Year: 1863

Popular Exhaus tiOn from Extreme and
.ae.fr, PrOtracted War. loas 9 81 :
New York has now sent seventeen regi-


ments to the relief of Pennsylvania. With


out the aid of New York and New jersey


the keystone State would have been almost


helpless. The inhabitants of Pennsylvania


seem to lave lost all spirit, and either re-


treat rapidly at the approach of the rebels


or exhibit strange apathy and indiHerer ce.


Even the troops from New York and New
Jersey are not received with any cordiality
or enthusiasm. On the contray the people
of Harrisburg set to work, as soon as they


had recovered from their fright; to see how
much money they could make out of the
gallant men who had left their distant


homes to defend Pennsylvania. This IS
bad record, and needs AMENDING ment.-New


York Herald.


The whole country this side of Chambers


burg seemed to be on the move. The val


ley was filled with fugitiyes of all classes,
conditions, ages, sexes and colors, fleeing
before the advancing rebels like buffalo be-
fore prairie fire. The scenes of week
ago were re-enacted. Negroes on foot and
in wagons, carrying with them their only
stock and store; farmers with their horses,


household goods and families; sorrowful
men Fastening away from fields whitening
for the sickle and meadows waiting for the
scythe. All these came crowding down the


valley in dusty caravans, pressing over the
bridge and through our towns into the
peaceful country beyond.-Harrisburg (Pa.)
Union.


hardly like to say it, and still less do
like to believe it, but it is an incontestible
fact that the spirit of the people is not what
it should be. They do not come up to the
crisis. Various reasons are assigned for this,
but it seems to me that they are all super
fetal. have already explained how much
trouble and confusion has arisen from the
inaccurate aud diverse character of the or
ders under which the troops were enlisted.
1t ay also be true that the people do not
share the anxiety and alarm OF Governor
Curtin, believing him to be impulsive and
credulous. But these are minor matters
At the bottom there must be awant of heart
in the cause. Excuses are plenty to those
who are willing to hunt for them. But if
man is imbued with the true fire of pa
triotism, he wants no excuse. There are
men enough here who are willing to go into
the trenches and shoot their muskets off to
save their property, but few who are willing
to volunteer for the defense of their country.


1 met man this forenoon, and he said to
a gentleman who was walking with me, one
of the leading citizens Of the State: we
have a full company of one hundred and
ten men, and we are waiting to go over into
the trenches, but we don't want to be mus
tered in' One whole company that was
enlisted here some months ago disbanded
when they found they must be mustered in.
They were mostly young men, and perfect
ly free to go for SIX months. The traders
who ran off at first have returped, and are
taking advantage of the crowded state of
the city to charge three prices for every
thing they sell. Some have even charged
the men for water wherewith to fill their
canteens. It is said that sixty men have
enlisted from this neighborhood. where
there are twenty-five thousand people
Harrisburg Correspondence N, Y. Times.


Under a free government, or among peo-
pie who are accustomed to look upon their
own collective will as the paramount rule
of political action, there are points beyond
which they will not allow themselves to be
coerced into sacrifices with the making of
which they do not concur. For example:
An Administration enters into war de-
large exps nditures of men and
At the first citizens give their
means with cheerfulness, and enlist with
alacrity. They feel, or at least profess, and
try to convince themselves that they feel,
willing to submit to every privation, in or
der that the war may be prosecuted with
vigor and to a successful conclusion In
the course of time, however, voluntary do
nations and enlistmepts cease, and taxation
and conscription are resorted to. These
are, also, for time borne with patience
But it is evident-such are the materials of


L -, Al. A.
is somewhere a limit beyond which they
the highest law of action and end durance;
self, compelled to choose between his own
of lhe public, he will inevitably give his
preference to the former. fa $500


The approach of this state of feeling may
be- seen in the appearance of popular in
disposition to comply with the requirements
of the Government. Men will pay taxes to
carry on the war with reluctance, and will
seek to es cape the draft, or to prevent it
from being made. This state of feeling
will arrive much sooner in a people unac-
custom cd than with one accustomed to war
much sooner in an industrial community, !
than in one of different character; but
sooner or later, it comes to all. Even in 4
feu6al times and countries, wars were often
brought to an end by the unwillingness of
the servile masses to make, for the tim me 1
being, any further sacrifices. History is full
Of examples efpeople who have forced their
Governments into wars, and then forced
them out again before any important advan- |
5age had been secured; the latter simply be-
cause they were tired of the expenses, fa-
tigues, losses and excitements of state of
hostility. When no shining victories areI
won, this feeling com es sooner than if the
war is brilliantly successful; but even VIC /
tories will not prevent, nor long postpone
its arrival. a1il5 asz - s1Ls..


Experience, through all the past, shows
that it is rational to eontem plate a condition
of the popular mind, in which not even