The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-09-21

made unknown progress in the North; its
spirit triumphed over all counsels Of vengeance;
and for the first time in the history of the
world q great nation was found great enough
TO live up to the doctrine "forgive your enc
mics, and do good to those that despitefully
use you" We forgave them all Our pardon
was as free and general as the air. Four muir
derers were hung; the miserable Wirz atoned
upon the scaffold for crimes for which, per-
haps, he was not responsible; but all the great
criminals Of the South were Internationally
pardoned. Not an inch of Southern land was
confscated Jefferson Davis was imprisoned, IL
is true but not at Andersonville. ALI that we
demanded was tbis-that the leaders of the
Rebellion should not retain the control of the
South, and that none but loyal men should
take part in its reconstruction. AT first the
people of the Southern States were bewildered
by the generosity they received. For time
they were unable to understand that IL would
continue; but now how do they repay itY Let
the New Orleans massacre, the reign of terror
in Texas, the speeches of Wade Hampton and
Howell Cobb, the threats Of the Rebel press
the oruelties OF the Ku-Klux Klan, answer for
their gratitude.
Under the guidance Of party controlled by
professional politicians and Office hunters, the
South now assumes the attitude of a wronged
and outraged people. 1t has forgotten all that
has happened since 1860, and remembers only
the golden age of Buchanan and Pierce, when
none but Southerners were permitted to rule
the country; when the North was regarded
only as mighty slave to do the work of its
Southern masters. 1t has forgotten all that it
did to destroy the Constitution, and claims to
be the especial champion of that document
which Davis trampled in the dust, and Lee
riddled with bullets. 1t has forgotten that to
all crimes penalties are attached, and has trans
ferred to the North the entire responsibility of
the war and the miseries which the Rebellion
caused. Democratic orators and conventions
accuse the Government of the United States of
military despotism; of overthrowing the free
dom OF speech and the press; of converting
the National Capitol into a bastile, and OF
aiming to effect the subjugation of the
people "amid the ruins of liberty and the
shattered fragments Of the Constitution"
Rabel Generals meet in the North to nominate
President for the Republic, and to dictate the
principles of reconstruction. pirate and a
guerrilla declare the General of the Union
armies an enemy of the country he saved.
From all parts of the Rebel States comes the
cry that American msgnanimity is worse than
Russian tyranny, and it is the favorite theme
OF the Rebel Ciceros to represent the South as
beautiful and bleeding Poland, trampled
upon by the brutal heels of Northern Huns,
and tortured because of her virtues Mouths
which are most eloquent in curses represent
the South as drenched in her own tears, and
men whose highest Inspiration is hatred of the
negro, whose dearest hope is to reduce him
again to abjeot servitude, denounce their
merclful cenquerors as ira RS and vandals
The North is arraigped as the Judas of the age,
the Jemy of all good, and the authors of the
Rebellion claim to be the sole possessors of
what little patriotism is left OH the American
continent. ...
This picture of the relations of the con-
quered Rebellion to the Union is but family
drawn. tha cbanUa eli tha ,1n n,
war has been SO gradually effected that it is not
easily understood. Then the South crouched
at our feet; now 1t towers above US. Then its
hands were clasped in supplcation; now they
are uplifted in menace. No one could have
believed when Lee surrendered to Grant, beg
gipg generous terms for his army, that in a
few years he would dare to arraign his mag
nanimous conqueror as atyrant and oppressor.
This he has done, not directly, it is true, but
by the strongest implication, in that letter
which holds up the Government which Grant
represents as an unconstitutional despotism.
II is objectionable insolence that the military
chief of the Rebellion should pretend that his
rights under the Constitution are withheld;
that he endures oppressive misrule, and that
he can talk OF selt-government as his birth
right-he who eight years ago broke the
oath he had taken to support the Constitution
of his country, and who fought for years to
destroy the republic he now claims an inalien-
able right to govern. Efrontery could go no
further than General Lee has carried it when
he says that If the action of the Southern
people, in submitting to the Government when
they could no longer resist, chad been met
in spirit of trankness and cordiality'' by
loyal men, our national troubles would have
ended. He and his comrades, and the corrupt
leaders OF the Democratic party, throw the
whole blame OF the war, and the debt, and the
miseries which have followed, upon the North.
The men who saved liberty are accused of
plotting to destroy it, and the worst Rebels In
the land announce themselves as the only true
defenders of the republic. To this have we
been brought by generosity without ex-
ample. Do we regret it No. The insolent
ingratitude which repays the magnanimity of
the American people makes it the greater
virtue. We would still forgive the Rebellion,
but we will not surrender the Union.