New-York daily tribune., 1858-02-17
The evil that men do lives ster them
The sc.od Ia m interred With their bones

official LIE did any good to be buried With hlm IN
his political grave is more than are able to say.
OF the evil that he did, and which continues to
operate though he be dead himself, new instances
are from day to day coming to light.
One Uf the latest is an official opinion given BY
Mr. Gushing in the latter days of the Pierce Admin
i.tration-though possibly Mr. Gushing might even
still have entertained some hopes of survivorship
for himself-which opinion We find published with
many notes Of admiration in recent number OF
The Mssissippian newspaper.
II seems that Mr.. Haynes, late Postmaster at
Yazoo City in the State of Mississippi, had refused
TO deliver The Cincinnati Gazette, sent through that
Office to subscriber to il, on the ground that 1t
was an Abolition document, containing matter Of
which the tendency and object were to produce
disafection, disorder and rebellion among the
colored population Of the State, and that BY law
of the State of Mississippi, the circulation in that
State of aIy such document, whether in print,
manuscript, or picture, was prohibited underpenaty
of Imprisonment in the Penitentary. The prOprie-
tors of the newspaper thus kept back complained
TO the Postmaster. General, who sent word to Mr.
HAYNES that he had authority to refuse the de-
livery of any mail matter, but was bound to deliver
il according to its address. Thereupon, Mr..
Haynes, as it would seem, called in the assist
ance and aid of public meeting of the good people
of Yazoo City, who, through committee, applied
to Jefferson Davis to procure reversal of this
decision. Mr.. Jefferson Davis, thus applied to,
with all the cunning and perhaps little of the
malice of the monkey in the fable, Immediately
laid hold of Mr.. Attorney General Cushing and
employed his paws to rake the Mississippi chestnuts
out of the fire. So far, however, as the ex-Secre.
tary Of War may have been actuated in this matter
by malice toward his military and political brother
we apprehend he must have missed his marx. Tint
Caleb Gushing ever suffers from twinges Of con-
science will scarcely be pretended by anybody who
knows him. As to sensibility to shane-nsver
very sensitive on that pOint-he has long SINCE
through daily exposure and discipline, become
tough as an alligator and impeaetrabe as rh-
nOcerOs. Mr. Gushing is a man prompt, good
natured, and always up to the emergency. His
readiness TO Obige is excessive. In this spirit, he
is prepared at all times to become all things to all
men, and, without scrupe or hesitation, to accom-
mOdate himself to circumstances. Whether called
out Of bed at 12 O'Clock at night to write in his
shrt-tail Anti-Slavery letter to aid him to get
into Congress or called upon, in his capacity of
Attorney General, to put the mail under Pro-
Slavery espionage, Mr.. Gushing is equally prompt
and equally complaisant; though we must say that
his opinion on this latter subject, transmitted to
Mississippi by Jefferson Davis, and just published
there, does notwithstanding the concentrations
bestowed upon it by the Mississippi newspapers,
fall rather short Of the mark
The true point in the case was evidently this
and in fact it was put in the letter of the Yazoo
City Committee addressed to Jefferson Davis: Is
it part of the business of Deputy Postmaster to
act as censors of the mails and to inspect the mail
matter passing through his hands, with view to
discover and defeat any unlawful procedure which
tie readers of that mail matter may have on foot
And does the Deputy Postmaster, by omiting to ex-
ercise this supervision, make himself party to the
offense meditatedl Even Mr.. Cushing himself,
anxious as he is to oblige-even Mr. Cushing with
all his readiness to be used by those who he thinks
can pay-even Mr. Cushing, constitutionslly timid
as he is, and terrible as the snap of Jefferson Da-
vs's whip may be in bis ears might have hesitated
and in fact did hesitate to say yes to these inter-
rogatories He could hardly fail to see that the
cOmmOn.sense az well as the legal answer to these
questions was, that il was no part Of the duty or
right of q Postmaster to make himself acquainted
with the contents Of the mail matter passing
through bis hands; and that therefore, be was in no
danger so long as he confined himself to the regular
discharge Of bis official duties, of subjecting him
self to any of the penalties of the Mississippi act
against incendiary publications. There can be no
crimnalty in any act, except that act be knoningly
done. No Court or Jury could undertake to pre-.
suine that Postmaster had violated or trans.
cended bis official duties for the very purpose of
making himself criminal at least, any Court aud
Jury ready to do that, would be just as ready to
convict him without any evidence at all. The mere
discharge Of hs duty s Postmasternever could bring
him into any danger, while Of any danger he might
expose himself TO by the qualification of his pri-
vate curiosity, he must take the risk. If it were
any part of the right duty Of Deputy Postmaster
in his character Of citizen Of Mississippi, anxious
to obey and ready to aid in enforcing the laws of
that State, to inspect the newspapers passing
through his hands to discover whether they were
ncesdiary documents it would not be any less his
right OF duty to examine all the correspondence
with like object in view; while to vest in Dep
uty Postmaster this power of deciding upon the in.
nocent or criminal character Of the mail matter
transmitted to bis Office, would be to make him
Judge deciding in secret without the knowledge of
the parties in interest and without the possibility
of review or appeal. Suppose, after all, the
Deputy Postmaster should have happened to