The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1857-09-09

THE PRESIDENTS LETTER TO THE FORTY
CLERGYMEN" OF CONNECTICUT OPINIONS or
THE PRESS.
We surrender large portion of our paper this
morning to the opinions of the press in relation to
the great letter of President Buchanan in reply to
the memorial of the fortyodd doctors and divines OF
the State of Connecticut. In many instances we
have taken only portion of the credited articles
their length, owing to limited space, preventing
their insertion entire. E
From Journal Commerce.
Professor silliman should stick to his laboratory Not
that because is a scholar special devotee OF
science should therefore be deemed incompetent 10
Judge of political duties economies but because IL IL
very manifest that he not the to be Mentor TO the
President OF the United States
But the Professor is only of quite large class
of men, who mistake their abilities In this regard
IL Is very true that under constitution whose
first principle is selfgovernment and this truth leads
men into ali sorts of blunders First and chiefly, they
blunder the idea that because republic Is const
tuted on principle of self government therefore every
in 1t is capable OF governing himself. secondly
they blunder in supposng that because men have nights
under the constitution of sefgovernment, those rights
imply and include the individual right of making law
every for himself and interpreting aw--every con-
science by its own standard
Mr.. Buchanan has given such men very sound ana
sounding rebukc His reply to the New Haven letter
il unmpeachably strong and it has sharp points that
sting little 1t Is to be hoped the New Haven poteo-
relgioniss will have learned by this lesson to conne
their puees in politics to their immediate pupils, who
may be induced to believe them and not again attempt
to teach of experience.
Can it be possible that Professor silliman and his
friends had for moment seriously considered what
they about before sending their letter to Mr. Blu
charan Had they asked themselves what would be
the result of introducing their principles into the State of
Connecticut, or into Yale Coegcy
n Of the prison AZ Wetlersfiell
pointed by authority about which there doubt
by the governor without proper power by the legsa
ture without regular proceeding or in any other way SO
to render the appointment subject to the suspicion OF
iniormaty and If the prisoners rebelled would these
gentlemen beg the governor interfere with force of
arms to suppress the rebellionG Would they stop to
consider whether the appointment of the warden was
legalf
If the Legislature of Connecticut by majority of
in the house. had adopted bill and made it law, and
Professor Siman knew to certainty that two of the
members voting for that law not entitled to their
seatswere not fact citizens of the Statewould he
go the governor and beg him to prevent the execution
of that law, because he professor Sman) knew the
legislature to be bogus For man in tie vote may
make legislature quite effectualy bogus if the
whole body elected by fraud, according to the pres
ont meaning OF the word bogus in its application by the
back-repubcan Journals
1t does indeed seem to be idle 10 waste words with
these The ceaest of duty which President
had upon him not clear than Mr.. Buchan-
ans in this instance Tho most atrocous assumptions
of power would be exercised in pursuing the the
New Haven men wished. AS the elections approach the
black republican papers the outcry and demand
why does James Buchanan sustain the acts of the Kan
sas egsaturer r.
The Tribune of yesterday morning feeling the over
towering force of the Presidents letter, takes refuge
Usual in billngsgatc and slang and in ncoherent col
umn of twadde makes this point-that Mr. Buchanans
plea that he Is not the judge of Kansas laws amounts to
nothing, because Mr.. Buchanans partsans in Congress
refused to pass bill abolshng the borer ruian legs
lature'
This is the last refuge of political lodging The case
is admitted the President is right in principle he had
power to declare the laws of Kansas void but Hat
does not help him. since his political friends in Congress
approved of them"
When the highest power in the land refuses to ignore
the laws of Territory and refuses to annul what the
people Of that Territory have adopted the President is
called 'lord high protector of doube.dyed villany and
fraud because he will not violate the first principle of
constitution and the position of dictator
The determination of old political hacks abuse the adj
ministraton for something, matter what-to get up
ontcry election day approaches manifest here
But the letter of the President is proof against the twad
die of Tribune philosophers, New Haven sefstyed
philanthropists.
The doctrine of judging yourself whether law right
ornot very unsafe doctrine to recommend for practical
adoption to the President of the United States 1t looks
like safe ground to stand long it applies to
n thousand miles off, State whose internal condition
does not affect personally But when the doctrine is
applied to laws relating to personal property and
safety in city where men conscences only
ism and communism, and votey yourself a farmsm and
New York Tribunesm generally have led some mems
conscences to be remarkably obuse and hard on the sub
ect of property rights say in such cases. when these
people attempt to apply the .ihgher-aw doctrine that
every must judge for himself of the consutonality
the morality the expediency, and the right every law
the ground on which they stand becomes remarkably
slippery and up go the heels of the New Haven profess
sors and the Tribune philosophers.
From tho Now Haven Comm Register.
The correspondence between Prof Silliman and some
forty Others, whose not given and the Prcs
dent of the United States will be found in our columns
and WILL doubt attract it should the readers at
tenton The address to the President is an extaord-
nary ononot only in its tone temper and materials
but particularly when consider the source from
which it 1t certainly anything but fatering
to tell man to his face whether President not that
he is committing perjury, in the violation of official
any other OATH But extraordinary STILL as the
address undertakes to advise the President he ought
tol uphold the constitution of the United States when it
understood that several of the sgner of the address
busy members of the North Church meeting where
the leader of the meeting declared that this consti
tuition "the father and fountain of our troubles
and that it ordained of Heaven to be blown up
throwing out bombs and rocks like the fortrees at Sc
hastopo Ii the President desired constitutional adj
vise could hardly be supposed that he should look to
those who were prominent at such demonstration |
and who acquiesced in, they did not applaud the
avowa of such sentiments. AT this same meeting in
which the gentleman referred to took part deadly weap
contributed which the leader land no one CON
adicted him intimated might adyantageously be used
by way of compromising the difficulties in Kansas in
giving the contents of the rifles to the governor of the
Iar inv .~as.. I'LL. 4.