Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-05-06
The Press-r

was discovery Sc Bond to none thu
preceded, Oh to an y which has 70
low ed it. Wheth er it has been
blessing or 4 curse has been a que;
tic n with many. For ourselves, W
fully believe that, under certain re
sir ANTS and limita lions, it may be
come the GREATEST blessing to maj
ever yet granted hi m -save only tn
gift of Chris Jesus our Lord.
In the aids of the arrogant anC
ass inning, the Pres s has ever beel
found a tr4 ublesom4 and hateful en-
CINE. And when VT elded by the des
potic and tyrannidll, it has always
sought to IMPOSE on man the unscra.
pul5us degn}as Of Tits directors as
trut Tbs. We acknowledge its power
to do good, While WE dare not deny
that it Is quite as capable of becom-
ing the minister of Evil. Some men
whe p they, uhfortuiI ateIy for their
fello us, become poss4ssed Of font of
types, seem tq think they have, as Il
cons cquencc Of such possession, a pre-
scri ptive righd to abuse anybody and
ever ybody at their own pulssant
plea sure. THUS, un consciously per-
haps, initiating the uG tutored foreign
er, WHO in few week. after landing
upon our sho Res, boldly denounces
our laws, our ,ulers. Jour fruits, our
climate, and an ything and everything
lie Sc es or hears on the plea that
this is a free country and he has
right, forsootll,I to do lind say what lie
pleases. g
Such are not our views We think
that, while our Constitution guaran-
tees to US Freedom dc thought and
freedom of speech, lIw-the law Of
the land in WHICH we lwell-casts a
shield over every indiyi dual who may
be unjustly as4liled BY the sword, or
by tlie pen. And We know that
whenever any h erson whatever shall
malici ously, fraudulent ~, or in any
other manner Withhold from US our
rights the law has proyTd ed others to
Judge for US of our " fongs; and to
them, like good citizen 5, we habitu-
ally look for redress. And Why
Are we not part Of thP sovereignty
of the country ,Iand hay + We any right
to sit In judgmI ent in 6pr own cases?
No. We have delegated SO much of,
our portion of the soyefgignty of the
whole, to magistrates ++Lvelected by
laws which we assisted to ena ct
whom we have author Jed to act for
us. And we have no n ght whatever
to exercise power which we have
delegated, until such delegation be
legally withdraw n.
1t never entered into our magma
ton, that we as editors of "a public
newspaper, haveIany right more than ,
,tbers--and certainly none have l.
. accuse. to Judge, to condemn, or
o execute-wit hout appealing to the
az. without notifying The accused,
without a hearing, without showing,
Offering, or suggesting proof. lhe
Star Chamber Of the 1st Charles, l
among all their fragrant acts, never
thus va ntonly outraged Justice.
We cannot see why an editor {
should depart from the acknowledged
courteous course due from one gen {
ieman to another in the private |
walks Of life. In what does the {
private gentleman differ from the |
yentlemanly editor? Does the vol I
lntary assumption of the tripod by S
he latt er, confer upon him any pc t
,uliar right, or invest h in with any j
powers not known to th E laws? We e
row net. Andthus hol ding, We shall S
,ndeavor, with such grace as may be i,
,ouchsaEed US, to pursue the even i
enor of our way, withou 7 trespassingI $
.pon the rights of other |, or treadingI v