Year: 1863

| o0ouPaaon oI our capltai Dy Inc enemy, II re-


quires some extra calmness of Judgment to take


survey Of the whole field of the South and


appreciate our true cOndition-our actual perils


and chances of escape. The travellers whom


the passing cloud over-shadows, and the tran


sient rain drenches. imagine the whole world


to be wrapped in storm, but the sun shines


brightly nevertheless upon many green field


to the right and left of them, and will soon ap-


pear again to themselves. If we forget this,


we drop our hearts and minds to the tempta-


ton point at which some demon NAV whisper


to cur souls that the cause of the South is de-


Ginning; listening to which, some have been,


and others may yet be, lost to honor forever
we have never foreseen the end more clearly


than we do even now. We think we can per-
| celve that the Administration of the Federal
government has despaired of eonquering the


South, as it has long since despaired of re
constructing the Union by aid of Southern
| Union sentiment. Their otherwise unaccoun-
| table lethargy upon the Eastern side of the
| Mississippi is proof of this. Their failure at
Charleston, and the certainty of our recognition
| by European nations within short period, If
| it has not already happened, together with the
ineficiency of their draft, must convince the
cost truculent nd arrogant of them that their
cause is desperate. The independence of the
South is the handwriting they see upon the
wall. Like shrewd people, they are, they
will endeayor To mako the hast of , pacaScitv
Putting ourselves at the stand point of Lincoln


we may easily understand the present opera
tions in the West. The former wealth and
prosperity of the United States was mainly


built upon cotton. They must have a cotton
country in their new government, or they will
sink into insignifcance. The hundreds of
thousands of emancipated slaves, which they
will neither return to their homes nor afford
for or gotten rid of. They must have the free
navigation Of the Mississippi. All these things
are necessities to them, if they would maintain
any Importance as a nation in the Western
world.


Hence their plan now is 10 mass large forces
in this department-overrun Arkansas and


Western Louisiana-possess the Indian terri


tory, (the fairest cotton and grain region upon


the face of the globe,) hold the whole West
bank of the Mississippi, and let the balance
of the Confederaey 60 They will claim to be
entitled to all this side by right of possessi on,
and the existence of civil governments un-
der their authority, bogus though they be-
and will attempt to make peace upon the


term. of uti oo ssidetis (holding what they have
in the hope that if the Confederacy will not
aecede TO it, they will have plausible case for
the verdict of the world, and that other nations
will interfere for the sake of quiet and rule the
Confederacy to that adjustment. Next will
follow the appropriation of all the lands of the
rebels, and the collection of all the contraban6s
and free negroes from every quarter These


miserable outcasts. torn or enticed from their
comfortable homes and unable to subsist of
themselves, will be colonized upon the confs-
Gated lands under Northern contractors and
compelled to work under the name of appren-
tees. The poor men of the country will be





of these laborers. Being absolved from all
obligations to feed and clothe the unhappy
wretches who work their fields, the Yankee
planters of cotton can undersell the owner of
slaves in the Confederacy, aud thus at the ex-
pense of all the pride and dignity, and property
of the Southern inhabitants, the United States
might yet assume some Of its ancient grandeur
and influence.


Behold the programme, If your blood bOils
it is well-the sign is healthy one-for this


we have to meet, and this We can, without any
doubt of the result.


The Northern mind is shrswd and cI atty,


but not liberal and comprehensive. 1t makes


money, but blunders always in the higher craft


of craftsmanship. 1t sees very clear ly-micro-
seopically indeed the length and breadth of a
| profit in trade, but not far enough into the
future to calculate with certainty on the result
! of diplomacy. We can defeat that scheme of


theirs, and laugh at the folly of their desperate
pretensions.


They can raise no more soldiers. That, too,
| is clear enough from Northern papers. We
| have only to defeat and wear out what they
| have in the field. small army will do that
with but few battles. We have but to be pa
tient and cautious, and above all other cor
siderations rally to reinforce our armies, and
to sustain at home, promptly and without
hesitation, the commandant of our department


in any means of defence he may inaugurate,


or any suggestions he may make. With per-
feet unity, our strength of endurance and re-
sistance will be as that of the rocks against


which the waves of invasion may dash, and


which indeed they may submerge for a time,
but which stand unmoved.


Next, in those places which they may over
ance to the South, and let him treat with scorn
and contempt all those who do. A calm and
| dignifed devotion to the cause of the South, on
| the part of all the people-the voluntary main


tenance of the character of enemies will have q


moral influence which will entirely destroy
all efforts to create sham governm ents for the


purpose of giving their occupatian prestige in


the eyes of the world. They will only occupy


the ground their armies tread upon. All the


balance off the country will be occupied by firm
and defiant citizens of the South, suffering


a temporary invasion. The theory Of their OWL
government is one of consent. They have
under their form of overnment no claim tC