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OLD SERIES, VOL. LX XV. tfhremck & Sentinel 11 i:n it v mooni: f a. it. wiiicjsiirr. TCIt-VIS OF >1 liM IIIPTION. WEEKLY. * Burnt L* CjO # month*. ' l To J. It, U . .JOHNSTON , Macaber. A I < • I S'l’A * G A : WKDN' KSDA V M<)K\7\(., SEPTEMBER (2. Ingenious Excuses. Finding that the respectable people of the South are not disposed to send dele gates to the Hrownlow-nogro convention now in session in Philadelphia, the radical journals attorn j* to account fin- the paucity of Southern delegates on the ground that it was not safe for the loyalists to meet to appoint delegates. On this subject the Cincinnati Gazette circulates the following first-clans falsehood, from its W ashington C‘ rrespondent: “A number of delegates to tile Sep tom l»-r -otivmilion Imve arriveil from the South to-day. I'hey all report that the course of the Pr.-sident in regard to the New Orleans butchery has made the jx tion of I'nion men more perilous than it was at any time under the Confederate government. In many |>artft ot the South j where it was contemplated to hold meet- j ings and appoint delegates, public opinion j lias suddenly become so bitter towards all Unionists as to render it certain death to tape part in any meeting to further the objects of the Loyalists Convention.” We have yet to hear of the first instance | when; violence towards the insignificant I creatures who desired to send delegates to Philadelphia lias been thought of. lit G orgia we do.not think any meetings have been held. Most of those whose names appear as delegates from this State are entirely unknown. Ambrose Spencer is a renegade from Sumter county, where he was a blatant Confederate, and the last time we saw him was boiling over with zeal for the cause, trying to raise an artil lery company. He is too well known in this community for anybody to be sur prised at any treachery or duplicity of which he may ho guilty, and is a lit ally for Fred Douglas in the work of negro equality. lie is too contemptible for any body to think of offering him violence. If he were to come here he would bo in no danger of molestation, unless the Sheriff should present him some re minders of his sharp practices in other da vs. His politics are riot worth disturb in . Hiyant, another delegate, has been absent several weeks, tryingto raise money to keep from starvation. Since he left, judgment lias been obtained against him by a negro, for SSO, and he is] under bond $5,00(1, to an wer the charge of larceny after the trust, preferred against him at the instance of a negro. He lias been writing and publishing all sorts of inflatna tory stuff here, for months, with perfect impudence and impunity. The truth is, all this tribe are doing their best to get the people to molest them—they arc anxious to become martyrs—because, if not made martyrs, they will soon sink into their normal condition of nobodies, —and our people have too much wisdom to think of conferring undeserved elevation upon them. Wc regret that meetings have not been held in Georgia. It would have shown how utterly contemptible in num bers and character the kind of loyalists are \ ..ho compose the Fred Donglas-Brownlow (invention. Yankee Spite. The New York Legislature is now in ex tra session, having been called together by the Governor for the trial of an impeach ment ease against one of their Circuit | Judges. A few days since a member of > the Senate moved a resolution tendering i the hospitalities of the State to President Johnson, Gen. Grant and Admiral Farra gut, who were then in New York city, on j their way to the West. A member moved j to insert the name of Secretary Seward also in the resolution. Upon the vote be ing taken on the amendment, it, was lost by a vote of 12 nays to 8 in the affirmative. | This is a true specimen of Radical breed- 1 ing and sense. Because the majority of] the Senate disagree with Mr. Seward in relation to the policy of the Government | in its treatment of the Southern States, they take this contemptible way of show ing their disapproval of his course. These very men were the loudest of those who so recently as the beginning of the last Con gress, extolled Mr. Seward as the chief person to whom the Government was in debted for the success of the war- They then gave him the credit of having steered the ship of State safely through the rocks and shoals of secession, and of having brought her safely into a peaceful port. Now. Mr. Seward is denounced as a white livered dough -face, and the common civili ies, recognized all over the country, as due to the office beholds, arc insultingly withheld from him, and to give greater force and pungency to the insult, his compagnons d< voyage. are special y invited to visit Albany and receive the State's hospitalities, whilst, by this vote, he is snubbed. Those puny efforts of the New A ork Radicals will have no other effect than that of branding their authors as n on of desperate and extreme views, and whol ly devoid of the true principles which mark the American gentleman. Mr. Seward will not suffer either in reputation or feelings from their cowardly attacks. We call attention to this matter, not for the purpose of defending Mr. Seward, hut merely to show to the Southern people what they may expect from these puritani cal demons, if the people of the North through the polls this tall, shall endorse their course; and again urge upon our peo ple a prudent, cautious and forgiving course in regard to national affairs, as the one most likely to encourage and strengthen the Northern conservatives in the canvass now fairly opining. The Yankee Slave Trade. The Rev. Mr. Collyer writes from Bris tol. K. 1.. to the Chicago Trihum , the following: "Here where 1 am lotus eating was one of the baleful marts of the old slave trade. That gaiubrill-moled old warehouse, past which l have just been pulling my boat, has held mi hi/ a freight of kiJuappetl nun i md teamen. I went blackberrying this morning with a quaint old sea captain, who served the great i>e \\ oft’ as far back as IslT in the traffic. ..ad who has niauy sto ries to toll of the things that he has seen. ‘ And so. when the old l>e Wolf of all left his son $1 Mb'‘ k) made in the slave trade, ‘what luck went with money.' I said, when the Captain was through his story. 'Luck, said the old man : ‘in eight years it was all gone, and nobody knew how it went. He was'nt a driuking man nor nothin, but his money kind o melted away and then he died, and now the family is ail gone to nothin. Such facts as these, one would think, says the New York Express. would give I moderation and charity to the men of New England, who fastened slavery upon the South, often against its will and wishes. Mr. Moore has demonstrated in his book, that Massachusetts exchanged Indians for negroes, making slaves of both.—while here, we have a Radical writer showing up a leading kidnapping depot of Rhode Is. land. Rhode Island men, some ot them at least, are now doing, in another way, what was don;- in Bristol. YY hat, for example, is the three hundred per cent, bounty, which a late Senator from Rhode Island got for his screws, but another mode of American, in lieu of African, plunder ? What is Senator Sprague working all the while in Congress for, but to make twenty five millions of human beings, Americans, work to give him and liis, from forty to two hundred per cent, bounty on his or their wares? Six of the New Vork dailies support the President. Gov. Johnson’* Letter. ’ We offer n , apology for the .- pace occu pied in our columns to-day by the very able and patriotic letter of Governor Johnsop. Like everything else which emanates from his cultivated intellect, it is sound, cogent, and eloquent. Me feel as-ured that the patriotic counsels contained in tlu»s master Jy production will not fall unheeded upon the public ear of the State. M e are re joiced to know that the Governor will lend the utino-t of his powerful support to the movement recently inaugurated in I hila— delphia. We believe that there is not a single fair-minded man in the State who will not heartily endorse all that is said in this manly and vigorous letter. We earn est!-/ commend its careful perusal to those who have been disposed to harsh criticisms of the Philadelphia Platform and the Southern members of the Convention. The duty of the true men of the South is -o graphically and truthfully pointed out, that we feel assured that the great body of the people will cheerfully accept the advice thus given, and throw the whole weight of their approval and support in favor of the parti - recently organized for the overthrow of the Radical Disunionists. The Harp of a Thonsuud Strings. The New Orleans Picayune of a recent date in commenting upon the celebrated sermon which went the rounds of the press a few years since says : The facta seem to be that some years be fore the production appeared in print, a discourse, very much in its stylo, was ac- t tually delivered at Waterproof, La., by an eccentric individual, who united the occu pations ol Hatboatman and exporter. Some of the uncouth similes and emphatic de nunciations having passed into somewhat, proverbial use, it only remained lor some wag to act the part of flisistratus for this Homer, and to communicate the result to a neighboring paper. The creditor having done this, whatever it may be, lias been claimed for three or four waggish penmen, then in the neighborhood, and the contro versy lias become as involved and as useful in ils way as that concerning the author ship of Junius. We, the associate quill of this paper, the one “what used to live in Gallatin,” as the (Jopiahan is wont to term us, feel it proper to say that this celebrated sermon was first published in the Brandon Republican some years ago, and that the original ol it was not “a hard shell Baptist, as the sermon purports him to have been, but old father Yawn, who may yet be living, a shrewed and useful Methodist, whoso pecu liar boast it was that “he didn’t know a letter in the book,” and under whose preaching we have often been, “ tis thirty years since.” Father Yawn would gen erally give out his text thus, after reciting it in his peculiar fashion of “intoning : “You will find my text in the eighth chapter of Isaiah, ninth verso. And cf you do’ nt find it thar, you will find it, es you will hunt the book through, from Gcn nesis to llivelations ; an es you don’t find it then, you will find a great many things which will do you a power of good. Georgia. The railroad bridge at Columbus is to be completed by tbo lfitli. Five divorces were granted by the Supe rior Court of Baldwin county, at its session last week. At the late Superior Court, the negro man Green, former slave of James C. Whitaker, who killed Elias Mahon, white, was found guilty of murder, but the jury recommended him to the mercy of the Judge, whereupon, Judge Ilec.se sentenced him to the Penitentiary for life. Thomas J. Simpson, charged with the killing of B. C. Hall, was ac quitted. 'fhe Columbus Sun says, the amount for small pox cases will foot up for this year somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,000. Add to this the other charges for physi cians and building expenses, and between five or six thousand will bo reached. As recipients of this amount there have not been more than twenty white people. Our own impression is that not more than half that number have received aid. If the negroes had beeu under the control of our citizens as formerly, or if the Frccdmen’s Bureau had taken charge of them, the disease could have been stayed in a short time and at a comparatively small cost. The LaG range Reporter says : The freed men, in this community, as a class are behaving themselves with commenda ble propriety, so tar as we are aware. Except in a few instances, if any, they ex hibit nothing like insolence. They are re spectful iu their deportment to the whites, and (he whites are respectful and kind to them. Thert is no military in our midst to stir up bad feelings between the two races ; and, hence, wo are all getting along very quietly. The Western Baptist Association will convene with the church at Newnan, Ga., on Saturday, 15th inst. This is a Mission ary body only—having no ecclesiastical power or jurisdiction over the churches which comprise it. It embraces a large area of territory, and numbers, perhaps, thirty or forty churches. The Dawson Journal says the work of improvement in that place still goes on. No sooner does one building approach com pletion than the foundation of another is laid near by. The price of building lots and town property generally is going up rapidly, and we would advise those desir ing to get a start with a go-ahead town to buy at once. We have received the first number of the Weekly Inibjcr. published at Fort \ alley, Ga., by D. W. D. Boully, Esq. It is a neatly printed well filled and readable sheet, and will doubtless give a valuable support to the interests of the community in which it circulates. We wish the pro prietor success. The Savannah Republican tells of a Mr. Shaw, a delegate from Georgia to the Phila delphia Convention, while taking a walk, Thursday, in that city, met an individual who joined him, telling him that he too was a Georgian. They walked together, conversing on the affairs of the country, and soon after another individual, meeting them “by accident,'’ presented a bill to Mr. Shaw's new friend. The latter had not that amount of ready money about him, nothing but stocks and bonds. On these Mr. Shaw was kind enough to ad vance* SSOO, and soon after he parted with his " fellow Georgian." He has not seen the fellow since, and probably never will see him again. Why Stanton is Retained in the j Cabinet.—The New York HcraM professes j to have solved the riddle, by establishing the following facts: William T. Smithson, ! a banker of \Y ashington, who was thrown j into prison during the war for being in cor- ' respondenee with the enemy, by order of Secretary Stanton, has instituted proceed ings against the latter for damages because of irregular aud unlawful proceedings, ' laying his damages at $30,000. The Cab- i inet diseus.-ed this matter, and the Attor ney General was directed to defend Secre tin Stanton in the ease, the defence being j principally based on the Act of Congress 1 indemnifying certain officers of the Govern- i mi nt tor acts done in their official capacity i , for the suppression of the rebellion. The j . constitutionality of the law will, therefore, be tested in the coming trial. The Gov- ernment considers this a very important case, and will put forth even- effort in Mr. Stanton's defence; an lit has been consid ered that that defence can be bettor con ducted with Mr. Stanton in hi s official position than otherwise. Hence, his re tention. The issue will be joined at the special term of the Court, commencing on the first Tuesday Injseptember. Tres Nobile Fratym. Y\ e see it stated that the names of Bryant. G. W. Ashburn and N. S. Morse are registered at the Union Cluh House in I Philadelphia as hailing from Georgia. LETTER FROM NEW YORK. Visit of the President—Grand Demon strati m—Strength of Andrew J ,Im s;m—Policy of the South—Southern Trade. New York, Aug. 20. The city papers will supply you with a detailed account of the grand demonstra tion in this city to-day, on the ooca-ion of the visit of President Johnson. The dis play was magnificent, and the scene on Broadway most imposing. The truth is, Andrew Johnson is a very popular man in these United States. He has a stronger personal and political hold upon the great mass of the people than any President who has held office in our day. This was mani fest at Philadelphia at the National Con vention, and the same truth will he abundantly demonstrated during the Presi dent's excursion - > the northwest. But what means this grand display? Why these innumerable flags—this mili tary pageant—these deafening shouts— this outpouring of all classes of the people? Why was the Philadelphia Convention called? and why will a convention of soldiers and sailors assemble at Cleveland next month ? Why are ratification meet ings being held all over the North, and conservative candidates nominated in the several States fur Governor, members of the Legislature and members of Congress? Why are public speakers delivering ad dresses in every town and hamlet, and the newspaper press exerting itself as it has seldom done before in the history of this country? Why all this excitement and agitation and earnest effort ? The answer is plain. All this is being done to restore the South to represents tion, and to all her other Constitutional rights. This is to he done according to the policy of the President, who, with the great Conservative party of the North, has planted himself firmly and squarely upon the Philadelphia platform. That platform Was erected for no other pur pose but to furnish a rock upon which the President and the Northern Conserva tives could stand in their battle with our enemies. It is for us they are struggling. It is for us and our ruined and oppressed section they are making these earnest efforts. Let the Southern people remember this fact, and cease their criticisms. Every word that is written or spoken in the South against that Convention or the policy of the President, is a word against the South and in favor of her bitterest enemies. If some of our journalists cannot approve of every t hing in the resolutions and address adopted at Philadelphia, let them do as the Southern delegates did—pass them by in silence. The Southern delegates did not approve of many things done at Philadel phia. It was not expected that the people or the press of the South will. Why then all this criticism and faultfinding ? It re in in ds one somewhat of the stay-at-home generals who knew how to direct a campaign better than Lee and Johnson. But it is hoped and believed that the Conservatives will make large gains in the interest of the South at the approaching Congressional elections, in spite of North ern Radicals and Southern critics. The tide is now setting strongly in that direction. The mechanics and laboring classes, who claim Mr. Johnson as one of their own fra ternity, no less than the solid men of the country, are gathering around the Pres ident with a spirit of determination that is full of encouragement. If the South will only he patient and silent for a season, all will yet go well. Andrew Johnson is a great power in this land. There is no man in the United States who possesses a tithe of liis popu larity, even in the North. The whole Democratic party, including war Demo crats as well as copperheads, “so-called,” with that large, intelligent and wealthy wing of the party which elected Mr. Lincoln known as the moderate Republicans, now stand at his back, and are doing battle un der his lead for our rights. In this State, and indeed throughout the North, the fol lowers of Mr. Seward are wheeling into line in the most gratifying manner. It should be remembered that this feud in the Republican party is not of recent origin. It originated in the eariler days of the war, and nothing but the necessities of the contest prevented an open split in the party such as we now witness. The Radi cals then, as now, were opposed to Mr. Seward, and urged Mr. Lincoln to dismiss him from his cabinet. They even turned their batteries against Mr. Lincoln, and strove hard to prevent his renomination in 18G4. Now that the war has ended, these political belligerents no longer realize the necessity of keeping the peace in their party, and hence, most fortunately for the whole country, they now have each other by the throat. The President looked well to-day. He appeared to be cheerful, gratified and reso lute as ever. There is something in liis face, and especially about his mouth and jaw, that reminds a casual beholder of Stephen A. Douglas, as the latter appeared during his last visit to the South. Mr. Seward seemed to be thin and overworked, cheerful and wide-awake. The sear made by the assassin’s dagger on his jaw and neck, has an ugly and ghastly look. Gen. Granr has a dull, phlegmatic face. He would never impress a stranger with the idea that he was an intelligent, much less a great man. His jaw alone is expressive, and that reminds one of the obstinacy with which he pressed the murderous campaign from the Rapidau to Petersburg. One may easily recognize him by his photographs. Admiral Farragut sat beside General Grant, and seemed to enjoy the reception very much. He did not appear to be con scious that any one was looking at him, so busy was he in looking at the crowd. Like a sailor first landed after a long voyage, lie wore a fresh and hearty look, aud appeared really to enjoy everything he saw. But I will dismiss the Presidential party. The Fall trade does not open so auspici ously, as business men here had anticipated. -V large trade was expected from the South, but thus far there is but little prospect that it will be realized. Even sagacious men here are slow to accept, the fact of an exceedingly short cotton and provision crop in the South. Another fact presents itself to the traveler wherever he goes in the North, to wit: that the rich are rieher than ever, and the poor are poorer than ever. High taxes, high rents, and the high price of food and clothing account for the increased poverty of the poor, while the war will serve to explain the great wealth of the rich. I have seen more careworn, hungry-looking and shab bily-dressed people in New Y ork during my present visit than ever before. The number of Southern visitors here is increasing daily. Many of them, I regret to say, are mere pleasure seekers. South ern custom is divided principally between the New York Hotel, the Southern Hotel, ; the St. Nieohlas. and the Fifth Avenue i Hotel, and in the order in which they are | named. The proprietors of the New York Hotel were very kind to our 1 prisoners during the war. The proprietor : of the Southern Hotel, Mr. Henry Bruce, i formerly of Kentucky, lost a large fortune | on account of his adherence to the Con federate cause, liis house is doing an ex cellent business, and at the present rate will soon take the lead of all the New \ ork hotels in its Southern patronage. The St. Nicholas is patroized chiefly on j account of its past reputation and con ! veuient location. This will probably be iny last letter to the Chronicle if' Sentinel from this city, as I shall turn my face towards Dixie to morrow or next day. P. W. A. Two ladies fought a duel in Texas re cently. AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 12, 1800. LETTER FROM WASHINGTON. Sanitary—Public and Private Buildings —Stanton and Howard—Homeward Bound. Washington, August 31. 1806. Washington is always dull at this period of the year, and it is rendered particularly so now by the absence of the President and many of the notables of the place. There is nothing, therefore to write you. or very little that would interest your readers. The city papers are as dull and heavy as ever, and the town as dirty. TV hy the Govern ment does not put the streets in good con dition, and improve the sewerage, it is im possible to say, unless it lie that the Radi cals want all the spare money for them selves and their friend Sambo. The money wasted upon the Freedman s Bureau would have made Washington one of the finest cities on the Western continent. The cap itol is a splendid pile, and the public build ings for the most part are imposing struc tures ; hut most of the business houses and private residences of citizens are very infe rior. The town corporation, it is said, is poor, but the Government, if one may judge by the lavish expenditures of Con gress, is rich enough at least to drain the town and keep it cleaner than it habitually Is. It may be that the number of dirty and idle negroes one sees on the streets will account for the dirty appearance of the town. Large numbers came here upon the cessation of hostilities, a few of whom have worked their way further North, to the great disgust of the whites. It would do the South no harm if fifty or a hundred thousand freedmen could he induced to emigrate to New England and other North ern States. We should hear nothing more of universal suffrage then, or oflarge sums of money voted for the support of these people. They would be left to do as white people do—work or starve. These black missionaries would do us a further service. They would soon bring about a reconstruc tion of the Union, and make an end of all this pother about “loyalty ’ and rebellion. It was hoped that Mr. Stanton and Gen. Howard would have vacated their offices before this. Gen. Stcedman would be an acceptable successor of the one, and Gen. Tilson of the other. Mr. Stanton has given great offence hy his administration of the War office, to many people in the North as well as in the South. In some instances, liis conduct is said to have been as lawless and tyrannical as that of a Turk ish satrap. Suits are now pending against him for some of the usurpations and wrongs. It is further .said, hut with what truth I am not informed, that in order to avoid these suits and escape the -vengeance of those lie has abused and trod upon, he desires when he leaves the War office to bo sent abroad. llow true is it, that no man, high and powerful, can wrong his fellow man with impunity. Conscience, if not the law, will surely overtake and punish him for liis crimes. If it has not already been stated in a former letter, I may say here that there is every reason to believe that large sums of money will he scut to the South Atlantic and Gulf States for investment, by North ern capitalists, as soon as the South shall have been restored to her rightful relations with the Government. I had many assur ances to this effect from influential busi ness men in New York, and also from Northern delegates to the Philadelphia Convention. With to-morrow’s sun I turn my face to wards Dixie, whose rags and poverty make her all the more dear to her absent chil dren. P. W. A. A Romantic Affair. —The Mont gomery and Atlanta papers have had ac counts of rather a romantic elopement case, which occurred from Selma a few days ago. The pair, consisting of a gay and festive Yankee Sergeant, and a very young girl—daughter of a highly respecta ble family in Selma —went to Montgomery for the purpose of realizing the consuma tion of their hopes, but wore so closely pursued as to render it impracticable to he married there, and they pushed on to find their Gretna Green on the soil of Georgia. Reaching Atlanta, the villainous telegraph had been too fast for them, and instead of falling into the tender embraces of Hymen, they became victims to the rough meshes of the law. They were taken to the Planter’s Hotel, and held in durance for three or four days, until the young lady’s father arrived, when she consented to re return to her home, and the ‘ ‘ hould soldier boy” was turned over to the mili tary to answer the charge of desertion. Verily “ the course of true love does not run smooth. Personal. YYe had the pleasure of a call, yesterday, from the Rev. Dr. Alexander Means, so long and so favorably known to our city readers as Professor of Chemistry in the Medical College of Augusta, and more re cently as Professor in the Atlanta Medical College. The doctor is now residing in Oxford, and has, we believe, renewed his association with the College there. His numerous friends throughout the State will be glad to learn that he is in good health, and is hopeful of the future, more especially since he has seen the action of the Conservative Convention which met at Philadelphia last month. Gen. A. K. Lawton. This distinguished gentleman late Quar termaster General of the Confederate States was in the city yesterday. We learn that lie has returned to his ohl home in Savannah and resumed the practice ot his profession. There are few men in Georgia more popular with the masses than General Lawton. His true and consistent course during the war endeared him to the peo ple of the entire State, aud we are glad to learn that his immediate constituents fully appreciate the services and sacrifices which he performed and endured for "the land we love” by extending to him a liberal and generous support. Tne Chronicle if- Sentinel lately comes j in anew dress, and presents a very hand- j some appearance. As not even the old type is now in use, its reconstruction is complete. It now ranks with our most useful exchanges. Moore & Wright, Au gusta, G;f. $lO per annum. — Southern Cultivator. YYe know no better way to “ get even” with our brother of the " Cultivator than to say, as we can. conscientiously, that it maintains its former high character, and is a standard agricultural monthly, which should be in the hands of every planter. YY. N. White, Athens. $0 a year. Revivals. —We alluded, a day or two ago, to the revival of religion iu progress in Edgefield. The Newberry Herald says that an interesting union meetiug of the different denominations ofChristians in the neighborhood of Tabernance Church has been in progress for some days past. Al ready some sixty persons have been added to the different Churches. Memphis Avalanche. —This sterling daily comes to us enlarged to nine wide columns, making it, we believe, the largest single-sheet paper in America. It is printed in a splendid manner, and filled as well as it is printed. It contains special dispatches from all quarters, rendering it, in every respect, a leading paper of the : Mississippi Valley. The Newnan Herald says that, at a re cent trial before Judge Sparks, of a ease of assault and battery, the attorney for the ; defense was named Smith, the attorney for the prosecution was named Smith, the | prosecutor was named Smith, and the j principal witness was named Smith. LETTER FROM EI-GOY. H. Y. JOHNSON. lie Endorses the Philadelphia Convention. Augusta, Sept. Ist, 1866. Messrs. Editors:— Having received 1 many inquiries for my views of the proceed ! icl-sAf the Philadelphia Convention, and • as' to the course the Southern people I should pursue in reference to its action. I . take this method of responding, because it gives me less labor and a more-general dis ! semination of my opinions. Ylthough I Pelt the necessity of some : m ean.s of bringing the conservative men of 1 the North and the people of the South into co-operation, vet I doubted the expedi ency of the call lor the Philadelphia Con vent ion. .Alter it whs culled. vs as very ■ timidly in favor of sending delegates, fearing ■ that the passions engendered by the war had not sufficiently subsided to admit ! of harmony in council and wisdom in action. 1 am glad that my misgivings j ia ve been disappointed, and 1 believe that much good has been done and progress made towards restoring harmony, upon ! the basis of the Constitution. Though not all which I could wish, yet more than I expected, was done. \V ith \ the spirit.. tone. Ami in the main, the sentiments of ] the resolutions adopted, 1 am satisfied. Both in language and principle, I would make slight modifications. Byt take them as a whole, considered in ine fight ot sur : rounding circumstances, they furnish less 1 around for complaint than I could have j anticipated. They were evidently dictated i under the inspiration of patriotism and phrased in language intended tiot to wound i the sensibilities of an ovenjy.vered, hut ' proud and gallant people. \ ie\vm s them ! in this light, I am willing to accept them in the spirit that gave them form and ut i terance, and ignore whatsoever is distaste ful, as a tribute to the generous enthusiasm of the patriotic body from whom they emanated. The question it frequently asked, by those who honestly opposed the represen tation of the State in the Convention, and who now withhold their approval of its notion, what good has it accorijihshed { I reply, it lias, in my judgment, effected two very important things—-important to the whole country, and especially to_ those States which are denied representation in Congress. In the first place, it inaugura ted the beginning of good feeling and un derstanding between the two sections. The war lias engendered bitterness and hatred. There can be no real political fra ternity, between the North and the South, until such feeling shall have been soothed and confidence reestablished between tlie two sections. We at the South, looking to tlie treatment we have received from Congress, since the surrender of oar arms, are apt to forget that we have friends at the North and to class its whole people -as enemies to the restoration of the Union and to our welfare. The people of the North, attaching undue importance to tlie falsehoods of hired letter writers,'who dis tort and magnify every act ot rashness or imprudeneb'that occurs in our midst, or mistaking the honest , hut injudicious com meats of a portion of our press, for tlie true exposition of the general Sentiment, imagine that a spirit of insubordination to the Constitution and laws pervades the South. The result has been the perpetua tion of mutually bad feelings—crimination and recrimination. Doubtless, many of the intelligent, of both sections, knew the error, but they could not expose it to the masses, for the lack of some practical de monstration that would arrest general attention. The Philadelphia Convention furnished that demonstration. It was signalized by scones of enthusiasm, un paralelled, in the history of Conventions, in this country. The better feuliigs of the heart—charity, magnanimity, generosity, love of justice, patriotism—were started from their icy repose and thawed into hap py fusion. It was a meeting of the North and the South, not on the battle field, hut on the field of reconciliation; and the rep resentatives from each section returned home, prepared to testify truthfully of the temper and spirit of the people of each, that, while honestly differing on some questions, they agree to co-operate with each other, in the great work of restora tion. . In the second place, the Convention has organised a party, pledged to the restora tion of the Union, upon the basis of the constitution and of Representation to the Southern States, without any other test of loyalty besides the oath to support the Constitution of tlie United States. This is deeply interesting to us. It is tlie over shadowing question, paramount to all others. It is vital. I surrender none of the cherished political opinions of my lifts, so far as they are applicable to tlie situa tion, in which we are left by the war, nor do I endorse such as I believe to be erro neous, in the Philadelphia platform and address. But what avails tlie discussion of these now ? What can wo gain by argu ment? We have no audience; we are practically nut of the Union; we have no voice in the action of the government. Shall we waste our powers in vain debate, and refuse to co-operate with the Con servative men of the North, because they differ with us upon some questions? _ Shall we throw obstacles in their wwar,3 r , by jealous criticisms of the proceedings or the Con vention at the very time when they are fighting our battle ? Shall we not rather aid, sustain, and encourage them by earn est co-operation? For one, lam prepared to do it, with my whole heart; for the is sue is vital. It involves, in iny judgment, not only the destiny of the South, hut that of constitutional liberty. Some such movement as that of the Philadelphia Convention was necessary, in order to afford the conservative element of the country a defined basis of action, on which it could organize and concentrate its forces against the destructive policy of the dominant party. It cannot fail to produce a powerful effect.. The people have but to open their eyes to see that liberty is in peril, and that the const it ution is sought to be substituted by the will of an irrespon sible majority. The people everywhere love liberty; they love the constitution ; they are honest ; they are to be trusted. Show them the right and they will pursue it; make them sensible of the danger and they will unite to avert It; expose to them the bad ambition of power, drunk with the love of dominion, and they will rise to overthrow it. The campaign, in the Northern and Northwestern States, is just now opening. The Philadelphia Conven tion boldly and clearly presents the issue between the conservative and destructive elements, of restoration of all the States to representation, on the basis of the constitu tion on the one hand; and on the other, the perpetuation of strife and discord, by the wicked outlawry and disfranchisement of nearly one third of the States of the Union, The appeal is made to the calm, sober patriotism of the Northern people. With them the battle is to be won or lost, liberty and the promise of good govern ernment is the prize on one side, against misrule and despotism on the other. May we not, since tne late demonstration in Philadelphia and the patriotic response of the President to the resolutions of the Convention, indulge a hope of final tri umph for truth, justice, and State equal Vrior to the- action of the Philadelphia Convention, the President had no party to sustain him. He stood a'one, so tar as or ganized co-operation was concerned, against the assaults of the Radical Congress and press. lie has exhibited courage worthy of Jackson, and a determination to restore the Southern States to rigbtlul representa tion in Congress which cannot fail to chal lenge our support and commendation. The Convention was confessedly a movement of his conception. He desired it, first to inaugurate good feeling and understanding between the friends of the Union, under the Constitution; Secondly, to organize them into a party, to sustain his policy of restoration; and Thirdly, to present fairly to the people of the whole country the distinct issue of reinstating the ten ex cluded States to their constitutional rela tion to the other States, without unconsti tutional tests of loyalty The whole pro gramme is deeply, vitally interesting to the South. Shall we not hold up his hands ? Shall we not give him our earnest sup port ? Shall we not do all in our power to crown the action of the Convention with the most triumphant success'? Whilst this great battle is to be fought at the North and Northwest, in which the South cannot practically participate, still, we have an important part to _ act. That is—what I have just above intimated — uphold, encourage and sustain the efforts ofthose who are rallying under the banner which the Convention unfurled to the breeze. The inscriptions upon it may not be all that we wish: but, prominent them is the recognition of the equality of the States, and their right to representa tion without the odious test-oath. YYe, therefore, cannot but view the contest with an intense desire to see that banner planted in triumph upon the dome of the Capitol. Let our press and people _abstain from captious and ill-natured criticism of the action of the Convention. Forgetting or ignoring whatsoever is distasteful, in phra seology or erroneous in principle, let us look “rather to its patriotic spirit. Re ciprocating that spirit, let us practice forbearance, a manly resignation to the ne cessities of our condition and respect for the Constitution and constitutional laws of the United States. The wires will be busy in flashing from North to South, and from South to North, everything calculated to irritate the people, provoke them to rasli and intemperate expressions, and widen the chasm that divides them. The people, and particularly the press of the South, should not forget this; and in view of it, they should take special pains to afford as little capital for the destructives, and as much, tor the Conservatives, as possible. The Radicals are evidently greatly cha grined and astounded by the success of the Convention, a fill painfully exercised because there was so little speaking, espe cially by Southern delegates. They tailed to realize their expected feast of discord and wrangling; they gathered but little pabulum for the greedy maw of slanderand vituperation. So, hy a similar course, let the people of the South disappoint their morbid and insatiable appetite. Let us feel and realize, that all that we can ever expect of constitutional rights, is involved in the pending campaign, and that our fate depends, upon the final triumph of the Conservative party. When we speak and act, it should be in their interest and with a view to their success : for in their suc cess is our hope for the future. There are turning points in the history of nations as well as individuals—“a tide in the affairs of men which, taken in the flood, leads on to fortune. ’ ’ We are now in the midst of such a crisis. The momen tum of destructive fanaticism—ruinous, relentless, desperate, devilish—will become irresistable, unless its progress be arrested. It can be arrested only by the uprising of the people in their majesty. 1 indulge a hope that the Action of tlie Convention trill awaken them to the perils of the crisis. I trust the fire that wanned the hearts of that body will be diffused in expanding circles until it shall begirt tlie whole land and dispel the darkness that now hangs, like a fune-al pall, over our distracted country. Now is the time and the oppor tunity for the masses of the North to rally. The Government is in their hands ; we are excluded; if the Temple of Liberly totter to its fall, the responsibility is theirs. Do they not begin to see it ? The ground swell begins to heave; the re-action has commenced; let the people, North and South—those who desire Constitutional Union and good government—he true to themselves and their posterity and rise to the height of the great occasion. Then woe, woo awaits those who now pollute the altars of liberty and lord it over the heritage of her children. The world knows the people of the Souih do not approve of all that was done j by the Philadelphia ( Convention ; nor is it pretended that our delegates did. Protest j against what is objectionable, by our press i or our people, is totally unnecessary, even ! as a matter of justice to ourselves. There is no need to defiue our position upon con- ! troverted questions of principle or policy ; ] it is known and read of all men. When ! restored to representation we can argue \ and debate if occasion, require it. Wc shall then have an audience ; we shall even con- ] stitute a part of the tribunal to decide the ! questions discussed. If wc never get re stored to representation, then argument is useless. We can therefore, afford to he silent as to what we cannot endorse, for the sake of the prize that is staked upon the issue. Our Government, the constitu tion, the whole frame work of our political institutions were in the beginning the re sult of mutual concessions and compromises. They will never be restored, and when re stored they cannot he preserved, without j the exercise of the same spirit. True, as a section, the South will be in a minority and powerless, of herself, to arrest unjust and unconstitutional legislation. But that great change in popular sent iment j in the North, which shall secure to us representation, will also bring into Con gress friends who, united with the South ern members, will constitute a majority of the House, or, if not a majority, a suffi cient number to sustain Presidential vetoes of unconstitutional enactments. Extrava gance of expenditure can be checked, the burden of taxation equalized, corruption exposed, and the annoyance of the present dominant party tamed and chastened. When we can he heard, there will be hope, at least, by appeal to reason and justice, that the ship of state may he again put upon the course which its builders intended • it to navigate, If this can be accomplished, there is hope of regaining good government, and finally material prosperity. Long before • the war I had come to the conviction that the best hope for this country was in a close alliance with the great agricultural States of the Northwest, They, Tkc us, are interestedin low taxation and economy. United with them, and such friends as could always be elected from a few dis tricts of the Northern States, I believed, on the day of_ secession, that the South was stronger in, than out,of the Union. This conviction, so deeply fixed, explains the true motive of my adhesion to the noble and lamented Douglas, in 1860. I knew he was justly the idol of the North west ; T knew liis great ability, his firm ness, his courage and tried friendship tor the South. 1 knew that we could trust him, however we might differ from him, upon some points of theoretic politics. J believed that, through him, if the Union should stand, the alliance, to which T have referred could be consolidated. Hence, I consented to sharp His fortune, knowing at the time, as well as I knew after the event, that his election was impossible. Thus, looking fora chfeat, I still hoped that a fragment of the National Democracy, North and South, might ho preserved in a state of organization, around which that glorious old party might again rally, and preserve the Union and tho < rights‘of the South in tho Union. Nothing, however, could stay the tendency to secession, after Mr. Lincoln’s election by a strictly sec tional vote. We have passed through the conflict and been overpowered. We came out of it with slavery abolished, our labor deranged and prostrated, our fields deso lated, and our homes draped in mourning for our noble and gallant dead. Vfo have accepted these results in good faith. We are ready to resume our place in the Union, endeavor to recover from our re- verses, and promote the harmony and welfare of our common country. And ! now that slavery is abolished, and conse- j quently must cease to be an apple of dis cord, my mind returns with strengthened i conviction of the policy of' renewing the ! ties which, in other days, bound us to the ! agricultural states of the Northwest. Once restored to representation in Congress, j nothing can prevent such an alliance. Whilst all our revenue was raised by a tariff upon imports, the agricultural class did not appreciate the amount qf their taxes, nor the inequality with which they were imposed, it is quite different now. The tax gatherer goes to every man’s door and levies tribute upon the products of his labor. Let existing passions subside: let harmony be restored; let fanaticism starve to death, because the carcass of slavery, on which it fed, has been forever removed, and we shall soon sec and hear the masses, who till the soil, inquiring into the opera tions of tax laws, and the expenditure of revenue, and holding their representatives to a strict accountability. Labor will assert its right to just and equal treatment at the hands of the Government, with, asso ciated and incorporated capital. Hereto fore the country lias been harrassed about slavery : fanatics using the question as the means of obtaining power —obtaining power m order that they might levy tri bute upon agriculture, to pamper and pro tect manufactures. The issue will be a naked one. —shall agricultural labor be taxed to uphold and sustain incorporated capital ? The result is not to be feared, Agriculture does not shrink from a just share of the burden, which the immense national debt must impose upon every in terest. But it will demand economy, the lowest taxation that will meet the emer gency. and equality in its imposition. This is all" the South asks, and in demanding it, she must and wiil receive the co-opera tion of agriculturalists, in all sections, but especially of the .Northwestern States. This is my hope for the future of the country. It is founded upon the potent affinities of interest, which, when left free to act, will as certainly bind together the tillers of the soil as gravitation does the the works of the universe. \or will the alliance, to which I refer, belmpotent, in asserting the principles of constitutional interpretation, essential to the healthful working of'our governments machinery. The doctrines of and 99 mav vet be re-asserted by the Congress of the United States. They are as valuable now as ever they were-as true and sound as ever. They survive the war, however Gnored and forgotten, amidst the thunder ° i Up r f Tattle, because the\ arc en dued with the immortality of truth. Our • winder the Constitution, slavery ex- Sed “re Wisely the same that they; ce P tCJ ~ A „,. r • an( | whatsoever else r 1. Philadelphia Convention to the people <rt the United States, it 1» h f Uif y ingand encouragiug that this trutl - y - nized in that document. It aec.arc.*, “The Government of the Ahe^sunreme maintained bv force o£arnis iLe supreme authority over all the territory and over all the States and people y.ith.n diction which the Constitution confers upon it, but it acquired thereby no new power, no enlarged jurisdiction, no rights, either of territorial possession or of civil authority, which it did not possess before the rebellion broke out. All tharightful power it can ever possess is that which is conferred upon it in express terms, or by fair and necessary implication, by the Con stitution of tiie United States. s *■ « a * Neither war nor tho victory by which it was ended changed in any way the Consti tution of the United States. s s a *■ * And to-day also, precisely as before the war, all the powers not conferred by tlie Constitution upon the General Govern ment, nor prohibited by it to liie States, are reserved to the several States or to liie people thereof.” These are announcements of that “Ad dress." They are significant. They are the principles which underlie the doctrines of 98 and '99. They show how truth will crop out. The Southern States, by the act of secession, put in issue two questions: first, the right to secede ; and secondly, the per petuation yf slavery. Both have been tie eided against us ; and we have accepted, in good faith, the award of the sword. With this exception, our constitutional rights are just what they were before the war; for it is certain that. if. in the lan guage of that “Address." the “Govern ment acquired no new power by the war. " the Southern States lost none. It were bootless to discuss these principles now. It is a great point gained that, amid the fievy play of the passions, a party has been or ganized that announces them. We can discuss, when the right of representation shall he accorded to us, with hope of suc cess. For the ordeal through which the Government is now passing, will satisfy right-minded men, in all sections, that con stitutional liberty can be maintained only ( by a recognition of the rights and equality of the States. Their abrogation or disre gard means despotism—not the despotism of a single ruler, who might be humane ! and just, but the despotism of an irrespon sible majority. But to realize these anti cipations, we must first be admitted to our representation in Congress. That is tlie : great question—the essential vital condi tion precedent to any hope of better days for the South. And this depends upon the final .success of the Philadelphia move- j ment. Let us encourage that success. Wc owe it to frankness and candor: wo owe it to the conservative men of the North; we owe it to ourselves, to do justice to the Philadelphia Convention —its reso lutions and address. 1 regret to see that some who opposed the Convention, and now withhold their approval of its action, dwell upon, and express, in the light of se vere criticism, all that is distasteful in language and objectionable in principle, without also holding up for commendation and support what is eminently acceptable to the Southern people. This is wrong. It can do no good at the South ; it is calcu lated to weaken those at the North who are engaged in the struggle to restore the Union upon tho plan of the Administration. But while I thus comment on this course of the opponents of tiie proceedings ot the Convention, itaffprds me pleasure to award to them honest and patriotic purposes. They are not more wrong than those who would assign them tho position of alliance with the Radicals. Wc must tolerate among ourselves honest differences of opinion. Sharing common .calamities, wc all have a common desire to be relieved from an unfortunate condition. Onr dif ferences of opinion upon these topics,' do not destroy tlie unanimity with which the entire people of the South earnestly wish the triumph of the Conservative party. tVhatsoever may he objectionable in them, both tlie Resolutions and the Address con tain much that is true and encouraging, hut . little in substance to condemn. They arc sound upon the vital, practical, livingissues 1 the crisis. They assert the equality of the ■ States, the right of all to representation in Congress, their right to “prescribe qualifi cation for the elective franchise.” They deny the right of the States now represent- i ed to propose and ratify amendments to : the Federal Constitution. All these we can endorse, and they are all that belong j strictly to the issue that more deeply than . all others concerns us. They are boldly announce 1, both in tho Resolutions and Ad- : dress, and discussed, in tho latter with clearness and ability. I have already quoteda few sentences from the : ‘Address,’ ’ I will quote a few more, in order to bring them prominently before the reader, as worthy his approval, See how forcibly it puts the pretensions and schemes of the Radicals: ‘‘lt has neon proclaimed by Congress that in addition to the powers conferred upon it by tho Constitution, tiie Federal Government may now proclaim over the States and tlio territory, and tho people in volved in tlie insurrection, the rights of war —right of conquest and of confiscation, the right to abrogate all existing govern ments, institutions, and laws, and to sub ject tile territory conquered and its in habitants to such terms and regulations as the legislative depart ment of the govern ment may see tit to impose, under tlie broad and sweeping claim tlqp the cfauso of the Constitution which provides that no I yiutc shall, without its consent, be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate of the United States lias boon annulled; and States have been refused, and arc still re fused representation altogether, in both branches of the Federal Cougre&s; and tho Congress in which only a part of the States and of the people of thS Union are repre sented lias asserted tiie right to exclude others from representation and from all share in making their own laws and choos ing their own vul< r«, unless they shall eofitpl v with such conditions and perform smell acts as this Congress, thus composed, may itself prescribe. That right lias not only been asserted but, it lias been exer cised, and is practically enforced at the present time.” What a graphic and vivid picture of the designs of th.q radicals, is here drawn ! And now remember, that the “Address ’ combats all these positions, with ability and eloquence. It argues %’,t they are subversive of the Government and fatal to the Union, for tho preservation of which the war was waged. It brands them as despotism and usurpation. And after pressing the argument with _ irresistable power, it concludes, that whilst it is the unquestionable right of the people of the United States, to change the Constitution, yet it must be done, in tho mode which the Constitution itnJf points out. Says the Address s "We deny the right of Congress to make these changes in, the fundamental law without the concurrence of three-fourths of all tiie States, including especially those to be most, seriously afl'eeted by them, or impose them upon'States or people as con ditions of representation or of admission to any of the rights, duties or obligations which belong, under tiie Constitution, to all the States alike ; and with si ill greater emphasis do we deny the right el any por tion of the States, excluding the rest of the States fio/i-q an c share in their councils, to pj-iof sanction changes in the Consti tution which are to affect permanently their political relations, and control or coerce the legitimate action of the several members of the common. Union. Such an exercise of power yx simply a usurpation, just as unwarrantable when exercised by Northern States as it would be if exercis ed liv Southern, and not to be fortified or palliated bv anything in the past history either of those by whom it is attempted or of those upon whoso rights and liberties it is to take effect. It finds no warrant in tiro Constitution. It is at war with the fundamental principles of aur form of gov ernment. If tolerated ip one instance it becomes the precedent for future invasions i of liberty and constitutional right, depen dent solely upon the will of the party in possession of power, and thus loads by direct and necessary sequence to the most fatal and intolerable of all tyrannies, the tyranny of shifting and irresponsible po litical factions. Ills against this, the most formidable of ail the dangers which menace the stability of free government, that tiie Constitute nos the United States was intended most careful',y to provide. We demand a strict and steadfast adherence to its provisions. In this, and in this alone, can we find a basis of permanent union and peace.” Extracts similar, in spirit and sentiment might be multiplied But those are enough to show, that we may well afford to ac quiesce in silence to whatsoever may be objectionable, when the principles so es sential and vital to us in the present crisis, are distinctly recognized. More than this : when such announcements are made and a great party organized, who are new engaged in the struggle to make them good at the ballot box, does it become the Southern people to damp their zeal and weaken their moral power by fastidious criticism ? I cannot do it. Wherein Ii differ from the Platform and Addresse, j I will differ in peace as with friends, and i lock shields with t' em against the com mon enemy. I say, God speed to the work which was begun in Philadelphia. Every consideration of interest and patriotism calk upon us to aid in the work of restora tion. We can never successfully organize our agricultural labor ; capital will not flow to us for the development of our un bounded natural resources ; population will not increase rapidly, nor prosperity return to us. so long as the present politi cal derangement continues. We -hall be the helpless victims of misrule and despot ism. The domination of the Radicals must be broken lown or constitutional liberty is lost and the South doomed to the saddest fate that ever befell a civilized peo ple. Our duty Is plain. It involves no dishonor. It requires us to practice pa tience, forbearance, conciliation, and resig nation to present evils for the sake of greater future good. e cannot expect to have things all our own way. If wc could, our situation were quite different. We would wish that we were free from debt, and that no stay law were necessary to save the people from utter ruin. But the war brought the one, and a sense of self- NEW SERIES, VOL. XX V. NO. 38. preservation, among the people, demands the other. If we could have things all our own way, the war had resulted dii ferently, we would have taken our position as an independent power, among the fam ily of nations. But Providence qrdained otherwise, and we must obey the irrevo cable decree. .It is the part of wise and liberal statesmanship to tolerate what, it cannot prevent, and seek, bv appeal to reason and patriotism, to mitigate what it cannot control. To learn this, is one ot the most valuable lessons for individual life. It is equally so for States. It brings com parative'happiness to both, whilst the heart frets and chafes, under the friction of vain resistance. Respectfully, kc., Herschelj V. Johnson. BEECHKU ON TIIE CRISIS. Henry Ward ■icei-ner Heartily Indorses President Jolpison’s Policy. LETTER OF INVITATION FROM THE SPECIAL C OMMITTEE I)l'SOl.lllKits' AND SAILORS’ CONVENTION,TO BE U£l.l> AT CLEVELAND, OHIO, SEPTEMBER 17. New York, August 28. 7b the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. Dear and Rf.veuend So: : The un dersigned-have been appointed hy the Exe cutive Committee of the National Conven tion of Soldiers and Sailors who honorably : served during the late war for the Union, as a special committee to wait upon you, and request your consent to serve as chap lain of the Convention, which will be held at Cleveland, Ohio, on the 17th inst. m Your name- has been selected hy. tlie Executive Committee from sincere admira tion of your character, and as the only tribute within their power to pay an ac knowledgment of your noble devotion to' the cause of the Union, and your earnest End unceasing efforts in behalf of our soldiers and sailors during the recent war. The Executive Committee also find in your course, since tho termination of the struggle, substantial harmony with the views to which they desire to give effect in the Convention —your eloquence and the jqst weight of your name being employed to enforce upon tlie country a generous and magnanimous policy toward the people of the lately rebellious States, and a prompt reconstruction of the Union undpr the Constitution as the best means of regaining the national tranquility which the country so much needs, and readjusting tlie rights of all sections, under the new order of things, on a basis of law, order, Christian brotherhood, and justice. In the call for the Convention, which the undersigned have the honor to transmit herewith, you will see fully set forth the motives which actuate tuo military and naval defenders of the Union in then- pres ent unusual course of taking payt. in a po litical movement, and it is our hope, and we have always looked to you in the dark est days of tlie war for inspiration, aid, and the cheering sympathy of a noble heart, never failing to find them—that you will consent to invoke the Divine blessing upon tlie Convention of the soldiers and sailors of the United States who served during the late rebellion and approve the restora tion policy of President Johnson and the principles announced by the recent Nation al Convention of Philadelphia—the first Convention, since iB6O, in which all the States ot our beloved, linion were repre sented. Hoping an early and favorable reply, we have the honor to be, with very profound respect for your character, and sincere gratitude for your powerful and generous efforts in behalf of the military and naval servants of the country during the war, Your obedient friends and servants, Ciias. G. Halpine, Brvt. Brig. Gen. Chairman. 11. W. Slocum, Major General, Gordon Granger, Major General, Committee. Rev. Henry Ward needier’:; Reply. Peekskill, August :io. Charles <!. Halpine, Brent Brigadier- General; IP. Slocum , Major-General: Cardan Granger, Major-General — Committee. Gentlemen — T am obliged to you for tlie invitation which you have made to me to act as Chaplain to the Convention of Sailors and Soldiers about, to convene at Cleveland. I cannot attend it, but l hearti ly wish it, and all other conventions, of what party soever, success, whose object is the restoration of all the States late in re bellion to their federal relations. Our theory of government haa no place for a State except in the Union. It is , justly taken i'or granted that the duties and responsibilities of a State in federal rela tions tend to its political health, and to that of the whole nation. Even Territories j are hastily brought, often before the pres cribed conditions are fulfilled, as if it, were ' dangerous to leave a community outside of the great body politic. _ Had the loyal Senators and Reprcsonta tives of Tennessee been admitted at once on the assembling of Congress, and, in moderate succession, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and Virginia, the public mind of the South would have been far more healthy than it is, and those States which lingered on a probation to. the last, would have been under a more, salutary influence to good conduct than if a dozen armies watched over them. Even- mofvUt that we delay this health ful step, complicates the case. The ex cluded population, enough unsettled before, growjnore irritable; the army become 3 indispensable fa local government, and su persedes it; the government at V|fishing tor\ i; called to interfere in one and another difficulty, and this will be done inaptly, and sometimes with great injustice ; for our government, wisely adapted to its own proper functions, is utterly devoid of those habits aud unquipped with the instruments which fit a centralized government to ex ercise authority in remote States over local affairs. Every attempt to perform such duties has resulted in mistakes which have excited the nation. But whatever impru dence there may lx> in tho method, the real 1 criticism should bo against the requi sition of such duties of the General govern ! meat. Tim federal government is unfit to exer cise minnor police and local govt nuuent, and will inevitably blunder when it attemps it. To keep a half score of States under federal author!v, but without national ties and responsiUliiius ; to oblige the central au thority to govern half the territory of the Union by federal civil officers and by the army, is a policy not only uncongenial to our ideas and principles, but* pre-eminent ly clapgcwm3 to the spirit of our govern ment. However humane die ends sought, and the motives, it is a fact, a course of in struction, preparing our government to be despotic, and familiarizing the people to a stretch of authority which can never be other than dangerous to liberty. I am aware that good men are withheld from advocating the prompt and successive admission of the exiled States by the fear, chiefly, of its effects upon parties, and upon the freedmen. It is said, that if admitted to Congress, the Southern Senators and Representatives will coalesce with Northern Democrats, and rule the country. Is this nation, then, to remain dismembered to serve the ends of' parties ? Have we learned no wisdom by the history of the, last ten years, in which just thi.; course of sacrificing the nation to the exigencies of parties plunged ns into rebellion and war? Even admit that the power would pass into the hands of a party made up of Southern men, and the hitherto dis honored aid misled Democracy of the North, that power could r.ot )>e used just as they {-.leased. The war has changed, not alone institutions, but ideas The whole country has advanced. Public sentiment is exalted far beyond what it has been at any former period. Anew party would, like a river, lie obliged to saCK out its channels, in the already existing slopes and . i forms of the continent. We hare entered anew era of liberty, le of thought is fr< . noble. ' The young men of our time arc ! regenerated. The great army lias been a school, and hundreds of thousands oi men are gone home to preach a truer aim i nobler view of human rights. All tiie in dustrial interests of society are moving ! with increasing wisdom toward intelligence and liberty. Everywhere, in churches, in physical industries, in social questions, as well as in polities, the nation feels that the winter is over, and anew spring hangs in the horizon, and works _ through ai! the elements. In This happily changed and advanced cOn ftion of things, no party of the retrograde can maintain itself. Every thing'marches, and parties must march. I hear with wonder and shame and scorn, the fear of'a few, that the South is once more in adjustment with the Federal Gov ernment will rule this nation ! Tim North is rich, never so rich ; the South is poor, never before so poor. The population of the North is nearly double that of the South. The industry of the North, in di versity, in forwardness and productiveness, in all the machinery and education requir ed for manufacturing, is half a century in advance of the South. Churches in the North crown every hill, and ,-ehools swarm in every neighborhood ; while the South lues hut scattered lights, at long distances, like lighthouses twinkling along the edge of a continent of darkness. In the pres ence of such a contrast how mean and craven is the fear that the South will rule Hie policy of the land ! That it will have an influence that it wjjl contribute, in tune, most important influences or restraints, we arc glad to believe But it it rises at. once to the control of the Gov’ eminent it will be because the North, de moralized by prosperity, and besotted by groveling interests, refuses to discharge its share of political duty. In such a case the South not only will control the Gov ernment, but it ought to do it. -• It is feared, with more reason, that the restoration of the South to her full in dependence will lie detrimental to the freedmen. The sooner we dismiss from our minds the idea that the freedmen can be classified, and separated from the white population, and nursed and defended by themselves, the better it will he for them and'us. The negro is part and parcel of Southern society. He cannot be pros perous while it is unprospered. Its evils will redound upon him. Its happiness and reinvigoration cannot he kept from his participation. The restoration of the vfoutli to amicable relations with the North, the reorganization of its industry, the re in -piration of its enterprise and thrift will all rebound to the freedmen’s benefit. Nothing is so dangerous to flic freedmen as an unsettled state of society in the On him conics all the spite, and anger, and caprice, and revenge. He will he made the scapegoat of lawless and heart' less men. 1 mess We turn the government into a vast military machine, there cannot be arms enough to protect tho freedmen while Southern society remains insurrec tionary. J f society is calmed, fettled, and ocoupsPPstad soothed with new hopes, and is prosperous, industrious, no armies will he needed. Biots will subside, lawless hangers on will he driven off or better governed, and a way will be gradual ly opened to the freedmen, through educa tion and industry, to full citizenship, with all its honors and duties. Civilization is a growth. None can es cape that forty years in the wilderness who travel from the Egypt of ignorance to the promised land of civilization. The freed men must take their march. I have full faith in the results. If they have the stamina, to undergo the hardships which every uncivilized people has undergone in their upward progress, they will in due time take their place among us. That place cannot bo bought, nor bequeathed, nor gained by slight of band, it will come to sobriety, virtue, industry and fru gality. As ihe nation cannot be sound un til the South is prosperous, so, on the other .extremity a healthy condition of civil society in the South is indispensable to the welfare of the freedmen! liefusing to admit loyal Senators and Representatives from the South to Con gress will not. help the freedmen. it will not secure for them the vote. It will not protect them. It will not secure any amendment of our Constitution, however just and wise. It will only increase the dangers and-complicate, the difficulties. — Whether we regard the whole nation, or any section of it or class in it, the firs.k de mand of our time is, entire reuniov,. Once united, we can, by schools, church es, a free press and increasing free speech, attack each evil and secure every good. Meanwhile the groat chasm which rebel lion made is not filled up. It grows deeper and stretches wider! Out of it rise dread spectres and threatening sounds. Let. that gulf be closed, and bury in it slavery, sec tional animosity, and all strifes and ba treds ? It is fit. that the brave men, who, on sea and land, faced death to save the nation, should now, by their v oice and vote, con summate what their swords rendered pos sible. . < lfor the sake of the freedman, for the sake of the South and its millions of our fellow-countrymen, for our own sake, and for the great cause of freedom and civiliza tion, 1 urge the immediate reunion of all the parts which rebellion and war have shattered. I am truly yours, Ii knuV’War and Beecher. Important to Farmers—■ Decision of the Commissioner of Internal he venue. The following decisions have recently been given by the Commissioner of Inter nal Revenue at Washington. They are important to farmers, in so far as they un tangle some of the knotty points of the law: w ’ 1. Farmers will not he required to make return of produce consumed in their own immediate families. 2. The farmers’ profits from sales of live stock arc to be Ibuiid'by deducting from the gross receipts for animals sold the purchase money paid for the same. If animals have been lost during the war by death or robbery, the purchase money paid for such animals may be deducted from the gross income of tho farm. 3. No deduction can be made by the farmer for the value of services rendered by his minor children, whether lie actually pays for such services or not. 1 f his adult children work for him and receive com pensation for their labor, they are to be regarded as other hired laborers in de termining his income. -t. Money paid for labor, except such as is used or employed in domestic service, or in the production of articles consumed in the family of the producer, may he de ducted. 5. No deduction can be allowed in any case for tlie cost of unproductive labor. If house servants are employed a portion of the time in productive labor, such as the making of butter and cheese for sale, a proportionate amount of the wages paid thorn may be deducted. ti. Expenses for ditching and clearing new land are plainly expenses for perma nent improvements, and not deducted. 7. The whole amount expended for fertilizers applied during the year to the farmer’s lands may be deducted, but no deduction is allowed for fertilizers produced on the farm. The cost of Seed purchased for sowing and planting may be deducted. 8. If a person sells timber standing, the profits are to be ascertained by estimating the value of the land after the removal of the timber, and from the sum thus obtained deducting the estimated value of the land on thefiist day of January, 180k’, or on the day of purchase, if purchased since that date. 9. Where no repairs have been made by the tax payer upon any building owned by him during the preceding five years, nothing can be deducted for repairs made during the year for which his income is es timated. 10. A farmer should make return of all his produce sold within the year, but a mere executory contract for a sale is not a sale ; delivery either actual constructive, is essential. The criterion by which to judge whctl ler a sale is complete or not is to determine whether the vendor still re tains in that character a right over the property ; if the property were lost or destroyed, upon which parties, in the ab sence of any other relation between them than that of the vender and vendee, would the loss fail. Give us a Better, if Tou Can. Wiil the editors of the Augusta Consti tutionn I ist, or Macon Citizen., who are so supremely disgusted with the proceedings of the late Philadelphia Convention, sug gest some other and better plan by which the Southern people can secure representa tion in Congress, and their rights as citi zen.; of the United States, than that offered by the Philadelphia Convention? Will the South ever secure these privileges by standing entirely aloof from national po litical organization? If so, how? Wi.l she secure them by inviting such men of the North f s Vallandigham to the feast, and discarding all such men as Doolittle, Cowan and Raymond? ff you honestly entertain the opinion, gentlemen, that the Radical party can be defeated, ( and your and our rights be secured in Congress by u< h a programme, we can only express our surprise at the extent of your infatua tion, that’s alf. Unfortunately for us, we are in a hopeless minority, and must re main exposed to all the indignities, insults and injuries which the Radical party may be disposed to visit us with, unless wc can induce the more moderate oi' that party to come to our assistance. We have had persecution enough. Wo want it to stop.- For ourselves we do not intend to invite it, l>y persistently raising up the ghost of dead issues, on all occasions, as the idol of our worship, or by fretting ourselves to death ou account of things we cannot help. —Federal Union. Rust—Since the recent rains rust has vigorously attacked cotton. Much has been ruined by this fell agent in this and ad joining counties, and in Alabama, along the Mobile and Girard railroad. Much cot ton has been ruined thereby. The staple in tills section lias been affected by almost every ill, and the hopes of almost every planter have been most bitterly disappoint ed. —Columbus Sun. The Constitutionalist says: Letters from Southwestern Georgia give gloomy accounts of the eotton crop. After long suffering from drought, the recent continuous wet weather is doing immense damage by forcing the growth of the plant and causing it to shed its fruit, The plan ters are steering this year against wind and tide, but they have the consolation of knowing that if they make but little, it will command a big price.