Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1862-01-08

Congress would as soon think of repeating the Con-
stitvcn, - olvIng ,ato state Of chaos, as to
undsytake His process Of tie polling and purgaton
\ II t. who'll people Nor hss any other State pro.
SosSd or cceiyed it They know, that ifserious dis
a6eS9on DIS not exist, las evesy one knows it does
not III Apsth Carolina this lisa way in which the gov
ernment may readily be brought into contempt and
collision with the people, and that if it did, this is
| not the mode in which to deal with it Lord Ma.
cauley relates Of Charles IT, that he never learned
how to treat an insurrectiop, which common ssnse
aches should be, by taking hold Of the ring leaders
/ and making examples Of then, but that on the
happening Of such an occurreaSe, he seized, tried
and executed the unhappy insurgents, Of all ages
and sexes and while his serve and tyrannical chief
justice, Jefries, went the circuits pervertng the
law for the condemnation Of all accused the merry
monarch diverted himself among his mistreSses and
courtiers by speaking Of them as Jefries campaign
Sir. the progress Of your justices under this ordi-
| nance, abjuring men and boys, without regard to
the aged, the decrepid, the halt MANNED or blind
under terror of exile degradation from the proud
privileges Of citizenship, will be looked upon by
those who have the instincts, not to say knowledge
Of freemen, as no less Of campaigns; and with no
view to favor the public enemy but to assert their
self respect and dignity, they will strive to hurl
from power the authority under which they are
made. What. Sir, is such proceeding but the e.
adjustment Of martial Law throughout the length
ana breadth OF the State, by which the peaceful cit
izen is invaded in his home and his conscience and
placed upon the footing of the inhabitant of be-
sieged city or fortress, coTquereer .-l
| dued rebellious province? A Roman ro-consul,
British colonial Governor or successful General in
! the armies Of Abraham LINCOLN with an oyerwheln
| ing force and but feeble resistance, may adopt
\ measures Of such dctatoria severity and rigor-
:,,co. 4 al. m
| powering the Regulators at Alamance, marched a
military force into many of the upper counties of
the then province, and exaed from the inhabitants
oath Of aleyiance to the King at the point Of the
bayonet Gen. Dix, also, upon his recent conquest
of the two counties the eastern shore of Virginia
condescended to advertise their helpless citizens.
that If they would take the path of allegiance to the
United States, they should receive every protection,
and their property should nDt be confscated. This
was sufficient hint what consequences would fol-
| low ifthey did not But Who before ever heard of
government protesting toI be free, undertaking to
drive from its borders dsfanch:se its whole pop
ulaton. if they would not man by man, submit to
| the ordeal ofa compulsory test oath? Nay, what
arbitrary despotism in domestic rule ever en-
barked in any such enterprise of Qulxotic absurd.
ity! Was it attempted I'M France under the first
Napoleon or under the third? Even in the widest
excesses OF her revolutionary phrenzy, there
| to have been sufficient common sense left to the
ruling authorities to enable them to recolect that
human law is the rule of civil conduct" not of
Jaith, and that only bgotry and fanatcism will at
tempt to regulate conscience and opinion in govern
ment or in religion. Charles ", Emperor of Ger
many and of Spaiu after waging for years the most
bloody and relentless wars to put down Luther and
the Reformation, becoming stated with carnage, and
disguised with the pageantry of monarchy, yielded
up the rens of power to his son. and retired to mo-
mastery. There, he amused his leisure in scientific
! studies, and In experiments upon instruments for
measuring time. But by no diligence or skill was
he ever able to make two clocks run alike This.
says his b:ographer, Dr. Robertson, saddened his
soul with remorseful reflection upon his previous
lie, IN which he had caused rivers of blood to flow
IN vain and wicked efforts to compel men to think
alike This simple anecdote, which is but an illus
traiion OF all human experience, proves the futilty
! and impossbility of controlling thought ard opin-
| ION ana tnat those governments only are wise
that leave the mind and conscience free and are
content With conformity to their behests in action.
| VI toe one hundred and twenty thousand voters in
the State, how many in the eighty-ive years Of its
independence have taken oath to the State or to
the United States during cur connection with thai
| government Those who have filled office and ex-
ercised portion of the sovereign power as magis-
trates or constables, or in higher stations, have
been Obliged, and properly too to swear fidelity to
great mass Of the people, if they have not literally
kept the Scriptural injunction to "swear not at all"
1t has not been by reason of any oath of fealty I'M
posed by public authority. And the inquiry will
naturally be made, where is the necessity for this
! novel and most extraordinary proceeding? The
Legislature has been twice convened in extra ses-
sion since the breaking out of the present war; and
| has considered and adopted all such measures as
they deemed necessary TO the public safety or de-
m men rOfni IN
contemplation of the crisis seems to have thought
OF test oath, forced upon all the people, under ter
ror of exile or loss of privilege, as among these
measures. Caesar Augustus sent out decree that
all the world should be taxed. The North-Carolin
Convention is asked to send out decree that all the
world shall be sworn. There is virtue in taxation
| Money is the snew Of war-but what nation was
ever defended by oaths, -oaths Imposed on its own
people without distinction, espeefslif when the al
| tentative was Punishment q dtgfadatifssF )
MIR. President to say of Ms Esassst tho n is.
absurd and calculated to bgiaEndimls oasour icfs.
lation, and that it is unnecessary and viii be Hbl.
ly Intellectual, if necessary, AasmaeksSs fojed
oath is we'll understood to he no oath III the sigh OF
man or his Maker, is but to characterize its lore
| If not at home, II will be regarded as The offsrtng
of fear: 1t will beargued and the hypothesis ca not
be resisted, that proceeding universal, so nu-
sua so searching SO destructive of personal freedom
and dangerous to public liberty, would not be rkort
ed to except in State where public sentimcrj wa,
suppressed by the high hand of force, and sdse Of
danger had driven the government to desperation.
In that aspect no measure could give greater e,-
couragement to the enemy, and no libel could moe
deeply wound the sensibilites of the peoplo of he
State. or do them more gross injustice. They hve
|