"V
THE CONSTITUTION AND T11K LAWS-THE GUARDIANS OF OUR LIBERTY.
' HILLSBOROUGH, Nra,EPTEMBER 10, 1861 T
Vol. xrjv.
No. 2212 :
v . j
i l I : ' 1 iff PlTIl ft 1 1
ADDRESS OF THE AllMV. i .
- To 'e f Vurlti Cirvlltiei. 1
A general convention of dele gates from
each Kej(irnnf of Troop frmn North Car
ol i as in the Arm of Northern Virginia,
held at Orange C.U., Va., on the 12ih of
Auut, l id the undersigned, the honor
t appoint t a committee.-io prepare and
puHluh t jua an allress, invoking your
aid in the accofnolii'iuieiit of an object
ry dear to these whom they represent,
and of unsurpassed interest ami come.
lce to you and to them, .Tuey desire
hat the frresUtible influence of the public
epiaioo of all geid ami patriotic men in
the Stale, mar be invoked to- put la
nil destrov. anil to silence forever the
vuice f a faction, which is believed toex
lit in -no inceuiderable strength io your
' mtds. which it dail v growing buld-r in tlw
aiarcstion of treasonable ami mischievous
. a . 1 .
sentiment, ana wnoe niacninaiions nave
itn and still are directed toward pu
ning tln .minJi and heart of our auldters
and people, and breaking dwn the couraie
ami confidence of to and of u, wh are
u?aiiin2 the cau of ur country, in the
great atrBj;1 for independence, in which
we are engage!.
It wi cieemed a moit fortunatecir
tamltance fur the honor and welfare o
Nanh Carln. that uch prlVct utaoim-
Hf nrw.Jfd nj hrr ciocil whn ane re
klrd lo'j'rak thr bnl which hid bound
tier to a guf rnmeut which had ceaied to
be the rcprcienlaiite 01 ui true intereti 01
' rr P'i'l. and which aht could no lonr
rprct, and to make common iaue w ith
hr ainer State of the Sat(j. Tnen it
Mil lH4l ner jreai ami iunrru nimn
Hre loand onitr.t in the glorioea purpr.
Her Bder, her Kivaer. her Miller, her
tiriham, her M riUirid and her tiilmer,
t er Klwards aer 04l!aw and her Smith,
Mr VibIow, her Shephetd, her D4is
Jtr KHi. and hrr Vance, hrr atatfsmen and
taen of pvwer, were found to have quit for
a ne the areaa o admiuitr4tie and par
t p-litka. and oniird n th- work f !
inantw the futtiidiltun f a vrrniitent
exalted her fame and increased her re.
nown, and though her .material strength
lias been to nme extent exhausted, she is
to-dat, relatively, more powerful for the
defence of the integrity of her territory,
and of her rights and honor, thai) when the
contest began. Detraction, despondency
and despair reign in the council of the
Northern Government. The hopes at first
entertained of our speed? conquest, have
Mtink in the heart of our enemies, and as
a direct cnequence, we.fiad such resist
ance to the administration at Washington,
and mob violence so rife in the towns and
cities, that a measure of that government
most essential to the further prosecution of
the war, is openly resisted and set at
naunt.t'tipuur assemblies have opemv
leclared for peace, and the press and some
of the mot influential "men, speak now
with a Ire'Uona and boUness which clearly
mark a change in the public feeling upon
the all absorbing topic. The people have
ceased to prmecute the war, and the go
vernnient i dealing it bhws with an ex
hauattd enerzv and with fuxallcalbliii lnut
The deipt who would enslave us, ha found
a lia in his path io the shape of opposition
to deopulic power, and the courage of him
and 1ms minions ha been brokend own.
Volunteering for the armie of our en e
my has entirely ceased. Onlv a smalt
number of the conscripts dratted can be
farced iat the service, and tnee will rer
tainlv be discontented, mutinous and w orth
ten as fcoldier. Hi armie in tho Held
havfcben depScted bv desertions, humili
ated and dispirited by repeated defeat, and
all their trusl.'l leaders driven in ilirr-ce
from commind. Ken the partial dincom
6 tu re in the aUempt to cvde his territory,
and our los of trie strong-holus on tne
Miiinpi have (ailed to revive hi hope
of tfc',e, -r m ehanie ia ane -material
point ! view this dirour4gin; aspect of
hi aiutr. lit armies cannot be recruit
e.l i a to add to their MTateri! strength
during this campaign, tie i daily send
in ti the rear detachment -in tie cae
whole Ui'jiinent an l Urigades (doubt'es
k . m. m a i . I -I ' U a..a af
I ir choice, fler quiet larmer, - her n' " "j,M" h
l.nt tradeaweo an f artian. her cmi
. ;sjajeci, wiucn STOj inn snori ui luiuai
Add to tin, the rapid exhaus-
retources.and you can
.iiiniti hr liwtcr nd wen mi learn
net ny, all her plam, s-.ber. thu;ht.ul lebcllio. Add t t
-e.ple. who have alway. been slow f. r.e l'fh" material n
their pie. Ice to acauie.yet know so well " r" l P"
true lovallv when
flede
Umm In kanr ' it with
pveo, were in hsppy accord. There were
at lat, no Carlile, nor Crittenden, nor
Andy Johnson, to head a loll of iafamy,
"ith'tn the whole of her widely extended
lders.
'There was no vote ajaint the ordinance
f eceion." There wal no pre to in-
veit'i aeaint it. There Was no voice of
Uctioi raie l in e-pptjsitioii to it. Fairest
f hand made appropriate banner and
ve ricl grland for expectnt heroes,
ail private eontribotionv from licb and
our, were bestowed without stint wr linit
m furtherance or ihe common cause. 1 lie
as of our nob'e old'Mtite, supposed t
p'.ses very few of the element of martial
' i Siracter, came forward with atnihing
Jirii. .ml in tr tiiniuinr niimlnn.
Thase who had mocked her bef-re, 1-heldt t.er,n,,1,4.t cJro tw ua oir in.lep ;.
twerful caos at work,
to bring abnut the separation for which we
are contending, upon term which will se
cure to us independence and the blessings
of peace.
Whoe sacrifices luve. tended more to
produce thew results than thoe of Nortn
Carolina? When the hopes V our ene
mies were soust to be inspired be stories
of Union feelmg among her people, the?
ready answer ever among them was, it i
impassible; took to the naiworr of brr
troops in the field, and how fiercely ihey
fight!" Ttii answer was then complete.
Can the me be said of it now I
That there i an Uuin feeling proper
among her people e cannot teliee ;
the contiarv. there i. w b'ieve a ery
unanimous etitienl of hostiljty t- any
ettleim,tif of onr J.liicultie,Vucpt ! '
the term ".honorable peace" ia employed,
uui i i r views upon otner pninis are so
plainly the prsoiptinzs of a discontented
anl desponding spirit, if not of actual trea
son an disloyalty, that we cannot withhold
our minds from the conviction, that if their
ideas of an honorable peace were made
known, they would fall far short of the
dictates of a manly spirit, and of the wish
es and expectations of patriotism.
in lurtherance of their common design,
these parties take hold of every apparent
cant to excite a feeling of discontent
among our people and sold'eri tswards the
authorities of the Confederate States. They
represent that the defence or our State has
iVn wilfully neglected, and our coast and
a portion of our territory wilfully abandon
ed to the enemy. , lhey say oar soldiers
do not procure a fair share of military
i- - -a i- a-
nonni , m ine snape oi promotions, ami even
that newspaper correspondent of adminis
trative organs fail to award to North Caro
lina valor and merit the just meed of praise.
iVe are painfully conscious of making
an undignified descent in noticing this last
topic of complaint, and the only reply we
shall make is. that the soldiers of North
Carolina do not feel.o poor in fame is to
5 ml it necessary to rely upon, ephemeral
pufTs of ignorant newspaper correspondents
for the maintenance of their claims to a
just share of reputation. They are con-
rein toajme me criticism oi me uenerais
whocomnivnd them an J the impartial judg
ment of history. The complaint of injus
tice to North Carolina officers we are not
inclined t discusslest we render our
selves obnoxious to the cenure of claim
ing more for then than is awarded by the
impartial judgment of others'.
I he complaint that the defence of North
Carolina has been' neglected is in our
jtt'lgment wh4lv without foundation. That
. o . .....
all ha not oeen accomplished upon me
sod of onr State which was apparently
withio the power oi the forces left there,
may be questionable, but even upon this
point we do not profess to have a sufficient
knowledge of the" situation of things" to
1icus it, even if we arrogated to our
selves tie military skill to mAe a justcrii
icisui. But there cannot be the least doubt
that ia camcentuiingtho troops from North
Carolina upon the soil of Virginia for otir
own defence, ahe true military principle
ha been adapted, aad it is to be hoped that
when the fact is once pointed out that
twice in the history of thi war this plan of
operations ha compelled the enemy to
withdraw his forces from our cpat lor the
safety his main invadmgarssy.thiaaetise
les ravilint will to forever Rushed. Burn-
S'de was withdrawn in coosenuence of
McClellan's defeat before Richmond, and
Poster was withdrawn in consequenee of
Hook?r' defeat .-at Chancellorsville and
the iterations which followed. And that
our neoole liave experienced few of the
horror of war coomared with the people of
large district of Virginia, H attributable
1 1 ihv adun ti o! tlriH principle in our de
fence, na l tio l Ijiiiid t'l it U should be
ibddied extept upon le wot iaipera
tne necessiiv.
wilk aring eves her splendid regiment
... a a a
witri lull ranK. su'iiiiut.iny ciai anil
eijoipped, and governed bv a rigid di-J-'ine,
-which betukened the dn-ad with
which the eny hi alw,iyabeen inpired.
when they were known -to be upon the
field. Hince then, out of the vai store
Uqe of her wealth, little known before or
-porec.red by even her own people, he
hspoired forth into t'e lap of the Corf
t. Iers, rtso'jrre comoiennrate with her
"her ScnCce. AwL whether wt measure
vea atfifices by the snfWnt of the mate
ruts of wr and means of subsistence fur
nished, the spirit aad determination of
I ..... a, a m .
oer piojite, ue number of her men given
to the ciese, the talents, courage and for
titude of thot who have fought, or the
umber and virtues of her noble dead, we
art obliged to recognl.t her sistera lean
ing on her for support in tvery emergency
of the eventful struggle.
Nor have these sacrifices been made ii
. They have enriched her hiitery,
If a uil oen.xt I th't Me, enemy vjgnt
: .i a . . ! .. a
wnile this is oar b !.;, wr ninot -hu! mri udd upon our toil, it m)y De answereil,
eves to the fwnsinio that there arep.li?-;we !.,. r..t thi time and m.-ans to enable
in our State, s,m . e end-a ""ng I t" p'ne II nt-n pi proper tat -of
bine cettain e'ement of diconie:it and:defef.t before it aatiwkrd.. Alter lhi
pany feeliog i',l(., 4 Ijciion, to n.ske w .r .l.sater the lY.l d Newbero became nwv
tar an ui,lilv nuVpoe unn ".! aulliorilie. . italile, u! u.ore tro;p c.uld luve been
heY.gh eoucue in w',ib w-jM-'red from pomi . more iraporiance.
. . 1 k . l U- .f sKaail stKalho) that
t bring the
are engaged into diirpte among our peo
ple, atid to ihwart the design of ratriot,e
men in their labor for the publie g1"11
Tho sentiments of the prtie referr-d to
find utterance principally, through the
columns of the (tileigh Standard.
Movements for peace" have been pro
posed in North Carolina, tiking the shape
generally of a propesitidn to hold a can
ventien of the people of the South, inviting
eimilar conventions of te people of the
North, to meet them for an adjustment of
ur difficulties. In none of these nropoii
tioss are tha termi upon which their au
thors propese to iree upon a peace evsa
dimly shadowed forth. In mim it i true
And it mav'weil be doubted whether the
means at the com nsnd of the General of
the Department of N'.fU were sulficieat
to have saved K-unikc I!vid. Certain it
is. that he wa then regarded as a General
of skill, and all the available meant at the
disposal ol the Government were placed
at hit disposal. With the lightt which
eiperienre has afforded, and with even the
scant meats then at command, these pla
cet might possibly have all been held, but
it is huaam lo err, and we hive ao reason
to tuppose North Carolinians (certainly not
the parties whose icntimetts wt art com
hating art exempt from the common
frailty. A large and productive region tf
our State by those disasters hat fallen into
the hands of the enemy, and been occupied.
by him; but to abow conclusively htw'fac-
. . i iU r xt ...u '
iiuua auu uiivToimj. ui mhiiu uiuiini4ua
is this complaint, we haw only tr point to
the tact that the largest and most opulent
city of the South hat fallen into the handa .
of the enemy, and the fortified towns of
the Mississippi had to be yielded to him,
opening the whole of that State to hit
ravages. Is there any faction in Louisi
ana or Mississippi that conplaiat that
New Orleans or Vicksburg or rort Had
sun were willfully neglected or surrender
ed? And can it be supposed that the.
President of the Confederacy hat deliber
ately chosen to inflict, by his neglect,
greater injuries upon hit own State and
people, than upon even the poor cast qfpe'
pie of North Carolina? No! t Oar coun
trymen, we are persuaded, wijji yield to
the voice of chsrity and reason, and say
with ui, The President is not infallible ;
he may, ia tome instances, have erred 'in
the choice of men and of means, he nay
have been anduljr influenced by the judg
ment of others, but surely he could not
have been so insensible to the preservation
of his own reputation and influence (if it
were possible to deny to him higher and .
nobler motives of conduct,) as to willfully
neglect the defence of any portion of the
country." Certain it is, that few men
have had a more general voice of his conn
trymen. of his enemies and of the jvorld,
to ascribe to them greater political wis
dom, firmness, integrity and dignity than
President Davis, ia the administration of a
Government under the most trying circumstances.
And here we may take occasion to re -mark,
that it is to him we may ascribe the
preservation of Gen'ls. Lee, Johnston,
Beauregard; MLB.rag, fr the. leadership
of our axmies; since disaster, in the ca
reer of each one of thoe great military
chieftains, has compelled them in turn to
pass under a cloud, when popular clamor
called for their dismissal. Happily for the
country, he did not imitate, in this respect,
the example of bis blutideriig cotcatporarj
at Washington.-
But beyond tfiese demonstrations of hos
tility to the present administration, "the
faction" declare "that mere is demanded
of North Carolina than any of ber sister
States and that some of. these have net
been called upon, or have not furnished as
many soldiers for the field in proportion to
population as North Carolina, and that for
this and ether reasons, they resolve that
North Carolina will send no more troops
to the field."
That North Carolina has been called up
on for a larger quota of troops than the
other States, you nay be well assured it
untrue. Calls have been made for troopt,
but for no particular number from each
State. The call it for all between certain
ages in all t lie States; and this is sufficient
to show how. false and rccklcls men, be
come when "they yield themselves to the
spirit of faction. If the people ef any
other of the States have failed to respond,
to the call, then they cannot escape the
charge of disloyalty, and a violation ef their
pledges, made at the beginning of tne con
test. This is the accusation rasile by " the
factioV in North Carolina, and they pre
pj themselves to adupt the same disloyal
course of conduct. Their avowed senti-
mente lead to thi. AH men must be held,
morally and legally, to iutend the natural
and the neceesar'y consequence of their
acts; aid if this be so, the conclusion it
irresistible, that whea these men are call
ed upon to render support to the cause of
the country and tney reiase to no s. i
threaten violent resistance to the law, they
are prepared for submission, for re-union!
Nor does it matter whether they avow these
sentiments or deny them, if they .are pre
pared for resistance to a law of the land
most essential to the defence of the conn
try. dots not their conduct lead directly U
this result? . . .
It would be unwise as it would be un
just, to attempt to magnify the importance
of these manifestations of disloyalty, but
they ciunot be without evil' tendency if
i i