tion, is made in the hope that it may do
I good without harm. It will favor labor
aad avoid great confusion. But why any
proclamation pow upon this subject 1 This
I question is beset with the conflicting views
I Uiat the step might be delayed too long
' or be taken too soon. In some, elements
i for resumption have been ready for action,
but remain inactive apparently for want
of a rallying point, a plan of action. Why
shall A adopt the plan of B, rather than
B that of A ? and if A and B should
"■-agree, how can they know that the gen
eral Government here will respect their
plan ? By the proclamation, a plan is pre
sented which may be accepted by them as
a rallying point, and which they are as
sured in advance, will not be rejected here.
This may bring them to act sooner than
they otherwise would.
The objection to a premature presenta
tion of a plan by the National Executive,
consists in the danger of commitments in
points which could be more safely left to
further developments. Care has been ta
ken to so shajie the document as to avoid
embarrassment from this source. In say
ing that on certain terms, certain classes
will be pardoned with their rights restored,
it is not said that other classes on other
w. will never be included. In saying
r\a reconstruction will be accepted if
in a specified way. it is not said
JRit it will never be accepted in any other
The movements by State action for
emancipation in several of the States not
included in the emancipation proclamation,
arc matters of profound gratulation ; and j
i while I do not repeat in detail what I have
I heretofore so earnestly urged upon this
|Mubject, my general views and feelings re-
unchanged, and I trust that Con-
Bjrcss will omit no fair opportunity of aid
these important steps to the greatcon
lpnmation.
THE WAR POWER —OUR RELIANCE.
In the uiidst of other cares, however
important, we must not lose sight of the
FACT that the war power is still our main
TCLIANCE. To that power alone can we look
yet, for a time, to give confidence to the
people in contested regions that the insur
gent power will not again overrun them.
Until that confidence shall be established,
little can be done anywhere for what, is
called reconstruction. Hence our chief
cSt care mast still be directed to our army
and navy whr have thus far borne their
harder part so nobly and well, and it may
be esteemed fortunate that in giving the
groat est efficiency to these indispensable
arms we do also honorably encourage the
gallant men, from commander to sentinel,
who compose them, and to whom more
than to all others the world must stand
indebted for the home of freedom disen
thralled, regenerated, enlarged and per
petuated. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
December 8,1863.
PROCLAMATION
ACCOMPANYING PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.
The following proclamation is appended
the message :
PROCLAMATION. —Whereas, In and by
the Constitution of the United States, it
is provided that the President shal 1 have
power to grant reprieves and pardons for
offenses against the United States, except
in cases of impeachment; and Whereas,
a rebellion now exists whereby the loyal
—States and governments of several States
have, for a long time, been subverted, and
many persons have committed and are
now gdilty of treason against the United
States; and Whereas, with reference to
said rebellion and treason, laws have been
enacted by Congress de "\ing the forfeit
ure and confiscation of property, and lib
eration of slaves, all upon terms and con
ditions therein stated and also declaring
that the President was thereby authorized
at any time thereafter, by proclamation, to
" extend to persons who may have partici
pated in the existing rebellion—in any
State or part thoreof—pardon and amnes
ty, with such exceptions, and at such
times, and on such conditions as he may
deem expedient for the public welfare.
And Whereas, the congressional decla
ration of limited and eonditrional pardon,
accords with well established judicial ex
positions of the pardoning power; and
Whereas, with reference to said rebellion
the President of the United States has is
sued several proclamations, with provis
ions in regard to the liberation of slaves;
and Whereas, it is now desired by some
persons heretofore engaged in said re* _ 11-
lon to resume their allegiance to the Uni
ted States, and re-inaugurate loyal State
governments within and for their respec
tive States;
Therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi
dent of the United States, do proclaim,
_jkflare oud make known to all persons
who have directly, or by implication, par
ticipated in the existing rebellion, except
as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon
is granted to them and each of them, with
restoration of all righto and property, ex
cept as to slaves, aud property in cases
where the rights of third parties shall
have intervened, and upon the condition
that every such person shall take and sub
scribe an oath, aud thenceforward keep
and maintain said oath inviolate, and
which oath shall be registered for perma
nent preservation, and shall be of the
tenor and effect following, to wit:
41 1 do solemnly swear, in presence of
Almighty God, that I will henceforth
faithfully support, protect and defend the
Cotpfc. ,jtion of the United States, and tho
Um° n . ..States thereunder; and that I
will, in likv manner, abide by and faith
fully support of Congress passed
during the existing rebellion with refer
ence to slaves, se lon b - nd go fa r as not re
pealed, modifiod or held by Congress
Or by a decision of the Su^ me Court;
- and that I will, in Bke manner, vbide by
pud faithfully gjipport all proclamations of
(the President, made during the existing
■rebellion, paving refercpee to slaves, so
long and so far as not modified or declared
yoia by a decision of the Supreme Court,
Bo help me God."
The persons excepted from the benefits
the foregoing provisions, are all who
•re or shall have been civil or diplomatic
idEoan or agents of the so-called Confed
jgate Government; all who have left ju
■dicia] stations under the United State*
■*> aid in the rebellion; ■all who reaign
lr their commissions in die army aud
United States, and after
rebtpoo, anl-|uU who
of war, and which persons may have been
found in the United States service as sol
diers, seamen, or in any other capacity.
And I do further proclaim, declare and
make known, that whenever in any of the
States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mis
sissippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia,
Florida, South Carolina and North Caro
lina, a number of persons, not less than
one-tenth of the number of the votes cast
in such State at the Presidential election
of the year of our Lord 1860, each hav
ing taken the oath aforesaid, and not hav
ing since violated it, and being a qualified
voter by the election laws of the State ex
isting immediately before the so-called act
of secession, and excluding all others, shall
re-establish a State Government, which
shall be Republican, and in nowise contra
vening said oath—such shall be recognized
as the true government of the State, and
the State shall receive thereunder the ben
efits of the constitutional provision which
declares that the United States shall guar
antee to every State in the Union a repub
lican form of government, and shall pro
tect each of them against invasion, anil on
application of the legislature, or the Ex
ecutive when the Legislature cannot be
convened, against domestic violence.
And I do further proclaim, declare and
make known, that any provisions which
may be adopted by such State Govern
ment in ralation to the freed people of such
State, which shall recognize and declare
their permanent freedom and provide for
their education, and which may yet be con
sistent, as a temporary arrangement, with
their present condition as a laboring, land
less and homeleas class, will not be object
ed to by the National Executive.
And it is suggested as not improper
that, in reconstructing a loyal State gov
ernment in any State, the name, the bound
ary, the sub-division, the Constitution,
and the Federal code of laws, as before
the rebellion, be maintained, subject only
to modifications made necessary by the
conditions hereinbefore stated, and such
! others, if any, not contravening said con
ditions. which may be deemed convenient
by those framing the new State govern
ment.
To avoid misunderstanding it may be
necessary to say that this proclamation, so
far as it relates to State governments, has
no reference to States wherein loyal State
governments have all the while been main
tained. And for the same rcasc iit may |
be proper to further say that whether mem
bers sent to Congress from any State shall ;
be admitted to seats, constitutionally rests |
exclusively with tho respective Houses,
and not to any extent with the Executive.
And still further, that this proclamation
is intended to present to the people of the
States wherein the national authority has
been suspended and loyal State govern
ments have been subverted, a mode by
which the national authority over every
loyal State government may be re-estab
lished within said States or any of them.
And while the mode presented is the best
the Executive can suggest with his pres
ent impressions, it must not be understood
that another possible mode would not be
acceptable.
Given under my hand, at the city of
Washington, the eighth day of December,
A. I), one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the eighty
eighth. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WM. 11. SEWARP, Scc'v of State.
COMFORTABLB PEOPLE. —Comfortable
; people arc comfortably and seasonably
dressed. You will never have to shiver
at the sight of tlieirmuslins in November,
or lament over their velvets in the dust
■ and heat of June. Nor will the season of
' life be less regarded by them than the sea
' son of the year; the comfortable clederly
gentleman will not ape the fashion of the
youthful fop, nor comfortable grandmoth
ers excite the pity or ridicule of their de
-1 scenduuts by emulating the charms and
tresses of fifteen, in auburn wigs and ro
ses. Good, simple, and well-fittidg, in
every sense of the term—the costume of
■ comfortable people shows that, as they
' are not ashamed of their age, their age
: will have no reason to be ashamed of them.
1 Comfortable people will have comforta
able things about them; their furniture
■ and household appointments l>eing ever
■ the reverse of what is stigmatized as'gitn
: crack.' You may lean back against their
chairs, or lean forward on their tables, and
neither will 'give way' though you do.—
! Their sofas, if not of the very newest fash
' ion. are infinitely preferable to any invent
ed cither before w since—their grates
draw to admiration—their fenders are just
the right make and heightfor puttingone's
1 feet on ; and, although from a very early
• period of your acquaintance you have an
; inward consciousness that you might stir
1 their lire unblamed, your remembrance of
1 the fire of comfortable people for seven
' times seven years is connected with the
1 conviction that no poke of yours could cv
' er have improved it. One remarkable
1 characteristic in the apartments of com
' fortable people is, that they always appear
1 larger, in proportion to their actual dimcn
' sions, than those of others. You have
' room to breathe and room to move, and
! are never obliged to tumble over half a
dozen things you do not want, in your pro-
gress towards what you do, as has so often
1 happened toyou in houses double the size
! of theirs. Then, too, there is such an ex
> hilarating, wholesome atmosphere in rooms
that are regularly and discreetly ventila
• ted, and in which nothing rusty, musty, or
' fusty, is suffered to abide.
t6r Ablution is a duty somewhat too
> strictly ineuloated in the Mohometan ritu
; al, and often toe laxly observed in Chris
' tian practice. As a man may have a dirty
112 body, and an undefiled mind, so may he
l have clean hands in a literal and not in a
J metaphorical sense. As washes and cos
-1 metus without, he may yet have a moral
i hydrophobia within. Pleasant to see an
im-purita*. of this stamp holding his nose
3 lest the wind should come between a hon
> est scavenger and his gentility, while his
3 own character stinks io the public nostrils.
It u a very pleasant and proper
i thing, no doubt, to nave a purpose, but
- happy ia the man who can indulge in the
I luxury, now and then, of having none at
• all; who can give over at intervals, the
> steeple-chase '.of the world and save a
■ his hand acrdss his
<thc Cittern.
THOMAS BOBINBON, ix;. rtitorß
CYBUS E. ANDEBSON, }* aitors -
IbutlEß PA~
WEDXESAI«.
*3-"LIBERTY END UNION, NOW AND FORNVER, ONO
IRTD'NSEPARE'ATE.'* —O. WEBSTER.
FOB PRESIDENT IN 1864 !
AF.KAHAI LIUCOLy.
To THE PUBLlC. —Having incurred the
expenditure, and taken upon us the labor
and responsibility of publishing a new pa
per for the purpose—as was set forth in
oursalutatory last week—of assisting those
who are already laboring to produce unity
and harmony amongst all loyal men in
their political action—thus strengthening
tho Administration, and the gallant Union
army who have protected and sustained it
from the enemies, alike of itself aud the
government whose keeping, for the time
being, it is intrusted with—we hope our
friends throughout the county will give us
their influence in the circulation of our
paper.
Wc hope to be able to supply at least
fifteen hundred copies of the Citizen to
our friends in this county. A widely cir
culated newspaper is tho most convenient
way of giviug information of any kind.
Send in your names, gentlemen, and give
us a trial. See terms on first page.
The NCVH from our Armies.
It is more than likely, that there will
not be much activity in cither the army of
the Potomac, or Cumberland, for sonic
months to come, as winter has fairly set in,
! and campaigning at this season is very
I scvero, and not always profitable. They
will both likely go into winter quarters.—
Beside the continuous interest felt in the
progress of operations at Charleston, it is
quite likely that North Carolina and Tex
as, whose climate is more congenial tojwin
tcr campaigns, will occupy the attention of
the nation through the coming winter.—
Gen. Butler in the former, and Banks in
tho latter, will doubtlcas make their mark
bcferc the opening of spring.
Tlie Exchange of I'rlwoners.
We are sorry to observe a disposition
among a certain class of newspapers, to
embrace every opportunity for censuring
our Government, and thus indirectly jus
tifying the rebels. A striking instance of
this is observed in reference to the ques
tion of the exchange of prisoners—they
claiming that our Government is responsi
ble for the failure of our agents to procure
the exchange of prisoners ; and that the
consequent sufferings of that unfortunate
class now confined in tho various prisous
about Richmond. To all such, and those
persons who read and believe their false
charges, wc would recconmiend the able
and lengthy letter written to the New
York Times, by Gen. Hitchcock, whose
business it has been to supervise the ex
change of prisoners.
Wc are only prevented by the want of
space, from giving it to our readers in full.
In it the General uses tho following lan
guage, in reference to colored troops and
their officers : •" But it is a most signifi
cant fact that, in no single instance has
the smallest evidence came to light tend
ing to show that any officer connected with
colored li-oops, has been captured alive,
and held in the South as a prisoner of
war; uor has any colored man, employed
as a soldier of the United States, been
captured in the South and accounted for
as a prisoner of war."
"To any reasonable man.this glaring fact
might be sufficient to show the vile pur
pose of the rebel authorities to counte
nance, if tlicy have not directly ordered
the destruction of this class of troops,
whenever and wherever they unhappily
fall into their power."
But, although the Government is pledg
ed to protect all its soldiers, yet, it is clear
that this is not the cause of the delay in
the exchange of prisoners. Wo lurther
quote :
" It has been supposed, even in many
parts of the North, that the proposition of
Mr. Ould, of the 20th of October, for an
exchange of prisoners is fair, and ought
to be accepted ; but it does not appear to be
considered that Mr. Ould has not proposed
to yield to us a certain number of prison
ers of war and receive a like number in
return, which would be a happpy consu
mmation that would be at once accepted by
this Government."
"But his proposition is thatweshall de
liver to him all the prisoners now in our
possession, amounting to about 40,000
men, and receive in return about 18,000
men, having about 27,000 who might be
for a few days, considered on parole,
not to take up arras unless duly exchang
ed ; and then what would Mr. Ould do
with these men?"
"Judging by what he has acto&lly re
eently done, he would undoubtedly irmmft
to discharge these men from
under their parole, and put
field to fight against X atiou^^^^^^^J
men upon bloody battle-fields within the
last few months."
"To show the extreme probability of this,
it is only necessary to refer to a few facta,
beginning with the statement of Mr. Ould
to Gen. Meredith, officially communica
ted to me, that lie, Mr. Ould, would pro
ceed to make declarations whenever he
could conscientiously feel the right to do so,
for th<i purpose of putting men into the
field—thus openly setting aside the cartel
and usages of war, in favor of his individ
ual sense of right—-which sense of right,
in Mr. Ould, is so obtuse and wild, as to
justify him in making use of a ' tabular
statement,' of alleged captures principal
ly in the western States, amounting to over
18,000 men, a considerable portion of
whom were undoubtedly captured by
guerrilla parties, and were not soldiers, but
for the most part, peaceable citizens of the
country."
We think this clearly relieves our Gov
ernment from blame in this matter. But
the following iB what, we wish more par
ticularly to call the attention of our read
ers to.
" Mr. Ould is a mere agent under the
cartel, and has no powers beyond those re
cognized in the cartel for the execution of
its provisions ; yet he has recently assum
ed to decide an important question by
which he undertook to liberate from the
obligations of their parole the whole of
the prisoners, some 6,000 or 7,000, cap
tured by Gen. Banks at Port Hudson, and
paroled by Gen. Banks under a special
agreement with the Bebel commander.
The world knows that those prisoners
fell unconditionally into the hands of Gen.
Banks at the surrender of Port Hudson,
and Gen. Banks had the power to scud
them to the north if it had been his pleas
ure to do so; but he made an agreement
with the Bebel commander to release them
on parole, and released them at Mobile in
conformity with the agreement.
Tho cartel for the exchange of prison
ers provided two places for their delivery,
to wit: City Point on James River, and
Vicksburg, on the Mississippi; but it pro
vided also, that when either of these pla
ces should become unavailable, by the ex
igencies af war, for the delivery of prison
ers, other points might be " agreed upon"
by the commanders in the field. This
was precisely what happened. Vicks
burg having fallen into the hands of Gen.
Grant, had, by that exigency, become un
available for tho delivery of captured Beb
el soldiers; and when, subsequently, Gen.
Banks came into possession of several
thousand prisoners by the unconditional
surrender of Port Hudson, \\c made an
agreement with the Bebel Gen. Gardner,
their commander, to deliver his prisoners
, on parole at Mobile, and did so.
Mr. Ould, without any proper authori
ty whatever, assumed to write a letter ou
the 10th of October last, a copy of which
he has not furnished us, but which
has been published in a Bichmoml news
paper, in which he attempts to release all
of those prisoners from obligations under
their parole because, as he undertakes to
decide, they were not delivered at places
named in the cartel, when the cartel itself
provides for other places of delivery than
those expressly named in the carte" when
rendered necessary by the exigencies of
war. In the moan time, however, it can
-1 not be doubted that the body of men in
question have been put into fW' field to
fight again the Federal troops by whom
they were captured but a few months
since; and this, too, without having been
exchanged, and without having been prop
erly released from the obligations of their
parole.
Since writing the above, I have receiv
ed an official report from Gen. Meredith,
one point in which will be here stated, to
wit: that Gen. Meredith, for the purpose
of withdrawing our suffering prisoners
in Bichmond, distinctly proposed to Mr.
Ould that he would send him 12,000 or
more Confederate prisoners, as many as he
might hold of our men, and receive in re
turn our prisoners held in the South; —
which proposition Mr. Ould refused to
accept, but said that he would agree to
a general exchange ; the effect of which
undoubtedly would be to cancel the excess
of prisoners in our hands by a delivery of
about 40,000 for about 13,000 ; to leave
the Rebel authorities the entire disposi
tion of such colored troops and their white
officers as they might capture ; to expose
' Capts. Sawyer und Flynn to their fate un
der orders in Richmond, which have never
been countermanded; to turn loose again
certain notorious guerrilla leaders to renew
their ravages in Kentucky and Missouri
(neither of which States have ever united
with the so-called Southern Confederacy,)
to put into the field a fresh army of Reb
els, to be recaptured; and, in short, we
should deliberately neutralise or throw
away a chief part of the power of the Gov
ernment at this time, throngh which there
may be some hope, by measures yet to be
decided upon, of oontrolling tho action of
the authorities in Richmond in their treat
ment of prisoners of war, and compelling
them to respect the laws of war, if they
are deaf to those of humanity.
We consider that, at this time, the Reb
el authorities owe us upon the exchange
list more than all of the prisoners of war
■ now bold, as for the pris
and
come
with a body of the enemy, who, having
been paroled as prisoners of war at Vickß
burg, have been recaptured in arms at j
Chattanooga, without having been proper- j
ly exchanged. i
I ought to state hero that, the Govern
ment of the United States would not hag- 1
gle about a few men. more or less, if it were ;
hundreds or even thousands, if the ques- i
tion was the relief, and that alone, of our i
sufferering prisoners in Richmond ; but
whoever considers the above statement of
facts cannot fail to seo that other questions
and points are involved, which it is not
safe, if it were honorable, for this Govern
ment to overlook.
It should be stated also, that an offer
was made to the Bebel agent some dayß
ago to receive nil of the prisoners from
Bichmond under a solemn pledge that
they should not be allowed to take arms
unless duly exchanged with tho consent of
the Bebel authorities, without exisitng
difficulties on the subject of excliango ;
and that this Government would pledge
itself to both feed and clothe prisoners in
our hands.
This proposition also was rejected, and
the Secretary of War thus greatly restrict
ed in his means of affording immediate re
lief to our prisoners in Richmond; but
they have not been overlooked. God for
bid. Tlx; Secretary of War has ordered
both clothing and provisions to be sent
through the Rebel lines to sustain them,
although those supplies, from the necessi
ty of the ease, have been intrusted to the
honor and humanity of the enemy, whose
agents may or may not permit the sup
plies to be delivered.
Meanwhile it is well for tho country to
understand that this Rebellion is to be put
down by organized armies in the the field,
acting upon and destroying organized op
position to the Government, and no real
progress can be made except in this direc
tion, to which end the energies of every
loyal man in the country should be devo
ted. The progress already made in sup
pressing the Rebellion may afford the full
est assurance of final success ; and this end
will appear the more certain when it is
considered that the Corps d'A/rique , in
the servico of the Government, already
numbers 50,000 brave, athletic men, who
are fighting in support of this Govern
ment, under the guidance of a body of
most earnest and intelligent officers, who
count tlieir lives as subordinate to the
cause they are engaged in.
I undertake to assure my countrymen
that the hopes of tho most sanguine have
been inorcthan realized, in the facility with
which tho Government has brought within
its power of organization the colored pop
ulation of tho country, and the system
contains within itself such powers of ex
pansion that Slavery in the South is inevit
ably destined to give way before it, when
this element is seen to work, as it will in
harmony with the organized loyal power of
the nation d'-ected to the preservation of
republican it> tutions, and the union of
tho States under one General Government,
capable of giving protection to the whole
from both domestic disturbance and for
eign invasion."
Has" Summary of*ucs(Jay's news from
Washington :
Some surprise is expressed at Fernando
Wood's being able to muster fifty-nine
votes for his resolution for Commissioners
togo to Richmond and beg for peace. Fifty
nine Democrats thus place themselves on
peace at any terms on the ground, under
Fenando Wood's lead.
Gen. Martindale, Military Governor of
the District, family and staff, visited the
Russian fleet to-day. They were shown
over tho flag ship by the Admiral, and up
on leaving received a salute of thirteen
guns.
Gen. Meade demands a court of inqui
ry into tho conduct of the recent advance
across the llapidan and subsequent retroat.
Gen. Sedgwick will command in the mean
time, by seniority.
Numerous acts of piracy have been
planned, and several of the vessels have
narrowly escaped a fate akin to that of the
Chcspeake. The pirates still retain pos
session of the remaining engineers and
firemen, and will still do so until they are
replaced by others. Tho Chospeake pir
ates expect to shield themselves, if captur
ed, by producing theirorders from the Con
federate Government, a copy of which was
handed to Captain Willetts, by them.
DISCHARGED SOLDIERS.—The Provost
Marshal General has decided that soldiers
who have received a discharge from the
army on accountof physicaldisability, may
be received anew under the lost call for
volunteers. They will not, however, be
allowed to re-enter the service as veteran
soldiers, but will receive only the bounties
offered to fresh recruits. The decision
will be of interest to many, as it opens a
door which has heretofore been closed
against them. It is also stated that all
men who were in the service on the third
of March, 1863, are exempt from the ope
rations of the coming draft, All such
persons, by producing their discharge pa
pers to the BGard of Enrollment can have
their names stricken off the list of enroll
ed persona. The friends of those who
have volunteered since the last draft was
made, can have the names of such volun
teers also stricken off the enrollment list
by furnishixg the Board with the proper
evidence of enlistment, 'fciix will begvod
Fsom the Xew Turk Tribune.
The Restoration of fcxtw,
Gon. A. J. Hamilton has left New Or
lcens to enter upon his official duties »e
military Governor of Texas. We are in
daily expectation of news of his arrival at
Brownsville. Eighteen months ago, in
the summer of 1802, he left his home in
Austin, and, aided by the devoted Union
ists of Western Texas, escaped through
the mountains of that section of the coun
try to the borders of the Rio Grande, hotly
pursued by the Rebel troops. Here his
path was not les3 dangerous and he' nor
rowly escaped, on ffiore than one occasion,
assassination by the metican bordc.-crs
who were in the pay of the Confederate
authorities to arrest or murder all \Cho
sought to fly from their tyrranieal rule.
At the mouth of the Rio Grande he found
means to place himself on board of an A
merican trading vessel and under the pro
tection of the old flag. We recall these
circumstances to point out another of the
striking contrasts with which the history
of this war abounds, and which are excit
ing in their interest as the most thrilling
incidents of romance. Eighteen months
ago a fugitive and a wanderer from home
and family and friends—to-day returning
the honored representative of the great
Republic, and escorted to the State of his
adoption with military pomp and power.
His first care on landing will bo to issue
a Proclamation to the people of the State,
calling upon them to join the liberating
artny, and to aid in the restoration of the
national authority. He will distinctly set
forth the fact, and his presence is tho
strongest commentary on its truth, that
the armies of the United States march not
to the subjugation of part of its people,
but to the deliverance of the oppressed and
the down-trodden from the tyranny of an
odious rule. And his call will be hoard
and answered. The fleet and adventur
ous rangers will bear the summons by
night and by day, by hill and dale, thro'
hamlet n>id glen, and the sous of liberty
will gather not less rapidly, not less surely,
thnu tho children of Alpine when the
cross of fire sped its quick and noiseloss
way to gathor them to the muster-place on
Law rick Mead.
Many of those who would have rallied
at his call lie where no sound of earthly
trump can roach them now. Their bones
bleach on tho prairies, arc hidden in tho
chnppnral, ore washed by their native
streams, or still hang from the mountain
trees, silent but eloquent witnesses of the
vindictivo proscription which Rebellion
and Slavery breed. Thousands have fal
len on far off fields, from Bull Run to Shi -
loh, forced conscripts in a cause which
they hated, lighting against a flag which
they loved.
Thousands have worn out their remnant
of life in hopeless mourning and misery,
and have finally died broker.-hoarted by
the neglect and indifference of tho gov
ernment of their choice. But thousands,
staunch and true, still remain watching
the Northern Star, and each steamer which
will now arrivo will bring news of tho
swelling numbers of the loyal band.
It is not generally known that a fort
night before the arrival of Gen. Banks a
largo force of loyalists, several hundred in
number, had gathered in a loyal camp and
were ou the point of undertaking tho re
covery of the country between the Rio
Grande and the Nueces River. Only the
fortunate arrival of one of their leading
representative men at Matamoras, who left
Now York early in October to carry news
of the probable instant movement to the
frontier of an expedition, prevented their
undertaking the capture of Brownsville.
In a private letter, under date of tho 29th
of October, he says : "lam trying to hold
back any movement for the present, but if
I fail 1 must go in and take the chances
with my friends. Wc can win, but at an
unnecessary cost of life and private prop
erty." The arrival of the United States
forces preserved the lives of many a true
and gallant man for higher duties and a
wider fiSld of action.
All Texas is stirred with a desire to
throw off the hated Rebel yoke. The re
cent address of Gen. Magruder bears wit
ness to the prevailing discontent, and his
later arbitrary acts have fanned into burn
ing flame the smouldering embers of lib
erty and loyalty, which will ere long blaze
out far and wide over tho prairies and
mountain sides of the State. The banish
ment of Judges Baldwin and Peebles, and
tho flight of Judge Sabin, all influential
and respected citizens, are evidences of
the serious apprehensions entertained by
the Rebel authorities of early revolt.
The presence, on the border, of Hamil
ton—of Col. Ilaynes, formerly Maj Gen
eral of tho State, and an old resident of
the Rio Grande district—of Mr. William
Alexander, long a resident of Austin and
a devoted loyalist, and of Col. E. J. Da
vis of the gallant Ist Texas Cavalry, late
Judge (whom our readers will remember
to have been carriad off from Matamoras
last Spring with Montgomery, when the
latter was brutally murdered, and the life
of the former was only saved by the inter
position of the Mexican authorities), all
of them the beloved and chosen represen
tatives of Texan loyalty, point to the pres
ent as the time for a systematic and organ
ized movement.
Quite recently a delegate from the loy
alists of Texas visited the President of the
United States to inform him, on their be
half, that a movement was about to b?
made, that the Government of the State
would be reoognized, Slavery be absolutely
and immediately abolished, the ordinance
of Secession repealed or contemptuously
disregarded, and representatives be return
ed to the Congress of the United States.
We look for the movement to begin in
the part of the State west of the Colorado,
where the German element, which has al
ways been loyal to the core, is strongest.
If the eastern districts follow the example
a General Convention may be called—if
not, the counties west of the Colorado will
form a separate State Government and call
upon Congress for recognition as one of
the four States provided for in the joint
resolution of admission of 1845.
That this new State will demand admis
sion as a Free State there is no doubt. It
is already practically free. Its inhabit
itants are chiefly those who depend on
their daily labor for their daily bread, and
have been driven here, as elsewhere in the
South, from the fertile fields dedicated to
slave labor to the rugged uiountai* sides
for.residence ThujMMMft
movement was begun at Brownsville, id
which all the principal citizens took part,
»nd a public meetiug was held to obtains
Territorial Government (the population be
iug then small, comparatively), but the
slave lords of the eastern counties signify
ing their intention to hold as enemies all
participants in it, it was quickly dropped)
and every effort made to cover up all con
nection with it by the parties engaged—
so great was the terrorism of Slavery,6ven
at that period.
The opinions of Gen. Hamilton on the
subject of Slavery are well known. They
may be found in his admirable letter to'
the President of the United States in Au
gust last, when the conservatives of 81a*
vory wore striving to persuade the Presi
dent to suspond the operations of the Proc*
lamatioti of Emancipation, if not entirely
withdraw it. It was nfterward circulated
in pamphlet form by the Loyal Publication
Society of this city? All tho otlife'r T«t<
ans whom we have named arc equally fii iii
in their determination to purge the Stato
of tho evil, from tho effects of Which thev
have so seriously suffered, and whole Mal
ign influence followed them even to thtflf
temporary Northern refuge. These men
are abundantly able to deal with all thd
important questions which will arise, and
from their advice and discreet action wfl
anticipate the most impoHaht results
It will not surprise us if the movement
initiated by them be tho beginning of a
counter-revolution, so long and BO anxious
ly expected, which will reassert the loy
alty of the South.
Vet a few days, and wc hope to hear'
that the star oft he imperial State of Texas
again shines forth in new effulgenoe, nev
j or more forever to pale orfado away from
the constellation of American Union and
American Liberty.
THE DESOLATION OP THE SOUTH.—A
cotemporary publishes tho following des
cription of the misery produced in tho
South, written by a lady, whose name, it is
stated, would guarantee her patriotism and
truthfulness:
" The desolation of the Southern States
beggars description. Destitution and pov
erty have taken place of opulence and
prosperity. Men that were worth hund
reds of thousands are reduced to utter pov
orty. As for the luxuries of life, formerly
so abundant in the South, thero are none.
Who wore formerly the wealthiest have
nothing to sustain life but what the coun
try affords, and not enough of that, for by
impressment it is taken from them for tho
army. Their garments, even their shoes,
the families have to make themselves; they
spin, weave and dye their cotton, and
homespun clothes rich and poor. Tea, cof
fee and sugar arc not to be had ; milk and
water are the only beverages; Indian corn
is their principal food. The families arc
broken up and ruined. You seldom meet
with a male inhabitant, and if you do, ho
is either infirm or a cripple. A large por
tion of tho male population are killed in
battle, many more crippled for lifetime;
many patriotic Union men died of a bro
ken heart. What remain aro in the ar
my, or in tho employment of the govern
ment. Nevertheless, press-gangs cross tho
country in all directions in search of men
for the army. All ties of social life aro
completely dissolved. No courts of jus
tice and equity are held—justice is meted
out by the military. Universites, colle
ges and schools arc all suspended. Tho
country in many places resembles a wil
derness. Wherever the armies march,
there everything is ruined—the crops de
stroyed ; fences burned trees cut down - r
domestic animals killed, robbed, or taken
forthearuiy. But whatever the Southern
people may suffer, they bear it with hero
ism and resignation ; they have little hope
of success. Under the impending con
gressional and presidential measures, their
loaders deem it impossible to surrender at
discretion, and arc resolved to utter destruc
tion."
Now.—Significant monosyllable that,
but how little appreciated ! Whether wo
conclude that it is a fault of our ffrst na
ture, (which no one will have the hardi
hood to do), or of our 'second nature,' as
habit has not inaptly been called, certainit
is that there is a tendency in mankind to
post-pone till to-morrow what should be
done to-day. The sacred writings, espec
ially the book of Proverbs, afford abund
ant evidence that this was tho case when
their injunctions were delivered, and mod
ern moralists have made procrastination an
earnest theme. The pious Dr. \ oung.hns
pronounced that
" Procrastination in the thief of Hme ;
Man reeolve#, and re-reeolvee, ami •lien the same.
Here, then, we seo the importance of'
Now—the 'everlasting Now,' as Crowley
calls it, where he proclaims that
" Nothing there into come, and nothing past.
Hut an eternal Now dues ever last."
This is the feeling that should ever bo
cherished by the young. It would teach
them the value of time, and the solemnity
of the present as well—the Now of which
they can alone feel certain, as mortals.—
As such they have no to-morrow Suf
ficient for each day is its own wort, as
well as the evil .thereof. Procrastination
is the worst possible folly. The time to
act is now.
Let our young readers be satisfied fully
of this in time—that is, now.
PRUDENCE.—The great end of prudence
is to give cheerfulness to those hours which
splendor cannot gild, and exelamntiomcan
not exhilerate. Those soft intervals of
unbended amusement in which a man
shrinks to bis natural dimensions, and
throws the ornaments of disguises which
he feels, in privacy, to be useless incun
branees, and to lose all effect when they
become familiar. To be happy at home
is the ultimate rcsultofall ambition—the
end to which every enterprise and lttbor
tends, and of which every deaire prompt#
the prosecution. It is indeed at home
that every man must be known, by those
who would make a just estimate cither of
his virtue or felicity; for smiles and- em
broidery are alike occasional, and the mind
is often dressed for show in painted honoir
and faticious benevolence.
To TNE 'officer, who was
inspecting his company one morning, spied!
one private whose shirt was sadly begrim
med, "Patrick O'Flynn!"-called out the
captain, "Here,ycr honor!" promptly re- J
sponded Patrick, with his handto his
"How long M you weara shirt ?" thu/ V*
-Twenty-eight inche»'' w \