The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-08-13
The Blind Men.

Inc bl1QQ NhcA'
There was recently copied into this paper
an extract from JOHN MIToHEL's interesting
"Jail Journal, - In which the statement was
made that General LEE was an cmanclpa-
zionist. This Immediately caught the eye
of some leading Radical editors of the
North, and they express their great aston.
ishment at the fact. How very wise these
people are ! AS if man could not be an
emsncipationist and yet fight on the side OF
the Confederacy As if there was no prin-
ciple, no question Of honor, involved in the
issue between the South and the North ;
but only the negro-nothing more.
It is, SO far as the southern public feeling
towards General LEE is concerned, matter
OF not the slightest Importance whether he
ser I'm; nasspcis:s=ss. ut g. e not. There
M na,,, who wsfs eMaaGipaifspeenn,siisn
owl" opinion that slavery was
sor m was inherited in Virginia fra S' al
v1rgnIae Statesmen were the leaders Of the
opposition to the slave trade upon the high
seas, and its abolition was due to their zeal
Gus struggle against it in the face of New
England interests and New England cum
ming.
AS late as 1880 Virginia was upon the eve
of abolishing slavery, and had LLOYD GAR
RIsoN, ARTHUR and WILLIAM TAPPAN, and
GERRIr SMITH, and other enthusiasts, let us
alone at that day, gradual emancipation
would probably have been inaugurated in
Virginia, and would have been completed
before the late civil war. But the abolition
lists became officious, and excited jealousies
md prejudices and stirred up the powerful
int - IN slave property to extraordinary
efforts, and the measure in favor Of gradual
abolition was defeated by a majority, we be-
Neye, of one--certainly it was bare ma
jority.
The bigoted ultra Radicals and northern
enthusiasts can see no good outside of them
selves, can perceive no high motives in any
body Of men opposing their views. They
cannot understand how man opposing
slavery in the abstract, and concurring with
Mr.. JEFFERSON in his fearful fOreboding OF
the terrible consequences to his country of
the presence in its bosom of a race of men
SO distinct from its governing people, can,
Slh6 u Ildu VI laN AOuOiS uSASho ohiO
rights of his fellow-citizens and his State
the rights Of property and rights of jul |
relating to slaves, to the citizen, |
and to the State. Above all, they cannot |
see how, under the former construction of
the Republican system of This country, a |
great man might feel bound by the ALE
glance due from him to his native State
against all other powers on earth.
No, they are blind to all these things, and
when General LEE is said to have been an
the fools, with open
mouths and staring eyes, cry out, in the
words Of Prince GEORGE of Denmark, |
Queen ANMs's husband, els it possible p
These blind guides, with their eyes
closed with beams, set up morality, |
and higher law of their |
own. They ignored the past, and the law
and existing Constitutions, and were ready
10 plunge all who did not embrace their |
aith and worship trtheir shrine into eter-
nal wreck. It is these bigots who have
given tome TO the wretched Federal policy
towards the southern States since the war.
They have neither pity, fear, nor love. 49,.
It is time that. the nation. had discarded
;he counsels of these bigots, who resemble
~ Chinese In their saperstitions, the AL
- i'm their lawlessness, and the Thugs |
aheir yindietissaess. The prac-
56s Industrious, good people OF
the North have some human sympathies |
beyond the control and peryersion of the
mansas, maignities, and knaveries Of the |
men who have SO yeXed the nation, and
have 80 retarded the restoration of peace.
They can appreciate the wisdom of sooth- |
ing public excitement quieting appFehen>i
sionss Seeming sectional asperities, by lib
eral policy and impartial administration.
There Is no reason why North and South |
may NOS meet on this platform as equals,
and combine for the welfare OF all.
The southern people in the late war were
sustained by the highest sense of honor and
duty, and their motives and their heroism
entitss them to the respect of the world. |
They yielded with grace to superior force.
and have from the moment OF their defeat
been as good citizens as any within the
limits of the Union. The welfare Of the
nation demands that they be treated In the
best mannert TO restore their prosperity and
t0reyiYe and resstablish harmony amongst
The people. This Is necessary to the great
sss degree of the power Of the nation-the.
: eeaFty co6peratf0n OF the whole people in
goed OF the country, and, If need be,