, 1876-02-10


r1s' letter will references to tho failure OF tho
author Of the Andcrsonvllle ntrocitics to ex-
cnlpatc himself. Thcre aro two other points |
in this letter, both Of them OF n remarkably
insolent character, which need inspection
The first furnishes the foundation upon which
lls whole letter ia based, md is to the effect
TINT he ia the embodiment Of the South, md
has Ill his deods were done on its authority
and in its hehalf. &c sayR: j" The Southern
pooplei,aye forgotten much and havo forgiven
much Of tho wrongs they bore. II it DO less
80 among their invaders, it is but mother e1~
ample of tho rule That the wrong1ocr is leRs
ablo to forgive than he who las suffered
causolcss wrong" 1t would perhaps be im-
possiblo to find more untatned Rebel nsolenco
in the Same number OF words since the out
break Of the Rebellion. It will ho seen from
this extract thnt JErFEgsoN DAVIS proceeds
upon tho assumption that the South was
right and tho North was wrong; thnt the
South belonged to tho Rebels, not to tho
Union and that Northern citizcnshad no right
to be in The South; in other wortls, JErpEnsoS
Davis has not yet given up, and will not
givo up, the absurd theory that tho South sn
separate, distinct nation, and consequently
that the Union forces wcre essentially foreign
invaders, doing wrong to the South Not
oven the stern logic Of events has taught JEF-
rEnsoN DAVIS wisdom. The Federal forces,
whom he stylcs " invaders" wcro marching
III their own territory: They had tho sanls
right under the Constitution aud the lews to
movo through Georgia aud mississippi tllat
they had to move through, Now York and I'LL
nois. Tho Southern territory belonged then
and docs now to tho American nation, Every
Northern man had then and has now M ur-
divided interest in thas territory. The
South" i. e.. tho shareholders, sought to
prevent tho National army from going where
| it had tho right to 90. Iho "South," in
gcizing Fctloral forts, arsonala, custom
houses, post-of1}ces, and othor property, sto1o
what belonged to tho milton. ,.,
| The whole lettor OF JEFF Ensos DAVIS, how
ever, is based upon tho assumption TINT tho
States in tho South aro independent nations,
separate and distinct from tllo NORTH, aud
! that tho North Inns conquered them ~ tho
Russians conquered tho Poles or the Engligh
conquered tho Irish. But they novor wero
independent they wero always part Of tho
American nation since they ceased to DO Brit
ish Colonies. They tried to destroy the Con-
6titution and diamember the Union, au1 JEP-
PERSON DAVIS headed tho Insurgents bnt
| they wero defoatod. Two or three hundred
thousand of them lost their lives in tho IT.
tosnpt. Every foot oi the South before the
| War. during tho War, md since tho War, hag
belonged to tho American nntion, aud tho
National Government waa only seeking to re-.
cover Its property ind Jurisdiction, which
JEFFERSON DAv1s, as the head OF the REBEL
ion, was seeking to take from. it. Tho Gov
crument was excluded from the South fol
timo as robber might exclude g
,uan frou, bis own houso. II, there
fore, az JEYykRsoN DAVIS assu1nes i,
Ills letter, he Hpealka for tho South and IL tn
embodiment Of tho Southern people, 1t oal,
shows that great deal u,oru Of reconciliation
and Of reconstruction will yet be required
ahd that the Northern people must forge
md forgive great deal moro Of the crime
! and misery caused by tho Southern aggrcss
ORB in seeking to carry out this visionary mi
bascless thuory that they aro an inllependen
: | nation; TINT tho Government had no righ
to send Its ar1ay into It's own territory to dis
porsa insurgents OF to overcome tie attemp
! to BRONX up its autonomy sls an iudepouden
: | nation.
With regard to tho second point made b
JErrEnsos DAvls. while 1t Ii inaolcnt, thcr
is nevertheless much truth IN tho tauut. /
his scoutiug Of tue amnesty proposition
! | which the Confederate members o. the lIous
! and tie Northern doughfaces sought to thru.
upon him, he Rays: "Tho indictment We
| finally quashed on no application Of min
, nor havo ever avoided or evatlcd tri
) upon any charge the General doyernnlol
, might choose to bring against nc, aud hay
> no view VI tho future which ,uakcs it deslr
, bio to tho to bs included In an amnesty bill
, This is direct insult 10 the North aud to /
. forbearanca In the case of the arch-tsait.
t whose malignity towards the North is Just