Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 September 1878 — “Conquered, but Not Crushed.” [ARTICLE]

“Conquered, but Not Crushed.”

The Democratic rebellion, that cost more than half a million of human lives and billions of wealth, was conquered by the faithful friends of thp Union; but the spirit of rebellion is still cherished by many of those who fought to divide tmd fuin the Nation'. Is any stronger evidence of this required than the . utterances of that arch-traitor, Jefferson Davis, and the hearty indorsement his recent speech has received from the Southern press and people? That man, now tottering into the grave, seems to delight in the opportunity to openly counsel his countrymen to cherish the spirit of division, hatred and rebellion. A generous Government forgave his political crimes and spared his life; but a long-forbearing people, after reading his seditious utterances, publicly spoken and often repeated, can scarcely refrain from making him tne subject of the poet’s prayer: Remember him, the villain, righteous Ha iven, in thy great day of vengeance! Bluet the fraibir. And hie pernicious counsel*. who for wealth. For power, the pride of greatness. or revenge. Would plunge his native land in civil ware. t - It were a small matter if this disappointed ex-Confederate President represented nobody but himself in giving expression £o Jjis rebellious sentiments '

Hut he is a representative man, and hia counterpart, counted by score*, is already high in office land largely in control of the law-making branch of the Federal Government. Well may it be said, and with all the truth in which tty) words were clothed when uttefed on,another occasion: The HUto it out of time; dm trading fear* Ami iealoa* doubt* Jar in our public oounaela; Amidst the wealthy city murmur* rise. Loud railing* and reproach on those that rale. With <>pep acorn of gorernment: beno* credit And public trust 'twixt man and man are broke. The golden atreams of commerce are withheld Which fed the wantaof needy kinds and artisans. Who therefore curse the great and threat rebellion. Of one thing every thoughtful mind is convinced, and that is, that the progressive events and political comblnations of the times claim the attentive consideration and decision of every true friend of good government. There is a power in the land known to be controlled by the determination to rule or ruin—an influence strong and unscrupulous that is seeking with increasing energy to crush the spirit and the party that saved the Union in the hour of its severest trial, and place in power those who conceived and consummated the rebellion that has involved the country in an enormous National debt, high taxes and all the evils of shattered morals, idleness, pauperism and crime that invariably follow in the track of a (protracted civil war. And the question now forced home for the decision of every advocate of peace, ortyr and protection to life and property is not whether we should have free trade or protection, paper money or coin, but whether the leaders in the late rebellion should be allowed to become the rulers in the counsels of the Nation and the chief executive officers in the Administration of- the Federal Government. If the preservation ot- our political liberties, in letter and spirit, is worthy of another united and patriotic effort—not by the sword, but through the ballot-box—-there is now in the work of the present campaign and coming election an opportunity for just such a demonstration. The more the bold, the bustling, and the bad Pres* to usurp the reins of power, the more Behooves it virtue, with indignant zeal, To check their combination. It isrfo-day the boast of the rebellious spirit of the South that, “ though conquered, it is not crushed,” ana it is that same spirit that now comes to the front and points to those who saved the Union to back seats for their future occupancy in the counsels of the Nation. Fellow-citizens, is this your fate? Patriots of the Union, shall that be your destiny? The ballot-box can alone decide these vital questions, and now, as in the Revolutionary times of a century ago, every good man feel and act as if the final result of the struggle at the polls depended on his own individual effort. —The New Republic.