The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-10-09

geancs which yet reign in rebeldom
and many, half honest, doubtless. cal
for evidence before they will believe ir
such IA state OF things. Even some Abo
litionists consider their work finished
and wonder that any of their old com
rades can deem special effort needed tol
the protection of the victim race.
In fact the wonder would have been
| il the state of the nation had been any
| other than just what IL is. Weare pass
| ing through Just those trials and dan
gers that every thoughtful man must
| have looked for. The unphilosophical
| minds are those which suffered them
selves to be deluded, by any appear
ances, however auspicious, into believ-
! ing that it was possible for u victim
race, like the negro, to be dragged
wholly out of danger and suffering by
mere victory in battle. The states
lnanship which believes in such mira
cles is quaCkery.
| Consider II moment. The working
force OF this nation 10 day is the loyal
mass of the North. Out ofwhat pit has
it been dug2 Up to 1861 that mass was
corrupted to the core by slavery. The
| poison showed itself in politics, com
| merce, literature and religion. Mer-
chants kept their principles and goods
equally on sale. They were always
ready, even at the busiest season, 10
give their clerks vacation any day
| to mob down free speech. Har-
rison. G ray Otis, in Faneuil Hall ,sneered
| at fanatics who thought the sermon on
/ the Mount weighed more than the Con-
stitution. Webster ridiculed the higher
| law amid a million plaudits. Horace
| Mann let us know he should not have
committed what he deemed infamous
sin unless the Constitution had ordered
it. The very ethics taught in our col
leges were wrenched away by this in
nuence. Professor Stuart divorced con-
science from the Constitution. 1t WAS
while President Wayland's hair was
shorn by this Delilah that he wrote his
"Limitations OF Human Responsible
| ty.p1 The American Tract Society
struck Christianity out of every essay
stole from the English authors. In
that farrago of prejudice and aifectn-
! ton which Bancroft calls "a History
| of the United States" he remOdeled a
| chapter to appease this idol. PhilHdel-
! phia editors omitted Longfellow's anti.
| slavery poems. Episcopal priests
4 struck the negro out of Arg Shener's
! ChriStuS COnSOtdtOT, and the anti. sla'
| cry chapter out of an English Bishops
| History of their Church.. While mobs
burned negroes in the streets, the pull
pits hastened to prove that mObs were
form of LIlU ! and eagerly snatched
every chance to wallow in this iniquity
| They eXpurSated hymns so as not &c
offend sinuers; elected shareholders 10
their highest honors; sent their sham
| gospel to the heather, with money goI
| from the sale Of slaves; maintained u
! slave pen in each church; served blacks
at the communion after the whites
were all done, and ended with making
the Bible the corner stone OF slavery,
and stamping every man with "intidei'
who doubted that such was the proper
place for the book. H-HNH f-
Such teaching had its full effect. Can
we expect that, after half II century
Of it, four years of gunpowder will
cure all these sores2 Will the smoke
of dozen battles purge the film from
such eyes Will such a people see
clearly, resolve promptly, and execute
with relentless fidelity TO Justice? OF
course not; they will stumble and
! yrope-go astray and be easily misled,
even when their hearts are right. For
IA long while "theys will see men as
trees walking" a Divine hand could
not cure more quickly than that. Can
we expect the rough experience OF II
camp to do it? ...-. ..fEa .as.
Such was the North, and such its
leaders in Church and State. What
was the South OF course the South
had neither religion nor literature. Its
commerce was an exotic, like trading
| StuIlOnS OH Tue SulIleh EOuSIs IL was
| simply vaTniShed barbarism. 1t had
all the Incidence, the cowardly cruelty,
the waste, the senseless pride. the infR-
nous and hasty vices (IIOl nOmildIdd
inter. ChriStidIiOS), the blood -thirstness
and brutal obstinacy common among
4 savages.
Now take n war between two such
sections. Let the first, in n moment OF
passion, and largely from desire of vic
| tory-not from pure love of Justice
set free the slaves OF the second, in de-
fiance of it, and then leave such freed
! men in the hands OF their late masters
and present enemies. Does any man,
acq TAINTED with his own nature or IN
miliRr with history, doubt what would
be the result2 Can any such man need
| testimony and statistics to prove that
! the slave section would exhaust every
! device which rage, hate and lust could
| suggest TO avert its fHte-and that 1t
| would be met with ialtering, irresOlute
and laundering ignorance by the other
4 section? Do men gather grapes OF
thorns or figs of thistles How, then,
can the calm Judgment, impartial JUS
! tice and clear foresight needed in such
an emergency be expected from such a
North Ir that loyal submission, that
generous and forbearing megnanitnity
the hour demands, be expected from
| such Il South? ~ E'HHsE4 .ts.-s
4 Five or six years aren not time enOugh b
for the eradication of so fell disc ase.
| We exhorJ our friends abroad, and
/ those, who, at home, Judge without re-
Election, 10 apply their common sense
to this problem. THE accident of a
traitor in the White House-the timidi-
! " and seltishness OF Republican lead
/ ers-hardly more in amonnt than all
parties necessarily have at all times
much as they complicate the problem,
/ do not constitute the whole or the spe-
ciaI danger of the hour. The root OF
the difficulty Is the old disease not yet
4 wholly cared. The, poison of slavery
still convulses the body-politic. Both
sections. North and South, are, to be
sure, Infinitely more intelligent and
I well disposed than the most sanRuine
! of us dared to hope ten years ago. The
primal danger still comes from a
ESOuth-bankrupt gamblers who played
\ for an empire and lost-which heaves
rand losses with snlten pride of race,
robbed of its victim; sectional hate
nursed for years, and now sore with
defeat; Ignorance daZZled blind with
sudden light, and pride rudely hum
bled.. This state of things is Inevitable,
1 was TO be expected, and must be pro-
vided for. Meanwhile, the North-the
present pilot of the State-though
war, Esrill shows the istupefying
effect OF the long false teaching
from pulpit. mart anu forum. II
means we'll but from under heavy eye
lids sees confusedly. The fierce direct
hness OF purpose on the battlefield has
been satisfied by victory. old prejudi-
\ ces revive. Bitter party spirit reap
strife, cunningly weaving up old errors
and appealing to old prejudice to serve
its purpose, It's -Eoice deceiyes by the
\ familiar tones. The best minds the