Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1862-12-05
The nrutalties OF Fanatlcism


When the smoke Of this conflict shall have
cleared away--when results shall become an.
alyzed, and details be brought out prominent.
ly--there will be exhibited picture, or rather
pictures, which will make every man net
beast blush to own the name Of American.
Occasionally a tale Of brutality and fearful
crime comes 10 our ears amid the lulls OF the
fercer storm--tales which we hear in credulous-
ly, unwilling to believe that the hearts Of men,
having passions like to US, claiming common
origin, protesting common faith, are so dam
naby cruel and wicked.
The execution, nearlyla month ago, Of ten
Missourians by order of Gen. Mcneil, in pen.
atty Of the continued and supposed forei-
bic detention of a citizen Of Palmyra, was one
Of the ssddest Of all. Ten men led deliber-
Rtely forth, faced by ten other men with
loaded muskets and sent with hardly d word
Of warning into the presence Of their Maker
SsVea Of them being only wounded, were dis.
patched by revolyers-by men, great Heavens
standing over them as they writhed in the ag,
onies Of their wounds, so close to them that
their breath must have obscured the polish Of
their steel, and with deliberate aim swapping
the pistols in their faces, What acts-what
gloriss as u nation to be hereafter won, shall
eface the picture Of these seven men, fast
quitting the feeble hold of life showed over the
brink Of eternity by the brutality Of their feL
lows. a...
Look at the Kennedy, holding the key in
his hand which has turned the lock on come
inmate of "cell number A" screaming from
agony inflicted by the countless Yermin which
swarm this cell, and he gloating over the re-
vengs which power had made possible to him.
And then too, the numberless apartments Of
the many Government PRISONS where scores
Of old and young men are dying daily in sol-
tary confinement Mutely peering in the dark
ness tot some little ray of light, mechanically
eating the food which ii is almost inhuman to
give them, for it but prolongs sufferiAgs which
are we'll nigh inlplsrahle, none eogniEant Of
Of their condition or their fete but their Crea-
tor and their ppressors--what shall wips out
these atroeious wrongs9 ,eirt 500 - railRat
| Last winter there was confined in the Jail
at Columbia, Missouri, by order Of some one
of the petty despots who alternately rule and
ruin portions of Missouri, one Captain Wat.
son. Thrown on the stone door Of the cell
bound to il by shackles passed around biz
wrists, without spark OF IRE, he was doomed
to lay. The fetters which bound him actual.
ly fross The flesh 10 the bone. agm 1A ~
/ DR. 0lds yet tenants some damp and loath,
some apartment of Fort Lafayette The
Bible is oil that is vouchsafed to him to wear
away the hours Of cruel, q caubelsss captiy
ity. He has prayed for a trial, for an exam
ination, he has begged the powers which rHls
to try him, execute him, or fail to prove him
guilty and free him, but II refuses. An old
man whose sands Of life are well nigh spent
he asks in loercy the right which Is ACCORDED
to the paraeide Bat all in vain. He maj
in the dungeon or, surviving the term o
his captivity, he may endure thereafter q liy
ing DEATH is all one to those authoritiei
who, behind some official designation ofderdt
the despotic incarceration The enthoritis
that we are called upon TO support, the soure'
Of all the power, which armed in, the nam
Of government inficts these ogtTage,
should We tolerate them, should We hesitAt
, TO denounoe, or more than that, should We
1 with unstinted praise that should blister th
lip that uiters i, give them support ~ ni 81
Whatever others may do, a. for us sbe iSil
nepsr do a. We cApnot stop bur aAra :
/. these tales il We would We cannot steel ou
!, hearts TO humanity, nor can we bar dawn =
!, bPnsst indig9aaon; We do net hesitate I
l. say that fOF ths light which il has, the blaz
|. 4 of civilization which the hineteenth esntur
q lhrowa upon i, i Is, OF all the pOwefs, .
n Il which, in history or tradition, We have eve
4 read the most cruel and bAFbAFoaa rs. Rattle
than support il We would meet death with
zeal which would shame the variest bigat tbs
ever lived. dubuque Herald ned lsM z
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