The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1867-09-05

, IENN., SEPIEMf
the Constitution. This dclusion was
committed by many in the North and
not a few in the South. There has nev-
er really been q war to preserve the
Union. The masses ofthc people North
thought so because their leaders pro
fessed so. But the extreme men of the
North naturally took charge of the con
duct of the war and they never intend
ed it should end without reformation
or destruction Of the Constitution
They had long before declared the old
Constitution to be "a covenant 'with he'll
and o league with the devil" and in the
debate on the Civil Rights Bill, old man
Stevens confessed that, from his you'll
he had longed for the occurrence ofsomc
qreat convulsioa under tic influence Of
Which lilo Constitution could 30 changed
Is he, therefore, laboring to preserve
that Constitution which he has longed
from his youth to change--volcntly,
under the influence Of u conuulsion? =?
The pretence to the people during the
war wasto preserve the Union because
the people loved the Union; the pur-
pose OF the pretenders was to destroy
the Constitution because they hated the
Constitution. The result is the pre-
seryation of a territorial Union, but the
utter destruction of Constitutional
Union. Consent was the beauty Of the
old Union; force is the power of the
new. The proofthat the radical lead
ers were not sincere when they profess
ed to wage the war to preserve the I'm
ion, is the fact that when the war has
ended they will not admit the Union is
preserved. Some Of them proclaim
that the war ended too soon. Why en-
ded too soon? Because they are afraid
the excitement Of the convulson will
end before, underits influence, they can
complete the long desired work of de-
stroying or reforming the Constitutions
If the people Of the North could only
be made to see the clearest truth Of the
revolution, TO wit: that their leaders
have used them to destroy the Consti-
tuition by appealing to their love of the
Union, all would be safe.
| The greatsliflculty, heretofore, has
been that patriotic, conservative men
in both sections have been unable to
make the people of either section sec
that the extreme men of the two sec
tions had common end. The people
could not see this because these eX
treme men seemed to be fighting each
other, when, in truth, both were fight
ing the Union. The extreme men saw
that the only feeling with the people o
either section which was OF, could be
made stronger than the love of Union
was the love Of section. Pro-slavery
was the great question which it was
thought could concentrate all feeling n
the South, and, therefore, the extreme
men assumed TO be the peculiar eXclu
: siye friends Of slavery, and all men q
the North were declared 10 be its enc
mics, and all at the South who differed
! with them were denounced as traitors
, to their section. Anti-slavcry was TIL
great feeling at the North, and there tn
extreme men assumed to be the onl.
: true defenders Of the North from th
f wild aggressive spirit of slavery, whic
was represented as seeking, with tn
masters lash, to control the Who'll
f country. ThcpeopIe of both section
f listened until they believed, and sen
} the extreme men in strongerand strong
er force to Washington, who made th
national capitol but q theatre for sec
tional "bullics; who reduced all clio
, quence to sectional billingssate, ant
, whose only craftsmanship consisted il
engcndering sectional hate. The M
!, tural result was acar, but Il sectional war
and a war in which the triumph OF ethc
D party was the triumph Of an enemy T.
the Union under the Constitution. An
this is the only war which' has bee
Q waged, and this is the only final Fri
umph which will be achieved il the pee
S pie do not open their eyes in both sec
f lions and make q united war agains
: their common encmy-thcse eXtrcm
: men. 1t was with these views that S
n earnestly begged the South in 1860 no
s to sccedc, because she would thereby /
n only furthering the purposes OF I'll
n common enemy of the South and tn
+ Constitution--would thereby throw Il
!, the power of the Union into the hanC
t Of that common enemy, which powt
: would be used, firstto crush the Soutl
: and then TO destroy the Constitution
Y 1t was because of these convictions
e went with my section and never felt
/ made war Oh the Union, although | 81
the Union was being crushed betweo
G two antagonistic forces. And it wa
L because Of these convictions was vii
It ing every hour of the struggle to sto
a the fight and negotiate, feeling that,
J. either party yielded to arms, commo
J equal confederation would be imposs
l. ble. Bat we never could never neg
l. tiate, for the plain reason that in TIN
= way the Union might be preserve
Y anu tillS tuC iCtlNtCIo VI WV ANoith hN''
: intended to permit. They determine
o to continue the convulsion to enabl
e them to destroy all hope Of Constitl
: tional Union, and now they fear II
n war has ended too soon to enable the
: fully to accomplish their work. It, wi
II therefore, urged the South never
II Weld, but to fight to eXterminatiC
r rather than be subjugated, for subjug'
G ton of either section was the create
C possible obstacle to future peace al
g Union as well as to honor and indcpen'
IS ence for either section. But slayel
e has been destroyed and divisions b
o tween tho extreme men of the Nor
y and South are no longer promotive
&c the common end. The common cl
l. was, not to preserve or destroy SLAYER
Ie but the common end was to destroy
10 Constitution founded i'm mutual cOnc(