Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-01-28
The Martyrod South and ryrant 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 10 be
overlooked. Cheered and applaudcd by the
Democrats, Mr. 1inl braycly gave expression
TO the Views Of his Confederate associates.
In his place In the House he said:
We come to crafty no vengeance; to .retalints
with a patriotic purpose to restore an honest
economical and constitutional administration Of
wrongs TO that hieher.iaw fsnStIcism which never
kept pledge or law. We sought to leave the as
sociaton OF those who would not keep ndelity 70
the covenant. We sought to 20 by ourselves but
so far from having lost our fidelity to the Constl
tuition, we hugged II 70 our bosom and carried II
with us. But yon, gentlemen, who ,perse,;
cuted us by your inhdelies until you drove IA out
Of the Union; you who then claimed TO be the only
friends Of the Union which you had before de-
nounced as a league with death and covenant
with hell; you, who follow up the war when the
soldiers who fought It have made peace aud gone
70 their homes, to you we have no concessions to
make. MARTYRS OWE NO APOLOGY TO TYRANTs,
and while we are ready TO make every saeflhce for
the Union. secession however defeated and op.
pressed, will confess no sin to ianaticism, how
ever biRotcd and exacting; yet, while make TO
You no concession, we say this: We come even to
You in no sprit Of revenge. We have but one am
patriotic men Of the North fmeanng the old cop
perheadel in order 10 compel fnnatcism 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 did
the Union one great wrong, andw come as far as
we can TO repair e. We wronged the Union
grlevously when we left IT, to he seized. and rent
and torn by the men who had denounced II as
league with death and covenant with hell. We
ask you gentlemen Of the Republican party, TO
rise above all your AnimositeS and to forget your
old sin.
Here Is a fair expression OF the Democrat
ic Confederate sentiment at the South. The
complaint is that the South was foully
Nronged; that It went out because the North
would not keep its pledges and would notbe
faithful TO the Constitution; that the South
sought TO leave those violating the Constitu-
ton, and that II for four years carried that
Constitution in its bosom, to preserve and
keep it sncrcdi 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 sustained? What
pledges had been broken What part of the
Constitution yiolatcdY The South placed
its secession upon the distinct ground that
the people of the North had, by a nearly
unanimous electoral vote, elected Abraham
/ Lincoln President. That election was de-
! Clared to 1c an allsufllcicnt cause for dis
solution of the Union. South Carolina Sc
| ceded In December 1860, and Jefferson Davis
was elected President of the Confcderacy be-
| fore Mr.. Lincoln was sworn into office. AT
the time these Democratic States seeded
there was a Democratic majority in both
branches OF Congress, and the Executive De-
partmcnt was exclusively Democratic. No
| wrong had been perpetratcd; no wrong was
contemplated The Republican party was
under pledge not to interfere with slavery
\ where 1t existed in the States, and no such
interference was intended. The South se
ceded for the purpose OF dissolving the
| Union IL could no longer absolutely control
and in which 1t had become II minority, and
| the election of Mr. Lincoln was mere pre-
| text. Mr.. Hills arraignpent Of the North
was but a repetition of the Senseless JNrgoh
! of the disunionists in 1860 and 1861. tbs dcs-
| titutc of truth--ncre wild assertion, without
fact to give iteyen the semblance Of truth.
The assertion that secession was consti-
! tutlonal measure to preserve the Constitui
| ton inyiolate is one Of those incohercncics
for which tho average Confederate is pecul:
lar. The seizure of the national forts, and
custom houses, and nnvy-yards, and arscnuls,
the firing upon Sumter the erection of q new
Government, and the raising of q new flag,
Hill would have us believe were all meas
urcs taken TO preserve the Constitution in
violate, and to preserve the constitutional
| Government which the people of the North
had betrayed and destroyed. All this bur-
| lesque upon history and truth the Democrats
Of the House applouded to the echo, as also
| the statement that the Confederatcs in Com
gress had come back to ".rcstore" consti-
tutional Government to the Union, which
since 1860 had been governed by the faithless
and perddious North.
After rccapitulating the wrongs and out
RACES" inflicted upon the South" by the
war upon those who had sought to sccede,
including the barbaritics (g) practiced upon
the rebel prisoners at Camp Douglas, Elmira
and other places where they had been cOn-
fined. Mr.; Hill declared that the South,
being guiltless Of wrong, was not to assume
asking for forgiveness. The South had
come back to Congress to aid Its old friends
and sympathizcrs, tho 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 TIRANTs," and "SECRssIoN,
HOWEVER DEFEATED AND OPPRESSED, WILL
CONFESS NO SIN TO FANATICIsM."
The line is here drawn between the mar
| tyred South and the tyrant North; and it is
proclaimed that the South cannot be tor
tured into the confession that secession was
q sin. This declaration, hurled detantly 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 vociferously applauded by
the Democrats. Mr.. Hill and his associates,
whose hands are red with the blood of coun-
trymen of the South and the North shed in
the "Llholy war; they so basely precipl-
tated, make hui 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 AndersOnville were
but appropriate punishments for the armed
emssaries OF the tYrant North.
In all the history OF the rebellion we do
not think there is parallel for the brazen
impudence and defiant insolence displayed
by Ben Hill, of Georgia, In this debate. Ten
years have passed since the war. In that
time the Northern people have been dealing
with these rebels in spirit of generous lib
eralfty No man has been punished, or pros
ccutcd or hung. All have been admitted to
suffrage. All but handful have received
entire political rehabilitation. Ben Hill
himself sits IN Congress through the grace
and amnesty of the country ho betrayed.
Nevertheless the fret use he makes of his
pardon is to basely malign the generous
people of the North, and defantly proclaim
\ himself martyr" in the immaculate cause
of secession. Personally this man is but on
migrate; but as Representative Of that large
class now controlling most of the recon
'structcd States his words convey to the peo-
pie of the North the warming lesson that the
Democratic party now contains within its
body the same hatred of the free North, the
same devotion to secession and the same
purpose TO bend the Government to the
purposes of the South In as strong degree
as beforeor during the war, Can the North
vet afford to surrender the control Of the
Government to the spirit Of hate and of Sc
cession so boldly avowcd by the Confederate
leader, Hill, as the spokesman for the
SouthY-Chicdgo Tribune.