Delaware State journal and statesman., 1861-08-27
EDWARD DVERETT ON SECESSION NEWS.
PAPERS IN THE NORTH.


PAPERS IN THE NORTH.
lfron the New-York Ledger.l
AT the present time, those citizens in some +
the border states who sympathise with the coil-
! tederates think it hard that they cannot be At
peace and at war, iu the Union and out of il, at
the same time. They claim the protection Of
the Constitution as In a time Of profound peace
!, and universal obedience to the laws while they
J render secret, and, when circumstances admit
open aid to those arrayed in arms against them.
Ihey assault the forces moving to the defense Of
the capital; the convey supplies and arms to the
enemy they recruit his ranks openly and by
! stealth, and 10 effect these objects they some
. times avail themselves of official position and
authority derived from the government which
they assal and when that government, in self
: defense, interferes to arrest these reasonable
movements and Vaccinations they camor that
the liberties Of the citizen are invaded.
Ihere are presses, for the most part in the
border States, though some of them are found in
cities more remote from the scene Of action,
which are daily pleading the cause of the enemy
misrepresentng and vilifying the government Of
the United States, exaggerating every article of
uniaVorabie intelligence, and exertng themselves
to the utmost to dishearten the friends and de-
tenders OF the Constitution and the Union. But
such is the all but superstitous devotion of the
people to the liberty of the press, that these
pernicious journals have, with the exception of
|
tertered with. 1t seems TO have been thought
better by those in authority to tolerate the mis-
chief OF these unpatriotic presses, than to ele-
vate them to greater importance by prosecution
or to encroach in the slightest degree upon the
freedom of public discussion, which in ordinary
times is justly regarded as one of the greatest
Safeguards of liberty. But it is preposterous
| to sacrifice the end to the means. We should in
this respect learn wisdom from the enemies Of
the Union. While we regard as unbecoming our
| Christian civilization that resort to lynch law,
| by which every expression of opinion adverse
to the popular sentiment is suppressed in the
seeding States, we ought to remember that in
tolerating traitorous press among ourselves,
we practice lberality which awakens no graft
tude at home, and is never reciprocated by the
| opposing party. 1t is, in fact, an nbsurdity in
terms, under the venerable name of the liberty
of the press, to permit the systematic and licen-
uons abuse OF government which is tasked to
the utmost in defending the country from gene
raj disintegration aud political chaos. The gov
| ernor OF Malta was once censured in Parliament
| for some alleged severity toward the editor Of q
journal in that island, and the liberty of the
press was declared to be in danger The Duke
Of Wellington said be was as friendly as anybody
to the liberty of the press in London, hut a free
press in the Island Of Malta was as much ont of
place as it would be on the quarter deck of a
msn-of-war. We suppose the most enthusiastic
champion of the liberty Of the press would hard
| ly think it right to publish journal within the
| walls Of Fort McHenry, in which the officers Of
that garrison should be daily advised to desert,
and the men be constantly excited to mutiny
and whose columns should be filled with persis-
| tent abuse of the government and all engaged in
| its defence. Why should journals of that de-
scription be allowed to diifuse their poison be-
meath It's walls amidst the exctable population
Of large city
So too with reference to the freedom of speech
in debate, one of the vital conditions Of republic
can liberty. The late session in Congress has
witnessed a magnanimity on the part Of the
majority in both Houses Of a truly romantic
cast. The acts and the motives of the govern
ment, In the suppression Of the insurreetion
admitted by one Of its distinguished chiefs 10
proceed mainly from the disappointment of lead
ing aspirants TO ofice,) have been assailed from
day to day with virnlence aud a persistence
which would be harmless in time of pence but
which in time Of war can have no other effect
upon the popular mind, than to perplexand dis
hearten those who are stalking life and fortune
on the cause Of the country. This generosity
excites no gratitude on the part of those toward
whom 1t is practiced; and 80 far from being re-
ciprocated, the member of the confederate Con-
gress at Montgomery or Richmond, who should
assail the conduct or policy of that body, as the
government Of the United States has been as
sailed by the sympathizers with secession at
Washington, would not reach his hotel in safety.
He would swing from the next lamp-post.
Not merely is all freedom of speech and of the
press prohibited in the seeding states, but the
most quiet and the hunblest rights of citizenship
are interdicted When the ordinance Of seees-
sion was about to be submitted to the vote Of the
people of Virginia, distinguished senator Of
that state in Congress, and who in that capacity
was under oath to support the Constitution of
the United States, published letter, signed
with his name, in which he declared that such
citizens of Virginia as did not approve the ord-
i O.
Of Punishment and confsoation against about
third part Of the people of that ancient common
wealth q sentence which the seeding majority
are now attempting to enforce at the point Of
the bayonet, 10 illustrate the principle that 'the
right Of government rests upon the consent of the
governed"
The necessity which, in time of war, partially
suspends the operation Of the laws, transfers the
governing power to the military authority, not
absolutely and without conditions far from it
but under the limitations Of the Constitution,
and OF the laws enacted to meet such state of
things The power which existed in the Roman
republic OF creating dictator, in seasons Of i'm
minent danger, who was clothed with absolute
authority for q limited period-a power which
was substantially, though not avowedly, assumed
by Congress in the revolutionary warts un-
known to the Constitution aud it is to be
devoutly hoped will never be called into exercise
by perils too formidable to be otherwise averted.
For all the ordinary purposes of war, the Presi-
dent Of the United States is clothed with the
requisite power as "Commander in-chef of the
Army Of the United States, and Of the militia Of
the United States when called into active ser
vice." The laws Of the laud provide the means
for exercising the great powers which he possess
ses in this character. The present is not the
first occasion on which they have been called
into action. The proclamation Of the President
calling for seventy-fve thousand volunteers,
although not Issued till the war had actually
commenced by the reduction of Fort Sumter by
the general armament Of the South, with ord
nance and munitions reasonably prepared be-
forehand by the sworn officers of the United
States and by an official threat Of a movement
on Washington, has been denounced by President
Davis as m unprovoked measure, whose magni-
tude trhnscends all constitutional limits, and
can aim only at "the subjugaton' of the South.
At time when the population of the United
States did not exceed four and half millions,
Gen. Washington called out fifteen thousand
troops to suppress an insurrection in the western
counties Of Pennsylvania. Our population is
now thirty millions, and the nsurrection has as
sumed the dimensions Of a civil war. The ony
reasonable objection 10 Me military preparations 9t
he limited States u.s. that thfy did not al proceed
IN ,Laf oigggtic scale, sehich tgisdom and humanity
alike dictate, as he only means Of bringing The IN
1uspicions conflict 10 speedy close. To let il drag
on by inadequate Geans is to Prol0ng The sGiTmgs
,rhieI IL iptlicts on both parts Of the Jaion to
protract the perilous duress imposed upon the
friends Of the Union at the South, who look with
aching eyes for the hour o. deliverance; and to
augment all the difficulties which are to be over
come before peace is restored to the coansry.
A dispatch to the Louisville Courier states that
the steamer Hannibal Gin, with Federal troops