The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-01-28
n I R o U L A r
THE SOUTHERN OPINION.
AIpKxAsLK COUNTY. VA, January - ~

of Virginia. and the Sotun'
address you from bed OF sickness, 10 "hieh
b.ve bean confined for more than month. IN
aar,,.nding that nv long absence from Richmond
has been miscon.trued by some ana isp'''
nv other, as an abandonment on my par I" W
sn,erpr,se OF establishing my new paper
Southern opfnfon-it seems proper thss snonia
.or,.e, an on so unfounded and injurious;
md ,tis With this object Issue this circuiar'
bona hat a rumor 40 siK5 and ridiculous VIII not
End a Judgment in the public mind. 90 iar' IN
deed, from abandoning, or even relaxing M ~!
purpose. an more determined than ever 70 CART!
ON. nv enterprise and instead Of being di'cour-
ay.d or growing respondent, the kind congratula-
t,ons and generous words OF cheer that nave
poured in daily upon me from Virginia 70 IN
sure me of its success, and give new life and eour
age to my heart for its Undertaking My sickness
NAV necessarily occasion some little deiay In tue
appearance of the paper, but shall no. ahect my
nnrnose. miles, TO make me more ambitious and
determined in It's accomplishment. II any PROOF
were needed OF the good faith and earnestness OF
my purpose / might here state that the type ana
material for my paper have already been oDtaihea'
an Office rented and occupied for nearly some TWO
months. and a most efficient and accomplished ma
mayer and clerk in my employment Tor that 'iihe
and I'll a. 80 soon as certain arrangements 30 mus
penssble to the starting OF 4 new paper, are per-
feetad, and M health will permit me souo'e'"
Oinica will unsleathe its sword and unluri i'e
banner to tie breeze-and then let dirt heaters ana
specuIatoss and thieves at the public GRID am
skuiksrs who have crawled back into Rlchmoha
since it's surrender pBwAR2!
Tha WAY has not swallowed up everything
TLere are still missions OF duty and glory ior the
South aGI important interests which II Is LOT nei
still to cultivate and nainain. Defeat mas h''
made nall cur sacred things profane. Inc wal
has left the South its own memories, It's own ne
- "a, 90, tears its own dead. The South can
vat preserve it's moral and intellectual slsthc'Ve'
roes az n peopIe. and continue to assert lts wei
Lou, .,nsrior;,v over the Norh In civilizaloh'
In political scholarship, in It's schoois oi re"ne
rosnt. and in all tie standards OF 1ndi7lduai eh'
racter. This superiority the war mas h'' oo.
ousred or lowered, aud the South Will 40 r'Sht W
clajm and cherish It, However our enemies may
.xult over US, the fact can never be oputerdteu
from the page 81 history thatit Is the SOUTH 'ha'
hoc chi VI
% the military history OF America, or the councils
~ Il, senate. and has produced that list Of Illus
tr;ous American names best known in the Chris
tan vorld-WAsHIsGToy, JEFFERSON, MADISON,
MONROE. JACKSON, MARSHALL, CLAY, CALHOUN,
DAVIS. Ike, and " SroSEwAJL" JACKSON. DO
not forget" said Senator Hammond, OF South Ca
rolina, when Mr.. Seward boasted in the United
States Senate that the North was about to take
control Of tho Government, 1t can never Do Tor
go.ten-it is written on the brightest page OF hu-
man history-that We, the slaveholaers OF the
South, took our country in her infancy, and after
ruling her for sixty cut OF seventy years OF her
existence we shall surrender her TO you wlthonta
stain upon er honor, bnundless In prosperity, IN
cslculable in her strength, the wonder and admi-
ration of the world. Time will show what you
will make OF her; but no time will ever diminish
our glory"
Its in this shirt Of pride and love for the South
and her noble dead that an about embarking In
the enterprise OF Southern paper in Richmond
not a paper whose utterances are regulated IN tone
and temper by the distance OF Yankee bayone's
from its office, and that would now, lor the niers
prosperity Of dollars and Gems, make !rte""S WIN
the Yankees, confess that we had been engaged in
a srebellion," never breathe a word ABOUT inc
Confederacy, but impously consignto oollVioh the
glorious memories OF that four years struggle ana
their country. II is to preserve these memories
10 embalm the noble deeds and sscrlhces OF the
Confederate desd-to describe the various cethels
ris, where our loved and lest ones are gathered,
md ,bs renowned battle fields, and the gallant
men who led our armes-to keep bright the affairs
Of ,acrifcs thu reach from Virginia TO Texas-'o
vindicate my counrymen-to do justice 10 the
Southern cause-to def nd the honor and interests
of her people that the Southern Opinion is started.
There are time-servers in every cause, ana are
In the South a miserable, serviie coteT's o'
dirteaters that would accept everything ec
orGtil from the conquering power, eoui
the new authority, whatever II may u.s. anu
not have us open our lips, ana VINO nave
already in advance OF the appearance OF our pa
psr. been ready to deprecate il as frebrand' out
thank God there are people Yet lett III lho 'o"'n
who will not lick the hand that smltes them' ou'
ca, show dignity in misfortune, and maintain sell
rosn.c, IN adyarsity have no wish to revive OLD
fepds with the North ] accept the new condition
~ affairs in good faith | shall advocate such
ohedi.pcs TO the Consti ution and the Laws as mas
b..n promised by the people OF the south
sball airport the reconstruction policy OF Pre-
sid.nt Johnson. The emancipation OF the negro
ts di-ayreeable reality that the South must reces
nize; have no desire to see him re-enslaVed
Al, Of which was distinctly affirmed in my original
cause Of the south to be crime, and brand As "fs
long, and ''trdnorS' the gallant men who, half
fad and almost naked, fought for four long years
with a gallantry and endurance OF which history
furnishes no example. Though defeated, the
proud and deathless consciousness is left the Con-
fsderates that they came out Of the war 1HB BET
TER MEN: that the exhibition OF generaishlp, chi
yalry and all that noble ssntimentalism that pro-
perly belong the state OF war, were on the slae
of the South, and that nothing prevented them
from accomplishing their Independence but the
immense superiority Of the North in numbers and
material. It was this numerical inequality, this
vast disparity Of resources, and II alone, that broke
down the Confederacy. l believe that our cause
Is as just and righteous in the sight OF Heaven
now AS on the day OF the first battle of Manassas,
when the south was baptized in fire, and illumi-
mated forever in the temple OF history.
The south has thrown down the sword to take up
the weapons Of argument am In favor OF, and
shall advocate, the Southern States fairly and
truthfuliy, submitting to what the war has con-
auered but they cannot be expected TO give up
,oJ,at ,pos not inuolred ia the todr. The war de-
sided only what was put in issue The restoration
Of the Union and the abolition OF slavery. But II
did not decide negro suffrage II did not decide ne
gro equality and those things which were never
claimed or conquered in the war, the South should
not give up 1t Is precisely those rights OF the
State which the Radical party OF the North would
deny-namsly, to have their constitutional repre-
sentation to decide their obligations OF debt;
to have thei own codes Of crimes and penalties
TO dne the qualifications Of voters; TO deal Dth
their opR domestic concerns, that the Southern
States clam have survived ths,wsr, and are not
subjects Of surrender. The South can sustain
losses greater than the immediate infections OF IRE
and sword and it would be immeasursbly the
worst consequence Of defeat in the war II the South
should lose it's old school, OF literature and scho-
larship, and its moral and intellectual distinctive
ness as a people. There may not be political
South yet there may be a social and intellectual
South