The Waynesburg messenger. (Waynesburg, Greene County, Pa.) 1849-1901, September 16, 1863, Image 1

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ESTABLISHED IN 1813.
THE WAYNESBURG MESSENGER,
PUBLISHED BY
R. W. JONES & JAMES S. JENNINGS
WAYNESBURG, GREENE CO., PA
117" OFFICE NEARLY OPPOSITE THE
PUBLIC SQVARIG.
4 .2 YAM Sit t
Stasourrion.-92.00 in advance t VIM at the ex
piration of six months; 62.30 after the expiration of
the year.
ADVERTISEMENTS inserted at $1.25 .per square for
three insertidne, and ZS ets. a square for each addition
al insertion; (ten lines of less counted a square.)
7A liberal deduction made to yearly advertisers.
JOB Paitinrio, of all kinds, executed in the best
style, and on reasonable terms, at the "Messenger"
Job Office.
Nif"No paper sent for a longer
period than ONE YEAR without be
ing paid for.
Fdaputtburg 'fusintss curbs.
ATTORNEYS.
BRO. L. WYLY. J. A. J. BUCHANAN, D. R. P. HUBEI
WYLY, BUCHANAN & HUSS,
ttorneys & Counsellors at Law,
WAYNESBURG, PA.
ver ill practice in the Courts of Greene and adjoining
counties. Collections and other legal business will re
ceive prompt attention.
Office on the South side of Main street, in the Old
Bank Building. Jan. 28, 186.—13,
A. A. PORMAN. J O. RITCHIE
PURMAN & RITCHIE,
ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELLORS AT LAW,
Waynesburg, Pa.
.gar'OFFlvß—Main Street, one door east of
the oldß Btnk Building.
ErAll misiness in Greene, Washington, and Fay
ette Counties, entrusted to them, will receive promp.
attention.
N. B —Particular attention will he given to the col
lection of Pensions. Bounty Money. Back Pay, and
other claims against the Go ve:n went. a
Sept. 11. —ly.
a. W. DOWNEY,
ATTORNEY AND COUNSELLOR AT LAW
11:r°Mee in 1 edwitil'S Building, opposite the Court
!louse, Waynesburg, Pa.
EL A. M'CONNELL. J. J. HUFFMAN.
IT'CONNIBLIs dig 1117FPNLA.N,
BTTORNEYS ANI) ('f)UNSELLORS AT LAW
Wayttc.b.t gi Pa.
Dor- Office in the "Wright 11.. se," East Door.
Collections, &c., n.ill receive prompt attention.
Waynesburg, April 23, 1862-Iy.
DAVID CRAWFORD,
Attorney and Counsellor at I.IIIIV. Office on Main
street, East and nearly opposite the Bank,
Waynesburg, Pa., July 30, 1863.-Iy.
I=
BLACK & PH ELAN,
imrcathEss AND COUNSELLORS Ai LAW
Office in the Court Douse, Way netburg.
Sept. 11,1851-li.
SOLDIERS' WAR CLAIMS
.119 C 11:7191S, •
haTTORN EV AT L.W, W PENN A.,
"ILT AS received from the War Di-Tarp - mut at W'ash
jl cite, D. C., official copies of the several
laws passed by Congress, and all the necessary Forms
and Instructions for the prosecution and collection of
PENSIONS, BOUNTY. BACK PAY, due dis
charred and diszeWed snbliets, their widows, orphan
children, widowed mothers. fathers, sisters and broth.
ems, whn,ll business, [upon due notice} will be attend.
rd to promptly, and accurately, if entrusted to his care.
Office in the old Rank tig.— April 6, 1643.
a. W. CI. WADDELL,
ATTORNEY & COUNSELLOR AT LAW,
IFFIOE in Campbell's !tow opposite the nonillion
NJ House, Waybesbuig, henna. liusiness of all
kinds solicited. tlas received official copies of alt the
laws passed by Congress, and other necessary instruc
tions for the collection of
PENSIONS, BOUNTIES, BACK PAY,
Pee discharged and disabled E , 44iess, widows, Orphan
&c., which business if intrusted to his care
Will I C prognt)tly attended to. May 19,'63.
PHYSICIANS
Da. A, G. CROSS
WOULD very respectfully' tender nis services as a
TV PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON, to the people 4)1
Waynesburg and vicinity. He hopes by a dile appre
ciation of human life ;Lad health, and strkt attention to
business, to merit a share of public patronage.
Waynesburg, January t, !SU.
DRUGS
M. A. HARVEY,
Draggist and tomthecary, and ileal;r in Paints and
oils, the most celebrated Patent Medicines, awl fare
Liquors for medicinal purposes.
Sept. 11, 1861-Iy.
MERCHANTS.
WM. A. PORTER,
Whinesalo and Retail Dealer in Foreign and Domes-
Dry Goods, Groceries, Notions, &c., Main street.
eicpt. 11, 1861-Iy.
R. CLARK,
Dealer in Dry Goods, Groceries, Hardware, Queens
ware and notions, in the Hamilton Hotise, opposite
the Court House. Main street. Sept. 11, 1861-Iy.
MINOR & CO. ,
Dealers in Foreign and Domestic Dry Goods, Gro
cerie6, Queensware, hardware and Notions, opposite
the Green House.. Mali, street.
Sept. It 1861-Iy,
BOOT AND 0110 E DEALERS.
J. D. COSGRAY,
Boot and Shoe maker. Main street, imarly opposite
the "Farmer's and Drover's liatitt.” Every style or
Moots and Shoes constantly`on band or made to order.
Sept. 11, 1861-Iy.
GROCERIES & VARIETIES.
JOSEPH YATER,
Dealer in Groceries and Confectioneries, Notions,
bletheines, Perfueneries Liverpool Ware, ace., Claps of
all sizes, and Gilt Moul ding and Looking Glass Plates.
11-7'Cash paid for good eating app!es.
Sept. 41, 1661—1 y.
JOHN MUNNELL,
Dealer in Groceries and Confectionaries, and Variety
Goods Geller:Ay. Wilasn's Nt w Building, Main street.
Sept 11. 1661-Iy.
TOBACCONISTS.
HOOP 1:R & HAGER,
Manufacturers and wholesale and retail deabusin
Tobacco, dome and Snuff, idegax Oran, Pipes, kc.,
Wilson's Old Handal', Main states.
•
Sept 11,1881 ty.
BOORS. &c.
.. LEWIS DAY,
peaky in Ikbool and Mierefttlootio Bioko, fjPottort
try, .firek, Nagatines and rapen.. One dOnt Plot or
Porter's store, Main Street. dept. 11, 1881 ly.
AN OBSTINATE PRISONER,
When the system of imprisonment
for debt was in full force, instances
were frequent in which men were
incarcerated for a long series of
years—either because they were too
poor to work out their deliverance,
or because they disputed the justice
of the claim under which they had
been captured. A singular case of
the latter kind occurred towards the
close of the last century. Mr. Ben,
jamin Pope, a tanner in Southwark,
made 470,000 by success in trade,
and then became a money lender,
discounter, al* mortgagee When
his fortune reached 4100,000, he was
4 familiarly known as "Plump Pope."
His good fortune gradually deserted
him, however. His grasping dispo
sition led him to offend against the
usury laws, and he was frequently
before the courts. In one serious
case he was cost in £lO,OOO damages.
He never ceased throughout the re
mainder of his life complaining of
this sentence; he went to France for
a time, with his property and •of
fects ; and when he returned to Eng
'
, land, in 1782, he voluntarily went to
- prison rather than pay the above
named damages. In the King's
Bench Prison ho remaini,d for the ,
last twelve years of his life. At one
time he might have got off by pay
-41,000 instead of £10,000; but this
he refused to do. as "this would be
acknowledging the justice of the
debt. which he would dia sooner than
do"—and he kept his word. While
in prison he carried on his avocation
of a money lender on a more limited '
and cautious scale than before. Al— ,
ways penurious and eccentric, ho
had become still more so. A pint of
small beer lasted him two days, and
he always looked at the fullness of
the measure before he paid for it.—
He would drink strong beer with any
one who would give it to him; but
he never bought any. If be bought
his three farthing candle at eight to
the pound, he would always select
the heaviest of the eight, to obtain the
most tallow he could for his money.
He never had a joint of meat on his
table during the whole twelve'years
of his voluntarily imprisonment; a
fourpenny plate from a cook's shop
served him for two meals. His
friends, though living at a distance,
knowing of his penurious habits, of
ten sent him articles of fOod which
he refused to buy for himself. When
he died, at the end of August, 1794,
Mr. Pope still owed the debt which
bad embittered so many years of his
strange life.
=I
"ONLY A DEAD SOLDIER.'
A few evenings since, I stood in
the depot waiting fur the train.—
Near by was a rude box, containing
tilit ghat was mortal of one whose
life had been offered a sacrifice tb
Right. Two ladies—were they la
dies—were passing,, and I heard the
remark uttered carelessly and heart
lessly, "It is only a dead soldier."—
And I thought, only a dead soldier !
yet he may have been the all of some,
fond heart now crushed and well
nigh broken, the light of some home
now darkened. Ah me ! how differ
ent this silent .coming home from
the joyful one they had anticipated.
They sent him out in the pride of
his manhood, with a strong arm and
a brave heart—and he is rewriting
pale-faced and still, his white lips
'mute and closed, never again to open
in home-greetings or home-farewells.
lie is going home,
---bat not as he went,
With the flying flag and stiring band,
With the tender word, and message sent
From the distant, warring hand."
Only a dead soldier ! and I thought
of our dead soldier ; his grave—the
Kanawha; and his requium the ebh
and flow of its ever restless water,
and the hot tear would come, de
spite of place, and time and sur
rounding circumstances.
Only a dead soldier! With whit
crushing weight do these words cotne
to those who mourn a brave heart
stilled and pulseless—a loving voice
silent.
May a good Father pity those
whose lovod ones are only dead sol
diers.
Never meet an editor without ask
ing him "What's the news?" Go
across the street and ask him—go to
the sanctum and ask him—haunt
him everywhere with the stereotype
interrogatory, "What's the news ?"
Of course be has 4othing else to do
but answer questions. 'lie gets all
the papers—he's an editor and ought
to be posted." If he don't stop . and
tell you ail the rumors and reports.
vote him "uncivil and disobliging."
If he does ens iver all your questions,
be sure to insinuate that the news
has been "made up" for the purpose
of helping the sate of the paper.
1166-Yonns eonplee, if they are
wise, will not devote their whole
honeymoon to merely amusing and
aorgising each other. Let them re-
member_ the pastry , cook, who, when
hisappreotieas oC•st 01/11110, always
gk , o
Ken' a' surfeit etas to foam
Weir subsequent indifference.
":1; iostsitantots.
That's the News ?
WAYNESBURG, GREENE COUNTY, PL, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1863,
A DRUNKARD'S HOME.
Did you ever see the inside of a
drunkard's home, with everything
going to wreck and 'ruin ? If you
have, you know how Old Hunter's
looked; not that he was very old,
but he Was so shabby and used up,
the boys used to call him old. He
was very ugly when ht liquor, abus
ing his wife and children shameful
ly. They often hid when they heard
him coming; and the time has been
when his poor wife was turned out
into a snow-bank. He had one little
girl, however, the youngest, that
seemed to fare better at his hands
than the others. -To her he was al
ways kind. In his worst moments he
appeared to know and spare Luly.
One day she crept into his lap,
and looking up into his face, "Father,
I love 'on," she said. Luly could
not speak all her words plain, though
she was old enough to. "Father, I
love 'on," she repeated, "I love 'ou."
"Do you, Luly ?" said her lather in a
sudden tone "I want you to be a
good mans, 'cause I love 'ou. You
will be a good mans, father, wont
you? God wants you to be a good
mans."
Tears rushed to the poor fathers'
eyes, and he hugged his little girl to
his bosom. Then set her down and
hurried out of the house. He had a
job that day, and went back to his
work. Yet he saw and heard nothing
for the rest of the day but Luly and
her pleading words. He loved, who
had so forfeited ail right to be loved 1
He be a good man ! Be wished he
could. Ile did not know that, when
other means had failed to bring him
back to himself and to his duty, God
sent his little girl to lead him.
Old Hunter was pricked in his con
science, f)r there was a little left
yet, and it kept pricking, until at
length he went to a temperance man.
"Sir," said he, "I want to sign the
pledge, and turn over a new leaf."--
"God be praised," said the temper
ance man; "it's the best news I've
heard for a long while ; but you
must know, taking the pledge is not
enough, it's only a beginning; you
must get help f rein on high to keep
it. Now you take your family and
come round to our church, and we'll
rally round you and help you on."
So one good step leads to another
To make a long story short, old
Hunter is a reformed man, sober and
industrious He is Mr Hunter now,
and goes to Sunday-School with his
children every Lord's day.
FALSE AND TRUE SMILES.
Thank heaven : there are a goodly
number of people who smile bee .use
they can't help it—whose happiness,
bubbling up from their heart, runs
over in smiles at their lips, or bursts
through them in jovial laughter.—
And there is a difference between
the f a lse a nd the true symbol of joy
that enables the keen observer read,
ily to distinguish one from the other,
The natural expression of delight
varies with the eirrati_on that gives
ay to it, but the counterit_ smile
is a stereotype, and the tone
hypocrite's laugh never:varies.
-crocodile, if the scaly old hypocr ,
be is represented to be is accredit
with smiles as well as tears. F
smiles are, in fact, more coin,
than false tears. It is the easi,
thing in the world to work the sad
while only a few gifted individut
have sufficient command of the
eyes to weep at will. Few gri
tragedians. even, have the knack
lying on the water of afffieth
impromptu; but who ever saw
supernumerary bandit that con,
not "smile and smile,and be a villaid,
or a chorus singer or a ballet-girl,
that did not look as if she had been
newly tickled across the lips with
straw? Of artificial smiles, then
are a greater number than we hal
space to classify. The Countess
Belgravia has her receiving smile,
superb automatic amt. Cow
Faro the distinguished foreigner
who is trying London this year hi
cause Baden-Baden does not ay.(
with him, shuffles the cards with
smile that attracts everybody's attc
tion from his fingers. Miss Magn ,
whose heart and lips dissolved pr
nership - in very early life, nar
such a Cupid's bow of the la,
whenever an "eligible match
preaches, that fortunes fiatte,
round her like a moth round
The Hon. Mr. Verisopht, who va
to get into parliament, cultivates
popular smile. In short, smiling
regular business accomplishment
thousands of people whose sou,
have no telegraphic communicate
with their lips.
The Head of Little °row to be Press
The body of Petit Corbeau, or
tie Crovi, the Sioux butcher, reel
ly !tilled in Minnesota, has been
humed. The skull will he presek
carefully and presented to tne Mi
nesota Historical Society. The boy
was taken from a pit used as a I
ceptaele of the offals and bones
of slaughtered cattle, where it was
but eighty covered with dirt. The
evidence of the identification sec
to -be complete, and the skull
long remain upon the bistm
shelve& as a terrible xemiacier of
savage enormities perpetr a t e d,
this remorseless 4aketican
PREAOHING AND POVERTY
The pulpit is not generally con
sidered a mine of wealth to its oc
cupants, and, in fact, most people
have come to think the contrary to
be nearer the truth, and to look upon
preaching as a sort of twin brother
of poverty. But there are, accord
ing to the New York correspondent
of the Boston Post, brilliant excep
tions to such a rule in every large
city, and New York is not without
specimens of that rarest of rara avis
in terris—rich ministers. At the
head of the list of course must
be placed, Wet Reverence Bishop
Hughes, whose private property
amounts to the snug little sum of a
round million of dollars. He is the
milionaire minister par excellence. In
the Lutherian Church there is a Bev.
J. W. Geissediainer who is reckoned
worth $250,000, and whose secular
hours are, for the most part, occu
pied in forging "the silken chain that
binds two willing hearts.' Thous
ands of couples matrimonially in
clined have, by hi's aid, reached the
consumation devoutly wished. His
residence in Fourteenth street is lit
erally besieged by the crowds who
desire to exchange thk , lover's knot
for that Gordian knot which nothing
but death can cut. Among the
Dutcli Reformed clergymen Rev. A.
R. Van Nest ranks as the richest.----
This gentleman is worth one or two
hundred thousand dollars now, and
has a "goodly heritage" in prospect
of half a million more when his
healthy father reaches the shiny
shore. Rev. Dr. Hardenbaugh, of
the same denomination, is estimated
worth a hundred thousand dollars.—
The Presbyterians, perhaps, have
more rich ministers than any other
denomination. At the head of the
list—the head of the Church in this
city—stands 1)r. Spring, clarern et
venerabile nonten, who is easily worth
a hundred thousand dollars, and
whose young and interesting bride
is set down as having three hundred
thousand dollars more. Rev. Dr
Adams no one thinks of estimating
at less than five hundred thousand
dollars. Rev. Dr. Potts and Rev:
Dr. Phillips each are worth fifty
thousand, and several others of the
Presbyterian clergy are equally able
to keep the wolf from the door.
Bishop Janes, of the Methodist
Church, possesses treasures on earth
to the value of one hundred thousand
dollars, and so does Rev. James Floy,
the best politician in that denomina
tion. Rev. Dr. liagany is worth
about th rtv y thousand dollars.—
Among the Baptists Rev. Doctors
Dowling and Summers are set down
at thirty thousand apiece, and Rev.
Sydney A. Corey at about twenty
thousand dollars, made chiefly in
church property and horseflesh.—
Rev. lir. Beecher and Dr. R. S.
Storrs, of Brooklyn, own tine resi
dences and tre called worth twenty
five or thirty thousand dollars each.
Who says preaching and poverty are
synonymous ?
DEEP PLOUGHING---A STRIKING
DIFFERENGE,
I called recently upon A. R.
Whitney, of Franklin Grove, Lee
county, a quiet observing, and think
ing gentleman. We talked of or
charding, and I have written what I
learned from him on that subject.—
Incidentally the subject of deep
ploughing was introduced. He said
he had never bad but on' man as
ploughman, who knew how to plough.
He was an Irish _English ploughman,
who bad done nothing put hold the
plou g h all his life. He would not
plough a crooked furrow, nor pass
any ground that was not properly
turned.
Mr. Whitney had given him orders
to plough deep, and he did so. He
did it quietly, steadfastly, and with
marked progress daily. The or
chard referred to was planted on the
land solploughed. It feels its influ•
epee to-day.
But talking of the marked effects
of good ploughing and the advan
tage of turning the soil a little deeper
each succeeding year, Mr. Whitney
said he had a piece of ground adjoin
ing a field belonging to his neighbor.
Each field was ploughed and sown
with spring wheat three successive
years. The soil and its condition at
the start were similar.
The first year, the ploughing--
which was done in the fall—was the
ordinary depth—say three or four
inches.' Crops much alike. The
second season Whitney ordered the
ploqghman to plough his field six
inches deep. It Qvas so ploughed.—
The neighbor duplicated the plough
ing of the previous year. Whitney's
crops gained the second year over
the firstyear, and over his neighbor's.
_Figures not given. The third year
Whitney ordered the plough to go
nine inches deep. The neighbor still
adhered to the original defth. The
latter got nine and a half bushels of
wheat to the acre: Whitney, thirty
six bushels per acre. Neither had
manured; there was no difference in
the time of ploughing. In the last
case there was a difference in the
time of seeding ; for Whitney said
he found he could get on his deep
ploughed ground, to work it, in
spring, ten days before his neighbor
could touch his shallow ploughing.
There was no difference in the char
acter of the soil—only in the depth it
was ploughed and in the resulting
crop !
Plough an inch deeper!—l see that
so ne of the agriculural press are re
viving the old cry : "Plant one acre
more.' I modestly urge an amend
ment—Plough one inch deeper !
The thinking farmer will not need
to be told that his practice will do
more to increase the aggregate crop,
if adopted by every farmer, than iff
the advice of cotemporaries was
practiced with the number of acres—
two instead of one.
If we call the average depth of
ploitl,hing four inches, the adding
one inch to this depth will be equiv
alent to adding one-fourth to the
produtivc power of each acre of cul
tivated land. There is little doubt
that on most soils more than this
amount will be added, for it will not
only add the amount of land culti-'a
ted, but increase the productive pow
er of that previously broken.
Plough one inch Aeeper!—Jkloore's
_Rural New Yorker.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, MARKETS.
We condense the following from
o Richmond Examiner :
Flour is still quotable at $4O 00 for
superfine, and $45 00 for extra.—
The stock in the market in first
bands is very light. Corn $9 50 to
$lO 00. Corn Meal $lO 00 for city
or country. The millers retail their
meal to families of soldiers at $1 00
per bushel less than they charge
other customors. Oats $6 00 per
bushel.
Bacon continues scarce, and may
be quoted at $1 90 to $2 00 for bog
round, with an upward tendenc3N—
Speculators have bought up all that
could be had, far and near, and of
course the effect will be a further a• -
vance.
Butter inactive at $2 00 per pound.
Lard firm at $1 65.
Baled Hay $lO 00 per 100 pounds.
Peas $8 00 and $lO 00 per bushel.
Potatoes $lO 00 per bushel.
Wool $3 50' to $4 50. •
Several boat loadesof lumber have
icently arrived in the basin. Pine
lards are selling at $65 00 to $75 oa
Jr 1000 feet.
Bar Iron 30 to 40 cents per pound ;
)rse shoe rods 60 cents per pound,
alivered at the rolling mills. Nails
$BO 00 to $B5 00 per keg of a 100
pounds.
The Suffering at Gettysburg.
A letter from Gettysburg, after
?eaking of hard times among many
4' the farmers and mechanics in that
)igh both ood, says :
"Unless you were here, you can
-4 form a correct idea of the awful
utruction of private property bp
'armies of Meade and Lee. Many
our people are entirely ruined,
Ad 'unless the Government relieves
them; they will suffer for want of
the common necessaries of life."
The Parting of two Heroes.
A correspondent relates the follow
ing incident of the battles at Get
tysburg: At the close of the bloody
battles, while thoesarnist of the sol
diers were lying side by side, and
before even the officers could seek
and speak to their bleeding, and dy
ing friends, the command came to
pursue the flying confederates
Major General Howard, in command
of the Eleventh Army Corps, hast
ened to the bedside of Capt. Griffeth
of his staff, between whom and the
General a strong personal attach
ment existed, to take his last fare
well. He closed the door, and after
a brief interchange of sympathies,
the General took his New Testament
and read to him the 140 chapter of
John. He then knelt in prayer and
commended his wounded friend to
his covenant-keeping God; and ris
ing from his knees, clasped him in
one long, fond, weeping embrace
Thus the heroes parted. One went
to seek the rebels against his Gov
ernment; the other died in a few
days in perfect Peace, cordially ac
quiescing in God's will, and firmly
relying on the merits of his Saviour.
Mir It was the habit of Lord El
don , when Attorney General, to
close his speeches with some remark
justifying his own character. At
the trial of Horne Tooke, he spoke
thus of his own reputation: "It is the
little inheritance I have to leave my
children, and by God's help I will
leave it unimpaired." Here he shed
tears and to the astonishment of those
present, Milford the Solicitor Gen
eral, began to weep. "Just look at
Milford," said a bystander to Horne
Tooke, "What on earth is he crying
for ?" Tooke replied, "He is crying
to think what a little inheritance
Eldon's children are likely to get."
'Since the identification and ar
rest of Mena Sahib it is said that a
plot fbr a general rising of the Se
poys has been discovered and frus
trated.
SPEECH
COL. WM. HOPKINS
ON TUE
S 1 ATE OF THE COUNTRY.
Concluded from Last tVeelc
Mr. Speaker, I can regard the
Abolition proclamation of the Presi
dent in no other light than as "an
assumption of power, not delegated
by the Constitution and laws of the
country, but in derogation of both."
This may seem like strong language
to employ in reference to the "pow
ers that be," which, inspiration teach
es us, • are ordained of God," but, in
the fear of Rim, 1 believe it to be
true—and .if in times like these, I
should tail to utter it, I should deem
myself unworthy of a seat upon this
floor. Am I not fully sustained in
the allegation, that the proclamation
was a usurpation of power, not war
ranted by the Constitution and laws,
by the official declarations of the
President himself, as quoted above ?
But for the sake of argument, sup
pose it be conceded that under the
plea of "Militar . , necessity"' the
President had the power to issue the
proclamation, what practical good
can result to either race from its ex
ercise ? For my life I cannot see
how either can be benefitted, but,
on the contrary, I can see nothing
but "evil, and evil,
and that continu
ally." Why, sir, look at it for a sin
gle moment. Here are some three
or four millions of unfortunate be
ings, thrown upon their own resour
ces, many of them without sufficient
intelligence to appreciate the bless
ings of liberty, and wholly incapable
of taking care of themselves. This,
I admit, may be their misfortune,
rather than their fault, but it is nev
ertheless true, and hundreds and
thousands of them, when left with
out a protector, would be obliged to
subsist on the cold charity of the
world, or go down to premature
graves from absolute starvation.--
Then again, those of them who
would be able and willing to work,
would come in direct competition
with the labor of white men and
women, and consequently reduce
their wages below subsisting point;
and thus, while you would not, in
the remotest manner, improve the
physical condition of the former,
you would inaugurate a ruinous
policy to the latter, and create a
jealousy and bitter strife between
the two classes, which would lead to
the most disastrous consequences.
But let me not misunderstood
hero. I am not now, nor have I
ever been, the advocate of slavery.
On the contrary, I cou:ri wish that
there was not one of the race, either
bond or free, within the limit of the
United States; that they were some
where by themselves, to enjoy all the
liberty they are capable ot'. But I
have always maintained, and do still
maintain, that neither Congress nor
the President has any right to in
terfere with it in the States, either
brcivil or military . power. This
one of the reserved rights of the in
dividttar State's, and they, and they
they alone, eau exeroise it. I cannot
sustain a policy which would 4:bane
NEW SERIES.--VOL. 5, NO. 15
so suddenly, and su radically, tht
present relation, even if the powe
existed, until convinced that it would
benefit either them or ourselves.—
"Better far to bear the ills we have
tfian to free to others we know not
of." And, above all, I am opposed
to such a change being brought shout
by a total disregard of constitutionsi
obligations.
Sir, if this power that is now
claimed by the Administration be ee.
quiesced in without, at least, pro
teatmg against it, then, indeed, is
the pertinency of the interrogatory,
"Whither are we drifting?" most ap
parent. We have it recorded in the
book of books, that he who offends
in one particular is guilty of the
whole, and the same principle is ap.
plieable to our form of government
If the Executive may disregard with
impunity one provision of the Con
stitution, which he has sworn to sap
port, he may set at naught the en
tire instrument, and usurp the whole
functions of the Government, and
dispose of property, life and liberty
as to him t-eerneth meet. Mr. Speak
er, it has been said, here and else
where, that those who take excep
tions to this extraordinary exercise
of power or' the part of the Presi
dent, "are in sympathy with the re
bellion " The same is said of those
who condemn the enormous frauds
that have been perpetrated upon the
treasury, which have amounted to
hundreds of millions of dollars,
much of which has been exposed by
committees of the friends of the Ad
ministration.
Yes, sir, the test of loyalty set up
by certain partisans, army contract
ors and others, is unqualified appro
val of every enormity committed,
whether it be the robbery of the
treasury by hundreds of millions, or
the arbitrary arrests of private citi
zens at the mere caprice of some
vindictive sulwrdinate, without due
process of law. But, sir, the only
emotions that the attempt to estab•
lisp such a test excites in my bosom
is pity for the miserable creature
who would this attempt to defer
the freemen of this country from an
honest expression of their detests.
Lion of the fraud, corruption and
tyranny, wherever found to exist.—
Let not this "stop thief" cry of "dis
loyalty," or "sympathy with the re
bellion," deter any from expressing
his convictions on questions of pub
lic policy. The allegations of "sym,
pathy with the rebellion," for such
a reason, are as unfounded and false
as are the miscreants who make
them shameless and dastardly.--
Why, sir, there is not a battlefield
since the inauguration of this unhap
py strife that does not give the lie
direct to such allegations, and that
does not send up a cry to Heaven for
vengeance on the head of those who
make them. Sir, the whole land has
been saturated with the blood of
tens of thousands of just such "sym
pathizers," while the wretches who
pour forth such vile slander have ta
ken good care to keep out of harm's
way themselves.
Mr. Speaker, in my judgment, true
loyalty consists in the citizen ren
dering to the Government, in time of
war, either foreign or domestic, his
hearty co operation in all legitimate
measures that may be adopted for
its successful prosecution, and at
the same time to express, in a prop
er spirit, his disapproval of all frauds
upon the treasury and palpable in
fractions of the Constitution. By
this standard I am willing to be
judged, and stand or fall. If I may
be pardoned for an allusion to one so
humble as myself, I will state that
from the hour of the attack on Fort
Sumter, down to the issue of the
emancipation proclamation, my
voice was always for sustaining the
Administration, and I may add, T
trust, without subjecting myself to
the charge of egotism, that I made
more speeches, such as they were,
than did many of the disinterested
patriots who are now so ready to
talk about "sympathy with the re
bellion." While this is true, I would
be wanting in candor did I fail to
say, in my place here , that the proc
lamationhas never, or a single mo
ment, received the approval of my
judgment. When it is remembered
that the President himself has re
peatedly declared that he had no
power to issue such a paper, and
that Congress affirmed that the war
was waged for no such purpose as is
therein avowed, is it any wonder
that I, or any one else, should hesi
tate in endorsing it ? But, aside
from the absence of power, I could
not approve it, because I believe
(whether so intended or not, it mat
ters but little) it was an invitation
to the slaves to rise in servile insur
rection, and engage in au indiscrimi
nate slaughter of men, women and
children. A. measure calculated to
lead to such atrocity can never re
ceive my approval, and I thank God
fOr having given me a heart that re
' volts at even such a suggestion. I
will go further, and say that the coin
, manding officer who would stand by
and permit such a fiendish work ;
bout using his utmost efforts to
oi-event it, would deserve, while
living, to be "whipped in4kocl round
the world," and when dead shottl
ep e p k i ma eternity in hopeless s v.