Year: 1865

The Herald, criticising our recent ar
ticles favoring Presidential Proclama-
ton in the interest Of Peace. says:


'As We understand the Tribune, it
wants proclamation i'll behalf of these
leaders Of the rebellion, giving them
some greater inducements for submis
sion"


The Herald will please understand us
better. We have not suggested any spe-
cific proposition to be made 10 rebels of
any grade or position. Ii we had any
such suggestions TO make, We should, for
obvious reasons, address it privately to
the President But, while we would
have specific overtures made from the
highest quarter our concern is more with
their spirit than with their letter We
greatly desire that the Southern people
should realize that the loyal millions do
not hate them, do not seek their eXter-
mination, but are most anxious that they
should turn from their erring ways and
live. Such We know to be the feeling of
the great body of our friends and
neighbors such, we are confident, are
the feelings of large majority of the
people of the loyal States. We do not
believe that the torture unto death
By exposure to inclemency aud
starvation of So many thousand Of our
captured brethren was authorized or de
sired by the great body Of the Southern
whites We do not believe that ma
iority of those whites ever gave an un-
constrained assent to the mad scheme OF
dsunon We do not believe they have
ever preferred To be vassals aud feudato-
ries of some European monarchy rather
than the citizens of this free republic,
yet we are we'll assured that their chiefs
have attempted 10 bargain them away
to whOmsOever would aid in conSnmmat-
ing disunion We have ever regarded
with good will, but without sanguine
faith, the various efforts t. open nego-
tiations with those chiefs; for we could
not but feel that they must necessarily
be the very last men III the Confederacy
To consent 10 IA restoration OF the tnlon'
but that great and steadily increasing
majority of the Southern people wonld
gladly accept such pacifcation as onr
Government eould honorably accord, We
have long and unwaveringly trusted.


Now, then. we arlently desire that the
President should make direct. specific
appeal and overture TO the Southern peo-
pie, urging them te return to loyalty and
peace, and giving them substantial rea-
sons for 50 doing Those people are now
kept in the tolls Of treason mainly by
positive and constantly reiterated asser-
tions that they have nothing to gain by
submission. nothing 10 lose by persist
ence in rebellion, and may as we'll fight
to the last as give up and be extermlna-
fa1 81 al
surrender (See JEFF. Davis late mani
festo, the address of the rebel Congress,
Howell Cobb's speech, &c. &c Now
let the President couuteract these dam
aging Misrepresentation by a simple,
clear, straight forward overture, setting
forth precisely who are to gain and what
is to be gained or saved by pacitcatiOn,
and we are confident that large por-
tion of those who have hitherto aided, or
seemed to countenance, the rebellion,
will insist that this overture he accepted
and the tide of wholesale carnage and de
vastation be thus arrested. And when
those who thus feel and act shall have
declared for peace, there will not be
enough left in rebsllion to keep each
other in countenance Ifeven one-eighth
of the insurgents were now to- throw
down their weapons the rebellion must
collapse forthwith


The issue of the contest is 10 longer
doubtful We must have this day at
least 250 900 combatsnts between the
Susquehanna and the Pedee. while all
the rebel forces within those limits can
not number 10000 Our men are well
fed. we'll provided and splendidly armed:
the rebels are in want of everything,
hope included. To fight longer is to
squander blood and treasure; there should
be speedy peace, and our Govern ment
should Enthusiastically evince the anxiety
it feels for an early and final pacifcation
The discomfted d rebel leaders may hold
their lives very cheap; bat we, who ara
the victors, should realize that all the
lives and property sacrificed hereafter
are tust 80 much loss to our country. We
have saved the Republic; now let as try
! to save as many Of it's people, as much of
its property, as We possibly can