Year: 1865

7


A late number of the Richmond Dis
patch contains the following; .sae


No sane man now doubts that if assuming the E xe
cutive authority four years ago. Mr. Lincoln, hi. In
mended by Gen Scott. ..Wayward sisters, depart in
PEACE he odd Taioa coagd losq ss ,rioat
pe,sdiu-e Of dollar Of drop OF lood, hare
On the other hand, it might be said
that had the South, four years ago, de-
cided to remain in the Union, they would
have been masters of the situation
They could have had all the guarantees
necessary to the protection Of the insti-
tuition of slavery. In the first stages
of the rebellion the North exhibited its
disposition in this direction by favoring
an amendment to the Constitution pro-
hibiting interference with slavery in the
States where it existed. The South had
bullied the North for years, and the
North was still willing to be bullied.
Had the rebel hand which was raised to
strike down the Government been stayed,
the Southern aristocracy would have
been more domineering than ever; sla-
very to- day would have been stronger
than ever, and this boasted land of free
dom would for ages, if not for all time,
have continued to be the land of human
bondage That this would have been the
result, had the South paused in its mad
ness, there can be no doubt.


Had the national authorities said to
the South swayward sisters depart in
peace" we do not believe reunion
would have been the result, because it
was not the protection of slavery alone,
but the erection of an empire in which
that institution should be chief corner
stone, that the rebel leaders desired.
They had dreamed of a nation where
capital should govern, where the nobility
should be recognized, and where labor
should occupy position at the feet of
the aristocracy; and these, to them, grand
theories of Government, they sought to
realize. Had they once gained their in
dependence, it would have been difficult
to have moved them from this position.
They would not have given it up willing
ly. In time they might have been forced
to give it up, but this could not have been
accomplished except by revolution
With the Government in the hands of
the aristocracy, the masses of the peo-
pie, white and black, would have been
at their feet, and they would have ruled
them, as they ruled their slaves, with
rod Of iron. Nothing better than this





the classes that the chivalry looked down
upon, was not to be expected from those
who believed it right to wiring their bread
from the faces of other men.


But even if the South should, after
bullying the North into the recognition
of the right of secession, have consent
ed to reconstruction, what kind of a
Union would that have been, and what
would Government based on q Union
constructed in that way, have been worth
Il would have been a Union held together
by slavery, and Government in the
hands of those living on the proceeds
Of human bondage. Supposing such
result as the Dispatch says might have
been reached, possible, the events of the
last four years prove, that it was well we
did not say, 'Wayward sisters, depart
in peace" Our national honor would
have been buried in the dregs of the
lowest strata of human society. Our
self-respect would have been lost, and we
should have had no claims upon the
respect of other nations.


But we were saved from this calamity;
not by our own wisdom not by our own
exalted views of duty, but by circum-
stances that we could not control, be-
cause they we're controlled by Him who
had an object to accomplishments meant
that the nation should suffer for its
wickedness and reach higher level in
the scale of civilization through rivers
of blood.


If man had had his way ; if our rulers,
or generals, or people, had had their
way, the war would have been boched
If Bull Run had ended the war, the blood
shed on that field would have sealed the
death Of the nation. We were prepared
to compromise then in the interest of
slavery. It was only by long course
Of severe training that we have been
brought up to the position of declaring
emphatically and unconditionally, for
universal freedom. By this same course
we have been brought to decide that the
sword shall break. not strengthen. the
shackles that bind the slave 1t is not
long since the Government of the United
States, and the people of the United
States. were brought to this high posi-
ton. Much, therefore, as peace has been
desired. much as the slaughter and suffer
ing of our brave soldiers have been de-
plored, it is very clear that all those four
long years which have passed, there was
no time in which the war could have
been rightly ended. Our danger from
the first, as now seen. was that it would
end too soon-end before the object for
which it was suffered. by an over-ruling
power, to begin, should be reached. We
have fortunately been led on and strength
ened to proceed in the line of duty un-
til the cause OF the war is doomed-not
quite dead yet, but doomed To stop
short, now, Of the utter uprooting of
slavery, even If this were possible, would
be national suicide. But fortunately it
is not possible


But with slavery destroyed, and the
complete deliverance of this people from
bondage completed, is there nothing
mores For the injustice practiced by
the people OF this country for two hun
dred years, have We been sufficiently
punished? This is question When
the children of Israel were led out by
high hand from Egypt, it seemed that
PHARAOH might have let them go and
have escaped severe punishment He
was invited to do SO under circumstances
b,,% L. TIL