The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-01-28
n I r o U L A +
rHE SOUTHERN OPINION.
AIprxAaLH COUNTY. VA, January - " "t

7 .adYass Won from bed Of sickness, 10 Wnieh
have bean confined for more than month. IN
derstanding that my long absence from Hi'"A'o
has been miscon.trued by some ana rsp'e'eA
nv other, as an abandonment on my pa" u
.r,.,ny.s Of sstabiishing my new paper-1"'
Southern optnfon-it seems proper inst snoni0
,orr.., an impression so unfounded and Injurious
and ,f,, With this object Issue this circuisr.
hone that rumor 80 siJ and ridiculous VIII not
End Judgment In the public mind. 80 laf' ~
deed. from abandoning, or even relaxing M III!
nurpose. am more determined than ever 70 carry
out my enterprise and instead OF being oi'couf'
aged or growing respondent, the kind eonsratoia'
fiona and oenerous words OF cheer that have
nonred in daiIy upon me from Virginia to Texas in
sure me Of Its success and give new life ana cour'
age to nv heart for its undertaking. My sickness
NAV necessarily occasion some little delay In inc
appearsnce of the paper, but It shall not affect my
purpose, unless to make me more AMBITIOUS anu
determined In its accomplishment. III 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 obtained
an Office rented and occupied for nearly some TWO
months, and most efficient and accomplished ma
mayer and clerk in my employment for that time
and fiat 30 soon as certain arrangements, so ndis-
pensable to the starting OF new paper are per-
fectad, and M health will permit, The Soa'"er"
0.,infoa will unsLe athe its sword and unfurl its
banner to tie breeze-and then let dirteater' anu
speculatots end thieves at the public crib ana
,tptk.,s who have crawled back into Richmond
since it's surrender BswARc!
Tba way has not swallowed up everything.
Thar ara still missions Of duty and glory for the
soutL al important interests which 1t Is f"r her
attn To cultivate and maintain. Defeat has not
made "all cur sacred things profane.' The war
has left the South it's own memories, Its own he'
roas ne own tears its own dead. The south can
yst nrsserye its moral and intellectual sistinctse
ness az n people, and continue to assert i.s "ei
known superiority over the Nor n In ci'ilAa,''''
In political scholarship, In Its scnoois oi rehe
ment and in all the standards OF lnoiViouat en'
racter This superiority the war mas not con-
o,srsd or lowered aud the South will do right "a
claim and cherish 1t. However our enemies may
.xnIt over us the fact can never be obliteratea
rroo The mage 81 history that it is the South thai
chiefly contributed to all that has given lustre
n Tho military history OF America, or the councils
NJ Il. Senate and has produced that list OF Illus
trious American names best known In the ohfiS'
tan yorld-WAsHIsGToS, JEFFERSON, hAplsoH
MONROE, JACKSON, MARSHALL, CLAY, CALHouN
DAVIS. Ike, and " SToSEwAJL" JACKSON. NC
| not forget" said Senator Hammond, OF south "a
rolina, when Mr.. Seward boasted IN the united
STATE, senate that the North was about to take
control Of the Government, ait can never DO Tor
go.tsn-it is written on the brightest page OF hu
man history-that we, the Shareholders OF thf
South took our country in her infancy, and aftel
ruling her for sixty cut of seventy years OF hel
existence we shall surrender her to you withouta
stain upon her honor, boundiess In prosperity, In
| csculabls in her strength, the wonder ana adml'
| ration of the world Time will show what you
will make OF her but no time will ever diminish
our glory"
Its in this spirit OF pride and love for the South
| and her noble dead that am about emparKins IL
the enterprise OF a Southern paper In Richmond
not a paper whose utterances are regulated In tone
| and temper by the distance OF Yankee bayonet'
from it's Office, and that would now, for the mere
prosperity OF dollars and Gems, make JrtendS Win
| the Yankees confess that we had been engaged II
| q srebellion". never breathe a word about the
Confederacy but impiously consiSnto OBLIVION the
glorious memories Of that four years struggle ana
he noble martyrs whose lives have been gwen 70
h.ir country. i Is TO preserve these memories
| O embalm the noble deIuS ANU s5SiihN'n va 49,
| confederate dead-to describe the various cemete
ries where our loved and lost ones are gathered
| and the renowned battle. fields, and the gallant
oan uyho lad our armies-to keep bright the altar
NJ sacri6cs that reach from Virginia to Texas-tt
| vindicste nv CONFERENCE.-The do justice 10 the
Southern cause-to def nd the honor and interest,"
of her people that the Southern Opinion Is started
| There are time-servers In every cause, ana @f'
| In the South a miserable, servile coterte o
| dirt-eaters that would accept everything e.
| orGti. from the conquerng power, coui
| the new authority, whatever 1t may os' aho
not have US open our lips, ana VINO II" ''
| already. in advance OF the appearance OF our pa
| psr been ready to deprecate it as trebrana pa
| ,ha,L God there are people YET left in the South
| ubo will not lick the hand that smites them, on'
can show dignity In misfortune, and maintain sell
| rosn.ct In ADVERSELY have no wish to revive OLD
! fsnds with the North accept the new condiuoh
| NJ affairs in good faith | shall advocate such
o.o,i.r.s N The Consti ution and the Laws as has
| ham promised by the people oil the south
shall support the reconstructon Poicy OF rre-
sident Johnson. The " emancipation OF the negro
10 .di-ayrseable reality that the South must recog
| MIA. I have no desire to see him re-enslaVed."
An Of which was distinctly affirmed in my original
| nro.psctus but never, NEVER will | admit the
canse of the south TO be crime, and brand As re
| Ions'; and "trditOrs' the gallant men who hail.
| fsd and almost naked fought for four long years
| with gallantry and endurance OF which history
| furnishes no example. Though defeated, the
proud and deathess consciousness Is left the Con
| fsderates that they cams out Of the war 1hE BET
TER MEN that the exhibition OF generalship, chi
valry and all that noble ssntimentallsm that pro-
pery belong to the state OF war, were on the eide
| 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, tni'
vast disparity Of resources, and alone, that broke
| down the Confederacy. | believe that our cause
IL a, inst and as 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 III
| IN. weapons OF argument l am IN favor OF, and
.hall advos ate the Southern States fairly ant
| truthfuliy, submitting to what the war has con
ouered /: but they cannot be expected TO give NJ
| ,oJ.at to0s not iauOIred ia the iodr. The war de-
sidsd only what was put in issue The restoration
| of the Union and the abolition OF slavery. But
did not decide negro suffrage II did not decide ne
gro equality and those things which We're neVs
claimed or conquered in the war, the South shoulc
not give up. 1t is precisely those rights OF thu
state which the Radical party Of the North woul'
deny-namsly, to have their constitutional repre-
sentation to decide their own obligations OF debt
10 have tn cir own codes Of crimes and penalties
IN define the qualifications Of voters to deaf DuI
their o,1n domestic concerns, that the Southern
States claim have survived ths,wsr, and are no
subjects Of surrender. The South can sustain
losses greater than the immediate infections OF fr
and sword and 1t would be immeasurzbly thu
worst consequence OF defeat In the war III the sou
should lose its old schools Of literature and seho
larship, and its moral and intellectual distinctive
ness as a people. There may not be politics
South vet there may be social and intellectual
South.
/ | have ventured upon this enterprise with m
| wbol. besrt Eyery ambition and hope OF my ltf