpY-Sm:

LudGS Ou LOOK upon YOU
as friend, aud feel like droppin few lines
by way of unburdenin my sorrowful reflex
ions. For the last few years you have trav-
elled round right smart and must have made
heap of luminous observations. hear you
are livin in Nashville. where you can see all
sides of everything and read all the papers
where you en- study Paradise lost without
book, and see the devil and his angels without
drawin on the imagination, and tho't maybe
you might assist me in my troubled feelins
1 have, always, Mr. Happy, endcavered to see
the bright side of ever picter, if it had any,
but there is one or two subjects about which
l had nifty nigh gin it up.
l want you to tell me ifyou kin, about what
time are the black republicans going to quit
persecutin our people? What are they so
its for treason that we have gone and done, and
that Pm the slowest perseeviu man he ever
seed not to hav found it out.
Now Trceson is nifty bad thing, and any
man found guilty of treason ought to b. talked
to by preacher right under gallus, and then
be allowed to stand on nuthh for few hours
by the clock. Shore enuf treeson | mean
Treeson where man slips around on the sly
in the time of war, and takes sides agin his
country. Jest as though, for instance, should
have worked agin my suvrIn State after she
had seceeded, and had stole her powder or
deserted her in her time of peril while she
was defendin herself agin the combined as
saults of the world, the flesh and the devil
| wouldn't hav blamed nobody for hangin me
for the like, would you? But Skuball savs
we amt got no suvrin States-that tn. war
have settled the question agin us on that pint,
l don't think so my friend. 1 admit that we
amt nuthln in pertikular now, but we did
have States before the war; and the sword
amt settled or unsettled any great principles.
There amt no trial Of right or wrong by wa
ger of battle now days. For nifty nigh
hundred years this country have been a big
debatin society on these questions From the
time of Hamilton and Jefferson down to 1861,
the right Of State to dissolve her own part
nership hav been argued by powerful minded
men, and there has been more for it than agin
it More Presidents, more Senators, more
statesmen more judges, more people. Mas
sachusetts and Connecticut were for it at one
time, and belered round and paved dirt anna
zin to get out, but they found old Barcus was
willin and they didn't go. Ibelieve, howcv-
er, that old Nutmeg did stay out about two
hours and half.
Well, the South went out nifty unwillingly
Mr.. Happy, as you know, she had been nifty
nigh kicked out for long time, and there was
big party that wanted us to go out and stay
out. Everybody knows that we didn't git
along in peace. and so we concluded to do like
Abraham and his brother-in>law, to separate
our households. What they wanted to keep
US for never could see, and can't see yit.-
L wouldn't have niger or dog to stay
round me that didn't want to. Some say
they wanted US to strengthen 'em agn our
enemies in case Of a furrin war. Docs any
man in his sences expect us to help the black
NU1,1 AT,2
any worse enemies than they are They eau
make us fight if we don't want to. We've
fout enuf and made nuthin by it but glory,
and we amt a goin to jiue in another war to
crafty other people. Doddssays before he'd
pull trigger for Thad Stevens, he'd have his
soul transmigrated to bench leg'd fee. and
bark at his daddy's mules 1000 years. [
wohder if the ex perience of the last years
amt satisfied these fellows that our boys are
a dangerous set to be turned loose in time of
war. Would'n mt you think that matter of
policy they would soft solder us a little, and
quit their slanderin. If We do fight for EN-,
there will be one condition certain. They
mout be put where David put Uriah, and our
boys mout consent to make charge or two
behind 'em at the pint of the baynet.
But l want you to tell me, J Ohm if l am rite
about tile history of this business. 1t amt a
long story and I'll tell it the way see it. Old
Pewrytin went off one day with some ships,
and took few beads and juce>harrs and bot
up lot of captured niggers from the Hotten-
tots or some other tots, and stole few more
on the coast of Afriky and brot EN- over and
educated EN- to work in the field, and cut wood
and skeer bars and so forth, but not iucludin
votin nor mustcrin nor the jury bisness nor SO
forth.
Well after while they found that the cold
winds and Goldfish airs of New England did mt
agree with the nigger and so they begun to
slide en- down South as fast as possible. After
they had sold em and got the money, they
jined the church and became sanctifcd about
slavery, sorter like the woman that got con-
verted and then gave all her novels away to
her unconverted sister. Well, the Old Do
minion and sich of her sous as Washington,
and Jefferson, and Madison, and RandoIt,
bought EN- and worked EN- to satisfaction,
whereupon old Pew got jealous and began to
preach agin it to break it down. The fakt is
they would mt work gals in their faktories if
it wasn't so profitable, for they conscien-
tiouSly opposed to everything that don't put
muney in their pockets. After while they
went into the striped almanac bisiness, max
ing bloody pikters of poor lasserated niggers
gettin hundred lashes for nuthin and mourn
in for their fist born bekaus they were not.
Then they started the stealth program, and
while were tryin all the big courts and the
little courts to git back one sickly melatter by
the name of Dred Skot, they war stealth from
five to fifty day, and eoverin their carcasses
all over with niger larceny, and smuglin the
constitution into abolition muEh. They built
fence round the institution as high as Ha-
mans gallus, and hemmed it in, and laid
seige to it just as an army would beseige
city to starye out the Inhabitants Thev kent
peggin at us until we got mad-show enuf
mad-and we resolved to cut loose from EN-
and paddle our own kanoo.
Now all this time we had sArna n.ood f.;.rds