The American union. [volume], July 06, 1861, Image 4

About The American union. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1861-1861

Image provided by: West Virginia University

                
TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA.
It is but just to the soldiers compos
ing the army now ujxm yow soil that
the motives which caused them to take
up arms should Ife plainly and candid
ly sta.ed. They have been grossly
misrepresented to you by designing
and unscrupulous aspirants who seek
to become rulers on the ruins of a
great and happy country, and their
intentions have been studiously mis
italod. Wo spoalc in their behalf,
therefore, from a sense of justice and
duty, and we rsk you to hear us calm
ly and hoioai'ter to judge us by our
acts.
The troops who fight under the star
spangled banner wage no war of ag
gression. They seek not to oppress
the weak nor to inflict injury upon
the innocent. They have no desire to
injure private property or interfere
with private business; arid when this
is done unavoidably it will be regret
ted by none more tLan by themselves.
They have come'among you to reestab
lish pcace and order, and to recon
struct a Gsvernmeiit which for more
than three-quartera of a century prov
ed to be all that tho people of the
South as well as of the North desired.
'They ask only that the Constitution
framed by our fathers be continued un
impaired?that all its precepts be held
sacred ; and that the many blessings
handed, down to ns by our ancestors be
permitted to descend to our posterity.
They are not unmindful of the fact
that Virginia and the North, and par
ticularly Pennsylvania, are linked to
gether by many sacred tics, as -well as
by the strongest bonds of interest.
They are not willing that these sa
crcd tics shall be ruthlessly sundered
at the bidding of such men as have
precipitated tho South into a most un
holy revolution. Can you censure
them for entertaining such views ?
Can you who boast of the Old Domini- j
on because she was .the mother of
Statesmen, blume us of the North for
revering the lessons those Statesmen
have taught us ? We think not; and
hence we expect to find friends in all
hut those who have fallen victims to
the most insane prejudices, and who
will no longer hear the voice of rea
son.
We look forward to tho time when
the American Union shall be reconstruc
ted in all its grandeur and power, and
when the people of every State from
Maine to California and from Minnesota
to Florida shall be united again under
a common Government, and enjoy to
gether all the blessings of liberty.
THE VOICE OF WASHINGTON.
In that memorable document, Washing
ton's Farewell Address, tho following lan
guage occurs. We ask the people of
Virginia and of the South to read and
ponder well upon it:
To the efficacy and pcrraanescy of your
Union, a Government for the whole is in
dispensible. No alliance, however strict
between the parts, cau be an adequate
substitute; they mu3t inevitably experience
the infractions and interruptions which all
alliances, in all times, have experienced.
Sensible of this momentous truth, you havo
improved upon your first essay, by the
adoption of a Constitution of Government
better calculated than your former for an
intimate Union, and for the efficacious
management of your common concerns.?
This Government, the offspring of our own
choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted
upon full investigation and mature delib
eration, completely free in its principles, in
the distribution of its powers unitiug se
curity with energy, and containing within
itself a provis;j; for its own ameudracut,
has a just claim to your confidcnce and
your support. Jlespect for its authority,
compliance with its laws, acquiescence in
its measures, are duties enjoined by tho
fundamental maxims of true libertv. The
bases of our political system, is the right
of the people to make and to alter their
constitutions of Government: but the
Constitution w'uich at any time exists, till
changed by an explicit and authentic act
of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory
upon all. The very idea of the power and
the right of the people to establish Govern
ment, prc-suppOKcs the duly of every indi
vidual to obey the established Government.
The Pickets of the Federal and Rebel
soldiers up abovo tho Chain Bridge,
Georgetown, have exchanged civilities.?
Two of them dropped their muskets .",nd
took a drink of whiskey together, a day ov
two since. Tho Rebel pickct cried out
from a distance, asking the United States
soldier if he liad anything in the driuking
lino. The reply was satisfactory, and an
arrangement was soon niado whereby both
parties left their arms "and met half way,
'?smiled," and returned to their picket
duty.
The Boston Post asks, "Who wants a better
'National Ilim' than Gen. Scott?" Ilartford
Courant anawen, ''Noborlj.Mr. Post.. Wo can
get abng with that and 'Uncle Paalml"
The Star Spangled Banner.
0! say can you see by the davru's early
light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twi
light's last gleaming,
Whose broad Stripes and bright Star#,
through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts rre watched were ??
gallantly streaming,
And the rocket's red glare, the bomb#
bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that ov*
Flag was still there,
0! say does that Star Spangled Banner
yet wave ?
O'er the land of the free and the homa
of the brave.
On the shore dimly eeenthreugh the miatc
of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread al
ienee reposes,
What is that whioh the breeae o'er the t?w
cring steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half di?
J 1 i ,
closes,
Now it catches the gleam, of tbo morning's
first beam,
Iu full glory reflected uow shines on th?
stream,
'Tis the Star Spangled Banner, 0 long may
U wave ?
O'er the land of the free and tholiome ef
the bravo.
And where is that band who so vauntingly
swore
That the havoc of war,and the battle's oen
fusion,
A home and a country should leave ub no
more,
Their blood has washed out their foul fool
steps pollution,
No refuge could save,the hireling and slav*
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of
the gravo,
And the Star Spangled Banner, in triumph
shall wave,
O'er the land of the frse, and tho home of
the brave.
0! thus be it ever when freeman shall stand
Between their loved hoiue3, and tho war'i
desolation,
Blest with vict'ry and peaie, may the L#jt
en rescued laud,
Praise the power that hath made and pre
served us a nation,
Then-conqucr jve must, for mr cause it it
just,
And this be our motto: "IN GOD IS OUR
TRUST."
And the Star Spangled Banner ia triattpl
shall wave,
O'er the laud of tbo freo, and the Loae of
tbo brave.