Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-02-02
The Martyred South and Tyrant North.

THERE are certain passages in the speech
| OF the Confederate leader, Ben Hill, last
week, in the House of Representatives,
| which are deeply significant, and, coming
| from representative man, ought not to be
overlooked. Cheered and applauded by the
democrats, Nj. Hill. bravely gave expression
| to the views Of his Confederate associates.
In his place in the House he said:
We come to crafty no vengeance: 10 retaliats
| no wrongs. to resent no past Insults. We come
with = patriotic purpose to restore an honest,
economical and constitutional administration Of
the government. We charge all
wrongs to that higher law fanaticsm which never
kept pledge or law. We sought to leave the as
ISOLATION OF those Who would not keep fidelity to
the covensnt. We sought TO go by ourselves but
80 far from having lost our fidelity to the Con,d-
tuition, We Rugged it to our bosom and carried it
with MS. But you. gentlemen. who perse-
cuted US by your inhdeies until you drove us out
ofthe Union; you, who then claimed to be the only
friends OF the Union which you had before de-
nounced as league with death aud 3 covenant
with hell you who follow up the war when the
soldiers who fought 1t have made peace and gone
10 Their homes, TO You we have no concessions to
make. MARTYRS OWN NO APOLOGY TO IYRANTs,
and while We are ready to make every .acrihce for
the Union. secession, however defeated and op-
pressed, VIII confess no sin TO fanaticism, how
ever bigoted and exacting; yet, while We make to
you no concessions We say this: We come even to
you in no spirit Of revenge. We have but one
bltion, and that is to add our political power 10 the
patriotic men the North meaning tue old cop
perheads in order 10 compel fanaticsm TO obey
the laws and TO live in the Union according to the
Constitution. We do not propose to compel you
by oaths, for you never kept them. The South id
the Union one great wrong, and we come as far as
we can TO repair II. We wronged the Union
grievously when we left it, to be seized. and rent
and torn by the men who had denounced il as q
league with death and = covenant with hell. We
ask you. gentlemen OF the Republican party, to
rise above all your animosities and to forget your
old sin.
Here is fair expression OF the Democrat
ic Confederate sentiment at the South. The
complaint is that the South was foully
wronged; that ii went out because the North
would not keep its pledges and would not be
faithful to the Constitution; that the South
sought to leave those violating the Constitu-
ton, and that it for four years carried that
Constitution in its bosom, to preserve and
keep it sacred; that the North followed them
with war, invaded their soil, occupied their
country and relentlessly, with ruthless war,
harassed and distressed the faithful South,
who had become the depository OF and pre-
server Of the Constitution. Now, what
wrongs had the South sustainedY What
pledges had been broken! What part of the
Constitution violated! The South placed
its secession upon the distinct ground that
the people Of the North had, by nearly
unanimous electoral vote, elected Abraham
Lincoln President That election was de
| clared to be an all-suficient cause for dis.
solution of the Union. South Carolina Sc
ceded in December, 1860, and jefferson Davis
was elected President of the Confederacy be-
| fore Mr.. Lincoln was sworn into Office, At
| the time these Democratic States seeded
there was Democratic majority in both
branches of Congress, and the Executive De-
partment was exclusively Democratic. No
wrong had been perpetrated; no wrong was
| contemplated. The Republican party was
under pledge not to interfere with slavery
| where it existed in the States, and no such
| interference was intended. The South Sc
| coded for the purpose OF dissolying the
| Union it could no longer absolutely control
and in which it had become minority, and
| the election OF Mr.. Lincoln was u mere pre-
| text. Mr.. Hills arraignment of the North
| was but u repetition of the senseless jargon
| of the disunonists in 1860 and 1861. 1t is dcs-
| titute of truth--merc wild assertion, without
fact to give it even the semblance OF truth.
After recapitulating the wrongs and out
RACES" inflicted upon the "South" by the
| war upon those who had sought to secede,
| including the barbarities ~ practiced upon
| the rebel prisoners at Camp Douglas, Elnira
and other places where they had been con.
fined Mr.. Hill declared tina: the South,
being guiltless Of wrong, was not to assume
nor to be placed in the position Of pcnitents
asking for forgiveness. The South had
come back TO Congress to aid Its old friends
and sympathizerS, the Northern copper
heads, in getting possession Of the Govern
ment, and not to ask pardon Of Government
! which the South was hereafter to rule and
control.
But he summed up the whole story in the
defiant declaration that "MARTYRs OWE NO
APOLOGY TO rYRANTs," and IS SECESSION,
HOWEVER DEFEATED AND OPPRESSED, WILL
CONFESS NO SIN TO FANATItIsM.
The line is here drawn between the mar
tyrcd South and the tyrant North aud it is
| proclaimed that the South cannot be tor
! tured into the confession that secession was
Va al.I a s.at
| the representatives Of the loyal North by a
| man who, while hugging the Constitution
| to his heart, proposed in the Confederate
| Senate that every Northern soldier found in
| the South should be shot down as a pirate
| and outlaw, was vocifcrously applauded by
the Democrats Mr., Hill and his associates,
whose hands are red with the blood OF coun-
trymcn OF the South and the North shed in
the "unholy war; they so basely precip-
| tated, make but a sorry picture playing the
| part of martyrs. Nor can he excite much
| sympathy for himself and associates by
claiming that the horrors inflicted upon the
| unfortunate prisoners at Andcrsonyilc were
| but appropriate punishments for the armed
emissaries of the tyrant North.
In all the history Of the rebellion we do
not think there Is a parallel for the brazen
impudCncc and defiant insolcncc displayed
by Ben Hin, of Georgia, in this debate. Ten
years have passed since the war. In that
llfnt Tue NOlthtIH pcoplt nave Dtch ucillh1
with these rebels in spirit of generous lib
crafty. No man has been punished, or pros
ecuted or hung. All have been admitted to
suffrage. All but a handful have received
entire political rehabilitation. Ben Hill
| himself sits IN Congress through the grace
! and amnesty of the country he betrayed.
| Nevertheless the first use he makes OF his
| pardon is to basely malign the generous
| people of the North, and dehantly proclaim
! himself a martyr in the immaculate cause
| Of secession Personally this man is but an
| migrate; but as representative OF that large
class now controlling most OF the recon
structed States his words convey 10 the peo-
! pie of the North the warning lesson that the
| Democratic party now contains WITHIN It's
] l. l. -A----l IL L. " L.