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