VOLUME 1.
The American Citizen,
IS publiahM »»v«ry in th*» borough of Butler,
T>y TIIOMM R0D15V)."(4 C. B. A.NUKRSON on Main struct,
topposit* to Jink's Hotel —"flic? up stair* In the brick
ormerlv occupied by Ell Yettor. a* a store
TKRMS: —SI 50 >» year, if paid in advance, or within the
first nix months; or 82 if not paid until after the expira
tion of the first six month".
RATF.S OF AnvF.RTt*!*O:—One square non., (tenlinpsor
lew. i three Insertion" fl 00
Kvery subsequent Insertion, per square 2i
JBuainei- cards of 10 lines or lo«s for one year, Inclu
ding paper, 6 00 ;
yard of 10 lines or less 1 year without paper 4 00
Vi column for six months 1 00
for OM year 1- 00
column f«»r six months 18 00
* column for one 26 00
for six months A*>oo
1 colnmn for ono year 00
Mr. Nasby's Sermon.
Church of the new Dispensashun, 1
Jan. the 31th, '64. j
My brethren and sistern. I shall maik
Bum remarks this mornin based upon the
bootiful parabul of the prodigal sun. 1
wood reed 2 yoo the passij, but the Bible
I hev is the only one in the township, and j
I lent it yesterday 2 Squire Gavitt, who |
sed swearin witnesses on almanacs woodent j
do in hoss cases, and he hesent brung it i
back. The skripter sez, in substance : j
There wuz a certain man who had 2 j
. sons. The youngest had a taist for that !
branch uv agricultooral pecsoots known j
ez sow in wild oats, so he askt the old man |
fur his sheer uv the estait He got it, j
turned it into greenbax, and went off— i
He commeust livin high—bordin at big
hotels, and keepin trottin bosses, and play
in bilyards, and sich. In about a year he j
run thro his pile, and wuz ded broak.— |
Then his credit played out and he wuz in j
a tite plais for his daily bred. The ijec i
struck him that he had better put for hum \
wich he did. The old man saw him a
cumin, and he run out and met him, and j
giv him anew cote and an order for a pair
uv shoes, and kild a fat caff, and the flour
Joins. The oldest boy objected to these
sayin,
"Lo, I hev served tlice these menny |
yercs, and thou never madst no splurge I
over me, but when this thy son, who hez J
fooled away his pile, returns you kill
calves and sich " Then ilie old man re
torts sayin, 'My sun who wuz lost is
found, the sheep who went astray is cum !
back, let us be merry."
My brethren, this parable applize cz :
well to, the present tiuic as though it was
made.for it. Uncle Samyuel iz the old i
man, the Southern wirig of the Democrat
ic party is the proddygul, and Ablishnists j
is the oldest sun. The south got tired '
and went off on its own hook. It hez, I ,
maik no doubt, spent the heft uv its sub- j
stance. and will shortly conclude to cum |
home. Now the grate qwestion of the !
hour is how shall he be received. My
friends, Dimocratic rool is to fuller the j
skripter wen yu can maik a point by so 1
doin. In this pertikeler Qodlinis is gane, j
haleloogy, thereof, let us be Godly. Let
Uncle Samyuel see the repentant prody
gal far orf-—let him go out to seek him,
•or send Fernandy Wood, and when he
hez found him fall, not upon his neck;,
ljut at his feet; let him put onto him the
pcrplc robe which is royalty, and upon his
hand a ring, whioji is dominion which is j
a improvement upon skripter.
But the Ablishnist, who is the elder
pun, steps up and sez '-Nary." He wuz
a doin well and he wented out f'ram us,
takin all that wilz his own. and secli cz he
cood steel, all uv which he hez spent upon
such harlots cz Afrikin slaivry, Stait rites,
and suthcrn independence, wich last two
menshund is whited sepulkcrs. I sent
my son Grant and llosyecrunce and Ben
butler after him, but lo! wen he wuz
strong and wiggerus he did despitefully
use them. Now that he is weok*frum
hunger, let him briudle. Ef we can taik
him to our buzms, let him cum on hie
neez, let him cast off the harlots that hev
sedoast him, that ther may be no *moar
trubble in all the land.
My brethren'we must taik him back
rs7. the old man did in the bible. Why
do you ask ? Becoz he wuz alluz the old
man's pet, and hed things his own way.
We wuz his friends and shared with him
the steelins, but sence he went out the
Ablishn brother aud his friends hev con
trolled things and whair air we ? Eko
ausers no whair ! We okepy low plaisis
in the sinagog, and the doggry keepers go
mournin about the streets aud refuse 2 be
comforted becoz their cash is not, and ef
wo taik back the prodygal shorn uv his
strength, uv what avail is he to us? He
must cum baekez strong ezevor, he must
bring his harlots with him—he must
ROOL! Then shel we hev PostOrfises,
and then shol we agin live on the fat uv
the land, dodgiu the cuss uv laber. Bre
thren let us be dillygent in this grate
worke instant in seezn and out uv seasou.
A collecshu wuz takin up for the per
pus uv cending a Mishinary toMassychu
sits, wich yeelod 7 dollers. Kztheuuiount
woodent pay the ralerode fare, it wuz vo
ted to apply it on repairs on the church,
wich I did by havin my boots haff-sold
' and buyin a new pare uv pants.
PETROLEUM V. NASBY.
Pastor uv sed Ch«rch, in charge.
AMERICAN CITIZEN.
Personal Character of Mr. Lincoln.
In the course of an elaborate and able
speech on the question of rconstruction,
delivered in the House of Representa
tives on the 19th iust., Mr. Arnold, of
Illinois, spoke in this wise of the persona!
character of Mr. Lincoln :
" Let us see what had been his previ
ous training for his great work. It was
not the training of the schools; it was
better. Jt was a struggle with difficul
ties among the people. He had the foun
dation of perfect integrity, truth, candor,so
briety, self-control, self-reliance, modesty.
With clear judgment,sound common sense,
shrewd knowledge of human nature, he
is most American of Americans. He
had served a single term in Congress, l
but his education, his preparation, was
among the people, in hnmble and home
ly positions; a flatboatman, a rail-splitter,
a surveyor, a member of tlie legislature
in a frontier State, a lawyer in the log
court houses of the West. Whilejiehad
no university schooling, few, if any, have
had a better training to devclope end
strengthen their intellectual powers than
he. This may seem strange, but let nie
explain, and its truth will, I think, be
conceded.
" He was trained at the bar in a school
where giants were his competitors, and he
bore off the crown.
" Some twenty years ago there gather
ed around the plain pine-tables of the
frontier court-houses of Central Illinois a
very remarkable combination of men.—
Among them, and concededly thefr lead
er, was Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A.
Douglas, his great political rival; Lyman
Trumbull, ohairnian of the Judiciary
Committee of the Senate; E. D. Baker,
the able, the eloquent Senator, soldier,
and martyr to liberty ; Gen. Jas. Shields,
who won a high reputation at Washing
ton and on the battlefields of Mexico;
Colonel John J. Hardin, an able and el
oquent lawyer, who fell on the field
ef Bucna Vista; James A. M'Dougal,
the present Senator from California ; Win.
A. Richardson, presetii Senator from Illi
nois, and General John A. M'Clcrnand,
now in the field. Besides these was the
late Governor Bissell, whose manly vindi
cation of the bravery of the Illinois vol
unteers in Mexico against the aspersions
of Jefferson Davis will be well remem
bered ; a vidication which resulted in a
(,■4)allonge from the traitor, which was ac
cepted by Bissell, but from #hich Davis
backed down, it is said, under the advice
of General Taylor. These men, of na
tional reputation, and others equally able,
but whose pursuits have been confined at
home, were the competitors with Mr. Lin
coln. These were the men in contest with
whom Abraham Lincoln was trained for
the terrible ordeal through which lie is
passing.
" The contest between Lincoln and
Douglas, in 1850 was the most remarka
ble in American history. They were the
acknowledged leaders, each of his party.
Both men of great and marked individu
ality of character. The prize was the
Senatorship of the great State of Illinois,
and the success of the Republican or Dem
mocratic party. Douglas had the addi
tional stimulcnt of the Presidency in
view. These twined leaders met, at des
ignated places, aud iu the presence of the
inimeusc crowds of people debated the
great question at issue.
" Douglas went thrpugh this campaign
like a conquering hero. He had his spe
cial train of cars, his band of music, his
body guar4 of devoted friends, a cannon
carried on the train, the firing from which 1
announced his approach to the place of
meeting. Such a canvass involved neces
sarily, very large expenditures, and it has
been said that Douglas did not Rcpend
less than 850,000 in this canvass. Some
idea of the plain, •imple, frugal habits
of Mr: Lincoln may be gathered, when .
I tell you that at its close, having occu
pied several months, Mr. Lincoln said,
with tlie idea, apparently, that he had
been somewhat extravagant, " I do not ;
believe I have spent a cent less than five '
hundred dollars in this canvass."
Mr. Arnold sketched the scene at the
inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, rapidly re- i
viewed the condition of the country at the '
outbreak of the rebellion, aud continued 1
as follows:
" However others have doubted and
hesitated, Mr. Lincoln's kith in the suc
cess of our cause has never been shaken.
He has been radical in all that concerns
slavery, ard conservative in all that re
lates to liberty.
" His course upon the slavery question
has shown his love of freedom, his saga
city and his wisdom. From the begin
ning he has believed that the rebellion
would dig the grave of slavery. He has
allowed the suicide of slavery to be con
summated by the slaveholders themselves.
Many have blamed him forgoing too fast
I ill hisunti-slaverv measures, riff t I think.
"Let us have Faith that Right makes Might; and in that Faith let us, to the end,dare to do our duty as we understand it"-- A - LINCOLN.
BUTLER, BUTLER COUNTY, PA., WEDNESDAY, APRIL (1, 1804.
have blamed him forgoing too slow, of
which I have been one. History will per
haps give liiin credit for acting with
great and wise discretion. 'Jhe calm, in
telligent, philosophic abolitionists of the
old world, uninfluenced by the passions
which surround and color our judgments,
send across tlie ocean congratulation and
admiration of the success and wisdom of
his course. The three leading features of
his administration on the subject of sla
very are:
• " 1. His proclamation of emancipation.
"2. The employment of negroes as sol
diers.
"3. The amnesty proclamation; ma
king liberty the cornerstone of recon
struction .
" The emancipation proclamation will
live in history as one of those great events
which measure the advance of the world.
The historian will rank it along side with
.the acquisition of magna chart a and the
declaration of independence. This great
stjite paper was issued after the most care
ful and anxiou3 reflection, and coucludes
with these solemn words : ' And upon this
act, sincerely believed to be an act ofjus
tice, warranted by the Constitution and
military necessity, I invoke the consider
ate judgment of mankind and the graci
ous favor of Almighty God."
" The considerate judgment of man
kind, on both sides of the ocean, has al
ready approved it, and God has seemed to
favor it with a series of victories to our
arms never witnessed before its issue—a
series of victories, for which we are more
indebted to the President than any other
man."
Mr® Arnold lias enjoyed the intimate
acquaintance of Mr. Lincoln for twenty
years, and therefore this graceful tribute
is the expression of personal knowledge
of the President's character."
Senatorial Classification.
The Washington correspondent of the
Cincinnati Commercial thus classifies the
the United States Senate:
After three months' daily attendance
in the Senatorial jury box, (better known
as the reporter's gallery.) I have brought
in the following verdict. I don't know •
how far the general public will agvee with
me, but those w.ho disagree are privileged
to appeal to higher court:
The best lawyer—Mr. Coalimcr, of Ver
mont.
The best scholar—Mr. Sumner, of Mas
sachusetts.
'Hie best general debater and practical
legislator—Mr. Fessenden, of Maine.
The " keenest" debater—Mr. Trum
bull. of Illinois.
The most pleasant speaker to listen to—
Mr. Doolittlc, of Wisconsin.
The best financier—Mr. Sherman, of
Ohio.
The richest man—Mr. Sprague, of
Rhode Island.
A very sensible man—Mr. Wade, of
Ohio.
The greatest bore that ever lived—Mr.
Davis, of Kentucky.
The Knight of the Sorrowful Nigger—
Mr. Lane, of Kansas.
The most violent Copperhead—Mr.
Powell, of Kentucky.
Tlie most eloquent Copperhead—Mr.
Carlisle, of Virginia.
The most bibulous man in Congress—
ilr. Richardson, of Illinois.
The best looking man, when sober—
Mr. Saulsbury, <if Dataware.
The man who has the least to tsay—Mr.
Hendricks, of Indiana.
The man who made a faux pas in issu
ing a " strictly private" circular, which
i soon became public property —Mr. I'ome
roy, of Kansas. +
The man who comes nearest to being
nobody—Mr. Riddle, of Delaware.
THE KINO OF THE POOR. —At Cete, a
small town in the Tyrol, thero exists the
custom of choosing a king of the poor.—
The individual on whom this dignity is
usually conferred is some honest, hard
warking man. without debt, but also with
out any savings, The monarch in ques
tion having recently died, a popular festi
val took place on the nomination of his
successor. The king elect was conveyed
in an old cart to the spot where the cere
mony of enthroniiation was to take place;
there an old and worm-eaten chair and ta
ble had been placed on a platform; the
new sovereign was gravely placed there,
and after being served with a meagre re
past, accompanied with brandy, the last
will of his predecessor, which was drawn
up in humerous terms, was road aloud; he
was then led, followed by a procession of
people almost in rags, into the liquor shops,
where drink was given gratis.
THERE is now but one secessionist
'paper published in Arkansas, and
that is edited by a very honest, good
sort of a man, whose conversion is
strongly hoped for. His success,
pecuniarily, is said to be far from
brilliant,.
GIVE ME THE PEOPLE.
BT CHARLES BWAIS.
Pome love the glow of outward>how;
Home luve mere wealth, and try to win it;
Tlie house to me may lowly be,
If 1 but like the people In it.
What's all the gold that glitters cold,
When linked to hard or haughty feeling?
What e'er we're told, the nobler gold
Is truth of heart, and manly dealiugl
Then let them seek, whose minds are weak,
Mere fashion's smile, and try to win it;
The house tome may lowly be,
If 1 but like the people iu it.
\ A lowly roof may give ns proof
That lowly flowers are often fairest;
And trees, whose bark is hard and dark,
Maj- yield us fruit and bloom the rarest I
There's worth as sure 'nenth garments poor,
As e'er adorned a loftier station;
Aud minds as just as these, we trust,
Whose claim is but of wealth's creation!
Then let them seek, Mhose minds ae® weak,
Mere fashion's smile, and try to win it;
The hnu«e to mi- may lowly be,
If I but like tha peoplejn it.
WIT AK3D WISDOM
IF a man is doomed to the stake, it
should invariably be beef.
WHY .didn't the last dove return to the
ark ?—Because it hed sufficient ground
for remaining.
THOSE two Englishmen who discover
ed, the source of the Nile, should conie
over here and discover "the last ditch."
WHEN the wind-whistles through your
keyhole, it expects you to whistle with it.
It is sounding the keynote.
ORIGINALLY the term of human life
was a thousand years; but that was be
fore there were doctors. .
AN Ohio paper says—" Some say there
are but two sexes —the male and female—
but you have only to get into Massachu
setts to find a ' Middlesex.'"
IF the alphabet were alive, why would
you find it difficult to kill it ? Because
you couldn't put the letter B out of" Be
ing."
A LADY in a Western city advertises
for a gentleman for breakfast and tea.—
Does she intend to make only two meals
of him ?
AN Irishman, writing a sketch of his
life, says he early ran away from his fath
er, because he discovered he was only his
uncle!
THE common opinion is, that we should
take good care of the children at all. sea
sons of the year; but it is well enough in
the winter to let them slide.
A YOUNO gentleman was fondling his
betrothed's hand. " I hope it is not coun
terfeit," he said. " The best way to test
it is to ring it," was lier reply.
A DANCER once said to a Spartan, "You
cannot stand on one leg as longas I can,"
" Perhaps not," said the Spartan, " but
any goose can."
A DUTCHMAN'S heart-rending solilo
quy is described thus: " She loves Shon
Mickle so pcttcr as I, because he has got
a cooplc tollars more as I hi^."
'Tis a sad thing when men have neith
er heart enough to speak well, nor judg
ment enough to hold their tongues ; this
is the foundation of all impertinence.
AN old bachelor being told that ayoung
man of his acquaintance had just got
married, exclaimed : " Alas ! what a pity
it is one should come to misfortune so
young!"
A SPLENDID specimen of orthography
is seen in the window of a beerhouse in
the neighborhood of Poplar street, Phila
delphia:—'v Table Bear Sowld Ilerr, tup
pens a Cwart."
A WRITER, dwelling upon the impor
tance of small things, says that he always
takes " note even of a straw" especially,
perhaps, if there's a sherry eobler at the
end of it. •
A CORRESPONDENT tells of a soldier
wounded by a shell at Fort Wagner. He
was going to the rear with a mutilated
arm.
" Wounded by a shell ?" he was asked.
" Yes," he coolly answered, " I was un
der the blamed thing wheu the bottom
dropped out."
"WONDER what's do reason dis saw
mill don't go now?" asked a country ne
gro who hadn't seen much of the world,
addressing his more " high-learnt," vil
lage friend.
" Dat succumstance argues easy 'nough,"
answered the other; "de reason is 'cause
dare am not sufficient number of water."
POPPING. —Mr. Popp, of Popville,fan
cying himself to be very popular with his
lady love, " popped the question" to her
under the poplar tree, when she referred
him to her poppy, who, when asked for
his consent, laboring U{ider the influence
cf ginger pop, popped him out of the
door to the tuno of " Pop goes the weas
el."
MILES O'REILLY, the soldier who w«s
arrested on Morris Island, S. C., for ma
king poetry, and pardoned by tie Presi
dent, in response to a witty poetical peti
tion, has sent a hymn of thanks to the
President, beginning:
44 Long life to you, Misthar Lincoln;
May you die both tate an' ai*v ;
At ' whin you liewid the top of aich toa
Turn'd up to the roots of a daisy,
May this be your epitaph nately writ:
• Though thraitors abused him vilely.
He waa honest an' kindly, he lorad • Joke,
i An' ho pardon'*! Miles O'BoHly.
(Educational gqmvtmmt.
At What Age Should Children En
ter School.
The sudden death of a child, in one of
the New York city public schools, has
awakened a new interest in the question
which wo have put at the head of this pa
per. Although the circumstances of the
event show that no blame attachos to any
one, or to any organization, yet a circum
stance so sad cannot fail to attract atten
tion to the importance of a full compre
hension of the interests involved, and of
a well considered judicious decision res
pecting them.
The facts in the case are simply these:
"LouisaJSnyder was a child nine years of
age, and not four, as has been erroneously
stated. She had been sick with the mea
sles, had been absent from school for some
time, had recovered, and had again atten
ded about two mohths. On the day of
her death she went home at noon, cheer
ful and happy as usual so far as was ob
served, returned in the afternoon, missed
her spelling lesson, and was detained after
three o'clock. The invariable rule in this
ward, the sixteenth, for years, has boen to
detain pupils no longer than fift< en min
utes after three o'clock. The teacher of
this little girl, a young lady of amiable
disposition, sat down by her side to hear
her lesson. The child was endeavoring to
speytlie word hedge , when her head fell
backward, as if in a swoon, and she gas
ped. This occurred at ten minutes past
throe o'clock. Another teacher was im
mediately called in aud restoratives ap
plied. Ladies in the vicinity were im
mediately on the spot, anil soon two phy
sicians were in attendance, ono of whom
was Dr. Rosenmiller, of 112 Eighth Ave
nue ) but before this she was dead. The
corpse was taken in a carriage to her home
arriving there at ten minutes before four
o'clock. The Coroner's inquest exonera
ted all persons from blame, and pronoun
ced it a case of syncope."
Without attempting to discuss the ques
tion, whether it is wise, to inflict punish
ment upon a child for failure to recite
lessons, or whether keeping scholars, like
this ono, after school, is a judicious pun
ishment—the point of real importance een
nected with this case is this:—Do oiir
teachers in assigning their lessons and in
flicting their punishments, study and suf
ficiently regard the idiosyncrasies of their
pupils? Do they consider the child's na
ture, his capabilities, his simple and un
reflecting course of thought? Docs the
teachcrask bimsolf, —were I a child again
what would be my thoughts and feelings,
my hopes and desires ? The rule may be
a proper one, that pupils shall be detained
after school, who fail torecito their lessons
correctly; yet the question to bo decided
in this case, was not, whether the rule was
proper, but, whether this little girl, Louisa
Snyder, having been debilitated by illness,
was a proper subject for its reflection ?
The error seems to have been, if error
their was, in not considering the feeble
condition of the child.
In no department of education is there
greater liability to fall into routine teach
ing, than in the primary school, and in
none is suchja course more likely to prove
disastrous than in this. Teach as we
have been taught, is too often the only
light by which the teacher is guided, and
by which the errors of past generations
are entailed upon the present- The
teacher's heart becomes hardened to the
daily round of tasks and punishments,
and the school becomes a Procustean bed,
upon which the intellectual stature of the
child is stretched or lopped off to suit its
dimensions.
There is no doubt, that many children
arc sent to school before they arc old or
strong enough to bear up under the de
bilitating influences of the school room.
Uncomfortable scats, impure airand over
heated rooms confirm a tendency to dis
ease. Thomas De Quincy has signifi
cantly termed it the "Murder of the In
nocent." And here, too, we should con
sider the nature of the child. One may
be sent to school at five years,when another
could not be safely sent till seven or eight.
In the enumeration of children of the
New England States, all are included be
tween the ages of three and twenty-one,
dnd, if I mistake not, in Massachusetts,
pupils may bo admitted at the ago of three.
Our own law we think wisely fixes the
minimum year at five. No scholar ought
to be sent to school and confined in a
room in company with a number of other
children, «nd compelled to keep quiet six
hours a day, till he is five years old, and
many children of nervous temperament
and feeble constitutions, would be better
off if they did not see the inside of a
school room till they had attained the age
of ten.
But do not understand by this that the
child's education should not begin, even
before the age of five. It ought to com-
mciiee. not in the school room, but at the
mother's knee—the mother's, I say, not
nurse's. The child needs to have the
habit established of having regularly ev
ery day some mental exercise, and the
earlier that habit is confirmed, provided
the nervous sensibilities be not certaxed,
the better. This mental- exercise should
at first be very simple and very short, and
upon such subjects as will excite his curi
osity. But these early lessons, in order
to be of permanent value, ought to be sys
tematic, and come regularly at a set time
every day.
In the rural districts where there are
usually but from four to six months school
in the year, there is less danger of sending
chilbren at too early an age, than in cities
and villages. In the latter the children
are usually less robust, and from the com
pactness of population they can be got to
school with less difficulty, than in the
forni#i' When not sent to school, the
child should have somg innocent, and if
possible, useful. employment. A work
shop and a box of toy tools, is much bet
ter than the rough, rude plays of the street.
m We cannot be to solicitous for the health
of our children. Their own happiness
and the well being of their offspring, will
to a great extent be dependent upon it.
They ought to have good, plain, whole
some food. They ought to sleep upon
well aired and sunned beds, in well ven
tilated apartments. They ought to be
comfortably clad, so that every part ofthe
system shall be preserved at an even tem
perature, and never allowed to sit down
with damp feet. 'J hey ought to be
taught habits of cleanliness in person and
dress. If all these things were properly
attended to, there would be less disease
and sickness and early death among them.
S. P. BATES.
Ilarrhlmrg, Fth ., 1804.
Who Caused the Wjir?
The Pittsburgh Post had the unblush
ing uudacity yestordny to republish that
stale falsehood that the " leaders of the
rebellion and the leaders of Abolitionism
are alike guilty of our country's troubles"
—meaning the present war. Does the
I'nst remember that a distinguished lead
er of its own party —Alexander Jf. Ste
phens,now Vice President of Jeff. Davis's
Confederacy, and the ablest man iu it—
in a speech to the Georgia Convention in
January, IKG2. frankly met and ably re
futed the charge that the South had been
goaded, or taunted, or somehow driven in
to rebellion? Jf it "has forgotten that ref
utation of the charge it is now eo stupid
and so unpatriotic as to repeat, wo will re
fresh its memory by citing an extract from
Mr. Stephens' speech. Speaking of the
threatened rebellion, he thus admonished
his hearers—:
" Pause, I entreat you, and consider for
a moment what reason you can give that
will even satisfy yourselves in calmer mo
ments —what reasons you can give to your
fellow sufferers in the calamity that it will
bring upon us? What reasons can you
give to the nations of the earth to justify
it ? They will be the calm and deliberate
judges in the case ! and to what cause of
one overt act can you name or point on
which to rest the plea of justification ?
What right has the North assailed ? What
interest of tho South has been invaded ?
What justice has been denied? and what
claim founded in justice and right has
been withheld ? Can cither of you to
day name one Oovermental act of wrong,
deliberately and purposely done by the
Government at Washington, of which the
South liasa right to complain ? I challenge
i the answer.
"Now, for you to attempt to overthrow
such a Government"as this, under which
we have lived for more Than three quar
ters of a century —in which we have gain
ed our wealth, our standing as a nation,
our domestic safety—while the elements
of peril are around us,, with peace and
tranquility accompanied with unbounded
prosperity and rights unassailed—is the
bight of madness, folly, and wickedness,
to which I can neither lend irty sanction
nor my vote."
The Pott, however, is not satisfied with
one misrepresentation, but in the same ar
ticle prints half a dozen others, one of
which reads thus: "Abolitionism prevent
ed a settlemcßtof our troubles by the Peace
Convention which assembled in Washing
ton three years ago." As this charge may
be repeated during the campaign, we here
take the opportunity to nail to the counteras
base coin :
The Peace Conference, which met in
February, 1861, appointed a Committee on
Propositions awl Resolutions, which in
due time reported a proposed amendment
to-the Constitution, embodied in a new ar
ticle of seven sections, to be called the
thirteenth. This article was so wholly in
the interest of slavery, as the intelligent
Reader will remember, that the Republi
can members of the Convention, upon con
sultation, proposed a substitute in the form
of a preamble and resolutions. The pre
amble declared that the Convention recog
nized' and deplored the divisions and dis
tractions of the country, but denied that
any existing alienations ordissensions jus-
NUMBER 17.
tified revolution, or were such as could not
be overcome bj the patriotism, honor pnd
interest of the country ; that the Consti
tution, expressing the combined wisddm
of the founders of the Government, was
still adequate to every emergency, and en-
to the support of every good citi
zen ; that if, however, any portion of the
people believed that they ought to have
their rights more exactly defined or more
fully explained in tho Constitution, it was
their duty to seek a remedy by amend
ment, and the equal duty of all the States
to consider the claims of those who tho't
themselves aggrieved, and to concur in'
such amendments as might be found nec
essary to insure exact justice to all. The
resolutions following this preamble declar
ed, First , That tho Constitution gives no
power to Congress or to the Federal Gov
ernment to interfere iq any manner with
Slavery in any State, and that neither of
the great political organizations existing
in the country contemplate any violation
of the spirit of the Constitution in this
respect. Second , That if the people of
any' State were or should be deprived of
the benefits intended to be secured to them
by the Constitution, or their rights were
or should be disregarded,their tranquillity
disturbed, their prosperity retarded, or
their liberty imperiled, by the people of
any.other State, full and adequate redress
should bo provided, and, Third , That the
Convention would recommend to the Leg
islatures of the several States of the Union,
to follow the example of the .Legislatures
of the States of Kentucky and Illinois in
applying to Congress to call a Convention
to propose amendments to the Constitution
of the United States, pursuant to the fifth
article thereof. Upon this substitute,
which contained every concsession that
slavery should have asked #>r or the North
should have submitted to, the question was
taken and it was rejected by tho following
vote :
AYES—Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana,
lowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New York,
New Hampshire, Vermont—9.
NAYS—Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland,
Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tenn.,
Virginia—ll
Every Republican State represented in
the Convention except three voted for the
substitute, while all the pro-slavery and
Democratic States represented voted 'gain»t
At tho time the substitute above recited
was submitted to the Convention by the
Republicans and rejected by pro-slavery
and Democratic votes, seven States had se
ceded from the Union, and Jeff. Davis had
been inaugurated President of the new
Confederacy; the war against the Union
had already commenced, as Stephens had
demonstrated, without rause; James liu
chanan had niadfi no effors to prevent it;
and Pryorof Virginia had sent his famous
message, "We can get the .Crittenden
Compromise, but won't take it." And
yet, because the North would not humble
itself still further at the feet of the slave
power than it proposed to do in the reject
ed substitute, the Post, belieing history,
says that "Abolitionism prevented a set
tlement of our troubles by the Peace Con
vention!" The statement does not con
tain one grain of truth. Tt was the pro
slavery and Democratic side of tho Con
vention that prevented that "settlement,"
if, indeed, that could have been called a
"settlement" which even Southern States,
by declaring war against the Union, had
taken the most deliberate and determined
way to show to the world they would not
accept. — /'ittii. Gazette.
TOUGH STORY. —Stephenson, a ooun
try shopkeeper, was one day trying to sell
.roe a pair of pegged boots. Tho old
man gave the article offered a fair exami
nation, and decided not to purchase.
" Nice boots," said Stephenson.
"Yes, very nice boots," said old Joe,
"but I oan't afford 'em."
"Why, they arc as cheap as any they
make," said Stephenson, only two dollars."
"Yes. only I don't keep any hired
man V asked Stephenson.
'■Well, I should want a hired man if I
bought them boots*" said Joe, his eye
twisting up with even a more chemical
leer than Aisual; tho last pair of boots I j
had pretty near ruined me."
"How was that?" asked Stephenson.
"Why," said Joe, "all the time I wore
them boots, I had to take two men aiong
with mo with hammers, one on each side,
to nail on the soles every time I lifted my
feet.
The storekeeper made no more efforts
to sell boot* to Joe.
gtaS" .Nations are, the world over, arch
offenders against God and man. Kings
and emperors are very often the best can
didates for the gibbet, if only jnstice had
a ladder with which to reach them.
• KLRE FOR KORN'S—Kut you your to«
orph !