shocking and disgraceful and
barbarous crime against humanity; and the human mind is incapable of
understanding how such savagery can be accounted for, except upon the
theory that "He that nameth Rebellion nameth not a singular, or one only
sin, as is theft, robbery, murder, and such like; but he nameth the
whole puddle and sink of all sins against God and man; against his
country, his countrymen, his children, his kinsfolk, his friends, and
against all men universally; all sins against God and all men heaped
together, nameth he that nameth Rebellion."

The inconsistency of the Rebels, in getting insanely and murderously
furious over the arming of Negroes for the defense of the imperiled
Union and the newly gained liberties of the Black Race, when they had
themselves already armed some of them and made them fight to uphold the
Slave-holders' Rebellion and the continued Enslavement of their race, is
already plain enough.

[The writer is indebted to the courtesy of a prominent South
Carolinian, for calling his attention to the "Singular coincidence,
that a South Carolinian should have proposed in 1778, what was
executed in 1863-64--the arming of Negroes for achieving their
Freedom"--as shown in the following very curious and interesting
letters written by the brave and gifted Colonel John Laurens, of
Washington's staff, to his distinguished father:

HEAD QUARTERS, 14th Jan., 1778.

I barely hinted to you, my dearest father, my desire to augment the
Continental forces from an untried source. I wish I had any
foundation to ask for an extraordinary addition to those favours
which I have already received from you. I would solicit you to
cede me a number of your able bodied men slaves, instead of leaving
me a fortune.

I would bring about a two-fold good; first I would advance those
who are unjustly deprived of the rights of mankind to a state which
would be a proper gradation between abject slavery and perfect
liberty, and besides I would reinforce the defenders of liberty
with a number of gallant soldiers. Men, who have the habit of
subordination almost indelibly impressed on them, would have one
very essential qualification of soldiers. I am persuaded that if I
could obtain authority for the purpose, I would have a corps of
such men trained, uniformly clad, equip'd and ready in ever