Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1827-07-12
II may be wellto remember these fac

IN Ak l1E
character and standing of the writer.
aud the sty lie aad manner of the letter.
all claim a deep aud serious attention
The unfeehng gibes INDUCED in BY
some newspaper EaItors, who have
sought to Turn this melancholy tragedy
into Jest, are among the most portent.
9us signs OF tue time. The i~nsensibihty
shown by such Editors to tue fate Of
their fellow beings, perhaps because
they occupied the humble station of
militia men, and the seryile devotion
thus Indicated to the chief actor Ia the
tragedy, snuot fail to rouse the indig.
nation OF every friend Of humanity, aud
Inc contempt OF every independent
mind.
II has been the boast Of our republic,
that, throughout It's whole history, a.
mid the Commissions of the Revolution
struggle, during the feeble existence
of the confederation, and while we were
engaged IN a second war ~ confirm our
Independence, such was the loyalty oil
our citizens, that not one suffered as a
traitor; such was the superiority of a
free government over the tyranny of
hereditary rule, that the K and the
gibbet were unknow a. tue Instruments
OF political publication.
The fate of the six militiamen, pre-
c'pitately, cruelty, aud illegally. seat to
their long account, by order OF General
jackson. forms a dark and dreadful blot
upon the fair page of our former history.
Amid the great events of the moment,
in winch these unfortunates met their.
doom, their bodies, and the sad tale OF
their wrongs, were consigned alike 10
the silent, accomplishing, grave. The
lamentations of the boreaved widow,
and the cries of the helpless orphan.
were drowned in the shouts of victory.
But magma est vERtTAs, 81 prepoisbit."
Yes, thanks to the Great King OF Kings.
who "hath in tha table of MS law con
msnded, Thou shalt do no marder;n h.
hath also ordained. that the truth shall
come to light, that murder, though il
have M tongue, shall speak with mos,
miraculous organ"
After the lapss of many years, the
knell of those most foul, strange, and
nnnatural' deaths, is beginning to toll
through the land. Every bosom less
~callous than the rock. is swelling with
sympathy. Every lover Of his country,
while he drops a tear on the bloody re-
cord of the deed, cries aloud for some
solemn lustration, TO purge the conta
gious spots" from our history. The
representatives of the people, il true to
their trusts, al the next meeting of
Congress, will do all they can towards
this publication, by ar ample grant to
the widows and orphans OF their busch-
cred fellow citizens.
This tragedy, with its attended cir
cumstances. known at first but to few
persons, had seemed to be buried in e.
%ternal oblivion; and to the great major
lily Of the people of this Union would
have been as though it bad never hap
pened. but for the ate mpt of the Nash
vile Committee 10 vindicate the char
acter oftheir ward from every imputa-
ton, and to justify more especially his
conduct on this occasion. 1t is true,
the horrible affair was referred TO in a
pamphlet issued to the world some three
or four years ago by Mr.. Jesse Benton.
But knowing Dir. Benton only as hay.
ing been engaged with his brother, the
Hon Thomas II. Benton, in a personal
rencontre with General Jackson, it was
natural to suppose, at the time of the
publication of his pamphlet, that some
lurking animositv against the General
had given an exaggerated coloring to
his narrative, particularly as j. embra-
ced other charges equally serious and
damaing in their nature. The recent
developemsnt BIZ the Nashville Commit
tee, however, relieves Mr. Benton from
the suspicion of want Of candor, as it
regards the SIX miiitiamen; and adds
great weight t, another statement made
BY that gentleman-namely, that ssgen
soldiers Of The regular army suffered
death under circumstances little less
shocking than those which attended the
Execution of the sir mifitiamea. The
only account of this last affair which |
have been able to find, in CONFEDERATION
OF MIR. Benton's statement, is in the fol
lowing brief paragraph from Niles's Re-
gister, of the 18th March. 1915, vol. 8,
p. 40.-"Eight soldiers were shot at
Nashville, Ten. on ths i7h Feb. for de-
%sertion. A dreadful example, perhaps,