Newspaper Page Text
TUB (M&TITIITMNAIIST.
POBLWHED BT
JAMES GARDNER.
AITQUSTA.GA.
yaiDAY MOBWIHO, JT7HK 27, 1862-
KR WOOD'S SPEECH
The theory on which this speech proceeds is
that the Yankees are victorious over the South,
and in a position to dictate terms; and that
policy and magnanimity call for liberal propo
sitions from the North-that the old Union is
to be restored, and cemented by new ties and
guarantees— that if the Northern victors will
only adopt a conciliatory and affectionate iodo,
and make fair promises, their conquered breth
ren of the South will rush with frantic delight
into their arms-that the South is sufficiently
punished—is penitent for the rebellion, and
only awaits the smile of forgiveness and re
conciliation to lay down her rebellious arms
But as this is not the true state of the case,
the whole speech is valueless except as a floe
piece of rhetoric and of eloquent invective
against abolitionism. It coold produce no
fruits, even if it spoke the sentiments of every
man in Congress, and of every constituent who
sent them thore. So far from the South feeling
itself subdued, or on the downward road to de
feat, the confidence of ultimate triumph was
never stronger than now in the Southern mind.
Yhe desire for an eternal separation, and au
irupass’bto gull between North and South, was
never more oarnea*.. The conflicts that have
taken place on many bloody fields have oulv
strengthened and confirmed that cuiwicloncc-
Tho atrocities that have marked .the footsteps
of every vandal column that has landed in our
cities or penetrated into our vallios, have only
intensified that desire. No calamity is consid
ered more dire, or is contemplated with more
intense horror, tiian the restoration of the Un
ion with the hatod Yankee race. Rather than
that pestilence, famine and desolation are wel
come-—rattier tiian that, let the war he as ctei -
nal as tho hate that ragos between the sec
tions. The Southern ear is inexorably shut
against all overtures which look to •-con
struction. Tho Southern man who listens to
such a whisper is a traitor. The Northern
man that would utter it is a dreamer and a
romancisk
Mr. Wood asks:
" If, at the government claims, the Cunfedere
ate cause is hopeless, the leaders of the secession
movement caunot be ignorant of the fact; and
knowing it, they will be naturally inclined to
lend a wiltlug eirto whatever proper overtures
tins government raav present At gome period
of this struggle there must be negotiation; it
mus< be resorted to sooner or later; why not
now?” i
Kor the present, at least, the boligerents are
two wide apart in their opinions of results, to
IJUWV to anob a parley ~ VYnwyer J.t£ Yankee
Government may claihi, the Southern patriot
dings as fondly a»d hopefully as ever tc his
cause. Even now every Southern ear is bent
tn listening expectation of the victorious shouts
that shall announce a brilliant and decisive vic
tory of Southern valor over the hireling hordes
of M Ado I lan—a victory that will prove lr> w
utterly hopeless is the Northern dream of
Southern subjugation. The dream of a rceort-
Btruclion of the Union must be given up first.
Then overtures from tho North would bo in
ordor. Until then,-war to the kttile—war as
long as the foot of a single hostilo Yankee
presses Southern soil—is the inflexible purpose
of the South.
Sprccli of Ben. Wood, of N. York,
OK T iIK
ktatk ok this I’oi vtm
Tbe Richmond “Dispatch" tausoli|a!iied a copy
of a speech of he Hon. Bm. Wood, former pro
nneUir of the New Vork "News,” fa paper which
was suspended ou account of its bold stand in !a
»or of the South,) in the Federal House of Rep
resentatives, on the slate of the country. Believe
ing that a majority of our readeis would be gra
tided to understand thi position now occupied
by Mr. Wood towaids the Aooiitiou party ot the
North, we publish it entire. Mr. Wood obtained
the unanimous consent of the House to have print
ed the following remarks: vaJB -MfcJ {
Mb. Wood-Mr. Ohairmun: l have hitherto
avoided troubling this House. Content to be a
listener, without any other participation in its
proceedings than to'oppose my solemn individu
al negative against measures which my con
science and mv principles would not approve, j
have said uothing. indeed, sir, 1 have net hid
the heart to rise Here and speak. A glance at
this Hall, of itself, has been enough to prevent.
When 1 look around and see one-third ot the
llnion unrepresented here, and hud myself in
a body, though purporting to be one branuti of
the Congress ot the United States, really in fact
but a fragmentary part of it, my heart sinks
within me. It appears to be a seclionul body—
» gathering of the representat ves of a ssclional
party. With these feelings, and with this spirt',
1 hare until now avoided participating in debate, j
Besides, sir, daring the earlier period of this
session, disaster had accompanied the eflurts of j
the Federal arms, i telt that the hour of defeat |
was not a tit one in which to strive to awaken j
the great soul of the North to thoughts of peace; j
1 felt that something wasdue to the sense of tncr.
tihcation, something to the na ural desire to re
trieve the shame of discomfiture. I hoped, too,
that when victory should perch upon i nr ban
ners, others than tnyself would sene the occasion
to urge a plea in behalf of peaceable meastres ;
and that this Government itself, feeling svcure
and strong enough to be magnanimous, would
take the lead and be the pioneer in opening a
path for the settlement of our difficulties yitb
out further recourse to bloodshed. I even tapped
that the leaders of the now dominant party,
moved by the sore distress which has vigitel our
country, would relent from the stern vijjir of
their doctrine of subjugation, and in th» Bush
of triumph, would lean a little towards a glntler
policy than that which they have hitherto <patn~
pioned with so much leal and with so littlt for*
bearance.
1 hoped in vain. The triumph came : aj long
train of anecesses has releived the North from its
humiliation The Government claims nhw to
stand as a rock against which the tempeatof opa
position mus* waste itself in futile efforts, The
partiiana of the ultra war party langh to scorn
the idea that anv effectual retiatsnce can be offer
ed to the onward march of ourtiinmphantarm'ea,
sod yet no single effort has been made in theee
Congressional halls to stay the effusion of blood
It has beer, left for me, powerless as 1 ana, to
speak the first conciliatory word in behalf of my
suffering conntryTsa And Ido it, sir. in the
hope that others more capable, will not be too
much engrossed with the lust of conqueat and the
pride of victory to follow my example.
Hir. it is SO ineffaceable reproach to those either
deluded or wicked men who, in the North, by
their unwearied agitation of abolition schemer,
Pave stored the embers of this strife ; it is an
eternal reproach to them that, through Qefeat and
every phrase of this unhappy
struggle,-w-.tt, ihe-groans ot their distressed at d
tortured’country smiting upon their ears, they
have clung and still cling, with unpitying pe.tia
oacity, and even with ferocity, to the doctrine
which has has been the germ of ail the mischief.
With the first exulting shouts of Federal victories
ther aet up the echoing cry of emancipation
With all the energy of fanaticism, with all the
subirte arts aud mtiigoes of scheming demago
gues, with all the appliances of cunning intellect,
and patronage at tbetr command,, even at this
eventful cri-is, when every American brain
should be at work hi bring about a fair and bon
orable peace, they have no thought, no hopes, no
duty but to Dropagate their creed, extending it”
influence into every nook and corner of the land,
and poisoning the atmosphere ot these sacred
balls with its interminable discussion. Openly
and tn secret, by the agency of the press, the pul
pit, and the political rostrum, in the camp, in the
city, erd iu the open field, they are spreading the
conlagi >n; they are iococulating the country with
this moral pestilence which has already brought
us where we are, at the very brink of the grave
of our nationality.
Sir, to these apostles of abolitionism will be
traced hereafter whatever of evil Las befallen or
may befall our country. They are building its
sepulchre with the bones of their slaughiered
countrymen. Ido believe there are gentlemen
within my vision now whose aworn purpose,
whose first desire, paramount even to the preser
vation of Republicanism, is emancipation. Thev
and their disciples first threw the apple of dis
cord. They first applied the torch, and are now
more busy than ever with throwing fresh fuel to
the flame. Should history ever truce, which God
forbid, the record of this country's ruin, that
page will seem the strangest to those that read
which shall tell of the midness and wickedness
of the arch fanatics ot abolitionism, in the dark
recesses of the temple of infamy the gloomiest
aicbes wilt bear the inscription of their names.
Sir, I counsel now but a moral interference with
the w'ork of these mischief dtakers. I would Dot
bare even fanaticism deprived of the right of
free speech, nor would I, in any emergency, ad.
rocate the slightest infringement by the Govern
men! upon the liberty ol the press, hit them
sow the seeds of their infamous doctriue broad
cast over the land. Whatever may be the dan
ger 1 will not countenance the greater danger of
establishing a dictatorship over the thoughts of
my lellow countrymen.
But if the abominable theme must be brought
Into the council chamber” of the nation, for the
sake of decency, ts not of justice, let it he at a
more -eaaonaule time. It there remains one
Union man at the South, let us remember that
he is unrepresented here; that the subject ot
slavery particularly concerns him, and that it is
ungenerous and unjust, it not cowardly, to take
advantage of his absence of representation to
push forward measures m regard to the local in.
stitutions of his section-measures against which
were he present, he would give his earnest op
position. It will quench whatever retrains of
Union teeliog in the Houth, if it hat not already
done so. it will destroy the iast hope of recon
struction of the Union on a friendly basis. It
will prove what has been so often intimated, that
the first idea of the dominant party in the North
is active and unwavering antagohism to slavery,
and a fixed purpose to legislate it out of the land
at all hazards. Is it with that theory advanced
that we are to conquer a peace? Sir, we ere
lima ng away the last chances of reconciliation
as recklessly ah madmen cast their treasure into
thes- a The agitation of the subject has been
the country’s b»ne at every per.od of its history;
, ta discussion at this crisis is desperate sel,-de
struction.
Is it while the magazine isnenea‘n us and about
ns bursting with the agencies of riuo_that we
mist choose to snort with the flaming torch of
[b. iuoeuftary T M... »-ttt our beloved couotrv
shall be saved, the word “emancipation ’ should,
by common consent, be baushed from the lan
ullage ol debate in this assemtdage. It is a spell
which ha” wrought enough already of desolation?
It is a hellish lormula ot incsntation, which has
cot. ured up the 6 nds of discord and civil war,
nnd tt never was so potent in its evil tendencies
us now when it isßbiog passed, like the breath
I l)t ,'he plague, from mouth to mouth, in the coun
cil chambers of the countiv it has ruined. It
vh .’i'd he spoken tti a whisper, and with a pray
er fluked to it, as a thing that brings a curse and
spreads apestileuee. I despair of my country.
I despa rof ever Hviug once more :n a blessed
U nion ol fraternal States, when I hear all around
me the utterance "f that rmo-breeding word
••emancipation,” mingling with the stouts of bat
tie the hurrahs of tnuniph over talleu brothers
aud the groins of our dying countrymen.
S.r it to place of making tho negro question a
I subiect-matter of debate, this Congress would
take into tamest, solemn considerattoo some ex
Dedient for securing peace, t do believe that
success w mid crown our eftorts. If they would
enter upon ‘hat task, not with hearts tmbuiered
and intellect swaved ov sectional autipathies and
untimely mock philanthropies, hut with all their
souls devdted to that one sacred purpose-the
reconstruction of the Union and oui redemption
from civil war; if they would do this m the
sp rit of conciliation, of forgiveness of tolerance,
of brolheihood, and kindly feeling, it is my con
viction that before the close ot tms eventful
s. ss on the preliminaries of a peace would be
arranged. But while, with the obstinacy of a blind
fanatic and ihe instinct ol a brutal gladiator,
the best object is to promulgate a party creed,
and the second to crush an opponent and wear
the badge of victory, T see no fairer prospect
than, at some distant period, reached through
seas of blood and heaps of carnage, the forced
submission of a crushed aud derasiated section,
and the equally unhappy spectacle of a Govern
ment triumphant, but exhausted by its triumph,
detested by a moiety of those sorereignf.es that
gave it birth, and gazing wt'ii horror aod re
morse upon the desolation it has wrought.
Sir, tt is not my purpose to rent reproaches,
even wherel believe them best deserved. I have
risen to enter my protest against the discussion
in this Chamber, of any anti-slavery scheme
whatever at this crisis, and to offer an earnest
appeal to this Congress that its legislation shall
embrace every means of securing an immediate
peace. If, as the Government claims, the Con
federate cause is hopeless, the leaders of the se
cession movement cannot be ignoran' of the fact;
and knowing it, they will be naturally inclined
to lend a willing ear to whatever proper over*
tures this Government may present. At some
period of this struggle there must be negotia
tion ; it inus- be resorted to sooner or later ; why
not now •
Is it because pride forbids that we should be
the first to outstretch the hand of conciliation *
Heaven forefend that thousands r.f human lives
and a countrv’s welfare should depend upon so
false a princip'e. Is it because the Month has
not teeu sufficiently punished, hnmbled and
subdued:’ Tbeu let us confess that chastise
ment and vengeance are the objects of this war.
Is it because the anti-slavery movement has not
yst received a sufficient impe'us? If so, go tell
it to the armies that have wen tour victories.
Make abolition the war cry. Place a banner
with that device in the vanward, and lure those
armies on to conquest with it—if you can. Your
soldiers would rend the treacherous ensign into
shreds, and would march to their homes with
the same alacrity that they poshed on with it
to the battle field.
What, then, is the cause that withholds nego*
nation ? You will not parlev with armed treat,
son. But you have parleyed with armed treason,
if that be' the word; parleyed for the mere
convenience of an exchange of prisoners, and
other purposes to mitigate the grievances ot war.
It was your duty to do so. Ana shall yuu not do
so to accomplish all that vonr troops are fighting
f or the reconstruction ofthe Union?
Let ns suppose that the Sooth is anxious to em
brace an opportunity of return, and is withheld
from making advances by doubts as to the iotenr
tions of the North. Uit oot right that we should
confer wilh them, that thosedouota may be re
moved ? „ .
What do the people care for such miser able
punctilios in the hour ofa nation’s agonv. Sir, an
honorable peace is within the "rasp of this Con*
gress without further bloodshed. This Congress
knows that it is ao, and when the people shall re
alize that it is only the infamous design to
strengthen the anti-slavery movement that
vents an effort to obtain taawpeace, woe to the
chiefs of the Abolit'on party in the land.
But enough of them. Words are thrown away
upon their stubborn fanaticism. I appeal with
better hope to the loftier feelings that should
pervade humanity, and especially pervade ttiie
august assemblage, that should, bv the nature of
its sacred functions, be far removed from the
miserable ambition of reducing a section of our
common country to the extreme, and therefore
dangerous, condition of despair.
Sir, there may be a fascination in the gor v mag
nificence of war. There may be a craving for
martial glorias m the hearts of men, and ao in
stinct Oi contention which we share in common
with the brute creation. But if eves there can be
a time when a more Christian impulse should
possess our’Souls, it is now; now, when the tri
umph and consciousness of strength give us the
noble privilege of extending the hand of recon*
ciliation without fear of degradation, or of self*
reproach for cowardice. If adversity has been
our excuse for sternness, let success be our plea
tor magnanimity. Providence has p»ac*d within
the reach of the North a greater triumph than
countless armed legions could conquer, the tri
umph of subduing a brave enemy with a gener
ous and merciful policy, that will disarm resents
mrnt and rekindle the old brotherly flame that
perhaps is not yet totally extinct. For, after all,
they are our brothers, sir, and some softening
of the stern Roman vigor which our rulers as
sumed is due to that brotherho- d, which by un
trmely severity may be cancelled now forever.
There are gentlemen who will say that the Booth
must be subdued ; that every armed Southerner
must throw down his weapon and sue for mercy.
Should a freeman ask so much of his brother
freeman? Would they be worthy of companion
ship in our fraternity, being reclaimed at such a
sacrifice of manly feeling? What would you
have them do? Would you have them crouch
and cringe, and strew their beads with ashes,
and kneel at your gates for re admission ’ They
are Americans, sir. and will not do it! No,
though Roanoke, and Fort Henry, and Fort
Dune Ison should be re-enacted from day to day,
hrough the lapse of bloody years, the/ will not
to it! Give them some chance for ati honorable
return, or you will wipe out every chance, and
the two sections will be twain forever. Yes, sir,
you may link them to each other with chains,
and pin their destinies together with bayonets,
but at heart they will be twain forever. They
;tre the children of the tame heroic stock, the
joint inheritors with ourselves of the precious
legacy of freedom; and it seems a 9*icrilege and
an insult to the memories of the pa.it, that so
many, sir, should sit in your presence here to
day to goad them on to desperate resistance, and
so tew—alas! no very tew—to meditate and te*
strain.
Os those few, I thank ray G .d, that I am one.
I am proud to proclaim it here beneath the dome
of the Capitol. 1 shall proclaim it here and everv
where until the wings of peace shall be one*
mote folded over the bleeding bosom of my
country. I shall proclaim it aloud and honestly
although to do so would make me the neat vic
tim oi this cruel strife.
riir, it may he -sail that I speak of peace while
its attainment, without further recource h, arms,
remain* impossible. But Ido not believe it ;m
possible. What effort has been made? What
door baa bet-u opened through which the pas
sions and ill-feelings of the contestants might
pass out and reason enter* None- The single
idea has been forced upon the people that the
sword, and the sword alone, must decide the is*
sue. It has b»-en pronounced treason to hold an
opposite opinion {jf, if to have but little faith
in »he efficacy of the sword tor joining severed
friendships, if to earnestly desire peace and to
deprecate the h grora of war be treason then I
am a traitor; and I am prouder of such treason
than t* boos tha:r -inriir,
tire, flamvng, and pfeteonous patriotism
1 conjure this Congress,',in the name of our suf
fering country—to the name of wives that may be
widoas, of children that mav be orphans, in the
names of galitnt men, now strong in health, and
who to-morrow may be stretched m death upon
the gorv ground. «*r writhing, maimed and dis
figured, with fermenting wounds -in the name of
humanity, that sickens at tbe daily record of this
terrible strife—l conjure this Congress to seize at
the merest chance that may exist o! a present ter
mination of this tragedy Let something be at
templed in the spirit of miditation Sir, ihe peov
pie wi!l respond to it. They will thank this Con
grtss lor it. They will bless this Congress for any
measure that breathesof the spirit of reconciling
turn. They are weary of this war- weary in des
pite of the excitement of »resent victory They
will awaken soon to the consciousness that such
victories are being {tircMksed at a sacrifice that is
terrible to contemplate, that a national debt is
being created which, iu its rapid accumulations,
is appalling—a debt which, if never paid, will
press tike an incubus upon future generations,
stuotug the growth ana yaralizmg the vigor of
our young Republic, or, it repudiated, resting a
blot upou our annals.
And while at home we are groaning with dis
tress and standing oo the verge of bankruptcy. If
look abroad the spectacle tend* only to our
shame. We tee the *eptered bands of Europe
planting tbeir royal banners upon the soil o! this
Western hemisphere, which t A *& eur natural duty
to consecrate to Republicanism, and which we
might at least have guarded from the greed of
foreign despot. The flag of Aragon and Castile
Haunts in the air of San Domingo, and, united
with the blazonries of France and Eng and, is un
furled upon the walls of San Juan d’Cltoa. Where
may they not float twelve months hence, if we,
the natural guardians of this continent from for
eign interference, should still be busy with dab
bling in each other's gore 9 Sir, if there most be
war, let it be against the natural enemies f Re
publicanism, aud as we have already humbled
our national pride to conciliate the fintish ii%n,
let us make some sacrifice to wig back in amity,
and not to subjugate the South, tbat we may
s and once again as comrades in arms to scourge
these foreign inter back again within their
proper limits.
i am no advocate of bloodshed, but if a foreign
war should be the alternative of sobmisston to
foreign insolence, I trust that I should be among
the last to fall prostrate that the hurricam* might
sweep harmlessly by. To subserve the schemes
of a party we have already humiliated the Amen
cau people in the ey%s of scoffing Europe, and it
will be a task herearter to regaa the caste we
have lost in the family of nation * No much
greater evil, could befal us than to be forced fr.»m
the positiou we have hitherto assumed towards
foreign powers. 1 would not have my country
swerve one inch from anv vital principle of her
foreign policy in any emergency whatever.
Above all things, i hoid dear that national honor
which we have ever till of »ate preserved untar
nished. However gloomy may be the aspect of
things at home. I would have our Hag float as
proudly as ever abroad, not even detgniog to
male domestic affliction a plea for humility, an
excuse for cowardice, or a paliatiou of national
shame. Whenever occasion demands that a
stand should be made against foreign aggres.
sice, or a rebuke administered to foreign pride,
or a chastisement inflicted upon foreign inso
lence, I would have the Jgauntlet thrown down
upon the impulse of the national sentiment with
out reference to domestic exigencies, or pausing
to meaeure the strong proportions of the foe.
In the heat ot our private discord, we seem m
have forgotten that our great mission as a people
is to republicaniie the world, to advance the prin
ciple that men are capable of self-goveuLmeat,
and to check the progress of monarchy. Sir, we
are iosfng ground in the fulfillment cf that sa~
cred mission, and monarchy has gained a new
foothold while we have been weakening our aim
ews with intestine Strife. And to what purpose?
Is it possible that gentlemen can hope to recon
struct the Union by purtumg a polity of unre
lenting severity? Can they expect to re-estabiish
concord and brotherly love by pusning hostilities
to the extreme verge ? What is the Union worth
without mutual reaoect and ceciprocated amity
* ; ;
to bind the sections? What! a Union of unwil
ling States, driven into companionship at the
point of the bayonet, and held there hereafter by
military power! Such a Union would not be
worth the shedding of one brave man’s blood.
We want their hearts or we want them not at aW.
And we cannot conquer hearfs with bayonets,
although they should outnumber the spears of
Xerxes. If not brought bark by negotiations, in
the spirit they are gone from as forever. To con
quer them may be possible. To slay their sols
diers, lay waste their lands, and burn tneir cities,
mav he withm our power. But to hold them id
subjection, having conquered them, would, in \
itself, be a final repudiation of the first principle .
of republicanism. Prosecu’e this wag until you
have accomplished the necessity of holding a
.-pbdued section in subjection, and the world
will look in v4;n fora Republic or. the Western
hemisphere.
Bir, J love to entertain the hope that our Unicn
wiil be restored upon the loundatioa laid dow n ;
by our fathers; and I desire no change ic the piao •
of that gionous superstructure. But lam not so |
unnatural a worshipper of the Union as to j
seek its salvation with tne destruction of those
for whose welfare it was c oceived, to build it
upon the dead bodies of my countrymen, when ‘
other means are at hand for >te recjostruction.
i wjuld purchase its redemption otherwise than j
by anarchy and ruin. I would cot fling away tbe I
substance to perpetuate the name. Every drop of j
blood that is shed in this straggle will weaken
the keystone of the fabric for whose sake the i
blood is pretended to be shed. One word of con- j
ciliation at this crisis will do more to save the
country than ah the achievements, past and to
come, of your victorious soldiery.
Why shou’d not that word go forth, even now.
in the hour of tfce triumph ol the Federal arms ?
j If there has ever been a period m the history ot
Republics when prolonged civil strife ass failed
to curtail the liberty of the masses, I have not
read that history aright A1 ready,with oueyear's
bitter experience,*6 Lays beheld some of the dear
est privileges of American fci’uenship wrested
from our grasp. And bow loug. at the same rate, ,
before, upon 'he convenient pioa of necessity,we
' shall be stripped of other rights which heretofore j
i hare made us deem ourselves freemen ? How ,
long, while personal liberty new depends on ;he i
nod of au official 9 How long, while free-born
American citizenscan be te'.t to 'languish :a bo* !
tiles, beyond tbe reach of the constituted tnbu* j
nais of the land and at tbe mercy of the Executive j
for their libe r ation 9 How long, while the press, ;
tbe guardian of liberty, tbe friend of the masses, [
is shackled, gagged, cowed down to sullen silence, [
or, worse yet, become tbe minion of a party j
How loug, while voters are arrested at in? !
polls by military .process, and legislators are bur- S
ried oft to prison before they can assume their
>*cred functions 9 How long, while thepariizaus
of the immaculate Abolition parry are coining
money out of the blood of their countrymen, pa
lading their showy patriotism and sbou*fog |
“Union, ’ with their arms up to the elbows in tb<-,
pubho’Treasury 9 How loug, sir, wiil the people l
of tbe North, taxed beyond endurance, robbed;
,tud cheated by an ever-craving horde of political
hyenas, bow long will they nave a choice be*
tween freedom and anarchy, between a Republic
and .a despotism 9 Alas we still cling to the
name of a Republic, but have we the reality • It
ig entirely at the option of one mun or of a coun
cil of n*t*n f whether the citizen ahall breathe in
freedom the air of Heaven. At the “open sesame’’
of tbe Executive, the gloomy portals of tfce Bag*
tiles Lafayette and Warren will gape to receive
him. And this is the Republic I was taught to
love'
w.r, it is only a sign and toreranne? of what
must inevitably be. should tbe South be crushed
into the Union. You mvv bring the South to
term with your k&yoneta, but when you
do-.e sc, you will nave * b< ad of air; a cove
nant to enforce which wiil necessitate this Gov
ernment to ussurae the functions of a military
despotism, and to break which at the first op
portunity will be an aim and a purpose on the
part of the s ibdued section. What they have
attempted once, they will not fail to attempt*
hereafter, when smarting under the remembraoce
of defeat, while .henahmg the deadly bate mat
a war to tbe utterance will engender.
For the sake of union n*w and of union here
after not enforced union, but tfce un.oc of
willing heart*—let the w »rd of peace go forth let
the hand of reconciliation be extended. Why,
sir, l have heard such wr-rds.of bitter hatred ex*
pressed tow «rds the Boutberners by Northern
lips, that I fear it may be already too late ever to
renew the bonds of fraternity. Buck sentiments
l have heard of implacable, of thirsting v t n*
geance, of sectional antipathy, as Hannibal was
taught to nurture against Rom?, as Rome in her
quenchless jealousy conceived towards Cartbag**
to the end. And the doom of Carthago may be
accepted by tbe South, rather 'ban re union at
the bayonet’s point
I appeal to this Congress to avert that fate a&
inglorious to the victor as to the vanquished.—
Let the door to negotiation be flung wide open,
flung open now while ive ran uoake advances
with good grace and with laurels upon our brow.
To tbe w-iuda with tbe doctrine that you will uot
treat with armed traitors It is a sentiment titter
for the epoch of a purple R un'vn than for the
Christian age in which we live- it is the senti
ment of one who rules with a rod of iron, net of
a great and generous people who assume to rule
themselves. Enough had been done in proof of
the valor of the North and the resources of the
Government. Let something be now done for
<he sake of the past, for the sake of the memories
of tne Revolution, of the struggle of ISI2, of the
J battle field of Mexico for the sake of a Union
whose cement shall be forgiveness for the past,
and friendship and forbearance for tbe future.
In place of exultiug over victories, and long
ing for new triumphs, how much more pleas
ant and more holy to draw a picture ot the joy
that will pervade many a now glocrny house
hold when tbe glad tidings of peace shall be
borne from city to village, from village to home
j stead, from lip to lip ; and heart to heart. A
! nation's iubilee would well repay you for some
| little yielding of your stern policy. How many
i urine would be outstretched, how mauy hearts
* would bound to give a •* welcome home again"
ito the war-trained volunteer Ob, sir, those
i meetings at the cottage threshold, those clffsp
i iii gs at the farm house porch, those (cleavings
Jof the throbbing bosoms of women to scar*
; red and manly breasts, were worth all the lau
t ~els that were ever snatched from blood-stained
| fields. The news cf our victories has been
hailed with p eans and illuminations, but, with
; the tlrst tidings of peace, there is not a hovel
| iu the land that would uot have a candle at its
; window, not a palace that would not blaze
j with splendors iu token of tfce advent of a
j blessing.priceless beyond all earthly triumphs.
Then sir, let us lower the points of our victori
ous swords, and parley with tbe foe while the
bugle blasts of victory are yet ringing in our
ears If we are free in anticipations from the
peril effyture reverses; if w*e are sanguine that
the Federal arms are henceforward gifted with
invincibility that is the noblest reason why
we should say to our opponents, “ pause if you
will; reflect." Let us yield them one chance of
reconcilement before we drive them to the re
sistance of despair. There can be no ijictory
where kilhand kin, where brothers and fellow
countrymen, where men whe are bound to each
other by the holiest of past associations, are
struggling tor supremacy All is defeat, all is
disaster. all is misfortune, tears and mourning
Do not let us efface with blood every sacred
memory that may yet bind these men to us as
brothers. Give one sign of iuvitation before
the death-struggle be reuewea. Let the spirit
of forgiveness j*a§s between tbe lines of those
opposing hosts, and with the blessings of Pro
vidence those armed legions will take a lesson
from Sabinia aQd early Rome, whose soldiers
united by domestic tie* threw down their
weapons upon the battle's verge, and sprang
tc each other’s embrace.
3ir, I have spoken freely, studying oniy tc
I make my words an index to my thought. My
! opirions have brought upon me the censure,
often most diacourteoisly expressed, oT many
who differ witL ms; but for that I care but
little. I ax content to bide the boor that
shall set me right before my couutrymex As
I ha’ve believed the prosecution of this war to
be a widening of the gulf, that separates the
sections, I have ear needy opposed it.' I have
always looked upon the subjugation of the
Sonin as a project whose fulfillment wouM
strike a heavy, perhaps a fatal blow to tiue
republicanism, and although I will yield to no
man m devotion to the Union —although X
would make any and every personal sacrifice
to restore its glory and iategrity—l will never
consent even for the sake of that Union, to
yield up my birthright as a freeman; to sac
rifice those principles of self-government
those rights of free thought, and personal lib
erty without which Union is but a mockery
and a name.
It is not grandeur and extent of territory
that I covet as the chief attributes of the Gov
ernment under which lam to live. Were I
one of but a single community, insignificant in
| numbers, but secure in a guarantee of pure
Republican ministration of iffairs, I would be
proud of my citizenship. But the union of a
thousand Slates, each one at great and popu
lous as the noble one among whose representa
tives I have the honor to be, I would detest —
yes, sir, in my most inmost heart detest, if th«
holding together cf component parts should
create a necessity for the assumption of des
pctlc power.
Self-government .s the goi of my political
idolatry, ana the Unioo is but a temple in
which I have worshipped it. Should that
temple be destroyed. I would not forsake the
creed, nor would th'e mighty principle be bur
ied in the ruins. I love and would preserve
1 the temple, for beneath its roof are gathered
| the treasures of holy past associations , upon
i its hallowed walls are inscribed the names of
, patriots, from the North and frofn the South,
i whose biood has been its cement But rather
| world I have the glorious fabric crumble to
i the dust, than see the spirit of despotism en
j shrined within its sacred precincts.
| I have seen already the silent but lengthen-
S iag shadow cf absolutism creeping into the
j spot. And when the Executive hand, for the
| first time in our history, was interposed be
tweeu the citizen and his rights, the germ was
planted of a danger mightier than rebellion in
its most gigantic phase, for I believe encroach ■
meats by at. Executive to bo iu itself rebel
lion against the only sovereignly I acknowl
edged— she majesty of the people. I believe
eact step towards absolutism to be more fatal
to the welfare of the Republ.e than any pog
sibie act within the power of the citizen to con
ceive and execute I will resist every grasp
that may be made upon an attribute of sov
ereigr.tyj not heretofore acknowledged to the
Chief Mag.stracy, for reason and instinct, no
less than the fearful examples that history has
furnished from the ashes of Republics, teach
me that the first atep unchecked, will not be
the last, but only the precursor of those giant
strides by which over the necks of betrayed
freemen ambitious men have mounted to %
throne
We want a Union, s.r. of sovereigns, not of
subjects and that our Government shall ex
tend over a vast area to me is of less moment
tbau that it should be purely, strictly, and un
equivocally republican, at a!' t.mes and under
all conditions.
Sir 1 have done. I have only to reiterate
my hope and my entreaty ti.at this Congress,
which has : a sacred charge the welfare of our
country, will adopt some measure which may
bring about a cessation of hostilities, with a
view to negotiation That done, lam firm iu
,my belief that hostilities will not be resumed.
er We clip tbe totlownng items from tit*
Memphis (Tenn ) “Appeal,’ of June2"th
. VicK.*BUßtt.—We hare enjoyed opportunities of
conversing with several geuriemen to-oay, who
just airived from Vickuburir, all of whom
represent the pr. Durations made at tbat point to
meet tbe and give him buttle a-» beiug
ample. All noa-combaianta have withdrawn
from tbe city—no me ia to be *et?u except those
who have determined to defend it to the utmost
even t«> the total destruction of the place. The
utmost enthusiasm and determi. atton is repre
Rented as prevailing, and we predict that Missis
aippi, eveu if she should lose her fairest city, wiH
not be cailsd upon to witness any fl uchirg on
the part of her suub who have rallied •to defend
vt.
IloLLt St*ax.Nus Evacuated.—lnformation of a
perfectly reliable nature has been receiver* here
that the Federal troops have evacuated Holly
Springs. What could have been their motive
for so sudden a visit, 30 brief a slay, and so b&sty
a retreat, we cannot te l. It is probable ibetr
purpose was, **B much as anything else to cap
lure the regiment of Col. Shelby, stationed at
that place. The Colonel, however, was a little
too quick for them, as h* made Lis escape a few
hours before the*r entrance into the place. The
little check which they met with at Tallahatchie
bridge, will no doubt induce them to advance
Southward more cautiously and in larger force
the uext time they take up the line ot march.
From Arkansas—Defeat os' General < curia.
—lntelligence has reached this place through*
Memphis, by a gentleman dir«ct from
to the effect that some short time since the Frti -
eral Genetal Curtis met with a signal delpat 12
miles from Little Rock, at the hands et Generals
Roane and Hindman. The f&cta, as we gather
them, are, that hta .ag of the advance of Curtis
upon Little Ruck, General Roane attacked him
in fiout while Hindman succeeded in getting io
his rear. In this situation he was completely
rouied, losing his trains, stores, ‘camp equipage,
Ac., together wit a many prisoners. Those of
his forces that made their escape scampered
through tbe country in every direction. Hindman
following ;c pursuit ot them
The intelligence is said to have produced -ou
siderablfc commotion among the Federal* iu Mem
phis, and some two or three regiments have been
sent up White River to the rel.ef of Curtis. We
shall await with some solicitude the particular*
of this engagement, and hope soon to chronicle
the sac: that Arkansas has bees cleared of the
Federal forces. Hindman, we predict, will give
them no peace or rest as long as they remain
outside ofSt. Louis.
t*r We clip the following paragraphs from
the Jackson “Mississippiau," of June 2w
TsbEkvxi ox ops Borders.— Mississ*ppi taa
now over 40,000 men in other States, and tha
Yankees being aware of the fact seek to invade
her soil from Hanabac and Raton Rouge on the
! South, Memphis and Holly Springs on the North
: and Vicksburg and Grand Gulf on tbe West,
j Their calculations may be all very nice, but
. when a certain gallant division from Beauregard
j performs its orders our enemies will learn to their
! sorrow that it is no easy matter to desecrate Mis*-
! issipp>soiL
The Ex em u Falling Back.— We learn from re
liable.authority that the enemy have fallen back
from Holly Springs They did not reach Oxford,
but retired from the Ta.lahatch»e after a shou
skirmish. v .
The Yamess in Sobth A-abama. —We learn
by a private let tar that the Yankees have twice
visited Moulton, Lawrence county, laying hands
each time on whatever they choose, particularly
provision?, horses, and watches
A Good Samaritan.—The Charleston ‘*Cour
ier’ of June 25tb, states that Mr. Jcfhnsor. is *e«~
ling beef in the market of that city at 15 cen»a
per pound—2" to SO cents lower than prices
have ruled for seme time. Mr. Johnson ia, in
deer., a “good Samaritan, ‘ and deserves to make
a fortune Have we n Johnsons—no “good
Samaritan**" among our butchers and market
dea>' - *