The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-11-12

upon them with other feelings than those
Of horror and alarm. t8
The resort, rs il In scorn Of common
sense, TO the declaration of martial law
Tor the whele extent Of wholly loyal
States, is proving, in my opinion, The
most fruitful source Of dissatisfaction.
Resorted TO without necessity, in whole
States, even by Brigadier Generals. il is
a deprivation Of liberty, against which
the public mind instinctivelv revoIts II
indicts the laws, and even the Constitu-
ton, az worthless and impotent, and inn
peaches the civil magistrates as income
petent or corrupt, II makes, in Arkansas,
an obscure person, suddenly elevated to
be Provost Marshal, the arbiter Of mems
fate, the law maker, The judge, and exc
cuiioner. Men, begin to ask themselves.
il they dare not ask it OF others. even In
a whisper, lest the whisper should be
heard, whetherpolitioal freedom, only to
be thus obtained, is worth the sacrifice
ofImanhood and independence at once y
TO substitute an irresponsible and I'M
guarded military despotism in place of
the Constitution, the laws, and the courts
of justice, is like en- unjust cause. II
"reconciles men to desertion, sacrifices
want Of zeal and is pretext for cowar-
dice. II renders 'hardships more irk-
some, dangers more obnoxious, end glory
less satisfactory to the mind Of the sol
der" eaa t4fIi3dl4i- BOD BRAID
I. The swiftness with which men applaud
the unnecessary and insolent substitution
Of armed violence for the peaceful sway Of
the law and the wholesome vigor of the
civil tribunals, is most evil symptom,
indicating the ivirulence Of the disease
within. Itcannot but tend to make the
people think their cause is desperate,
when such desperate remedies are re-
sorted to, and received with unbounded
appreciation Nlai4lH alpaiiD9qs q
But the sway of martial law never is
for any length of time wisely adapted
to circumstances" 1t remains, after all,
but the absolute despotism of one man,
with no other guide or rule for his con-
duct than his own will. No man can
define what martial law is, or what its
boundaries are. No man ever attempts
to do it. When power, unbridled and
uncontrolled by Constitution, Bill of
Rights, Law, Usage or Custom, is placed
in the hands of one single man, il is too
generally the case that he is found to
mistake violence for energy, and prefer
the display of petty power to the inter-
| ests of the common cause.
| When the Portuguese Regency wished
\ Lord Wellington TO take the punishment
/ of offenders into his own hands, 81 he in
formed them that, although. he advised
| the adoption of severe measures, he
would not be made the despotic punisher
of the people, while the actual laws were
sufficient for thatpurpose."
"a system of terror has always been
the resource Of those leaders, who, being
engaged in great undertakings, were I'M
able to recur to discipline. Enthusiasm
stalked in front of their bands, but pun
ishment brought up the rear" And
human nature must have become some
thing that it never has been heretofore, if
a life Of toll and danger, repeated defeats,
the depreciation Of money, the scarcity
and high price of the most necessary
supplies, the weight of the burthen OF
eacn and all made ten fold heavier by the
discomfort Of the people at the sudden
birth of a whole brood OF local despo-
tisms, abridging all their civil and many
of their natural rights at once, do not
soon abate their desire TO continue the
struggle, and inactivity become the sign
of subsection.
AS citizen Of Arkansas, with every
thing | have on earth at stake in this
) controversy, and as the leader Of force
of Indians, scaffold in perspective, in
case Of our failure, protest against these
great wrongs. For the sake of the coun.
try, of the honest, trusting, patriotic
suffering people; for the sake Of liberty
strangled, like LAGOON, by military des.
potism; for the sake of the dignity o.
} human nature itself, beg the President
, in the name Of thousands upon thou.
sands, who dare not lift their voices il
! condemnation or protest, not only TO an.
null all these illegal and arbitrary mea'
sures everywhere, but to mark them will
his signal disapprobation. For IL il
most certain that by and by The people
will regain their reason, will claim thu
/, protestion Of the Constitution and The
! magistrates sworn 10 defend IL, and will
become alive to the great truth, which
now seems almost obsolete, that the way
; to Liberty does not run by the road q
slavery.
/ am, with the greatest respect, th
, Presidents most obedient servant,
ALBERT PIKE.