Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1861-09-28

THE CRIME OF TREASON.
The arrests of persons who have aided or
abetted the traitors, which the exigencies ef
the present condition of affairs in our country
are now requiring the Administration to make
after 1t had displayed for long period an un-
exampled degree of forbearance and enity, are
attracting considerable attention. The gener-
al policy of preventing Northern traitors from
extending aid to the enemy, after their desire
TO do so has been clearly shown, is cordially
approved by every loyal citizen but we have
been so accustomed to an unlimited freedom of
action in all matters appertainiug to political
or governmental affairs, that some are surprised
that, even in an emergency like the present,
the aders and abettors of treason should be
prevented froin inhicting furlherand more fatal
stabs upon the nation. Such men should re-
feet that, practically, treason has become, Ia
oun country, the "sum Of all yilanies.D II
has not here the excuses Ind 'pfetexss % Ts-s-.
fy it which exist in monarchicnl or despotic
countries for in them it is almost impossible
to dethrone rulers or dynastics, or to change
any settled policy, without n resort to violent
means and an appeal to arms, while the inst-
tutions which the traitors are attempting to
destroy afford every desirable facility for peace
full and thorough revolutions, at frequent per-
iods, in the men and measures of our Govern
ment and all our laws are so Just and humane
that, even il the most exaggerated statement
of the alleged grievances of the South were
strictly true, it would furnish no sufficient
ground for the infamous conspiracy that has
been inaugurated. We must remember that
treason has brought unnumbered caamities
on the whole nation, and that among its con-
comitauts and results are nearly all Of the
vilest crimes and the greatest miseres that
have ever been inflicted upon mankind The
poor wretch who robs a house or kills single
victim is summarily disposed of by the ordin-
ary processes ofour criminal courts, and there
is little sympathy for him or his aiders or
abettors when they reap the merited punish
ment which the law inticts upon them. But
what have the traitors already done in our
land? They have inflicted upon It the most
serious evils it has ever encountered. They
have not only plundered the national treasury
but inaugurated state of affairs which ne
cessarily robbed confiding merchants and capi-
talsts of money that can be counted only by
hundreds of millions of dollars. They have
shocked and temporarily deranged the indus
trial system of our country to such m extent
that thousands of millions Of dollars would not
compensate all the sufferers for their losses
They have rendered necessary a righteous war
which will probably cost very large sum for
its successful and vigorous prosecution. They
have compelled the nation, for its self-preser
yation, to call into the field an immense army,
composed of hundreds of thousands of brave
and loyal men, and they haye enticed and
forced an almost equally large number to as
sist them in their infamous efforts to destroy
the best Government that ever existed, know
ing full we'll, that in this inevitable strife
many a noble spirit would be laid low; many
a hearthstone rendered desolate forever; and
that an amount of anguish and individual suf-
fering would be caused, which no pen can de
scribe, and no imagination can conceive
For all this the traitors arc directly respon-
sible. They are the gigantic criminals of the
age. They have done infinitely 1nore mischief
inflicted greater wrongs and trueltes, aH+H
caused more loss and misery, than all tho
thieves or murderers that are now, or ever
have been, in all the jals and penitentiaries of
the United States. The man who, knowing
these facts, and living in loyal community
manifests willingness, or seeks in any way to
aid or abet traitors in their nefarious designs,
is the confederate in heart, if not in deed Of
The most infamous and most dangerous Of men;
and if he possesses any redeeming traits, he
should, when returning sense of reason and
of loyalty dawns upon his benighted mind, be
thankful to the Government it, by his tempor
ary incarceration, it prevents him from steep
| ing his soul in the guilt of extending any
| further important aid to such miscreants
| II is possible that some of those who have
been arrested were not as guilty as their cap,
tors supposed them to be. But, rs a general
rule little faith can be put in their protesta-
| tions of innocence, for
nThus do all traitors
| If their purgation did consist in words,
They are as innocent as grace ITSELF"
The terrible drama that now attracts the at
tention of the whole civilized world is proof
| of the activity of the traitors OF the South, and
thousands Of circumstances have clearly shown
that they have gained much valuable aid in
many ways from traitors in the North, and that
even now they rely more for final success upon
a diversion in public sentiment in the North
than upon the power oftheir armies.ss
The tnmous lines of Moore in Lalla Rookh
contain such an appropriate execration OF these
emssaries of rebellion that, hackneyed as they
are, we quote them here
aOh for a tongue to curse the slave,
Whose treason, like deadly blight
Comes DER the councils of the brave,
And blasts in their hour OF might
May Life's unblessed cup for him
Be drugg'd with treacheries to the brim,--
With hopes, that but allure to hy
With Joys, that vanish while he sips,
Like Dead-Sea fruits, that tempt the eye,
But turn to ashes on the lips
His country's curse his children's shame,
Outcast of virtue peace, and fame
May he at last, with lips OF fame,
On the parch'd desert thirsting die
While lakes, that shone in mockery nigh,
Are fading of, untouched, untasted,
Like the once glorious hopes he blasted
And when from earth his spirit flies,
Just Prophet, let the damned d. one q ssall -