The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1876-10-05
THE puRIrAN's "mrA' on WAR.

an idea rs you and your political a.so-
ciates entertain Of its purposes, objects
and consequences In all your acts and
measures, and by all your speeches and
discussions, you express the idea that the
logic Of blows proves everything you
choose to assert; that the successful in,
vasion Of one people by another ha. the
effect Of destroying all natural right to,
and all legal guarantees for, the life, lib
crty and property OF the people SO nya-
dcd and conquered; that after a trial by
battle the victor may enter up and exc
cute what judgment he plcaSes against
his adversary; that the crime which a
weak community are guilty of when
they attempt to defend their lives, their
property, and their families against
invaders who come upon them
to kill destroy and subugNtc them
is 50 unpardonablc that the whole body
Of the offenders taken collectively, and
all individuals who partNkc even pas.
siycIy Of the sin, may justl Y bc devoted to
death or such other punishment by
wholesale or retail, II, the strong power
shall see proper TO inilict; that the con.
qucror, after the war is over, may insist
that the helpless and unarmcd people,
whom he has proSlmtcd, shall assist him
| by not merely accepting but "adopling'
Il use your own wOrdS0 the measures I'M |
tended to degrade and rob them, and |
thus make himself master OF their souls |
a. well as their bodies, All rightsoi men |
are resolved by this theory into the !
nights Of men.
aver that this doctrine, in all its
length and hrcadth i, false aud pcmi-
cious. 1t i. the foundation ON which all
slavery rests, and the excuse for all
form, Of Tyranny, 1t has no support in
amy sound rule Of public law, and has
never been acknowledged by wise or yir-
tuouS governments in amy age since the
advent Of Christ. You can find no au-
thority for it, except in the examples Of |
men whose names are given over to uni
ycrsal cNccation, Mahomct asserted it
when he forced hi, religion ON the sub
! jugatcd East, when churches were yiO-
IcntIy converted into mosques, and the
emblem Of christianity was tramplcd
under foot to be replaced 10y the badge
Of the impo,tcr On the same prn-
ciplc Poland wls Writioncd and
ireland pIundcrcd dozen times.
The king Of Dahomcy acted up
on it when he sold his cap
tives, and the men Of MaS,achusrtt, in
dor,cd it when they took them in cN-
change for clptiycS OF their own. You
and your conircrcs adopted it a, a part
of your political creed when, after the
southern people were thoroughly sub
| ducl you denied them all rights Of free
men, tore mp their society, abrogalCd ait
laws which could protect them in person
or property, broke their local govern
mcnts in pieces, and put them under the
domination Of notorious thieves, whom
you forced them to accept as their abso-
lutte masters
The results Of the war are no doubt {
very precious, The right to traffic in the
flesh of Indians and negroes was precious !
to the yankees and the king Of Dahomcy {
That was the fruit of their wars, But i
was it in either case legitimate? Your |
great reverence for the founders Of your I
political school in Massachusetts,, to say /
nothing Of your respect for the authority I
Of the African princes, or your faith in I
the Koran. will probably mpcll you to
stand up in favor Of the IDEAS which
you have learned from them, But |
think can maintain the christian law Il
Of liberty in opposition to all your Mus )
Sulman notions for God is great, and r
Mahomct is not His prophet. t
MN, ,,N ~, l,I THE pIt.I .IpT.TE
1t wouhl he very unjust to deny that 4
Il great many men, from the earliest pc !
riod ut our history, were sincerely OPP =
posed to African slavery, from motives of Z
religion, bcncyolcncc and humanity. I
This sentiment was strong in the south b
rs well as the north, and by none was it !
expressed with more icryor than by {
jefferson himself, the great apostle OF /
democracy. But this concession can |
hardly be made to the political aboli. n
tionsts. As an almost universal rule,
the leaders of that sect were ribaId inf n
dcIs, and their conycnticcs tccmcd with n
the most shocking blaSphcmy. They r
were by their own ayOwals, the most d
cruel barbarians of any age. SCrvilc in j
surrcction and general butchcry Of the 4
southern people was Il part of their pro- 4
grammc from the beginning, The leadcrstO il
whom thcyg gave their highest admiration h
were the men whO.c feet were the swift q
est in running to shed innocent blood. 4
Seward won their affections in his early
manhood by proposing measures from J
which civil war would he sure to come, =
and in which he promised that negroes c
should be melted to rise in hlackcst in .,
surrcction' They applaudcd John |
Brown to the echo for Il series Of the Il
ba-c-t murders ON record. They did not t
conceal their hostility to the federal and I
state Governments, nor deny their Cnmity !
to all laws which protected the liberties d
of white men. The constitution stood in /
their way, and they cursed it bitterly; q
the bible was quoted against them, and q
they rcviIcd God Almighty himself. !
know that the mind of man, like his body, '
i. lrarruIlv and wonderfully made; | d
understand all the difficulty analyzing 5
human passions, and admit we should t
not Judge harshly ol motives; but how !
these hcarlIc>, opprc,sOrS OF their own
race could have any'carc for the freedom I
of the negro passes my comprehension. {
Unless you can explain it otherwise, the 4
Judgment of history must inevitably ]
he against the sincerity Of their
anti slavery profession. In the pres
cnt aspect of the case it
seems impossible to believe that
love OF the negro was not assumed aS Il
mere excuse for enslaying the white
race, Just as their ancestors Put ON the
prctcnsc Of picty to "ratify their appc
tie for the property aud blood Of better
people than themselves You must pos
itiycly reconsider this subject before you
und, rtakr AGAIN to present the abo!i
ZIONIST, to the world in the respectable
character Of fanatics. think you will |
/ find that the crew ol the MayilGwcr |
I brought over and planted no germ OF an
idea which ha, ilourishcd with moro