The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1861-07-18
Traitor.

'"''o' ID az "SiJ "oiu. we do not
wonder that the traitos themselves vincs
when they hear it. 1t means ipfamv
Once fix upon man the fearful name nf
traitor, and it will stick to him like TIM
shirt of Nessus, blasting him through life
and blackening his memory after death
Traitors are seldom hung. But thew
are always punished. There is something
almost mysterious in the subtle, but sure
working of that popular instinct which
always scents out traitor, and, by con.
centrating upon him the quiet hatred of
mankind, makes his life wretched, and
his death miserable. Arnold was not
hung, No man laid his hands upon him,
but he was most terribly punished. Aaron
Burr was not hung. But from the mo.
ment when the name of traitor became
fixed upon him, he became a monument
of the vengeance of man and the justice
of God.
So will it be with all traitors. Enc.
mics of mankind, they will find, at last
that mankind is their everlasting enemy.
One man may forgive another, but man.
kind is unrelcnting. 1t never forgives.
There are traitors now in Connecticut.
as we'll as in every other Northern State,
They are very few in numbers, but still
they are numerous enough to attract at
tention. They are "partizau leaders,"
who have long teen in league with Davis
and Breckenridge, and are still in league
with them. yruthfully executing their
allotted part of the great scheme of trea-
son, they are trying to undermine the
National Government by tongue, and pen,
and types. and the machinery of partizan
intrigue, so that Jeff Davis may the more
easily overthrow it by force Of arms. In
order 20 help Davis in IFS war at the
South, they preach "peacc " and non-re-
sistaeee at the North. Not condemning
the bloody overthrow of all constitutions
and all government by Davis at the South,
they cry out, with hypocritical alarm, that
| it is unconstitutional for the President
Of the United States to take the necessary
steps for defending the National Capital
and maintaining the supremacy Of the
National Government. They have the
impudence even to blame the loyal citizens
of Western Virginia for adhering to the
Union, instead of submit ting to the des-
potism of Davis and Letcher. According
to the views of these traitors, their fellow
traitors do nothing wrong, and the Gov
eminent, in resisting treason, does nothing
right. la short, they demand that Davis
and his bloody Confederates shall be ''let
alone" and that this great Nation shall
submit, without struggle, to be straDgled
to death by gang of pirates.
The time for argument with these men
is past. lie who is not yet heartily on
the side of the Union and of its Govern
ment in this great struggle, is a traitor.
He may succeed, for a little while, in
binding the eyes of the public to the fact
that he is traitor. He may even gather
around himself small faction of weak or
wicked adherents to help bin in his treas
enable work. But he and mis- faction will
fail and perish He will probably escape
the ga!lows, but that unerring instinct of
which we have spoken, which was given
by God to mankind as a safeguard against
the enemies Of the human race, will scent
ont every such man--will fix upon him
the horrible name of traitor, and will fol-
low him without mercy to his grave. Let
Us then be of good cheer. Let the traitors
90 on with their intrigues, their secret
meetings. their insinuations, their assaults
upon the Government Of their country,
their " compromise" propositions, their
peace" parties, their complaints about
habeas corpus" the "right of petition"
and the seizure of reasonable telegraphic
dispatches, their lamentations over the
" unconstitutional " action of the Presi-
dent in assembling troops to defend the
capital, their out, cries about the wicked
ness of coercing" men to obey tie Jaws,
their thousand direct and indirect mani
festions of sympathy with Davis and
Breckenridge, and their desperate efforts
to create divisions among loyal men at
the North for the sake of paralyzing the
energies of the nation, aud compassing
its destruction Let them go Oh with
their tricks, and with the rest of their
accursed work They cannot destroy the
nationality of the American people. They
will fail-uttery fail They will "show
their colors" That is all. Thus will
each one of them fix upon himself the
name, the ignominy, and the certain pun
iShment of a traitor.