Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-09-05

VI representation kudIhHlee IHelT aDhn-
donment Of the principles for which
they were lately contending? Or are
they shifting the field of strife from the
military TO the legislative arena?
Men there are in those eleven States
who stood faithful among the faitllless.
There are also men in the South who
were overpowered in a reign Of terror
second only to the prosecutions through
which the early Christians passed to the
glory of martyrdom.
!. Thousands of Union-loving men and
women, finding it impossible to save
themselves or to protect their families
from the. cxactions OF those merciless
Catalinog, paid tribute under protest to
demands which were enforced by the
halter and fre-brand. There are still
Union men in the South, of sterner and
more u1finching character than these l
would excuse. ..i '-..
have seen an old, white-haired man,
STAKEHOLDER, in town sacked and burn
ed by the Confederates, drawing forth
the charred and blackened remains of q
son from the smoldering ruins of the
home he had been defending. To my
question, "Who are your Union men ?''
the old man replied: "There are my
neighbors; let them speak for tber''-
selves. Some will not answer for, but
there are some men here, destitute and
ruined IA ! am, the blood of their broth
ers and sons, if it could speak, would an
swer your questions. Bring the flag you
have aboard your steamboat, and set it
up among the ruins of our homes, and
every drop remaining in this old body
shall go to defend the stars and stripes,
and the best Government in the world
There are plenty of men in the South who
feel as | do, and who would spedk as I
do if they only had u fair shOW."
Now, my friends, are such men as these
invited to take front seats in the conven-
tions where Southern men assemble to
discuss the best means of restoring the
Union? Let the men who walked arm
in arm" III Philadelphia answer.
And who are the men who run eagerly
to embrace these returning prodigals,
with hands red with the blood Of fathers,
brothers and sons?
In the light of recent events, / think
we are justified in doubling whether, in
their minds, secession ii dead or sleep
ing; whether, when we have taken the
viper into our bosomes, fed, and warmed,
and nursed it, it does not sting Us more
fatally than before.
There is party here at the North
whose fraternal feeling is reused to all
intense degree, by the fact that the rebel
lion is dead, and that the Conlederates
acknowledge themselves beaten. SO full
are they of the spirit of forgiveness and
brotherly love, that they would fain blot
out every record of the past; they would
bury the dead of both armies in one COM
mon grave, and erect over them one
common monument with this inscrip-
ton "To the honored dead Of the ma
tion.
Is it from the so-called Radicals we
hear this language, or is it from those
who, during the progress ofthe rebellion,
were its sympathizing aiders and abet-
! tors, who held the hands Of our brave de-
! Tenders while they were assailed in front
who invited foreign Interference, and
entangled the operations of the Govern
ment in untold complications and diff
culties? / invite these tender-hearted
politicians to unmask, and let US see the
policy with which they insure peace and
| Union. Is it rotten with seliiShness
weak with sophistry, or sound to the core
with principle and common sense?
Better the stern justice of the judge
who ordered the child cut in twain, and
diUiIGd betIUeen maternal claimants, in
order that nature and tIUth mint assert
themselves, than the mercy that will not
reject elements Of abasement and corrup-
ton.
In this trial on which hangs the life of
the nation, let the partisan political law
yers take the back seats; let the patriots
and the loyal people near the ermine and
hold the courts, as the Romans did of old,
in the public market places, over which
the eagle banner may be hung without
fear Ofinsult or half repressed cOntumely.
We want no quibbles and precedents, no
professional subtleties and writs of error,
no special pleading, brow-beating ofwit-
nesses and attempts TO make out case,
no taking of it up to higher court.
The court TO which the conservatives
appeal is the Cabinet of the Administra-
ton, which they claim is the Constitu-
tional court of the nation, probably be-
cause it is elevated above the Court of
Common Pleas, where the people are in
the habit OF trying their cases, and just
now invested with a certain dignity of
"higher law" Do they think the masses
more amenahle to uystitication there
than in the lower courts of common prac-
tice?
Thank God there is such thing as a
higher law, the law of enlightened pub
lie conscience. Thank God there are
such things rs enthusiasm and faith
faith in the good old scripture sense-not
a cold intellectual belief, but that stuff
out of which heroes are made, which
takes possession Ofmen according to their
integrity, firmness of will, and power of
endurance; and, after all il is principles
and not men which conquer" according
to our faith it was done unto us, I" and we
need only~a larger faith, and more per-
vading enthusiasm to carry the Ship of
State safely through the dangers Of the
present hour. ......
"Thou too sail on, ship of State.
G-4il N
Humanity with all Its fears,
With all LhC hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathlesS on thy fate!
We know what master laid thy keel,
What worlkmen wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What anvilS Iang, what hammers beat,
In what a forge, and what n heat
Were shaped the anchors of thy hopei
Fear not each sudden sound and shock,
Ills Of The wave, and not the rock;
"piS but the Tapping of the SAIL
And not rent made by tn O gale!
In spite OF rock and tempests roar,
In spite of false lights ON the shore,
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee
our hearts, our hopes, our prayers our tears
Our faith triumphant DER our fears,
Are all with thee-are all with thee!"
How often have our poets, as if in 8
spirit of prophesy, spoken brave, true
words, which in times of peril animate
and sustain the enthusiasm of the people
These lines, though written in times Of
profound peace, fully express the hopes
and confidence of every patriotic Heart