American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1851-1863, 1861-08-24
From the y. q. PicAyane.
AN AMERICAN BASTILE.
oLNUTz AND LAFAYETTE

age, and IN Amerlcas Dlt X IS uteTaAit
and incontestably true. that the RAstils
has been revived in this country BY
Government whose capital bears the name
Of Washington; and lsttrss De eacAs: are
used as the ordinary means Of admins
tration by the elective President Of a
miscalled Republic
Citizens are daily taken up without
process of law. or specification Of crime.
transported TO distance from their homes
in charge Of troops of soldiers. inmuFed
in prisons. guarded by sentries in uniform,
and denied the sight Of friends. or the
privilege of communicating with them in
person or by letter. stripped Of al legal
protection, and without knowledge Of the
offences with which they ere charged.
The simple order of the President Of the
United States, or any subordinate 10
whom he consigns the same power, Is
sufficient to execute al this.
I Louis XIV did nothing more when he
filed the Bastile by letirss ds ea-Ast. a.
his own sovereign caprice. with the 6es,
blood of France. demanded BY parasite
or informer, palace eourtier or eOaFtesan-
Lincoln is daily issuing edicts as absO-
lutte; and Fort Lafayette. in New York
harbor, is simply an American BAs;ile.
Whoever can Get his ear. or that Of some
one of the minions in epaulettes whom he
makes the ministers Of his will and Jail
ors of his prisons. Is as much the master
of the liberty Of any man who is in his
way as ever was Mazarin or Richsliea. or
any Of the base Bourbon kings.
) But it may be said for the Bourbons
! that they used despo,ie power As their
. inheritance, as It had been used By their
ancestors. over submissive subjects. and
) had descended to them with unquestioaej
title. The American despot sins agains,
the rights of the age. and the fuaiamea-
tai laws Of his own country, as slaringi IS
) as against liberty and humanity. and %
reach his aim, Overthrows constitutions.
abolishes courts and civil remedies. and
= substitutes for them his own viii. backed
by subservient army. In this be Is
baser in his crimes than a born desPos,
using prerogatives vested n him BY q
conceded right of birth. Baser than be
must be the people who. born free. and
: Boosting of Institutions which they pre-
! scented to the world as model safeguards
for liberty against power. seized With q
; sudden delirium of passion, slevishly
t throw them away, and abjeetly court the
: usurpation over themselves OF the worst
: forms of old tyrannies which have long
, since gone TO pieces amidst the exeera-
; tons of mankind.
: The only apology they offer to ths
world is. that their prOstration IS v0lua,
e tary, and Will be temporary; that It Is fol
an object which. being gained. if ever
law shall be reinstated and power dis
armed. This means that they degra1s
themselves. dishonor freedom. and per,
; petrate and permit enormous crimes and
h cruelties whenever the caprice Of PassioT
{ or any instinct OF interest may move sheu
to sacrifice laws or men The deleHee is
J. an aggravaiion of the iniquity.
Fort Lafayette. in the harbor Of New
York, is the chief prison of State TO whiel
Lincoln consigns his victims. Thisher b
is sending constantly. from diEersa
e States. whatever men-for any cause. o.
no cause-may have fallen under his dis
pleasure. but which the laws furnish hia
2 no means of reaching. The Police Con
= missioners of Baltimore ara there. drag
ged from their families by files Of soldiers
e immured within cells into which al &C
!. cess by kindred, or friends. or counsel. i
; prohibited, and from which the wTits Q
the law and the officers Of the law ar
sternly shut out by fixed bsyOnets- The
l. do not know for what they are punished
nor with what they are charged. beyoaI
the imperial announcement. By bO0tes
presidential tyranny. that they are sGs
: pected of meditating some entsrPris'
) against the Government. which i Ia
e been unable to discover.
There is a hideous ineongruity IN ID
employment Of fort bearing the vsnerst
ed name of the first republican Of France
for practices of tyranny. which shat n
Lafayette so long in an Austrian prison
Olmutz were a better name than Lafa
yette for dungeon in which laWless tyr
amy immures freemen. Tor being suspect
ed by jealous power of loving liberty to
well.
- Lafayette was no, the original name o
this prison house. Il Is that diamond
shaped fortress which lies in the middh
:. of the Narrows. leading from Sandy Heel
! into the Bay of New York. Il IS an Of.
fort, and was first called Fort Diamond