North Branch democrat. (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, May 20, 1863, Image 2

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    what Fe lerai legislation is endeavoring to do Ilere-
t fir if any Federal official, high or low. Marshal.
Soldier, Tide-Waiter or Secretary acted in violation
f S f . t. law, transcended his authority, or had none,
ho was .mcnable, like any other citizen, in the State
Cou s. I don't pause to inquire if sncb suits, bere
afU, bright, might or might not, by adequate
stci itory provision, be removed thence. I think
thev had better not be. But such prospective action
doe* not seem to please Congress. It is to be retro
active. Its statute provides, if I understand it, that
jo . after trial, and verdict and judgment, such cases
ir. ■' be removed bodily into the Federal Court and
over again, and then the mere color of authority is
to be proved under the general issue, and to be a
complete defence A Deputy Marshal, or a Provost
Marshal, under some inadequate or pretended au
thority, arrests and drags away a citizen of New
Jersey for instance. That citizen sues him, as he
has a right to do it in New Jersey, before Chief Jus
tice Groen or any other State Judge, and recovers a
verdict, or convicts the Marshal according to State
law ; the defendant has a right, under the new ac'
of Congress, to remove his case after bis trial, and
have it tried over again beforo his Honor, Judge
Field—a gentleman jußt appointed to office after a
short apprenticeship of estatic loyalty to Mr Lin
coln. My friend, G- W. Bridle,'and I triud a case
the other day of this kind, before the Chief Justice
of rcnr.-ylv.inia and a jury ol mixed politic*. Af
ter n fair, tourperatetrial, we got a verdict and judg
mer f . If I fairly construe this act of Con TOSS, there
is nothing to prevent Mr. Mil'.ward, the Marshal
from having his case tried over again in the Federal
Court, and no doubt (unless the Judge's precedents
incy deter him) he will Now this, I call a gross vio
latien of State rights :of the authority of the local
judiciary which if assented to, revolutionizes the Gov
ernment. It is not a jot better than it would have
been for the State of New Jersey to have ordered a
new (rial in its Courts of Jaekalow, the Chinaman,
after he had been tried in the Federal Court. The
Conscription tells its own story. It is the most com.
plcte engine ol consolidation yet devised—it in no
other resjiect than this, that the Conscript once inus
teid in 1= a Federal soldier, like any other. He is to
be abjured Lis State, and ths soldier from Philadelp
hia. or Ducks, or Berks or Montgomery, is liable to
fco enrulled in the uncongenial array of a Massachu
setts, or, it may be, of a negro regiment. There are
to be no more New Jersey or Pennsylvania regiments.
There is to be National Guard for us; a new com
bination of words, were no such nonsense as love for
o.;e'g State is to be tolerated As the law once stood, a
mia had a tight to choose his company, (I mean to
play upon woras,) and if he pleased, could enroll
bmi.-elf among his neighbors or among strangers ; but
no my 'inpression is for like Mr. Van Buren, I spake
dilh lent ly the individual man is plunged ii to the
huge array of rationalism ; he is to be inarched far
away, ar.J won't have the consolation, if he falls
wonndod on souie distant field to have his brow wiped
or u's thirst slaked by the hand of one whom he has
ki . in from childhood, and who can carry a dyiDg
mc goto his old mother or to his young wife aj
1 should not deal csudidly with you in referring
to this last matter, if I did not recall what eyery stu
dent of our history knows—and what Mr. Ingersoll re
fcrre 1 to the other night—that this exp rimeut to
raise armies by Federal conscription, unlike its legal
ton a device, his a prcedent —Mr. Monroe's plan ot
ISI4 but I beg you, when this is quoted to remem
ber t'.rt plan made the enrollment through the
pgency i fee. -officers—lf that its constitutionali
ty wa denied on r . floor of Congress—that it was
resis i ; to the bitter end by united New England—
now i j anxious to force us Pennsylvanians and Jer
seymcn into tho ranks; and was prevented from
going into force or even being enacted, by the uu
conqu le repugnance of the Representative body,
and what it is treason now to pray for—tne bless
tl re nof Peace It was then said—by Mr. Web
ster, t ' the power to raise armies gave no more
power t enforce conscription thau the power to bor
row in ii to authorize a forced loan. Then it wa
the d > 'tsiuc of Massachusetts that •' the natural alle
gianc j of t'.e people is due to the State au horities,'
and t the.-: is no allegiance to the Federal gov
ern!- .( but such as we had commenced and expressly
prom • J to give.
M . Van Buren, in his spoo r some time ago, at
the '.ooper fnstitute pretended . had found another
pro • t.t iii the Act of Con;;- ,>> of 1839, giving bis
fat,, certain powers to res • a certain invasion of
21 . ,by Bir John llarvr Really, such aci tation
i v tea a remarkable a: .it of, I won't say effron
tar.. for that is V. a word applicable to Mr.
Van L •• nance on tho credulity and ig
-.aneeof his audience, which is stupendous, though
probably it was very just. The Act cf 13—9 bore the
same relation to agglomeration of statutes rectntly
passed, conferring power on the Executive, as did the
Slo,Of. .000 it appropriated, 10 106 82,700,000,000
Mr, I'. ..It: has. It authorized the completing of a
small Navy. not the huge one. It directed a call for
v> 1. it ers, not a conscription. It raised the term of
■service of tho militia to six months. It did not force
them in for three years or the war. But there was
•.no p:.• t of it which Mr Van Luren may have in his
ineir.o y, though he does not care to give prominence
to it yet. It authorizes the sending a special Miois
ter—a confidential one, if need be—to negotiate a
settlement with the enemy. Now it may be—l on
ly throw this out as a hint—a possible solution of
the New Yoik mystcjy—that out of the secret ser"
\i, " fund, which Secretary Seward now administers,
m-'e sd of employing, as ho did last year in Europe,
r. t'—.mof Bishops—one American and one Irish —he
ontcmjdates sendicg a team of lawyers—one Irish
nd one American—my two acquaintances, Mr. Bra
dy and Mr VanJßuren —to Richmond—to negotiate
n s-tt!crncnt f the war and the recovery of the
" wayward sisters." I cannot imagine a more iiu
pre rive tableau than the reeepition, by the stern
' vt< vman who administers the Executive power of
il.e Southern Confederacy, of the two jovial nnd ver
sa ,c practitioners of law from the city ofNew York
Really, were not such tergiversation as now exhibit
ed in New Yoak, a sad spectacle, one might well af
f >rd to mili at the impsutaace which hae been at
♦ srind to it.
V it even now and then, I hear some loose reader
ot i. dory soy. " Washington was once made Dicta
tor, an I why not Lincol i l Now, passing by the
gr>t, queuess—nay, the enormity of this collocation,
J rio.piy desire so state as a matter of history that in
rise ' rue, or even in the p>opular sense of the word,
don v.as never made u Dictator, and never
ha 1, or pretended to exercise power a is now voted
:r\ Mr. Abraham Lincoln. The Resolution of the
tlong r c ■? cf 27 Dec., 177fi—pasted at a inomeut of
danger and panic too—conferred only military pow
ers—. ii.- rged the scopj of wnat ho had already—
gate h , i power to seize forage and supplies and
in hu r.i.itary arrests, and in that case, provided
Ui ,t v.-her.-n.-'u arret. wie made, he wis to return
to the States, of v.'huh the prisoners arrested were
citizens, their names and the nature oftheiroflences, 1
together with Ile witnesses to prove them. How
ui.l'kc ' '' j .we.- so cautiously conferred on Wash- ,
i- gfjii isou of extreme peril—it to that which
1 s Lee., iveii to the irresponsible civilian at Wash
ii. t-ni'- " Icm responsible advisers, Ido
r . slop to inquire.
Ant . , follow citizens, I hava done. I have
*; ken' ,-> of counsel aud of warning which f '
1' iofr iu to meditate on when you lay your heads
on youi '.'low to-night. They are uttered by one '
who nas - deep a stake in good order and piuhlic
ii oquil> as pou have, who is a Northern man, born
and bro r ., who for the larger part of hil life held ths
most lutitudinurian doctrines as to Federal authori
ty, but who now seeing what fruits the rank
growth of Federal power generates, what frightful
results Federal exorbitance produces, comes back to
the source of power, his St ate. and for his personal
rights as a citizen and freeman claims protection
there. I look round me, and I ask you to look
round with me, and see every personal right we have
—to libcrity, to property, to safety, to health—
guarded by State authority and vindicated in State
courts. I duly estimated what once were the priv
ileges which the Ancient Union gave me with its
patents and copyrights, if I were an inventor or an
author, and in all my relations to the world abroad,
but they are as nothing compared with what my
State gave me and guaranteed me ; and when I find
as Ido now under the legislation of the late Con
gress, and the usurpation of the Executive, that new
relations of Government have been created—and
that the Federal authority is to tax me and enroll
me—turn the militiaman into a conscript—the local
volunteer into a regular soldier " for three years or
the war;" ts o enter my hou*e and do what it
pleases with my family, and that instead of Sheriffs,
and Constables, and Bailiffs, and Supervisors, to
whose gentle discipline lam accustomed, I am to be
followed, and hustled, and watched, and arrested by
Judge Advocates, and Provost Marshals, and Feder
al detective, and Pcst-office spies, responsible not to
local supervision, but to that mysterious and distant
entity, a Cabinet at Washington, I may be pardoned
if I pause and ask you to pause on the edge of this—
this great centralized whirlpool that is to engulf end
crush to pieces all that is left of each of that gallant
flotilla—the old Thirteen—with its State flag flyiug
and its State emblem displayed, and which was
freighted with all that was precious in local tradi
tions, State pride #nd municipal privileges.
It is in the States that the last battle of constitu
tional liberty is to be fought in the North. The leg
islation of the late Congress is that of an Imperial
Parliament over an unrepresented population. Its
direct tendency is to obliterate local privileges and
to revive, in a form more offensive than ever before
was dreamed of, the falsa dogma, that Federal log.
islation can, by virtue ot implied power, reach indi
vidual citizens. So it is avowed to be, and beii gso
S!:s;d tuu avowed, I denounce it in hostility to the
Constitution which guards the States quite as jeal
ously as it over was meant to guard the Union. I
say its aim is avowed. On the 4th ef March, the
Chairman of tlju Military Committee in the House
of Representatives, a New York Abolitionist, who
has been appointed Judge by Mr. Lincoln since
Congress adjourned, used this language in reference
to the Conscription Bill, which, he said, had been
prepared, by the best and most enlightened intellect
of the army. •
"It is the first tim •in the history of the Repub
lic that the power to raise and support armies fans
been in the proptr sense exercised by Congress. It
does not ask the co-operation of the States The
idea of calling under the States to furnish troops has
its origin in the accursed doctrine ofState rights and
State sovereignty."
"The accursed doctrine of State right"— think of
th se words, citizens of this sovereign State. Think
of Ihe curse which, from bis little Mount Elba in Con
gress this creature of a moment dares to hurl at rights
wh oh the Constitution guarantees, and which Penn
By Kama had, and enjoyed, and fought for. before the
Constitution existed. 1 Link of a representative from
•New York—a State wbhb came into the Union too
late to vote for George W >shingtor..cur§ing the right!
of Virginia, and where Washington born, and
where, in the only border spot which ctvii war has
not desolated, his ashes rei-ose—where John .Marshall
.ived and died, who, in every constitutional opinion
ha gave, recognized and respected these "accursed
rights." and expressly the "sovereignty" of the State
the land of Jefferson, and Madison, a nd Monroe
ar.d Henry, and John Taylor of Carolina -men desti.
Ned to live in story when the fierce fanatics of this day
of sorrow shall be forgotten, and whose names will
survive either on the temple or its ruins when the storm
and the earthquake shall pass by. Think, citizens of
Pennsylvania, of this irreverent railer, this fit repre*
sentatative of a party of destruction, from his place
fancied security, daring to fling his maledictions at
the Keystone of the broken arch, hanging, as it does
doubtfully over the ruin and gravitating below ,
Think, Pennsylvanians, foi such you were before the
Union had and exist jnee, an I sujh you wil 1 proudly
be if, in the Providence of God the Union has no l
gone from us, rf those rights being cursed which your
ancestors thought they gave you Think of all thi s
—and then I ask you,in the nameof the Constitu
tional Demoracy of Pennsylvania, to st.m , shoulde 1
to shoulder, in Ifce new conflict now impending—for
the Constitution, and the right, inalienable indestruc
tible State rights, that guard our firesides and our
homes. Maintain these sacred local rights as yo"
would the domestic purity of your families. Let them
be broken down, and you will sink with all your na
tiona ity. If there arc no water-tight compartment*
or they be destroyod, depend on it the flag won't save
the ship from loundering.
One other word. For what I say to-night no hu
man being but myself is responsible My opinions
may bo far in advance of others. Such ns they are>
they are held in all sincerity. They have never besn
concealed. If there is hope in the future, it is on
such opinions that hope will rest
NOBLE WORDS BY A BRAVE MAN
ADDRESS OF .MR. VALJ.AN DIGHAM.
The following is an address issued by Mr.
Vallandighara to the Democracy of h§ State
before the commencement of his tiial. It de
fines his political position at the present cri
sis :
MN.ITART PRISON, )
♦ CINCINNATI, Ohio, May 5,1862- >
To the Democracy of Ohio :
I am here in a military bastile for no other
offence than my p "Jiricxl opinions, and tho
defence of them, and of ycur constitutional
liberties. Speeches made in the hearing of
thousands of you in denunciation of the usur
pations of power, infractions of the Constitu
tion and laws, and of military despotism, were
the sole cause of my arrest and imprisomont
lam a Democrat, for the fonstitution, for law,
for the Union, for liberty—this is my only
crime. For no disobedience to the Consti
tution ; for no violation of law ; for no word,
sign, or gesture of sympathy with the men op
the South who are for disunion and Southern
independence, but in obedience to t/ueir de
mand, as well as the demand of Northern Ab
olition dis unionist* and traitors, I am herein
bonds to day ; but
"Time, wt lest. eats all thing* even !*'
Meanwhile, Democrats of Ohio, of the North
west, of the United S'afe, be firm, be true
to your principles, to the Constitution, to the |
Union, and all will yet be well. As for my
self, I adhere to eYery principle, and will
make good, through lmprionrnent and life it
self, every pledge and declaration which I have
ever made, uttered, or maintained from the
beginning. To you, to the whole people to j
TIME, I again appeal. Stand firm ! Falter
not an instant 1
C. L, VALI-ANDICUAM.
®l;e fUmotrat
HARVEY SICKLER, Editor.
TUNKHANNOCK, PA.
Wednesday, MAY 20, 1863.
S. M.Pettengiil &t Co.—No. 37 Paw Row
New YOBS, A 6 STATE ST BOSTOK, aro our Agents
for the N. B. Democrat, in thoie cities, and are author
itod to take Advertisements and Subscriptions for
us at our lowest Rates.
U2JT We are indebted to a friend in the
52nd PA Vols for two copies of " The Free.
South," a neatly printed little sheet, publish
ed at Beaufort S. C.. It i&abcut half the
size of the Democrat. Coming from Gen
Hunter's department, and published as it is,
by his permission, it is of course abolition in
its proclivities.
Ia one of these papers <>f May 2nd, we
find an article on " Negro Regiments," writ
ten by " a chaplain" who. among other things,
cites the massacre of the whites, by the tie
groes at St. Domingo and Hayti to prove
that ihet Rill make good soldiers. " These
facts," ezc'aiins this pretended follower of
Ilim, who preached the doctrine of Peace on
earth, and good will to man, " ought to be
" suffic ent to prove that the fighting ele
" meat is in the negro character."
The writer goes on to say, that, " the
" work of organizing these black regiments,
41 has been attended with great difficulty ow
" ing to the fact that they have not. been
" treated with the ' distinguished considera
*' tion to which they have a just cLiiu,'|by the
" soldiers. " Sneaks, and a paltroon, de
"light," says he, in tantalizing the helpless."
" Such," he adds, "in most instances, is the
" character of the representatives of the Uni
" ted States government," (soldiers) " among
41 its inteiested and natural friends," (ne
•' groes) "in the insurgent stites. Nearly
"every division of the army, and most of its
u officers have repulsed and maltreated the
" negro."
+ * K ii„ n( j re( j s 0 f thousands of our
" soldiers have in this way rendered the
" most efficieut service to the rebellion, and
14 to their own government have been an un
" niiligaicd c.use, With such a state of
" facis, is 11 strarge" he ank6, " that hinder
" the proclamation of freedom, insurrection
-14 arv morements are not more frequent in
44 the south ?"
'• Wu call upon the President to RCO. that
" the practice of the artuy in the field con
'• forma to the spirit of his proclamation of
" freedom. Let the slave be encouraged, at
" any haird, t<> resume his natural rights."
And again, "To these treed men, military
" life is a firm and broad stepping-stone to
"civil life and to all its duties and pmileg
'• es. Soldiers of all national ties leave the
"camp and the field for home and the quiot
" of civil life in about the 6atne spirit &c."
Our space will not allow further extracts
from this infamously outrageous article. We
have here the most cruel, inhuman, and barba
rous butcheries of defenceless women and chil
dren that ever stained the pages of history, cit
ed by this christian (?) minister, to prove that
the race that perpetrated them, are fit persons
to take up arras in our cau6c. Hundreds of
thousands of our brave officers and men, who
are pouring out their blood and giving their
lives to advance it, are put down by this Rev
•rend negro worshipper as " sneaks and pal
troons" an unmitigated curse to the govern.
nient." How it grieves his pious soul, " that
'lave insurrections are not more frequent."
President Lincoln will have to see to it
that, tba spirit of his proclamation is carried
out. in this particular, for he is now called up •
on by this man who claims to be a represen
tative of the Almighty.
What a fine prospect for our soldiers at the
close of all this trouble, is here foreshaduwe 15
To " return to civil life," and the enj >yinont
of the same " privileges, >r and to be subject to
the eaine " duties" as the negroes—and in
about the same spirit."
Who wouldn't be a soldier, when so much
is promised, by one so high in authority ?
Who, after this, will have the temerity to
excite tho patriotic indignation of Billy But
ton, of the Republican by an intimation that
THIS IS A NIGGER WAR.
JC3T At a great Abolition Pow-wow,
held in New York last week, among the res
olutions unanimously passed, was one (the
Bth) defining a i; Copperhead," as "one who
! objects to the abolition policy of the admin
istration." At this meeting the Rev. Mr.
Sloane, thunKcd God for the war, as a means
of abolishing slavery. Here, the paper says,
was " tremendous cheering."
Another preacher the ReY. Theadore Til
ton, argued in favor of amalgamation, thus :
" Great nations get the fibre of their strength oat
of mixed blood. It is a stoppage of the world's
growth to prevent a union of races. The history of
the werld's progress, the his'ory of the civilization
of nil empires, is written in one comprehensive word,
whioh many men are afraid to speak and many oth
ers afraid to hear, and that word ia— Amalgamatioh."
To prove that the negroes are bettar than
the white man, he said :
"It is said that the most perfect developcment i f
skull is that of the Arab, yet there is no slave in
Mississippi who does not know more, by having reach
ed up into a perfect manhood, than tho Arab In
all thoae intellectual activities which take their
strange quickening from the moral facilities the oe
ero is superior to the white man. The negro race, as
has been said, is the woman of the world."
Aa between Gen. McClellan and Frederick
Douglas (a negro) for President, he express
ed a prefference for the latter.
At the close of this interesting meeting
the Joha Brcwn's soul song was sung.
With these facts before aflcr
removing the terrors of a disgraceful dismiss
al, the ball" ami chain or guard-house; wa
should like to have those regiments,—par
ticularly the 57th and 132 nd (which em
brace some of our friends) take another vote
on those resolutions, which, it is said they
i'Unanimously passed" against the " Copper
heads".—W call tor a reconsideration.
fly Read the letter of GOT. Seymour
"the noblest Roman of them all," on the ar
rest of Vallandigham.
25,000 Americans, not of" African
descent," met at Union Square, in New York,
to rebuke the administration, and vindicate
the Conatitution, the laws and free speech,
which has just been violated in the arbitrary
arrest, and the mocktrial ot C, L. Vallandig
ham.
frJjl The writ of habeas coipus, in the
ease of Va'.landigham, has been denied, and
It is said that he has been sentenced to close
imprisonment during the war, In Fort War
ren.
At the great battle of Chancellorrille
where "Richmond wasn't taken "(Beet nosed
Billy's "authentic extra," to the contrary,
notwithstanding.) Our loss is now is now ad
mitted, by all the leading abolition papers,
(Billy's extra excepted) to have been at least
17,000 men.
f f -y By the last week's Republican, Gen-
McClellan is placed among the rankest kind
of Copperheads—-Put your heel on him again
aorrel top, he is not dead yet.
■ ■ ■■ *•¥
JC3T Much of our space in this issue is
given to the publication of an eloquent and
patriotic address by Win. R. Reed Esq. of
Philadelphia. Some of our readers may have
seen and read it before, to such we will say
that the oftener it i-s read, the more eloquent
and truthful it wiil appear.
" Every man should east his colors to the
breeze to be known of bis fellow-men."—
Wyoming Republican.
WILLIAM BCKUF.SS, SO talks, through the
last " Wyoming [nigger head J Republican."
This patriotic screeching abolitionist , was
drafted into the service, last year, but cow
ard-like, through Dr. John's willful lying,
cheated " The Government" out of both PAY
and SERVICE, and " cast his colors to the
breeze," by refusing to oppose tbe " Minions
of Jeff, Davis." What miserable abolition
treason and hypocrisy— Columbia Democrat.
jcar In lieu of a thrilling fictitious Love ■
story which some of our fair readers may look J
for this week, we give them an original, genu- i
ine, Love letter, written by a "bowld soger 1
buoy " during his brief stay in camp Luzerne.
Never having bad any experience in this line,
we have not ventured on any corrections ei
ther in spelling, capitals, or punctuation,
omitting only the name of the writer, who
wc think has, in these matters thrown Mr. A
Ward in the fhade. Judeing from the stanza
at the close of this letter, our readers will see
that the writer is no common hand in the
way of" poicry." How any gal with an}'
sort of tender " phelinks," could resist the
appeal of so ardent and persevering an admir
er, if beyond our comprehension. The wri
ter, we learn, is now out of the service and,
wo venture the assertion, will never stray, so
far away, "from the gal he left behind him.''
LETTER.
November the 3 1802
My dear i now take time to right another
leter to you to let you know that i bant for
got you yet and that i hav rote 2 leters to
you and i have not got eny answer from
them yet So i will right agane and ogar.e un
til I i git one from you So you might as well
answer it if you have got them i think youd
if you had got the one i sent from here the
li sent to you by George, you prom is me that
you wood right as ofton as i did to you and
So i think you did not git the one i Sent from
here i have alwavS found you true andj hope
to allways yit find you true Ac i wish t cnod
see you and kiss ynr rosy cheeks enst more
But i take a good derl of comfort in riting to
you but more in reading those i git from you
my dear o how i weash you had bin with me
the other night i was over to wilksbury to a
party and we had A good dance there war a
good meny ladis there i dancd with Some as
good dangers as i ever saw but Si ill i wisht
you had bin along i got aleter yester from one
t wafed on She wanted me to call over and Se
her before i leave this camp She invites me to
right to her often and call over and See her
She is a very hansom lady She looks Some
like matilda her bar curls and She is
about as big as She is i will Send youmy lik
nis in a few weeks and iwill Send you l.er
letter when She rites agane i told her that i
new of a lady that i wished i had with me
there and She Sed thare was aS good a girls
in tha place as in eny but i dout very much
aS thare being meny Such ladis in town as
you my love iS for they are as car6e as hens
teeth i believe but the mane thing is wether
you are a going ta git this letter or noa but i
hope that you will git the letters that i
right to vou and i hope you will right aeood
meny to me lor i like to git letters from you
my dear love i love you veiy much better i
expect than you do me yes i no i do i do but
i must close up for this this time in Saying
to you if you git this letter yon must now
that you git ene from one ho loves you with
all my hir t i aSK you to rightto me oncemore
if yon dont want me to righit to you
Say So and i will do aS i See fit but i Shall
as often as i can So good by for this time
right Soon dont delay the time no longer thia
is from your belovid friend.
•
if yon lova me
as i love the
our love wood
alwayS a gree
phebe
A Copperhead.—We hava found out at laat
what a "Copperhead" is The New York POST
speaking of a Kentucky candidate for Congress,
a ays he is "an opponent of all the radical
measures of the administration—otherwise a
copperhead " Here, then, we have the defi
nition of the term: a Copperhead is "an op
ponent of all tha radical measures of the ad
m ini at ration;" and their name ia legion, em
bracing a large majority of the American
people.
Letter From tbe Army.
Co. B. 12th Regt, Pa. Res. Vol. Corps, )
WASHINGTON D. C. May 12. 1863 }
Mr. EDITOR :
Having a few spare mo
ments I will improve them by acribW'rag a
few lines to our welcome, though fare tisitor,
theNoith Branch Democrat. It may be
interesting to the numerous readers of your
valuable paper, to know where Company B.
of tne 12th Penna. Res. Vol. Corps is, and
what they are doing. We have been here
in this famed city of Washington some three
weeks, being reorganized and thoroughly fit
ted out with the necessaty officers, to enable
us to go to the front again. With over two
year's 6crvice at the front, we were sadly
lacking in officers ; and the numerous bat
tles in which wc have been engaged, have so
thinned our ranks, that although our aggre
gate number of men, absent and present is
sixty, when we left the front, we had only
twenty-four enlisted men for duty ; and our
company is only a counterpart of the state of
our Regiment, and indeed the whole Brigade.
We now number present for duty, thirty en
listed men, and three Commissioned Offi
cers. Oar worthy Sergeants, John F. Hoad
ly, and Philetus H. Reynolds have at last
been promoted ; the first named to a firat
Lieutenancy, and the last named to a Second
Lieutenancy. Our former first Lieutenant,
Simon 11. Briggs.was promoted to a Captain
; cy and we now have three as good and brave
officers as there are in the Division. They
have been tried and not found wanting. We
are now quartered on Capitol Hill in what
is called Carroll Barracks ; we have good
quarters and every thing to make a soldier's
life comfortable. Our Camp is pleasantly
situated and the numerous Ladies and Gen
tlemen that are constantly visiting it, make
the streets look more like som great thorough
fare of the city, than a soldiers home. Many
of the soldier's wive are now staying with
their husbands in camp, and we have as good
society and as much srpihkled with Ladies as
we do at home. The scenery from our camp
is splendid ; in front, the m<>st conspicuous
object i s the Capitol, built of marble with the
Dome towering up toward the sky, until the
eye grows weary looking at it; on the right
are the buildings belonging to the sisters of!
Charity, fa benevolent i nstitution) with its !
beautiful grove of the white poplar trees.—
The inmates among them, with their dark,
sombre dresses, and white spreading bon
nets, together with the gentle breeze whis
-1 pering through the silken foliage, almost
makes one imagine he has been transported
to some fair}' land. To the left and in the
back ground it the noble Potomac with is
green shores—its placid bosom covered with
all kind* of crafts, from the tiny sail boats
to the noble ocean steamer. Every where,
are glistening guns and bsyoneia, which re
calls the mind from its dreaming*, to a reali
zation of the certainty, that war, dread war,
:is now hoveling with his dark pinions over
| our fair land. Rebel prisoners are arriving
daily from Hooker s army, and we have been
busy, the last two week#, escorting them to
tbe old Capitol and other prison#. They are
motly a hard looking set of meu ; but they
look ju-t like the men to fight, as we have
always found to our cost. They say that
they will never come back into the old un
! ion again, and if the North conquers them,
it will have to station a Regiment of men in
every County in the southern States. The
reporls of their being half starved and al
most naked are all bosh. Their clothes,
i though of all kinds and colors, are comforta
ble. They seem to have all faith in the ulti
mate success of the South and tbo establish
i ment of the Southern Confederacy. Some
! few, take the oath of alleigance to the North,
but they are mostly the scum of their army.
This city is crowded with the nine months
men returning—some queer scenes occur.
After men have been to the front awhile,
they seem to loose all shame, and some of
them all decency. By appearances now we
are going to loose some of our '• colored pop
ulation." They arc raising two negro Reg
itnents here in the district, and the mama for
enlisting on account of fear of the draft, is so
great, that able bodied servants are quite
scarce: which is quite a wonder for this city
being the Head Quarters of the Negroes, that
come North. The weather is quite warm
so that straw hats and linen coat# are quite
comfortable, but soldiers are not allowed to
wear them, for tbe reason, that it would not
be military.
The boys are all well, and seem to be en
joying themselves first rate, myself included
FROM A SOLDIER.
Nicholson, May 15th, 1863.
EDITOR DEMOCRAT :
I desire through your
columns, to call the attention of the public,
in general, and our county commissioners in
particular, to a few facts in relation to the
bridge built by them near Mr. Stephens' in
our Towhship, last summer—the same that
was destroyed by the freshet a few daya
since. Those who are best acquainted with
this biidge cannot see that the convenience
it would be to the public, would justify its
being rebuilt by the county, especially at
this time, when we all feel the weight of
taxes, in every possible form iu which our
rulers can impose them. Those coming up
the creek to Bacon's or Nicholson Depot,
would be better accommodated by the buibl
iug of a short p'ece of road, say sixty rods
in length to avoid the hill just north of the
bridge on the west side of tbe creek. A
road for this purpose, has already been laid
by viewers appointed by the Court. If this
piece of road were made, the bridge would,
only accommodate those wishing to go from
Pierceville to Factory ville and one or two
families living on the east side of the oreek
' near it. In either case the inconvenience to
|go up the creek and cross at the old Bacon
! stand would not be very great. Beside there
jis but little travel in that direction. In view
'of these facts I think it would be well for
| our County CoinmMsioaers to view tbe
' ground before making a contract for build
ing a new bridge.
Very truly Ac.
HIRAM MARCT.
©or. Beymeer'e Letter to the Valla MUS
ludlgaatloß Meet lug.
ALIANY, May 17
The following is the letter of Gover#*
Seymour to tbe Velleodigham meeting | M .
txtCCTIVE DIfASTMtNT, May 15
I cannot attend the meeting at th
this evening, but I wish to state ir.y
in regard to the arrest of ifr.
It is in act which has brought Bpo!r
our country. It is full of danger to o ar
sons and oar Aoiftee. It hears upon iu
a conscious violation of law and justice. i c .
rng upon the evidence of detailed informer*
shrinking from the light of day, in th# di*.'
ness of night, armed men violated the ken*
of an American eitiaen and furtively bore bio
away to military trial, conducted
those safeguards known to the proceW 8 f
our judicial tribunals. Tbe transaction
▼olved a series of offense against our most w
cred rights. It interfered with the
of speech ; it molested our rights to be
in our homes against unreesort*Bfl sestjbw
and seizures J it pronounced sentence witbotr
trial, sate one Which was $ mockery, wife*
insulted as wall aa wronged.
tort now seek to impose pnnishmeat, not%
an offense against law hat for the disregard
an invalid order, put forth in the utter di lfl .
gard of the principles of civil liberty.
proceeding is approved by the Govermntc:.
and sustainod by the people, it is not mreij
a step toward revolutionist is revolution ;i
will not only lead to military deapotista— it
establishes military despotism. In this sspr£
it must be accepted or in this aspect rejected,
lfit is upheld, our liberties are overthrow*
the safety of our persons, security of our prop,
erty will hereafter depend upon the arbitary
will of each military rulers as may beplattl
over us, while our constitutional gusrsntN*
will be broken down. Even now the gour
nors end courts of some of the greet Weittm
States have sunk into insignificance befbrs
the depotic powers claimed and bj
military men who have been sent into- their
borders. It is a fearful thing to iacreSMtW
danger which now overhangs us by
the law, the judiciary, and the State author,
ties with contempt. The people of thia cow
try now wait with deep anxiety the decern
of the administration upon theae acts. Hav
ing; given it a generou# support in the cor
duct of the wsr, we pause to see whitkiai
of government it is for which we are askvdu
pour out our blood and our (nature*. Us
action of the administration will determine!
the mind# of mors than one-half of the penpi
of the loyal state* whethar thin war is wspi
lo put down rebellion at the South or destrn
free institution* at tho -^.ir v W*
its decision with moat solemn solicitude.
(Signed) HORATIO SRTXOIT.
DLATH of " STONEWALL** lACkHOI
Official Announcement of the Fact by Gn
Lee.
HEADQCAKTERS NORTHERN VIRGINIA)
May 11. i
General Orders No. 61.
With deep grief the commanding pnn
denounces to the army the death of Ltsutd
ant General T.J. Jackson, who expiree i
the 10ih inst., at 3:15 p. M. The dirt
skill, and energy of this great and gwdn
dicr, by the decree of an all wist Provider
are now lost to us ; but while we mourn M
doath, wa fea) that hi# spirit stilt lives, W
will inspire the whole army with hi* mi*
itable courage and unshaken eoiifideoaH
God as our hope and strength. Let*
name be a watchwoad to his corps, whusß
followed him to victopy on so many
Let the officer# and soldiers imitate buß
vincible determination to do everytbiaiM
the defense of our beloved couniry. B
(Signed.) R. E. LEE, Geno-B
Return of the Hawkin's Zouaves, .4 Slut* l *
Letter from Colonel llawWUiv. Bf
The two years ami nine months rr; ir !l B
whose terms are expiring, are returning B
without we believe, a single exception- B
Hawk'n's Zouaves arrived in Nw V"iß
Wednesday, and were received
tinn. Thia is the regiment to which
l>ix, a few days ago. addressed an earnn'B
treaty to remain a few days beyond B
term, declaring that their services wf-*B
ed by the country, and tliat thev owni'-B
themselves to remain. Col. Hawkinsß
reply published in the Herald,
serve a day beyond tne time. The f' '"®
extract from ha letter is worthy of p # B
"Is the war any nearer its end no* B
it was two years ago 1 Individual
and courage has alt gone for naught-jB
imbecility of manv high commanding
in '.he field has cast a damning blight *■ ■
graves of our brave countrymen. t'B
into consideration the fact that ; ? M
here nearly three weeka, and that amp'*
h elapsed to have supplied cur plstt, *B
not think it is incumbent upon
longer than the third of May, th l l B
which our term of service expires.
fore on behalf of the regiment, call
portation to bo famished to uat'*B
" If, on account of thie refusal '°.*B
with your request, we go home in
and meet thorna where we had * I P
find flowers, we must bear up under*
the aame courage which baa
our actions aince we became defends ■
country'a honor." §
Jgy We aeeert, and we
olition paper or polilican to
ry, that no prominent Democrat in l *B
has ever proposed a aeperation of the JB
or cessation of the war on the ba® ■
! lution, and that the only member* 1 a
party who have urged the breaking ■
Union have been republeans— u ' ■
stance, as Mr. Conway, of Kansa*. B
ed a tesloutiou in Congress peCO f r GB
independence of the South ; or •
who declared that if.at the exp' r * ja l
months from Jan. 22nd, " • •• rl
aion had not been made on the
should "bow to our destine n -M
best attainable peace or M"** t hitl
and Stevens, who announced pi# l " J T()lj a
"want no Union, unless slavery M
of it." Will any Loyal League • ■
challenge? We offer the use of ■
to whoever may eho* W under ■