"The sword of the Lord and of Gideen!"
Our columns to-day abound in details from Yankee newspapers, all tending to show the unutterable terror with which all Yankeedom has been smitten, by the near approach of our victorious troops.
The impious
King of
Babylon, when in the midst of his impious feast, he saw a hand come out of the wall and inscribe upon it characters which he vainly sought to interpret, but which his conscience too surely taught him indicated the overthrow of his house, gave not stronger signs of the dismay which caused his knees to smite together and his tongue to cleave to the roof of his mouth, than
Abe Lincoln and his parasites are now exhibiting to a deriding and contemptuous world.
Governors call out the militia
en masse --fortifications are thrown up all over the country — the whole of
Pennsylvania South of the
Susquehanna is voluntarily resigned to the invader — fat farmers drive off their fat cattle to the mountains — the
Brooklyn bells ring a dolorous peal for the rally of the reinforcing regiments — public records are moved out of the way of danger--
Governor Andrews offers the whole militia of
Massachusetts —
Philadelphia shuts up all her stores — panic rules the hour — dismay runs riot over the land.
This delightful state of excitement succeeds a still more joyful calm, in which all Yankeedom had just settled down, under the soothing influence of the news transmitted by
Kilpatrick and
Stoneman, that they had succeeded in plundering and oppressing an unarmed population, and had reduced large districts filled with rebels to the verge of starvation.
It is the very hour for our army to strike a great blow — a blow which shall be felt to the end of the war — a blow from which the enemy shall not recover as long as that war lasts.
It is the very time to let loose upon the terrified wretches the whole body of available cavalry — to reimburse ourselves for the incalculable injury which has been inflicted on us.
Such a panic as that which pervades the
Yankee States, including all classes of society, and penetrating into all parts of the country, could never have proceeded from the mere advance of our cavalry, or even from the victory at
Winchester, magnificent as was the result.
The
Lord himself is fighting on our side.
His finger is as plainly discernible as it was of old, when the impious
Pharaoh, overwhelmed by the weight of testimony apparent in the miracles of the great Hebrew prophet, exclaimed, "This is the finger of God!" If we neglect this opportunity, it may be that we shall never have another.
It is given to us that we may teach the infidel, blasphemous, God denying, Bible hating crew, who constitute the body of the
Yankee nation, that there is a God, and that though his mercy be great, and his patience wonderful, his vengeance may at last be roused, even to slaying.
It is with great dissatisfaction, therefore, that we read in the
Yankee papers, "the rebels respected private property! " We were in hopes some satisfaction would be taken for the injuries which have been inflicted on us. As they tried to starve us out, we had hoped to starve them out instead.
We had hoped to hear that all the horses and mules were driven away or shot — that all the cattle were made prize of or slaughtered — that all the barns and cribs were first emptied and then burned — that all the mills were reduced to ashes — that the wheat fields were all on fire, like the prairies in the western country — that every piece of private property in the whole valley was appropriated — that every spade, every hoe, every axe, every plough, every rake, every implement of industry — was destroyed, so that, as
Kilpatrick's thieves told the people in
Gloucester, though they sowed, they should never reap.
We maintain that unbounded retaliation is the only way to prevent the renewal of such outrages as have been practiced on us. We cannot make matters worse.
We have tried meekness, we have tried submission, we have tried respect for the laws of war, and the rights of property.
What has been the result?
Accumulated outrages — additional wrong — increased insult.
While we are "respecting private property" they are landing negroes to burn
Darien.
While we are abstaining from pillage,
Mrs. Milroy is decamping from
Winchester with huge trunks full of stolen spoons, ladies' dresses, jewelry, and other valuables.
While we are manifesting a tender regard for the subsistence of the burly
Dutch farmers that inhabit the
Valley of
Pennsylvania, the brutes who are on their side are endeavoring to starve all the women and children in the Southern Confederacy.
This should not be our policy, had we the control of affairs, and it is very well for the broad-bottomed denizens of the
Susquehanna that we have not. We should proclaim at once "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," or rather, we should have half a dozen eyes for every eye, and half a dozen teeth for every tooth.
This is the only way to bring the
Yankees to their senses.
Let them take their own physic, and they will soon find how bitter it is. Let them see and feel what war is, and they will discover that it is not such an agreeable pastime as they are wont to consider it when contemplating it from a distance.
The
Lord has thrown a glorious opportunity into our hands, and we say again "the sword of the
Lord and of Gideon."
