Year: 1864

4
| sught Willingly. to put OF the glad day
one second. Ii is our conviction, row,
as il WAS three years ago last MAY, that
| we cannot have peace without Govern
mert. The war inaugurated by the
Southern aristocrscy, to found an empire
| on the basis of slavery for labor, must
be fought out, until either the lahoring
men, or the slave lords succumb. Ii the
..mudsills" go down. they will be tram.
| pied on; If the aristocrats, they may be-
come reconciled to the Church's doctrine
of the equality of men. and agree to pay
wages to those who work for them.
Three years ago we opposed the only
peace that was offered to us-namely,
suhmission-because it was the disrup
ton of our Union. the dishonor of our
| flag, the extinction of our nation, and
the beginning of perpetual anarchy and
war. To day the aspect of the question
| is not changed, except in the results of
| military operations that have since oc-
cured The same peace is offered now
that was offered then, and there are mani
| fest reasons for not accepting it now, over
and above those that forbade its accep
tance then.


The basis of the peace now proposed
in the South is the disruption of the
| States-not merely North from south
4 oUN NtaIe from state tufouHuOut tue Ell
tire Cni,n. The matter is thus stated in
the Richmond Dispatch of August 3lst


wv Whenever a treaty of peace shall be


made, it must be done solely on the ba-
sis Of the future independence and SOW
ereignty of each particular State. That
must be preliminary to, and cannot be q
subject of negotiation. The Confederate
| Government has no right To make any
peace in which one inch of land belong


ing to any one of the States shall be
given up, or one iota of its privileges as
a sovereign be surrendered This, SO
far from being the subject of negotiation.
must be the starting point from which all
| negotiation must proceed. If the enemy
refuse to concede to it, then we cannot
negotiate with him. 1t follows that
there can be no such thing as treating for
peace in earnest, until every hostile sol
| dier shall have been drawn from our soil,
and every hostile ship from our waters.
1 Then we can talk of peace and those


matters of secondary importance.
ut is wonderful in the meantime, that
intelligent men like Vallandigham and


Fernando Wood-who must be fully ac-
quainted with the Southern doctrine of


State rights, and must know that all this


blood has been shed in their defense


should think it possible to get us irto
/


Union by the means Of it. What we
| want first of all, is entire and separate
independence"


In the same sense speaks the Charleston


Mercury, and the Richmond Examiner


of the 24th, which adds, in view of what
the editor supposes to be the growing


public opinion of the North--"All see.
scent, and feel, the near approach of
peace-and peace on any terms"


Three years and a half ago we refused
to accede to these terms, because, in the
first place. they would not bring peace.
| On what principles can the independence
of a State be allowed that would not sane
| ton the independence of a Congressisn
al District, or a county, or a township, or
a family? None Then, principle being
repudiated. the bond of union would be
the law of the stronger-the same law
that held East Tennessee and Northern
Alabama in the Confederacy until they
became a desolation; ; and from this law
there is no appeal-against it, no remedy
but war.


In the next place. we were unwilling
| to give up our national character and
flag We have believed in free institn-
tions-in the right Of the poor man to
own the fruits Of his labor and the hesh
on his bones. But the rebellion struck



The rebel leaders wanted to destroy the
Government because labor was free in it.
Could we, identified by sentiment, choice
and position with the interests Of the la.
boring classes, advocate their submis
sion.
What has occurred since to change the
state of the issue z In the gigantic
military operations of the past three
years are we the beaten partyf We can
notsee it. Wehavenot taken Richmond,
but Lee has not taken Washington. But
we have taken Missouri, Arkansas. 1tlre
Mississippi. Kentucky, Alabama, Geor-
gia, Tennessee. and W West Virginia We
hold two thirds of the rebel territory ani
every port but one. We have their navy
reduced to few pirates, and their arnsy
filed up with little boys and old men OF
their count y. Is this time, then, for rs
to advise the free men of the North to 90
down on their knees before the Rich
mond aristocracy and beg for peace
We have waded 50 far through this
sea of blood that it is nearer to cross
than to go back. What the Richmond
Dispatch says or all the blood shed to de
stror the Government, is true of the
blood shed to maintain it. Every sol
der dead in this war is a reason why it
shonld be put through. Every battle
field cries for us to stand firm until the
cause OF justice and Law and human free
dom shall be securely triumphant
This is the peace to which We look for
ward with hope and desire and TO attain
it, we believed it 10 the duty Of every man,
now, as three years ago, 10 stand by the
Government


Who first disting1 g1ished himself in this
war by interfering with personal liberty
General Mcclellan r,&g


Who first arrested and imprisoned the