The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1861-08-30
From The New York Ledger
Edward Everett ON Secession Ncwspa.
. pers IN the North.


II Is an old proverb that the laws are silent
amid arms. The laws are, for the most part,
made for state Of peace, excepting those which
expressly refer to war and the manner OF con-
Quoting Il. When state Of war arises, the
sometimes rapid change; thequiet pursuits OF
society are to some extent checked, and in the
immediate vicinity of the seat Of war, suspended
and with them the laws which regulate those
pursuits must for the time give way To the stern
necessities of the new state Of things. IL should
however, be- and Il is, the great effort OF an en-
lightened Government, In civilized countries.
10 keep this disturbance of the peaceful order
Of things within the narrowest limits, ami al.
low the supremacy Of the law to be interiered
with by military authority as little as possible.
II is In particular cardinal maxim OF Tree
Governments that the military commander
should be subordinate to the civil magistrate.
There are undoubtedly cases, when war ex-
lists in which the public safety absolutely re-
Qures that the operation Of the laws and the
authority Of the civil magistrate should yield to
the paramount considerations which require
summary measures. The patriotic magistrate,
of whatever rank, must In such cases exert that
moral courage-quite equal TO the courage re-
quired for the risks Of the field which Is need
full for the discharge ofthe unpopular duty OF
suspendng the laws. lie must not shrink be-
fore the reproaches which his conduct Is sure TO
bring upon him from the timid, the per'erse,
and the disafIected, cloaking their disloyalty
under an assumed real for constitutional prin-
ciples, He must take the risk even OF subse-
quent disavowal, for poor humanity Is very
prone to be wise after the danger. But he Will
cOnfne his interference with the regular march
Of law TO the narrowest limits and fewest occa-
siOns, and be the first to welcome the restOra-
ton Of its authority.
These are the general maxims which apply to
the conflict of civil and military authority, and
the practical difficulty will naturally be, not in
their general soundness, but in their application
to particular cases. This difficulty will ofcOurse
be much greater in the commencement ola state
of war than after IL has lasted some time, and
the community has been obliged TO conform it.
self to the exigencies Of the contest. AT the
present tine, those citizens in some Of the hor-
der States who sympathile with the Confeder-
ates think ii hard that they cannot he Mt peace
and Mt war, in the Union and out OF 1t ut tho
same time. They claim the protection Of the
Constitution MS in time Of profound peace and
universal obedience to the laws, while they rem
der secret and, when circumstances admit, open
aid to those arrayed in arms against them
They insult the forces moving In defense OF the
Capital; they convey supplies and arms tn the
stealth, and to effect these objects they some
times avail themselves Of official position and
authority derived from the Government which
they assail, and when that Government in self
defense inierferes TO arrest these reasonable
movements and Vaccinations, they clamor
that the liberties of the citizen are invaded.
These are presses, for the most part In the
border state, though some Of them are found In
cities more remote from the scene of action,
which are daily pleading the cause Of the enemy,
misreprcsenting and yilllfying the Government
Of the United States, exaggerating every article
of unfayorable intelligence, and exerting them
selves to the utmost to dishearien the friends
and defenders of the Constitution and the In
ion. But such is the all hut superstitious deyo-
ton Of the people to the liberty Of the Press
that these perniciOus journals have, with the
exception Of single instance in 81. Louis, new
er been nterfered with. II seems to have been
thought better by those in authority to tolerate
the mischief, of these unpatriOtic presses, than
to elevate them To greater importanceby prose-
cution, or to encroach In the slightest degree
upon that freedom public discussion which In
ordinary times is justly regarded as ne OF the
greatest safeguards Of liberty. But II is pre-
p0sierous 10 sdcri fcs the end 10 The means. We
should in this respect learn wisdom from the
enemies of the Union.
While we regard as unbecoming our Chris
tian civilization that resort 10 inch law, by
which every expression Of opinion adverse to
the popular sentiment is suppressed in the Sc
ceding States, we ought to remember that In
tOleratng traitorous press among ourselves
we practice q liberality which awakens no graf
itude ut home, and is never reciprocated by the
opposing party. IL is In fact an absurdlty in
terms, under the venerable name the liberty
Of the press, to permit the systematic and IL
centious abuse of o Government which Is taxed
to the utmost in defending the country from
gcnerel disintegration and political chaos. The
Governor Of Malta was censured in Parliament
for some alleged severity towards 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 he was as friendly Ms any
body to the liberty OF the pr IS in London, but
a free press in the island of Malta was as much
out of place as ii would be on the quarterback
of man-of-war. We suppose the most enthu-
siastic champion of the liberty Of the press
would hardly think 1t right to publish Journal
within the walls of fort Mclienry, in which the
officers of that garrison should be daily adyis-
ell to desert and the men be constantly exhort-
ed to mutiny, and whose columns should be
filed with persistent abuse Of the Government
and all engaged in its defense. Why should
Journals OF that description be allowed Ia diff
fuse their poison beneath its walls amidst the
excited population Of q large city!
So, too, with reference to the freedom OF
speech in debate. one Of the vital conditions Of
republican liberty. The late session in Con-
grrss has witnessed magnanimity on the part
of the majority in both Houses OF truly ro-
mantle cast. The acts and the motives of the
Government, in the suppression of the insur-
rection. admitted by one of its most distinguish.
ed chiefs to proceed mainly from the dissa-
n, NJ ealinp snira A afhro lhaye
been assaied from to-day with yirulence and
persistence which would be harmless in time
Of peace, but which in time Of war can have no
other effect upon the popular mind, than TOPPER
plex and dishearten those who are stalking life
and fortune in the cause Of the country. This
gener osity excites no gratitude on the part OF
those toward whom II is practiced; and 80 far
from being reciprocated the member of the
Confederate Congress at Montgomery or Rich
mOnd, who should assail the conduct or policy
of that body, as the Government Oi the United
States has been assailed by the sympathizers
with secession ut Washington, would not reach
his hotel in safety. lie would swing from the
next lamp-po
Not merely is all freedom of speech and of the
press prohibited in the seeding States, but the
most quiet and the humblest rights of Citizen
shin are interdicted. When the Ordinance OF
secession was about to be submitted to the vote
of the people Of Virginia, distinguished Sem
ator of that State in Congress, and who in that
capacity was under oath to support the Consti-
tuition Of the United States, published letter,
signed with his name, In which he declared that
such citizens Of Virginia as did not approve the
Ordinance must leave the State; q summary
sentence of Punishment and confscation against
about third part Of the people of that ancient
Commonwealth; q sentence which the seeding
majority are now attempting to enforce at the
point Of the bayonet, to illustrate the principle
that "the right Of government rests upon the
consent Of the governed"
The necessity which, in time OF war. PARTIAL
ly suspends the operation OF the laws, transfers
the governing power to the military authority,
not absolutely and without conditions; far from
Il: 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 VI
imminent danger, who was clothed with abso-
lutte authority for q limited period-a power
which was substantially, though not a,owelly
4 - A H.. IL,