The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1861-10-25
Oatlls.

A Bill has. been introduced h the,Sen
ate, and passed, in relation to oaths Of
Office under the Confederate Constitution.
According to our understanding, n re
quires all officers hereafter to be elected,
or appointed. to take tho oath, but
does not require persons already in Office
to take 1t. In regard to attorneys, they
arerequired to take the oath ut the discre-
ton Of the Court. $50
AT the first glance, IL would seem that
the law should cover all--be retrospective
as we'll as prospective in its action. But
there are good and substantial reasons for
different conclusion. II will readily oc-
cur to The candid mind that it is not the
oath, but the po,cer Of the Constitution,
that binds us to the support of our gov.
eminent And if the sovereign act of the
people relieved the incumbents in Office
from the support of the Federal govern
ment, then the same power certainly can
carry all their officers, as parts of their
government, under the binding power Of
the Confederate Constitution. This being
so, and tho Only amendments the people
saw proper to make in their organic law
not providing for removing the various
incumbents in Office, then it follows
that there is no power under the Consti-
tuition to aflix subsequent condition as
terms of office. The man who WIS in Of
fee when the Confederate Constitution
was adopted, is, by that sovereign act of
the people, under an obligation as solemn
and imposing to conform to and keep in
view the requirements IL that Cobstitu-
ton, as though he had gone through the
specious forms of an cath with his hands
and lips upon the sacred volume. This is
the light in which the subject presents IL
self to us at this time, although we have
not, perhaps, given it proper investiga-
ton and reflections, .fa.n f
But it will be said that the omission of
the retrospective feature in the bill is a
concession to The Union men," Not at
all;-and that is not the question, or the
end, to I've considered of. Nothing is
concession that is required by the Consti.
tuition; and, on the other hand, every
thing that is violative OF the Constitution
is tyranny and oppression, except where
the great inherent rights of the people
rise to the point of revolution. Many of
us, in our zeal for the cause and the ten.
dency in revolutionary times to rush from
one extreme to the other, may DO dispos-
ed to 90 too far and even overstep the
bounds of strict constitutional require
ment and polite necessity. This is wrong
and unwise. With war confronting us on
all our borders and coasts, there is alrea-
dy not only an unseenily thirst for Office,
but an inclination in places to bend the
powers of government to the qualification
of personal feeling and for purposes of
gain and individual aggrandizcment. The
enemy that our armies are daily whipping
in the field, is not tho most dangerous
foe we have to contend with. We must
conquer ourselves as we 60 along, or our
present revolution, so glorlously inaugu-
rated, will prove bootless one, to be fol-
lowed by another of darker and bloodier
character. ....
The bill before the Legislature is one
that admits of Il considerable range of
debate, and we trust the subject involved
will be amply discussed and elaborated
before being finally disposed Of