Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1870-05-21
ruE ErFECr-Sor THE CAUSE.

~ Bs
d TT r. 4 mistake, We think to a..
cribe to the war, alone, the frightful !
decentralization everywhere visible
within the limits of the late Repub- }
Iic--kpown as the United States. II |
= trde that the war gave abundant
opportunities for the development,
of latent villainy and brought to the
surface the. most corrupt specimens
TR humanity which are still ahoat, !
as prominent and offensive objects
ON the upper scum OF the putrid fer
mentatibn.s But for the war, many
Of the Butler stamp might have
passed through life unmarked, it is
true, by any sterling virtue, yet an
distinguished by the brutal scoun-
drelism which gives them pre-emi-
ience above the lesser villains who
follow IN their wake. ~
But, whilst all will admit that the
war has developed, in thousands,
every grade of brutality of which
human nature Is capable, tits none
the less clear, to W., that the war it.
self was the culminatingipoint Of
pre-cxisting moral depravity. Abo-
litionism was the offspring of de-
sire to impair the rights of property
and to sugar. coat its infainy, religious
sfanatlcism was invoked to its aid and
appeals made to a higher law, emen-
ating from neither God nor man-an
indetinable something that was made
to serve as cloak for the most nefa-
rious designs. This acknowledge
nent Of q higher law created disre
gard for organic and statute laws and
paved the way for that spirit of ag-
-s,ressive twickedness which culmi-
mated in four years war. The sue
cess that attended these. first moves
of the disorganizers OF the Govern
inent aud of public virtue, were fol-
lowed by spiritualism, whose lecher-
Gus advocates, after pretended inter-
views with the dead, promulgated
doctrines violative of the sanctity Of
marriage and subvesive of the whole
moral structure of society.
Then followed /" free love" which,
under cover of the higher law Of
"spiritual affinity" has been prolific
of adultery, fornication and murder
WITH all their Tconcomitant and kin
dred vices. The ministers of the Cos
pei ceased to preach peace and good
will, and became the willing tools of
corrupt politicians, and the mouth
pieces Of every association that fos-
tered vice and lowered the standard
of Christianity. Even woman, to
whom civilization has ever looked as
the conservator of all that is beauti-
full and pure i'm social life, has over
stepped her proper bounds and, with
a boldness horn ofdepravity, mounted
the MISUNDERSTANDING that woman's
rights are commensurate with wo-
mans Will and that, married or sin
gle, she has the right to choose the
fathers of her children. 1t Is true
that not all the fast women of the
North have gone to this extreme
length, In public addresses, but all
are travelling the road that will, ul-
timately, take them even beyond 1t,
and with them the weaker and purer
Of the sex who, by degrees, will sue
cumb to the evil contagion.
In'this hasty and unfinished group
Ing of the characteristics Of itadlcal-
Ism, may be found the true causes OF
the war, and all the blood split dur
Ing the terrible strife will not suffice
10 wash out the indellible record OF
Injustice. cruelty and crime made by
the party In power. No form of gov
rrnment was ever long respected by
puritans, and no principle OF moral
ar political justice can Withstand the
combined force of their hypocrisy
and knavery. But, not content with
making war upon governments and
men, they are now engaged In the
diabolical work of destroying every
element of purity that cndears wo-
man To man aud of consummatlng,
by her fall, the ruin of that healthy
and happy system of society which
rests upon her spotless character as
wife, mother, daughter and sister.
No war however dcsolating itssweep
over the face of the country, has ever
.qualled, in Its demoraiizing effects,
the blighting deterioration in morals
which has been achieved by the long
and persistent teachings Of the puri-
tan knaves who plotted, years In adj
vance, the overthrow of this govern
ment and the ruin Of public and pri-
Vate virtue.