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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>' - *