Valley Spirit

The year 1864 will probably be one of the most eventful in our country's history. Battles, the most severe of the war, will be fought, homes will be made desolate, wives will be made widows, children will be made orphans and the hills and valleys of our beloved country will will [sic] be drenched anew in blood, with what result as to ending this fratricidal struggle we cannot tell. But the contest with armed rebellion in the South is not the only issue to be decided in the present year. A great civil contest is approaching in the loyal States, which, in the opinion of many--and we share that opinion--will decide the fate of republican institutions and constitutional government. The issue will be made up between usurped power on the one hand, and the constitutional rights of the people on the other. Upon the decision of this issue will depend the future welfare of the country.

Our rulers have most shamefully betrayed the trust committed to their hands. While professing a desire to suppress rebellion and violations of law, they themselves have become violators of the law. Pretending to put down revolution in the South, they have inaugurated revolution at the North. Entrusted by the people with immense power, for a high and noble purpose, they have used it to strike down the people's liberties. The innovations on the Constitution and the outrages against individual and personal rights have followed each other in such rapid succession, increasing in violence and boldness every time they are repeated, that he who fails to see their logical sequence must be a dull observer of passing events.

The startling usurpations of power on the part of the Executive and those acting under his authority, have justly alarmed the public mind. In addition to many other acts of like character, we have seen within the past year, the freedom of the ballot struck down by an armed soldiery in our sister States of Maryland, Delaware and Kentucky, and election farces enacted in solemn mockery. It has also been intimidated, by no less a personage than Mr. Seward, that Mr. Lincoln will not surrender his seat "without bloodshed," even though a majority of the people should declare in favor of another. Taking these things in connection with the total disregard of Constitutions and laws which has marked the course of the present Administration, we are forced to the conviction that there exists a deliberate and settled purpose on the part of the dominant party to subvert the liberties of the people and change our constitutional form of government. The conclusion is irresistible that military despotism, the worst form of tyranny, is staring the people in the face and waging war upon their rights, and unless they meet the issue boldly and fearlessly, with brave hearts and, if need be, with strong arms, the people will be overthrown and fanatics drunk with power will sing their songs of triumph over the grave of liberty.

The avowed policy of the Administration towards the States in rebellion will lead directly to the result we have indicated, even if that result were not deliberately intended. Unless the policy is changed the result is inevitable. That policy is subjugation and the reduction of those States to the conditions of Territories or conquered provinces. These Territories are to be subject to the will of the President, his decrees to be enforced at the point of the bayonet. As soon as one-tenth of the inhabitants of any State thus reduced, swear to sustain all the proclamations of the President--past, present and to come--they will be permitted to form a new State Constitution--in accordance with the will of the President, of course--and organize a new State government, and the army and navy is to be used to aid the one-tenth in keeping the nine-tenths in subjection. Such is the President's plan of "reconstruction" as foreshadowed in his late message. Will any sane man pretend that this plan is in harmony with the spirit and genius of the Government founded by Washington and his compeers; or that it is a government "deriving its powers from the consent of the governed?" We think not.

But it may be said that this plan of arbitrary government is only to apply to the States in rebellion. This may be true and it may not be true. Judging from elections in neighboring States to which allusion has already been made, where a free expression of opinion was prevented by federal bayonets, we are inclined to the opinion that it is intended to apply the same absolute rule to all the States just as soon as those in power feel themselves strong enough to attempt it. But whether it is so intended or not this policy must end in the destruction of republican institutions. And the reason for this is too obvious to need an argument. Two antagonistic systems cannot be administered by the same government in the same country. You cannot apply an arbitrary or despotic system of government in the same country. You cannot apply an arbitrary or despotic system of government to one section of the country and preserve republican liberty in the other. The idea is absurd. Reduce one section to a state of vassalage and it will not be long before the other is found in the same abject condition.

We, of the North, might be permitted to retain, for a brief period, the shadow of our former rights, but to expect to retain even the shadow long, would be indulging in delusive hopes. The people must awake to the fact, that this great issue between licentious power and constitutional freedom must be decided, perhaps for all time, in the coming presidential canvass. Already the minions of power are marshalling their forces and laying their plans with a view of controlling the result. And we say to all, who have hearts to love their country, that if they would save its cherished institutions, they must go to work to meet the issue. Let every true man do his whole duty in this crisis, and all may yet be well. Let every patriot gird on his armor and go forth, "unawed by power and unbribed by gain," and battle manfully against despotism in all its forms, remembering that now, more than ever, "eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."

Editor of the Spirit and Times.

SIR: In your criticism upon the Thanksgiving sermon of the Rev. S. J. NICCOLLS, there is one point to which I wish, with your permission, to call the attention of an intelligent public. I desire to do so because it is one of those vulgar errors which have some to be widely believed, without the slightest foundation of evidence, and indeed against all the evidence in the case. I refer to the notion that the negroes as the supposed decendants of Ham are resting under the curse of the Almighty as recorded in Gen. 9, 25-27. It is not my purpose to defend the sermon of the Rev. Mr. Niccolls, or to animadvert upon the opinions and views set forth in your criticism. I desire simply to discuss a question of interpretation and history, for the sake, if possible of dissipating a groundless and vulgar error.--You say that "it is there written,"--[illegible] in the Scriptures--"that the enslavement of the black race is one of the Almighty's great purposes, whereby out of evil he educes good," and you then refer the curse upon Canaan to "the descendants of Ham, the African race." Now what are the facts in the case?

First as to the passage itself. The terms of the passage clearly limits the curse to the descendants of Canaan, the youngest son of Ham. Three distinct times is the curse repeated and exclusively referred to Canaan. And when Ham is first spoken of as seeing the nakedness of his father, he is spoken of as Ham "the father of Canaan." So that clearly Canaan is the obnoxious person in the mind of the inspired writer. I need not refer to the difficulties with which this passage has puzzled all interpreters. Suffice it to say that no true solution can be attained without a careful consideration of the relations of enmity existing between the people of Israel and the Canaanites when this Scripture was writtten, and that no interpretation can be admitted by reflecting men, which makes the curse upon Canaan to be the immediate consequence of the conduct of Ham. It is rather to be regarded as a prophesy of a fact foreseen to be realized in the future, and uttered as a humiliating rebuke to the irreverent Ham. Limiting then, as the terms of the passage do, the curse to the descendents [sic] of Canaan, let us inquire who were they? All the information respecting them which we have, we get from the Scriptures themselves. "And Canaan begat Sidon his first born and Heth, and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgasite, and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite, and the Arvadite and the Zetnatite and the Hamathite, and afterwards were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza: as thou goest unto Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lesha." Here the tribes and boundaries of the Canaanites are clearly laid down. They occupied what is now known as the land of Palestine, from which they were driven, being destroyed enslaved and scattered abroad by the victorious Israelites. And in the history of the wars of Israel for the possession of the promised land the above names continually occur. There is not one particle of evidence that any African tribe descended from Canaan; but conclusive evidence of the contrary is found in the fact that the perfect type of the negro head, unchanged in a single peculiarity in the lapse of centuries, is found upon the Egyptian monuments of a date contemporaneous with, or prior to, the conquest of Canaan by the children of Israel.

If for the sake of covering the case it is insisted that the curse extends to all the descendents [sic] of Ham, we are led into difficulties and absurities equally great. The four sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan. The family of Cush appears to have divided, part of it going eastward where Nimrod founded the great Babylonian empire, and into Arabia, and part going southward to Ethiopia.--The part of the family of Cush which remained in Asia became the great conquerors and empire builders of antiquity. Mizraim is the ancestor of the Egyptians. The common Hebrew word for Egypt or the Egyptians is Mizraim, i. e. the Two Egypts. And no one need be told that the ancient Egyptians were not a nation of slaves, but a highly cultivated, civilized and powerful nation. The valley of the Nile is indeed the cradle of the world's art, science, learning and law. It witnessd the most wonderful development of human history and civilization considering all the circumstances, which the world has even [sic] seen. To this day her achievements are a marvel and mystery. Like her mysterious sphinx she stands dark and solemn in the desert twilight of the mighty past.

"The burnt out torch within her mouldering hands,
That once lit all the East."

Of the descendants of Phut we have scarcely any mention in Scripture. The points of their migration are wholly conjectural. It is surmised by some that they moved southward and peopled various parts of Africa. By others it is supposed from certain radical elements of language that they moved to the extreme north of Asia, peopling the vast steppes of Siberia, and pouring forth in subsequent times those great tides of barbarian life which repeatedly overrun Europe.

Can we then in this total uncertainty as to the origin of the African tribes, presume to fix upon them the curse upon Canaan? And even conceding that Africa was peopled by certain branches of the family of Ham, on what principle do we concentrate the curse upon them and not on the conquering people of the plain of Shinar, and on the wise sages of Egypt?

But as we said at the outset the curse is limited in its own terms to the descendants of Canaan, and its significance was fully exhausted in the history of that people. The attempt to fasten it upon the negro because of the incidental circumstances of his present history is a singular instance of the tendency of mankind to make the conclusions of their judgment minister to their prejudices.

C.

Since the return of a portion of the army to this place, our town has presented a warlike appearance and--we are sorry to say it--been very disorderly. Drunken men are as plentiful as [illegible] , and profane oaths appear to be the medium through which thought is communicated.--Taverns, Eating houses and Ale Shops are doing a thriving business, and if the present state of affairs continues much longer some additional arrangements for the manufacture of Strychnine whiskey, and Cocaine Indicus Ale, will will [sic] have to be made. If it is desirable it should cease, some stringent notification should be served on our keepers of Hotels and Ale houses and a series of free lectures, by some of the reverend clergy, on sin and wickedness in general and drunkeness, rioting and profanity in particular, should be announced forthwith.

In all seriousness, an effort should be made by the officers in command, and our borough police to put an end to the outrageous violations of morality and common decency exhibited openly and shamelessly on our streets in open day. Night is rendered hideous by the howling imprecations and riotings of drunken men. Females can no longer venture abroad after nightfall, without having their ears shocked with obscene language and foul oaths, at each street corner, and in many instances, of recent occurrence, some have been grossly insulted. It is high time that an effort should be made, by our citizens, to correct, in some measure at least, this intolerable evil.

We were hailed on the street, one day several months since, by a man with a ten cent borough shinplaster in his hand, with the above interogatory. We told him--judging from the aforesaid shinplaster--that, that part of the "borough" which he wished to see, could, be found in Fahnestock's grocery store next our office. Now we would like some one to inform us what has become of that part of the "borough" whose duty it is to see that the throughfares of the town are kept in a passable condition--we mean the town council. The streets lanes and alleys are now in such a state as to reflect disgrace on all concerned; mud and filth everywhere abound. The gutters and sewers reek with noisome smells and poisonous exhalations, breeding disease and death. Main Street from the German Reformed church to North Point is one mass of liquid mud. The street cross flags are covered up from view and wo [sic] to the unfortunate biped who unluckily steps off the stones. Will not the members of the council make some effort to perform their duties and have the streets cleaned? Will they not appropriate a small sum out of the borough fund to its legitimate purpose, and have the streets and alleys properly cleaned, thereby removing this intolerable nuisance; and saving present discomfort and, very probably, future pestilence? We shall see.

The work of enlisting men for the army is progressing briskly, in this place, under the stimulus of large government and local bounties. The quotas of many of the townships and districts of the county are filled and others nearly so, and if the ball is kept moving the quota for the entire county can be filled this week. Every man is personally interested in this matter, and should do all that lies in his power to encourage volunteering, as the army must be filled up, either by voluntary enlistments or by another draft.

At a meeting of the citizens of Green township, held at Plough's School House, on Wednesday the 3d inst., it was

Resolved, That the officers of this meeting notify the authorities of --------castle borough that in the future, this township expects them to look after the interests of the colored familes of Africa located in the southern end of this township, in educating their children and supplying their other wants, as the philanthrophical [sic] bounty of fifty dollars wont see the colored friends out.

Jacob Glass, Prest.
Jacob Bollinger, Sec'y.