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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 1867)
Itfii WEEKLY 00N3TITUTI0NALIST WEDNESDAY MORNING. NOV. 27, 1867 TO OUR SUBOBIBER3. The Weekly Constitutionalist will here after be mailed ou Tuesday instead of Wednes day morning. We make this change to accom modate many subscribers. It is oui aim and purpose to make the paper a first class news and ! family journal, and we confidently hope that ! the influence of our subscribers will be exerted ! to aid us in doing so by extending its eircu ation. ANOTHER BLAST FROM HILPER. Hinton llowan Helper, of- Impending Crisis ” and “Nojoque” fame,has wiitten a : characteristic letterto the National Intelli g nicer. He demonstrates, from a loyal point of view, the black and blighting sway of Radicalisjn in the South, and preaches a crusade against everything and everybody aiming to fasten negro ascendancy or equal ity upon the down-trodden States. He clings to the opinion that the negroes must : be colonized in Mexico or some other re mote region, and unless this removal take place promptly, he predicts that peace, prosperity and grandeur will be banished from the land. He argues that just as the existence of slavery tended to the degrada tion of poor white labor in the past, so the accursed manipulations of Congress tend to a general impoverishment and loss of caste to the poor and rich whites alike. Therefore, the negro element must be re moved ; and if the Radical party stands in the way of removal, it must be toppled ova' without remorse and without judge or jury. He. pictures the tenacity with which men adhered to the peculiar institution and the ; evils they endured to preserve it. He proceeds to show that, in spite of the • base ingratitude and murderous threats of! the blacks, the old slaveholders are still j under the spell of sable witch and sable wizard, and, though impelled by principle to oppose their tormentors politically, they still retain their service from habit and in dulgence. As long as this distressful sym pathy continues, white labor is made despi cable and impossible. Bad as this condi tion of things is, he considers the case ag gravated by the ineffable despotism of the Radical party and its indecent conspiracy to secure dominion, through the agency of semi-barbarians. Predicating, then, that Radicalism is the stumbling block in the way of the negro’s deportation ; and the negro the impediment in the way of Southern progress: he de mands the downfall of both, in order that the White Race may rule the country and make it—what Radicalism can never ac complish—great, powerful, homogeneous and renowned. Asa specimen of his style and matter, and for the further reason that there is a modicum of hard sense in this mail’s vehemence and logic, we give his concluding remarks in full, as follows: Because of its gross excesses, its shortcom ings, and its corruptions, the first and most important thing necessary to be done, in order to remedy existing evils, is to utterly break down and destroy the whole Radical parly—a party which, in its monstrous affiliation with negroes, is bringing utter abjectuess and ruin upon at least ten the Union, and dis gracing and crippling all the others. Here, in the Southern States, the Radical influence, which is just as black and bad as it can be, coupled, not in name, bat, in reality, with the old slave-holding influence, keeps the negro unnaturally and disseutiously interlarded be tween the two great white elements 01 the South, thus preventing here, among the eight millions of people who aione are good tor anything that unity of sentiment and purpose, and that harmony of plan and action, without which it is impossible for ns ever to attain any thing like permanent peace, prosperity, or greatness. Indeed, under the actual military despotisms which an umvpublican and malig nant Radical Congress have foisted upon us, and under atrocious Radical threats of un limited confiscation and perpetual disfranchise ment, leading ns to tear that a still more op pressive and galling yoke is held in reserve for us, there is already an almost total suspension ot all public and private works ; men have no l eirt to do anything ; their hopes and their energies have been crushed ; their dwellings, their outhouses, and fences are, in most cases, iu a state of dilapidation ; their institu tions of learning, their churches, and their public buildings of all kinds—such as were not actually burned to ashes during the war, having been greatly misused and abused —are going to decay ; and in many places, where at least ordinary instructors aud schools are still to be found, the children, if not of necessity required to remain at home and work, are too frequently so destitute of clothing that their parents are ashamed to let them go beyond the narrow limits of their own mournfully-foreboding and gloomy observation. Mauy of the public roads and bridges, and not a few of the fords and ferry-boats, have been so long out of repair that th. y have become absolutely dangerous; and un ess, in the good Providence of God, the desolating aud destructive rule of Radicalism can soon be checked aud averted, those who travel here extensively, whether by steam power or horse power, will do so at the immi nent peril of their lives. Especially among the negroes here crime and lawlessness of every sort is now far more rife than ever before ; while, in many cases, under the vicious protection afforded them by the Radical negro bureau, before whose Dogberry agents the presence and the testimony of as good white men as ever lived are but too often treated with contempt, they (the delinquent negroes) are never punished at all; or, il pun ished, punished only in the mildest possible manner. 1 have known instances whereSvhite men, coining to knowledge of crimes commit ted by negroes—those very whites being the victims —would endure the wrong, and pass the whole matter by in silence, and without actiou, rather than subject themselves to the ex P® nse > au d lose of time which they well knew they would be but too likely to in cur b\ making complaint, whether ut the ne gro bureau or at anyone of those other bureaus of military despotism which have been <*o un necessarily and so wickedly inflicted upon ns by the Radical Congress. Everywhere through out the South the increasing demoralize ioif of the negroes is now, indeed, sadly seen and sadly felt. Nor would it be an easy matter to make up a full and complete indictment against them of all other high crimes aud misdemean ors. In every district or community of a con siderable sine, on the right hand and on the left, they are almost constantly committing brutal murder and highway robbery : breaking into dwellings aud warehouses; depredating on orchards, fields ot grain, and grauaries ; ap propriating to their own use other people’s cattle, pigs, and poultry; stealiug everything that tlu-y can lay their haufe upon ; outraging pure and innocent white girls ; and not unfre quent Iv in a spirit of the most savage wanton cess and revenge, settiug on tire aud utterly destroying the houses mid other property of their white neighbors. Terrorism reigns su preme among the white females of every fami ly and sleep is banished. Not far from here 1 was, a few weeks ago, in a small town, where there were just eight stores, every one of which had, at different times, been broken into and robbed. Either at the actual time respectively of < robbery, or afterward, it was fully ascernuned and proven, that six of these stores had been forci bly and feloniously entered by negroes, and the oilier two by persons unknown. All of them had been entered since the establishment of the Radical negro bureau. Prior to that time no store iu that town had ever been en tered by burglars. These tacts, well consider ed, must lead to the most solemn and profound conviction, in the breast of every right think . ing man, that the negroes, strongly fortified in the morbid and misplaced sympathy of the Radicals, are feeling themselves at comparative liberty to commit, with impunity, every species of outrage and crime. Broken hearted over the disastrous realities of the present, and dimly peering into the dark and uncertain future, all the white people here, of whatever condition in life, are dejected and sorrowful to an extent that I never before wit nessed. Sometimes it lias seemed to me that 1 could discern something holy, something sa cred, iu the c.eep and troubled sadness of those about me ; as if, indeed, God, iu His great I mercy, had come to dwell iu their hearts, and jto protect them from further outrage. I would '.hat this were so. Among men whose hearts ! are not entirely eallou- to every consideration of justice and humanity, there should always prevail a sentiment keenly alive to the sugges tion, that there should be both a measure and a limitation of punishment. Yet, strange to say. more strangi to say of white men, and still more strange to say of white men in this nineteenth century, the Radicals, as repre sented in the Radical Congress, seem to be ac tuated by no such sentiment as tkis. For the crinn-s which were committed by only a few dozen actual traitors, (the more promi nent and guilty of whom ought., in my opin ion, to have been hung more than two yoats ago,) they are inflicting all manner of severe penalties and punishments on eight millions of peoplt ! They complain, and justly, of the cruel treatment and death of some thousands of Union soldiers in Libby Prison, at Salisbury, and at Andcrsonville; hut, bv laws more ty rannical and barbarous than were ever belore enacted by any civilized hgislature, they are deliberately crushing out the spirit and the life of millions of innocent men, women and chil dren ! Iu the vain effort to exculpate them selvts, they Tauntingly proclaim to the world that their measures oi military reconstruction were enacted iu great part, it not principally, for the protection and for the benefit of Union men in the South. I tell them that the true Union men of the South (the white Union men, a iu except these there were none, and are none worthy of the name,) detest, with a detestation unut'erable, the entire batch.of their disgrace ful am- ruiuous military measures of recon struction. With few exceptions, the white Union men of the South feel that they have been most foully and shamefully betrayed am dishonored ; and we reject, with immeasurable scorn and indignation, the imputation that we I l ave any sympathies or pui poses in common with base-minded and degenerate partisan, I who, like the Radicals, ere abandoned to every high principle ol honor and right reason.— We were, and are still, Republicans ; not black Republicans, lm' white Republicans. Radicals we never were, nor can we be. It is, then, the Republican party, in the persons of factious and fanatical multitudes of Radical demagogues, that has leu us, aud uot we who have left the Republican party. Aud I here tell these Radi ieals, and I tell them with emphasis aud dis tinctness, uot as a threat, but as a warning, that, in any future conflict of arms (which, however, may God and good men avert) between the friends and the enemies of the Constitution, aud of the Government of the United States as constitutionally organized, the Union white men of the South would be precisely where they were before —they would be with the right, but not with the Radicals. But why do I speak of a warlike contingency of this sort as being now even -within the bounds of possibility ? I will tell you. That ihe whole country, North and South, East and West, is not now in a state of general good or der, peace, and prosperity, is alone due to the unwise and unjust legislation of the Radical Congress. A large majority of that Congress are now evincing, or have but recently evinced, a disposition to prosecute, even to still greater lengths, if possible, their former schemes of revenge, despotism, and ruin. * * * * Another gentleman, (and this brings me to the very gist of what I wish to say iu reference to future fighting, and to beg that the Radicals will give no occasion for it,) a New Yorker, who occupies an important judicial position, declared to me, in June last, that in case of the attempt of the Radical Congress to remove the Pres id cut in any manner, or for any cause not explicitly prescribed iu the Constitution—mind you, he did not even mention the name of An drew Johnson, he only spoke of “ the Rresi dent ” —he, for one, would take up arms to re sist the usurpation, and he believed the people generally would do the same thing. He furt her remarked that in such an eveut the war would be one merely for the preservation of ’republi can and democratic institutions, aud that it would prevail only at the North, uuless the South, by her own volition, should come to lie a party to it. Now’, it may be that there are certain men in the South who would be more or less rejoiced at the outbreak of a war of that sort, but if so, I most sincere ly hope and trust that they may never be gratified ; nor will they be, uuless it be through the foil}’ and the crime of the Radical party. — The white Union men of the South are not only Southerners, they are also Americans, aud they wish well to the w-hole country ; indeed, so ex tensive are their good will and aspirations in this regard, that they hope the day will soon come, or come sometime, when the entire con tinent of North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Behring’s Strait to the isthmus of Darien, shall be found to be too suiffll to represent in full on the maps the peaceful, prosperous, and progressive superfices aud boundarieo of our national domain. We believe that Andrew Johnson has made, aud is still making, in the person of himself, a truly able and patriotic President of tbc-se United States; aud we believe further, without advo cating his election or re-election, that he would make, for the ensuing Presidential term, a bet ter President than any one of the gentlemen whose names the Radicals have yet mentioned iu connection with that high office; aud this simply because they have not mentioned the names of such clear-sighted and worthy Repub lican statesmen as Seward, Adams, Fessenden, Sherman, McCulloch, Doolittle, Browning, Welles, Raymond, and Randall; uor the names of any of those tried aud trusty Democratic statesmen to whom, in magnanimous and praiseworthy coalition with the Republicans, wc may yet have to look for the safe piloting of the ship of State over the many rough shoals and breakers among which the Radicals have so negligently and so culpably allowed her to drift. We, the white Union men of the South—and all the white men here, two or three dozen arch-traitors excepted, would soon become faithful friends of the Union, if they were only afforded a just aud reasonable opportunity to become so—are very desirous that all the Southern States shall at once be prudently and properly rehabilitated; we want them to re sume, without delay, their rightful status in the nation; we want them acknowledged and treated, in all respects, as free and equal States, with enlightened and republican constitutions of government, similar to those of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio ; we want them to re taiu, In the amplest possible sense, both the semblance and the reality of white States, and so avoid the utter disgrace and worthlessness of becoming black States ; and we insist upon it, that the infamous dogmas and teachings of the Radicals, who are so pertinaciously striving to reduce the white races of our country to the low level of negrohood, ought to be every where refused aud rejected with the utmost disdain. We insist upon it, that the abolition of slavery arnoug us ought to leave the negro occupying in the South precisely the same status that the abolition of slavery among you •est him occupying in the North. We insist upon it, that, because of his natural inferiority, ; his despicable characteristics, his gross stnpidi i ty and his brutishness, he ought not to be al- I lowed either to rote or to hold office, nor to | fill or perform any other high function which appertains, and, of right, should always upper taiucxclunivcly, to the worthy aud well qualified white citizens of our country. (Speaking here only for myself, ns an individual, 1 nmy say, with absolute sincerity and truth, that however much others may itch lor office, there Is no position ot honor, trust, or profit within the gilt any number of the American people, or any number of any other pt-onle, that 1 would accept, unless it came to me through white votes alone. And while tnis is strictly true, it is very certain also, that however uurcgeneratC I may be in other respects, and it would seem that, according to the opinion of some, 1 am a rather siufiil sort of man —yet L feel happy in the perfect assurance that I shall never go down to the grave nor elsewhere with the black crime resting upon my soul of having, iu any contingency, or under any p< ssible or con ceivable circumstances, ever voted for a negro. ] We insist upon it that the enlrauchisement ol the negroes, and the disfranchisement of the whites, whereby the supremacy of the negroes has already been established, or is about to be established midmost every Southern State, is u consummate outrage, an unmitigated despot ism, an unparalleled infamy, and an atrocious crime. We insist upon it, that our Federal Government aud our State governments are, as they ought to be, n publican in form, and that the miiitary authorities ought, at all times, ex cept only iu cases of actual war, in the luturi as in the past, to be held subordinate to the c'vil authorities. We further insist upon it, that the whole drift of Radical legislation, for the last eighteen months and more, has been, and still is, unstatesmanlike, unrepubliean, vindictive and despotic- perilous to all tin principles of enlightened self-government, and alarmingly degoiding and inimical to the white Civilization and progress and | In-entire New World It is absurd and useless for the Radicals, j while tacitly admitting the black and banetnl i excesses of their legislation, to tell n«, in tin* j pitiful attempt to excuse their own gross ignorance and folly, that the nmn -rie ii pre ponderanee ot the whites in the Houlli will ; save them from the corrupting and iletnord.b dug influences of the negvoee. As well might | they toil us that a pound, or a less qnanlhv, ot strychnine could do no harm in a barrel of flour, that an ounce of arsenic could accomplish no lqischief in a peck of meal; that a vial of : prussic acid could effect uo injury in a pitcher j tit water; or that one idiot, fo.v< risli and ft ant i( ] with contagion, might not communicate the I effluvium of'fatal infection to a score or more of sane men. We insist upon it that it is pre ; eminently our duty to be just and kind to our own race, and that the poor ami distressed ol the white race are those who, here, there, and everywhere, have the highest claims upon us, whether for service, tor food, for clothing, for , education, or for whatever otliei thing ; and ! Fso that if, in being but just to our own race, the negroes or others are the sufferers, that, under the inscrutable purposes of Providence, is simply their misfortune, and should always be so considered. Further, and finally, we insist upon it, that the good results which the loyal ami intelligent masses ot tiie country had i a right to expect would soon lollow the aboli | lion of slavery and the suppression of the re j hellion, shall neither be defeated nor indefinitely j de' yed ; and we protest that the disingenuous j ness and treachery ol the Radicals, since the i war, seriously treaten to neutralize all the wise | and patriotic labors which the Republicans so heroically and so gloriously performed, both before and during the war. We ask for the ! immediate repeal oi all military laws which are Antagonistic to the spirit and form of republi i can government, and, especially, for t he speedy repeal of all such political and mercenary mon strosities as the negro bureau bill. We Til so ask that the expenses of the army aud navy may be reduced at least one-half, aud that the burdens of taxation, which now weigh so heavily upon white people, may at once be lightened. With an eye and a purpose to these ends, wc ask that every Radical Senator and Repre-enta tive in Congress, and every other Radical offi cer in the laud, whether nationa 1 , State, county, or municipal, who is, or Lias been, an aider and abetioc of that usurpatory and tyrannical oli garchy, euphemized rs the American Congress, shall, one and all, at the very next elections in which their names may be brought before tlie people, be wholly and summarily withdrawn from official life, and that new aud better men —men possessed of good common sense, men controlled by sentiments of justice for white people, no less than by sentiments of justice tor black people—men sufficiently free from sectional bias—men of enlarged aud statesman like views—shall be elected in their stead. Let this be done, and all will be well. Let it be made manifest, and let it be proclaimed abroad, throughout the entire length aud breadth of the land, that what the short-sighted Radicals are aiming at as a mere possible good to lour millions of blacks, is a positive disservice and evil to eight millions of whites. We want, and we will have, no re-est b’isbment of slavery.— It is sale to say that there are not to-day, in the whole State of North Carolina, two hundred men, of good standing or influence, wlio would, if they could, have slavery re-establish ed. Indeed, I doubt whether there are five thousand white men, in all the South, who would now, or at any future time, oe so un wise, so rash, and so reckless, as to undue the acts of emancipation, even if they had the power. The only persons here who, in any considerable number, would be willing to incur the odium aud the infamy of voting for a re turn to the system of slavery, are negroes themselves, whose instincts tell them, that if really put upon their own resources in com munities of white men, and in no manner propped up or sustained at the expense and degradation of a greater or less number of whites, whether by se r vitude, under an oli garchy of slaveholders, on the one hand, or bv negro bureaus, under an oligarchy of Radicals, on the other, they will gradually fall behind in the career of life, fail to multi ply the inferior race to which they belong, die out, and become fossilized. While, therefore, we are firm in the wish and purpose not to have any more slavery in the South, we are equally firm in the desire and determination to get rid of the negroes if we can—not bytakiDg from them one drop of blood—not by hurting a single fibre of hair (or wool) upon their heads, but by colonization, in or out of Mexico; and in this effort, which will be in perfect harmony with that of wisdom and patriotism which, through the mighty energies and enterprises of white men, have brought imperishable great ness and glory to the North, we most earnestly and trustingly solicit your fraternal co-opera tion. And then, having at last imitated the good example which yon have held prominent ly before us for more than half a century, but which, in our excessive folly and stubbornness, we have, until now, rejected; having filled our States, as you have filled your States, with white people, aud not with such intolerable hu man rubbish as negroes, Indians, and mulat toes, then we mean to fight you again ; not with steam-rams, cannon, muskets, bayonets, swords, nor satres ; not with any of the sanguinary and sorrowful weapons ot death, but with all the pleasiug and ennobling agencies of life. Then, for the first time since you wisely abol ished slavery and negroes, and we foolishly retained them, will it be possible for our States of the South to begin to be equal with your States of the North. Aud then, as we all ad vance onward in the grand march of improve ment —and we want tens and hundreds of thousands of you to come among us, aud be with us and of us, and, at the same time, to aid us, by sound counsel and otherwise, iu the varied and arduous duties and responsibilities which are now devolving upon us—we shall begin to challenge you iu good earnest; uot to the battle-field, but to courteous emulation and rivalry in all of the noble acts and refine ments—aye, and also occasionally in some of the more innocent and manly games and sports of peace and civilization. Hixton Row ax Helper. Ashyille, N. C., November 11, 1567. Sound and Fury. —Gen. Sheridan had a “triumphant reception” at St. Louis. Drums beat and trumpets brayed. The day following this ovatiou, the hat was passed round among the “ trooly loil,” but they had no money. It is suggested that Sheri dan settle the bill. If he does not, the next military hero that comes along will have to blow his own horn aud beat his own tin pan. GEN. SHERMAN’S SPEECH- Wc etui very well understand liovv Gen. Sherman should feel obliged to glorify the army aud cause of the North ; but it is not so patent to our comprehension why he j should heap Infamy upon the South. His recent address before the Grand Army of Tennessee may strike some of our contem poraries as a good Conservative effort, but we differ in our estimate of the sneaker and his speech. As many Southern journals have printed portions of the Lieutenant- General’s harangue—carefully suppressing whatever was obnoxious and insulting—wc will, in order that there may be no mistake in the premises, supply the missing links for Hie benefit of those who are still averse to ihe policy programme of President-ma kers and their kind. Before introducing these extracts, wc would repeat, what lias been often said in these columns, that as long as Gettysburg monuments and Grand Army Associations are kept up at the North —asuerpetual me mentos of our fallen condition —there never will be, there never can be, any fraternity worth the name of Union. In ancient times, these memorials of domestic feud "eie studiously forbidden or destroyed. In the -,o called model Republic of America, they m'c gifted with all the immortality that art ot money can bestow. Gen. Sherman, by k-opening t.lie issues of t lie war and criti , Ring the motives of the vanquished, has rival bis full share to lliis common fund of i nferseethnull animosity. Anv one would suppose that the memory of* our Gate City would not, be as pleasant 1.. iim soul of Sherman as other memories more glorious and less fiendish. But it is 111,1 i Unit, Georgians should know how this man prefers to live in the canvass of the painter. Having wished for a Bierstadt so portray him as he stood on Kennesaw, be remembers that Kennesaw was not ex actly a victorious situation, and so, turns aside and calls upon a Beard or llealy to limn a spectacle in which the demon of desolation surveys Lis wild work and ehaunts the horse-thief’s shibboleth. Here are his words: “ Or better still, that a Beard or Healy could have caught that gorgeous picture as we rode out of Atlanta that beautiful morning in No vember, and turned io look at Atlanta smoul dering in its ruins , whilst long lines if soldiers with tlieir white-topped wagons were starting southward, they knew not n hither, and the whole air resounded with that favorite anthem of “ John Brown’s soul goes marching on,” taken up from the band, by the marching col umns as by a common instinct.” That is bad enough, but worse is to come. As long as General Sherman confined him self to self-laudation and national eulogy, no objection might be made. But instead of allowing his hearers to draw their own na tural inferences; instead of preserving a magnanimous silence with regard to the Southern cause and the humiliations its loss engendered: lie gloats over us in a style that deserves the indignation of every man or woman in the South whose soul has one spark of sympathy and tenderness left for those who live like Lee and those who died like Jackson. Head what fol lows, and if the Conservatism of this man is the kind you wink at, up with your caps and shout your vivas for the latest Presi dential candidate. General Sherman says: “ Look to i'.:z South, and you who went with me through that land can best say if they too have not been fearfully punished. Mourning in every household, desolalion written in broad characters across the whole face of their country, cities in ashes aud fields waste, their commerce gene, their system of labor an nihilated and destroyed. Ruin, poverty, and distress everywhere, and now pestilence add i ing the very cap sheaf to their stack of misery ; : her proud men begging for pardon and ap pealing for permission to raise food for their children ; her five million of slaves free, and their value lost to their former masters forever. Flow any Southern gentleman, with these fads, plain and palpable, everywhere staring him in the face and recordedfor ever in the book of hi sto ry, can still boast of his ' lost cause,' or speak of it in language other than of shame and sorrow, passes my understanding, aud, instead of being revived, I know their lost cause will sink : deeper and deeper into infamy as time more keenly probes its hidden mysteries and reveals them to the light of day.” Southern men, who are so disposed, may swallow this sort of denunciation with an easy gulp; but there are thousands who will not excuse it on the score of policy. There are thousands who prefer the nobler language of T. A. R. Nelson —the great East Tennessee Unionist —and as an anti dote for Sherman’s scorn, we beg our people to place the subjoined extract alongside the fulmination quoted above. This is what Nelson spoke, and we would to God that it were written in the hearts of all our people: '•‘■Let the North remember that there is a just God, icho ruleth in the armies of Heaven and upon earth, icho governs nations as well as men ; that He used the Assyrians as instruments to punish the rebellious Jews; but when the As syrians persecuted them from year to year, when 4 they showed no mercy,' when upon them they ‘ hi in very heavily their yoke,' He raised up Cyrus to take Babylon, and punish the conquer ors, who had been his instruments, most severe ly. Let them remember that, although the South is conquered and subjugated, helpless and power less, bound hand and foot and bleeding at every pqre; though• her rich men have become poor men, and her great men have been humbled in the very dust; though her 'servants ate now upon horses and her princes are walking as ser vants upon the earththough famine broods over the last murmur of complaint; though she has ‘ drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling and wrung them out'—yet her shrieks of agony will go up to Heaven, and, sooner or later, will be heard ; and in some form, now hid from mor tal ken, He ‘ who foigetteih not the cry of the humble ' will be her friend and her avenger." The readers of the Constitutionalist will recognize this excerpt as an old friend ; they may, in the present case, ad mit it as a friend in need and a friend in deed. Horse Talk.— Wade complains that Grant talks horse—and nothing else. Cal igula’s steed was nominated consul for a ; similar idiosyncrasy. Grant may become ! t President by this Dexter-ous plan. Our New York Correspondence. New York, November 17. The Presidential question assumes ne w aspects. The ferocious zeal of Thurlow Weed in behalf of Gen. Grant has excited some suspicion, and led to investigation. — It lias resulted in the discovery that Mr. Weed is not really friendly to Gen. Grant, but that the veteran politician desires to use the successful General to natter down the Radicals; hoping that possibly Grant and Chase may be made to enact the parts towards each other, of the Kilkenny cats. Mr. Weed has never given up the idea of the Philadelphia Convention ; he thinks its j candidates, Seward for President, and Gov. Orr for Vice President, may yet be brought successfully forward. The friends of Mr. Seward, while advo cating Gen. Grant for President, have showered upon the Radicals the most bitter taunts calculated to stimulate hostility to him, and provoke a “ bolt” iu case he should receive the Republican nomination. Mr. Washburne, who is recogny.ed’as the “next friend” of Gen. Grant, ou his attention being called to the phillipics of Mr. Weed, promptly avowed not only his disapproval of them, but his hostility to the political interest in which Mr. Weed wrote. As respccv-s Gen. Grant’s position, there is no douot of Ills thorough sympathy with the Radicals; but he will refuse to make any public avowal of his opinions ; and die | attempt will be made to make him aecept : able to the Radicals, by nominating him |<m a thoroughly Radical “ platform.’’ This ! is the scheme of the -Republicans who are ' really the friends of Grant. But the friends of Mr. Chase are still strongly in hopes of | being able to overturn it. THE DEMOCRATS AND OEN. GRANT. ; In the meantime, the treatment of their I into victories by a large portion of the Democratic party is as short-lighted and suicidal a* their course at the inception of ; the late war, when they allowed themselves to believe that war could be made upon the I Southern States to preserve the Union and i the Constitution. They fail to judge cov j rectiy the results of the recent electiors. — These either Indicated a temporary aliena tion of* Republicans from their paity for various reasons —the hard times and negro suffrage being the most potent—or they were the inauguration of a counter-revolu tion pointing to the repudiation of the Fed eral debt, the re-imbursement of the South ern people for that property of which they have been forcibly deprived, and not only amnesty, but honor to those Southern leacl i ers who periled all in reponse to the call of duty. The timid and irresolute, who accept the former interpretation of the late elections, have been coquetting with the Conserva tive Republicans with regard to a third party movement, by which Genial Grant mav be brought forward as a “people’s can didate,” to be supported, if not openly no n iuated, by the Democrats. The whole plan smacks of “spoils” and personal prefer ment, at the expense of principle, and is full of danger, because it cannot succeed, for the Democratic party will not sub art to any such alliance, and because it would prove a serious, if not an insuperable ob<a cle to the further progress of that “ re-ac tion,” of which the late elections may be justly assumed to be the beginning. Grant and the Conservative Republicans wou’d prove to the Democrats the burden that Siubad endured in the Old Man of the Sea. A REPUBLICAN CAUCUS has been called to meet in Washington, in the coming week, to determine upon a course of action during the coming session of Congress, but a preliminary “council" of the magnates of the party has been held in this city and the action of the caucus substantially marked out,at least upon two important points. The first, of course, is IMPEACHMENT. This is dead. In its place, President John son is to be “ punished ” in a manner some what similar to the anathema fulminated by the United States Senate thirty-five years ago against President Jack-con, and after wards “ expunged” on motion of Tom. Ben ton. Concuireut resolutions, m which the English language shall oe exhausted in re viling and denouncing the President, will be passed by both Houses of Congress and engrossed upon their journals, leaving to pome future Benton, perhaps, the duty of having them expunged. Well, it is “none of our funeral.” If the hounds of Abolition fall to rending each other, we can only wish to s°e fair play. With reference to the next topic of press ing interest, THE FEDERAL FINANCES, the ‘Ado nothing” policy was agreed upon. It is thought that business has reached its worst, and unless disturbed by the tinker ing of Congress with the finances, may be expected to improve. Although more infla tion may be attempted, or at least a stop put to contraction, no action is probable.— The latter may possibly succeed in Con gress, but if so, it will fail under the veto of the President. Business men may rely, I think, therefore, that they will be free from any violent monetary changes the coming year, or until anew Congress shall meet.— The country is not quite ripe for the sweep ing financial reforms that are needed. A little more taxation at the present rates; a little longer presence of an army of tax gatherers ; a little longer existence of the Freedmen’s Bureau and military domina tion are necessary to “educate” the people, and they will have ample opportunity of learning. PARSON BEECHER ON TIIE STAGE. “ Norwood,” the novel written by Henry Ward Beecher for the Ledger f having been “dramatized,” was introduced this week to the public ; and, although excessively stu pid both in plot and detail, amuses many people, and is, therefore, a pecuniary suc cess. But what one hears most frequently spoken of in connection with the drama, are the smutty double entendres with which it is interladed—such as no decent person will care to listen to. Herein we have an illustration of the state of religion and morals among the de scendants of the Puritans. It has been re marked of New Englanders that they were opposed to bear-baiting, not because'it was painful to the bears, but because it might possibly give pleasure to some of the spec tators ; and with the New Englander of a qimrter century ago, to read a novel was to inc&r hell and damnation; while the writer of a tale of fiction was .condemned to the lowest depths of perdition. Thev have changed all that. A noted New England parson not only writes a flash novel, but is content to see it enacted upon the “ lyric stage,” loaded, to make it attractive to the vile, with indecent allusions from beginning to end. THE EPISCOPALIANS. The annual convention of the Episcopal Church of this diocese, whose adjourned session concluded yesterday, was not with out features of general interest. In the first place, Bishop Potter having returned from Europe, emasculated a programme for the opening services in which ritualism was prominently developed. The high-church party were offended, but there was no help for them. Bishop Potter is one of the most prudent and timid of men; his action on this occasion has, therefore, peculiar signi flcance. He would not have interfered, un less lie had felt himself strongly urged ancl strongly supported; or unless he had felt that the monster Ritualism must be throt tled at once. Iu the election of standing committees the high-church party was beaten. A division of the present Diocese of New York, into three dioceses, was resolved upon. That is, if cutting off a dog’s tail and ears may be said to be “dividing” him. The new diocese of New York re- tains three-fourths of the churches and wealth of the old diocese. The new dioceses are merely cutting off from the old diocese the poor, distant and unattractive portions, with, perhaps, a single exception— not in any degree impairing the “ glory ” aud wealth of what remains in Bisnop Potter's bailiwick. The history of this division il lustrates, most forcibly, the powerful offi cial and social influence of the bishop.— Fourteen ye. rs ago, when Bishop Pottei was rector of a church at Albany, be was an earnest- advocate of the division of the diocese. He was soon after chosen bishop, and since tiien has succeeded in postponing the division from year to year. When it could no longer be resisted, he so far su< - ceeded in controlling the movement that the division, when at length accomplished, was not more like the division contem plated than the cutting off an animal's ears and tail is “dividing” it. At the same time, a movement looking to the creation of arch-bishoprics in the Episcopal Church, by which* 1 Bishop Potter may retain domin ion not only over the whole of his diocese, but- make Western New York subject to him, received favorable action. How re luctantly does man—so good a man as Bishop Potter even—yield up power that has once been conceded to him ! BUSINESS MATTERS. The tide apparently ebbs, when it lias begun to flow. So the improved turn to rner antile affairs is not as yet very appa rent. Cotton goods have become firm aud fairly active, but this improvement is not as yet felt in the cotton market, and in the meantime dull accounts from Liverpool and the prolonged picking season, are depress ing prices. •Breadstuffs and provisions have been the subject of some speculation, but do not materially advance. Reliance is placed upon the wants of the country to lead to a gradual improvement in business. Gold and stocks are maintained; but it is plain that the bulls have exhausted all their “ points.” The revival of business is the worst enemy of “ fancy” values. Willoughby. Thaddeus, of Lancaster. Melancholy Mumblings of a Worn Out Dema gogue. [Washington (November 15) Correspondence Cincin uati Enquirer. Your correspondent paid a visit to Tliad. Stevens to-day. He was sitting in an arm chair, and Mr. Wilson, of lowa, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was present. Time has made fearful ravages outlie Old Commoner, who is but a wreck of his former self. He claims, however, to be quite well, and said he was fast recovering his strength. But the lustre of the eyes was gone, and it seemed to require an ef fort to keep himself from absolutely falling info a stupor. Occasionally his eye would brighten, as some bitter reference to Cop perheads escaped his lips, and then the fire would die uut, leaving him the appearance of a dying man. His memory seems to fail him, and he would offen press his bony fingers to his face, in an effort to recall his wandering thoughts. Frequently after these pauses he would repeat what he had just spoken, apparently unconscious of having uttered them before^j^^^ Iu the c- remarks Air. Stevens said the never produced a po • " a-ohe Ra-lic.il party, and • k-iiiu-d to control G ... ... . rlia : -. occasional interruptioii^U TltSp.- DEMOCRATIC. The e: Representatives, he tiie Radi cal'- w- the ascendancy. — St (deuchiiig his lingers, I’e is the - * 11 1,1 wolves. amount:- , s or what is worse, the locot t >c - STATES. f , In sneakieffect oi Congressional action in the South, ho said the Republi can- in those States have placed themselves on a foundation that cannot be shaken, and they will stand with us, shoulder to shoulder, and the Republican party will be like a great breechy mule between the two horses, and, if they don't pud the guts out of them. THAD. HAS NO INTEREST IN THE OTHER WORLD. Stevens said that if he was about to die, an event he did not like to contemplate, and which he would like to put off two or three years longer, he would wish to have some hearty friends to come aud counsel with him, “ for,” said he, “we have a deep in terest in the. affairs of this world, and can have nope in the other, and we must do our work here.” Continuing his discourse, he said the only danger to the Republican party was dissen tion among themselves, but this ought not to be allowed to divide and weaken the ranks, but if they refused to pull iu the harness he hoped the Republican wagon would pass over their bodies and break their bones. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. Referring to the Presidential nomination, he«eaid the movement was premature, and Republicans should see their way clear be fore discussing the question, lie declined expressing an opinion of Grant, but it seemed as if Forney was looking to availa bility in their candidate. IMPEACHMENT DEAD. He thought impeachment had died out, but his opinions were unaltered in regard to the subject. • CONFISCATION BILL. He said there was no doubt that the Sen ate would reinstate Stanton, but thought likely he would have to resort to legal pro ceedings, which, said he, is the right way to adjust wrongs, if a fellow don’t want to use his fist. A CAUCUS TO SHAPE LEGISLATION. Stevens declares his intention to be pres ent at the opening of Congress, and said the caucus would shape the course of legisla tion. An Infamous Threat. —We hear that many white men w ould abandon the Union Leagues, but are threatened by the leaders with trial for perjury. Why, gentlemen, they have no more power to try you than the horse-thief Murrell had to punish any of his gang who bolted from the oath administered to them. Where do they get their power to administer oaths ? The whole concern is illegal and traitorous to the Constitution. Come out from them at once. — Ashville (A. C T .) News.
