Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-09-24
F. N. pai,,nor. "Excbspse,nseP H.

MISTAKE Uu Tue SuoIeEt u
promptly administered, We have deemed IL o"'
q prudent thing to endeaVor to collect, from
orthodox and unexceptionable sources, the
hes, opinions to be had upon current ques'
tioas. The following statements OF doctrine
sc i~,nlieve to be beyond per adventure, ana
we take it for granted hat any man IS SAFE
who dues not transcend the limits When lhey
prescribe. They convey our own opinions So
fairly, II. the main, that we should be unwii'
ling to change their language, or vary their
principles, in the slightes: degree, except, per,
haps. here and there, in Il more moderate and
conservative sense. -.
Upon the right of d people, or the ina jority
of any portion OF a people, to change or moony
their institutions, a: their pleasure, we knoW
nothing so comprehensive as the doctrine an
nonnced by Mr.. Lincoln, in his speech de-
liycred in the House Of Representatives on the
18th Of January, 1913, which the reader Will
find OH page g. Of the Appendix to Tue Con
crcssional Globe, of the LIST session OF The SUN
congress. Ii is in the following words, which we
quote, however, with the observation that tier
distinguished author goes considerably beyond
our own views in the premises, and indeed
transcends all orthodox opinions that VIC know
OF COnrtTUluR III SdiIS
Excellency Gov. Hicks, expressed in the Con.
vention Of Maryland, wherein DC asserted
the constitutional right OF the Estern Shore
to secede ut pleasure. But We return 10 MT
Lincoln, who. says: :,
ANY people, anywhere, being inclined and
having the power, have the right to rise up and
shake of the existing government, ana form q
nrw one that suits them better. This is q most
valuable, Il most sacred right-a right which,
we hope and believe, is to liberate The world.
Nor is this right confined to cases in which
the whole people nI an existing Government
may choose TO exercise il. Any portion o. such
people that can, may regolution:ze, and make
their o0n Of 50 much Of the territory Is Ihcy ~
habit. More than this, a lnu jority Of any portion
of such people may revoIutionlze, put down a
minority, intermingled with, or near about
them, who may oppose their movements
Such minority was precisely the case OF the
tories of our own revolution. 1t is a quality
Of revolutions not to so by old lines or old
laws, but to break up both, and make new
oncS."
Attorney General Bates, in his recent letter
to the Hon. 4. T. Richie, denies; that there is
any fright OF revolution at all, and says it is
a "power' when 'exists in force only" We
arrer. however, with the PreSident-and while
". regret that he and his chief law olticer do
not ,Elnk a!ik: OIL 50 vital q subject, we pre-
suma We cannot be in error, IN surprising that
III. Presidents speech overruIcs NJ. Bates
o~pir.ioi. In his Inaugural, Mr.. Lincoln iTas
careful To refer the people OF the country, Tor
information in regard to his principles and
police, to ",he published speeches Of him who
now addresses ynu." Tie will hardly deny Us
the right to shelter our poor opinions behu.d
che Of them, published ever so long ago.
Upon the light Of the President, or any u.
Ec.r o! the government, to dispense with or
lrarsyrcsS the Constitution or ANY law Under
it. sc are wtii;ns Il stand by the doctrine an
nnnnced by sir. bates, in his letter uf July
23d, 1861, to Mr.. Mcdowell, the United S.alcS
Marshal of Kansas. We quote his words, viz:
ST; is the Presidents constitutional duty To
take care that the laws be faithfully executed
That means al! the laws. lie has no right 10
observation-disclosures right to execute The laws nc
likes, and uncxccute thnse he dislikes and, Of
course. Won aud I, his sIbnrdinateS, can have
n, wider discretion nr latitude than he has.
As to the RICH: 81 the State IF Mlrytard t"
insist thai ar,r ~riIrn.cs charged against her
citizens or officers are ;;;.:igi'luai offences, and
that they dn not deprive the Stale Of her rights
as Il member of the Union, We desire no
solnder doctrine than that announced 10y the
same high functipnary, in the same letter, in
reftrence to Tie State OF Missouri, viz:
"NIiaS6uri is = State in the Uniou. The in.
surrcctionary disorders in Missouri are bu. in.
dividual crimes, and do not change the legal
status of the State, nor change its rights and
Obligations as n mrllusr Of the Union"
81, also, We chcerfai!y accept the following
from the saina paper as the rule applicable to
Mr.. Postmaster General Blair, and making it
his duty not only to arrest, but duly to for
ware ard !eliye! III natter, whether written
rr printed, wiicii is mailable unicr line acts CT
Congress:
"a refusal, by & ministerial officer, 10 exc.
cute am law, which properly belongs to his
alice, is IN official misdemeaDor, Of which
I 10 not doubt the President would take no.
,icc. Very respectfully,
EDWARD BATES"
In regard 80 the folly Of going to war, in
order To settle the questions which divide US,
Mr.. Lincoln ~terseic and fuils expresses our
sentiments, to the following effect, ~ MS in-
augural
"Smpprse yon gn to war, you canuot tight
always; and when, after much loss on both
sides, and 10 gam Gu either, you cease fighting,
the identical old questions as 70 tho terms Of
intercourse are again upon you"
The aggressive and ~fanatical spirit in which
the var was forced upon the South, and the
patient and long endured fortitude and patriot.
ism with which she deprecated and endeavored
70 escape it, cannot be depicted more eloQuently
or more to our mind, than in the following
bathurst from the heart Of the Hon. Joseph
Holt. four years ago
1.-The South has ever deprecated agitation.
From her Utmost sonl her ~yearningS have been
for peace, and that she might bn allowed TO
sit under her own vine and liz tree aud Ell.
Joy those blessings which the institutions o!
the country promise alike to all. Standing
with uGsandaled feet upon the hallGwed
ground Of the Constitution. and laying her
hand upon its altar, she calls upon the men
Of the North TO respect her position, to for
bear their rude onslaught, and press her not
to the wall amid thai everringiug cry ofselG.
Righteousness with which her years have
been stunned"
Upon the wickednesS, as we'll as the absurd.
ity, Of the attempt TO preserve the Union by
coercion, we are proud to let tho Hon. EdTard
Everett speak DIR sentiments in the glowing
language Of the letter, in which, in 1860,
he accepted his nomination as Vice President
TO Mr.. Bell, in the service ri the Constitn
ton, the Union aud the enforcement OF the
Laws"
''The suggestion" sad he, ''that the Union
can be maintained By the numerical predomi-
nance and military I:owess Of one section,
exerted t" cocrce tho other into submission, is,
in my judgment, rs self contradictory as it is
dangerous. 1t comes icaded with the death
smell from fields wet with brothers blood. II
the vital principle OF all republican govern.
mentS is the consent Of the governed, lnuch
more dnrs II Union Of co-tqual sovereign
States require rs its basis the voluntary CO.
operation III its organic functions"
One can Imagine Mr.. Lircoln repeating, MS
obviously Mr.. Everett remembered, the fright
ful exclamation Of the gully King, in Ham.
let