Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1861-03-02
For the Sioux City Register.
DELTA'S REPLY TO JUSTICE.

ODtelno among gentlemen - thiS: Auotbe"
are never to be impugned. Whenever cri.
ticism undertakes TO discuss the notices
Of contemporary, it at once trenches on
forbidden ground. This is universally
conceded by all who are worthy to be
classed among gentlemen. That Justice
has seen f to violate this principle, needs
no demonstration. That his fierce, savage
onslaught has disgusted all who hold
THE mselves amepable to the laws of pc.
likeness, is so potent as to need no argu-
be so lost to all sense Of decency as to
affirm that his peer exhibited malig
nant, .fe"dish purpose &c. fsuch Ian
guage should be used on the floor of Con-
gress, the matter would at once pass into
the hands of seconds, and blood alone
would atose for the insult The duello |
aLhor as a relic of barbarism. appeal
to a higher tribunal. seek my redress
at the bar Of public opinion. l now ask
if such language can be tolerated by an
intelligent public7 Are we Ho,tento,s,
or are we civilized7 Should cultivated
foreigner visit US, and should he be cog
infant Of the use of such diabolical Ian
guage in our midst, would he not logically
conclude that the vocabulary Of demons
was in the ascendant? O, shame where
is thy blush. o. Temporal! q, mores' To
quote the words Of my respondent, (Which
have singular applicability to his peculiar
case) permit me to say that, IF he has
any sense Of shame remaining this lesson
may not be wholly lost upon him, and
possibly he may be this moment resretting
the I'M ury he has occasioned. and feel the
rebukings Of troubled conscience"
mus, confess, Mr.. Editor, that read
the remarks Of Justice" in your last
issue with no small measure Of astonish
ment. In order that the truth of history
might be indicated, it vast doubtless my
imperative duty as the impartial chronic
Ter of the facts appertaining to the Rev.
and Hon. DELAzoN SMITH, to use the
strong terms employed by me in the char
acterzation Of the subject of my sketch
| 1t was surely no fault Of the thinner that
dark colors had to be used to paint
truhfM portrait. 1t was mos, obviously
my design to- adopt the following motto:
Nothing to extenuate,
Nor set down ansht i'll MALICE
And think from the standpoint occu.
pied, it was u,terl y impossible to view
drunkard and gambler in any other light
than tina. which appear. in the essay com.
planned Of by" Justice"
frankly confess that have no SYM
patty with that sickly sentimentali,y which
would gloss orer habits Of dissipation. If
men rW make themselve targets, they
must expect to be sh OF a, and they assur.
eddy have no right to blame the archer
He, who ou'rages the fundamental prin-
ciples upon which society is based, by
pursuing a shameless career Of rice, has
no right to expect the employment of soft
and re'rety terms in the characterization
Of his baneful course. Society would lapse
back to barbarism if unbushing vice were
not isshad Nth unsparing severity.
Because a man is dead, are We, there,
fore, to igsore the existence Of career Of
cice2 We must remember that very
wide difference exists between the mfr.
mites Of a man and his rices. They can
not he placed in the same category Yet,
our sage philosopher " Justice" seems to
hold that death transmutss a mans vices
into harmless peecadillos.
Is there, ask in all seriousness. no line
of dcmarcation to be drawn between vir.
tue and vice? Are they interchangeable
terms ? If so, then the Bible is false,
Christianity is a mockery, and our criminal
laws are founded upon the baseless fabric
Of dream. Our whole system Of juris-
prudence is overturned by one fell swoop
Of this baleful theory. Surely my res
pondent mus. have been under some
strange, weird, psychological! influence
while advancing a hypothesis SO fraugh,
with disastrous consequences
A drunkard. a gambler, blasphemsr,
wages an open war against the best inter
ests of society How, | ask, are we to
conserve these interests Are we not to
hold the rod of rsbuke in terrorem over
their guilty heads? Should a man who
reeks in vices knon that all men felt as
" Justice seems to feel, would he not be
encouraged to make his own damnaton
sure, seeing that the grave would hide 10
its darkness a knowledge Of his nefarious
deeds.
And is historic justice Of no value p
The Wild theory Of my responder. would
forever bar all historic verify.
Had Thomas Darlington Macauley been
governed BY the Sybsrte soitness Of my
pseudo friend, could he have unveiled to
our astonished vision those private vices
of James H., which so arouse our indig.
nation?
If the above theory be correct, the
truth Of history can never be indicated.
Away with this sickly sentiment!
History yields an iron pen. and were it
otherwise, our knowledge of the private
characters of potentates and statesmen
would be mere conjecture.
The admirers Of Thomas Paine and |