Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-07-21

| the Constitution or the law. eaF av
AS it is both the right and duty-of every citizen
| TO become fully informed upon all governmental
affairs so as to discharge his many political obtga
tons inteligeny the ballot-box and in other le
Ultimate ways and the freedom of the press and of
| speech are guaranteed to him for that as well as
! other essential purposes; and the right of the
people peaeeably to assemble and petition for the
redress of grievances, and to keep and bear arms,
cannot be lawfully abridged or infrnged, It is evil
| dent that an assemblage for the mere purpose Of
| procuring pesceable redress OF supposed gTlsY-
| ancss cannot be treasqnahle, nor can 9 free and
fpIl discussion Of the - of public men public
! measures whether such diseussien be in private
conversations, public meetings or the press; nor
| can q military gathering. when assembled Tor no
purpose or design of lntert srng, by force or II.
limitation with tho lawful functions Of the govern
ment or of its constituted authorities or of prevent
ing the execution of any law or Of extOrting its al
iteration or repeal, or of cverthrowtng the lawful
supremacy of the United States in any State or Ter
! ritorv. Hence conspiracy to be reasonable must
be for pzbiic or general, and not mere private OBJ
iect It must contemplate force IN the pursuit Of Its
/ ends; it. must, in order to rpen into treason be
accompanied or followed by warlike act, such
! as the assembling OF in military array, and in
the posture of war or forcible and threatening
attitude for the furthersnce Of the reasonable de-
! dign.
STo constitute an actual levy Of war there must
| be an assembly of persons, met for q reasonable
uurpose and some overt act done, to execute, to-
| wards executing that purpose. There must be
present intention to proceed in the execution Of the
| reasonable purpose by force. The assembly must
now be in condition to use it. If necessary, or TO
! aid or to accomplish their reasonable design. If
! the assembly ia arrayed in military manner for
| the express purpose of overawing or lntlmidanng
the public and to attempt to carry into effect the
reasonable design that will of itself amount to
| levy of war although no actual blow has been
| stuck or engagement has taken place.
| "However fagtious may be the crime of con-
spiracy to subvert by force the Government of our
| country, such conspiracy is not treason To CON
spire to levy war; and actually to levy war, are dis
| tinct ofenses."
devious would perhaps, not be sufficient: This
would be an equlyocal act and has no warhke ap-
pearance The meeting of particular bodies OF men
and their marching from places of partial to place
of general rendezvous, would be overt act"
4 secret meeting although that meeting be one
of conspirators, and although 1t met with treason
able intent is not actual ieVylDg OF war.
The distinctions thus drawn may be more briefly
stated in these words: A reasonable design unac-
companied or not followed by reasonable act, is
not treason. A conspiracy TO levy war IS not an
actual leyying of war. The assembling of men, or
an assemblage not in military array or IN an atti-
tude of war; will not be an overt act The Assem- bage
must be a WArIike acknowledgements be IN sufficient
force to have the appearance or posture OF war; or
must have resorted to forcible opposition, or must
have marched IN bodies or detachments towards
soma Mace of rendezvous, or done some other open
visible act of war, before the overt act has been
committed
On this point it is apprehended you will have very
little difficulty for when war actually exists, IN
ouires nto the precise steps, successfully taken,
f.om the inception of the reasonable design to the
overt act may be of less Importance than sn lnVes-
gation of the acts done towards carrying 1t on, or
in giving aid and comfort to the enemy, IN adheT-
ence TO his cause. When war exists, all who are
leagued in the general conspiracy and perform any
of the various and essential military parts OF prose
cutting it, are guilty of treason Thus, a commlssa,
nv who is at distance from the scene 81 active mil
tary operations, and who may never nave Deeh
nresent at any hostile assembage or even seen the
rebels IN camp or in military array, may, by fur
uishng supplies to the traitorous force as guilty
as if taken in battle with arms IN ms hands. 30
NAV il be with an officer commissioned to recruit,
who eulists and forwards men to fill the rebel
ranks or with any other person who voluntarily
furnishes them with money, arms ammunition, pro.
visions or supplies or who otherwise performs, II
he be leagued in the general scheme, ANY OF the
various or essential parts which in carrying on
war must be assigned to different individuals II
is necessary, however, that he should have been
leapued in the general conspiracy, and have also
nsrformed some part towards its prosecution; for
both the intent and act must exist or the crime has
| not been peruetrated-is not complete.
If the reasonable intent does exist, however the
overt act may consist not only In furnishing men,
money arms or provisions, but also IN giving lnteF
| ligence whereby the enemy may better conduct his
hostile movements be saved from reverses or aided
m his plans 1t obviously of great moment to be
accurately informed of the numbers and position OF
an opposing force and of their plan Of campaign or
/ intended movements. At times no more important
| aid can be given. Actual presence in the hostile
ranks may be of far less assistance to the foe than
a timely communication from distance concerning
| the movements of the opposing forces, whether ac-
| tual or contemplated.
| After war has been raised, then the plain duty Of
every one is to refrain from whatever acts can con
tribute to the enemys advantage or assistance. In
foreign wars all private communications, inter-
course and trade between the contendng nations are
interdicted but in insurrectonary movements those
| not leagued in the general conspiracy, or aiding
therein are not necessarily forbidden all private In
tercourse or trade with peaceful and patriotic cltl-
zens resident within the nsurrectOnary districts.
ITO advise or procure treason, Is IN nature u
conspirng or plotting treason which Is not treason
| in itself"
These suggestions will enable you to reach
| sound conclusion concerning every case brought
before you inylOvng the crime OF treason; il you
keen constantly IN MUD that there are two essential
elements of the otfence-the reasonable intention
and the overt act. You should also remember that
mere expressions Of opinion, or criticism upon pup
lie men and movements, however severe or UNJUST
or free discussion concerning public measures OF
policy or the peaceful advocacy OF erroneous doc
trines or the exercise of any other lawful right
pertaining to the privileges of citizenship does not
constitute treason in any legal sense OF the terni
and il is with treason in the legal sense only that
courts can deal.
In this connection your attention is called to the
second section of the act of Congress- the terms Oh
which sufficiently explicit to need no comment
{" If anv persons having knowledge of the com
mission of any of the treasons aforesaid, shall con-
ceal, and not as soon as may be disclose and make
known the same to the President OF the Cnted
States. or of the Judges thereof or 10 lhe
President or Governor of a particular state, or
some one of the Judges or Justices thereof: such
person or persons on conviction, shall be adJudgeu
guilty of misprisOn of treason
The Richmond correspondent of the Memphis AP
peal writes under date of the 10th: THE Postal De
partment, having been advised of the use Of the
Post Office at Cumberland Gap as a medium for the
exchange of reasonable correspondence with the
LINCoINTTEs, has removed the former Postmaster
and appointed in his stead gentleman by the name
of PATTERSON brother to the General OF that name
commanding a division in the Federal Army. The
new appointee is of character, intelligence
and probity, and withal devoted friend OF thu