Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1862-01-08

issue OF the present great conflict in ,S may be the
Ne shall m the end be in any even, e battlefield
sent the SAD spectacle of State tbror;.' and pre-
iloerres ID struggle to preserve tbenio away its
Vi tne contagious example Of III angry
anseM aWay tneirS to give vigor to tbe;r ensny
ah,.e sncy,pt;. protest against it as aross
ABUSE, amounting IN effect TO usurn,,n. 40 gross
AS dangerous device by which i. f SsN OF power
any time peTVert the government "a e'oh may at
INTO ofigarchy protest against Il :; uansmute it
reiig'ous freedom and domestic .,;.. !he name of
OF that CIVIL liberty which is our h;r,b,m 'ne name
oeen the inheritance of our ancestors ana has
u,eu years protest against il As wo.i nt nun
ie weapon OIL defence calculated onIv to Gnu l'
iat;or ny ourselves, andtO bring onr Leg
la'loh INTO rideule and disrespect at So ieeis
abroad, and degrade our citizens in ~. nome and
teei-as an ohiciouS intermeddl;nc ~ own eS-
vince OF the Congress of the Conedepo,o 'le pro-
ioei upon the people we represent ULe eaIeS|as
"y' patience, perseverance, self denial ooie
~ IN tins contest deserve all praise anu brave
passage oil snch measure and ito on,,ael eas' 'he
s"o statute oooS, IN the present times al On
niore II, the future, in all historical ntsrnH
s.'as eonstfueu 10 imply an imputaton Of a;J"
ui'ahection protest against it 6n.lI r
initation OF Northern dcspotiSD- as an
iouei-no other State of the South hayinp 10
su.h an 'aea, though IN several of them esa
hot only IS rlie but treason stalks abroad j.;
nut Tue committee plants itself on a precadsnt -
an ACT OF the General Assembly of l777 80 . III
an lhe material parts of this Ordinance ara a:y
run tnat act. Precedents in the pleadinps of Tho
are Said 10 De dangerous things if one doos nv
naJor,n W III up Inc blanks and statutory pre-
- >oi:s: equdhy ialuoie and deceptive as ruides
10 political action If We shut our ewes 70 ~
cums'ances and surroundings of bistoricaJ f",,
Whlch distinguish former times from on o,r az
ne inquire Oh the committee whose chairman boIJS
'en Juuiclal station, whether this Ordinance 6ooo
not contraVene the Bill of Rights and Coma ao.s
III the particulars have Enumerated and e ~ -
"hetner similar act, passed in I777 bv tho c.
eiai ASSEMBLY, did not equally contrayene it-and
a an ac1 OF the General Assembly does come in
u :; III: the constitution which is to give way?
he 10 oplSeo to answer, tie act of Assemble of
course. But it was not so understood :; ~
Inc opinion seems to have prevailed then and f,r
years afterwards, that the General Assembly was 90
omi potent as the British Parliament, and when in
1'oo' the courts of justice decided an act of tho
Legislature TO be unconstitutional, it produced
great SHOCK IN the minds of highly intelligent men.
ln's ae1 OF i777, which undertook to Danish free
men VINO were inhabitants of the State at the adam
t!oii VI the constitution, or to deprive them of the
rght OF suffrage if they refused to take an oath of
allegiance, was clearly unconstitutional not ONLY N
inc points already specified but in assuming TO take
away the right OF suffrage in the face of the uroyi
SION OF the Constitution declaring that all freemen
Il years of age, who have been inhabitants cor-
tam time, and paid public taxes, shall exercise it
bur- waving the Constitutional question, the sit
uaton OF our ancestors IN 1907, differed essen
tally from ours at this time in MANY particulars n
their disadvantage and in the poverty of their re-
sources, and rewards of their experiment it shoud
not surprize US that they laid hold of test oath as
weapon with which bigotry and arbitrary power
had sought to fortify themselves in Europe hopinp
they could render it useful in the defence of free
dom here They may possibly have thought that
as allegiance under monarchy is considered due tn
the person OF the sovereign, it might still lineer in
the breasts of some, and that this violent remedy
should be resorted to for its expulsion But be-
fore We are called on to follow this as precedent II
should be shown from subsequent history that it
was of some avail in the contest 1t was provided
In the act that the name of every person taking it
should be subscribed in book to be deposited in
the Office of the Clerk of the County Court. Who
has ever seen sucha book The honorable gentleman
from Mecklenburg Mr.. Osborne who has Just taken
his seat has made considerable researches in the
public papers of his county, which is one of histori-
cal renown has he ever found such book? Have
you, Sir, or any other gentleman here! One of two
conclusions is certain. Either that there was no
general attempt to exact such oath, which is the
more probable; or, that if exacted it had not the
least effect. For when the British invaded the State
in 17S0-81, the Tories rose in those sections where
they were known to be in the outset of the war,
and in other. The act was therefore, as charac-
-teriZed by the gentleman from Richmond MIR.
Leake brutuna tutnaea, producing no eicacious re-
suit With the men of 1776-7, there was a total
change of government, and of the administration of
government With them "Old things had passed
away and all things had become new" There was
no general government on which to rely for gen.
eral defence and welfare. The States were united
only by certain articles of association. And in
North Carolina State government just formed,
with no laws or officers to administer them, except
what they enacted and appointed in the pressure of
the emergency, was their sole reliance in general
and domestic concerns. They had to provide for
treason sedition, and every crime in the calendar,
and it is in statute concerning treason that the
committee has found the model of this ordinance.
Now, Sir, if so much weight is due to precedent,
why not reenact the whole statute, that part which
relates to treason well miSprisiOn of treason
and test oahs? That is the only part of the statute
that we have heard of being put into execution.
The Tory Colonel Bryan was tried for treason, and
convicted, / presume, under this statute But
he had a trial by due course of law. He was not
called on to furnish evidence against himself by a
test oath, and he was defended by Davie, who had
slaughtered large part of his regiment in battle,
but who, after the example Of John Adams, in de-
Tending the British soldiers who fred the multi
tude in the streets of Boston, was equally firm IN
asserting all his rights of defence, criminal
But who heard of trial for misprision of trea
son or sedition the general enforcement of test
oath upon any but suspected persons The keyo-
luton of the Goth of May last was under wholly
different circumstances What our fathers did in
weakness we have done in strength In the State
government. with the same Constitution, the same
laws. the same officers in all its departments and
rami6cations, there has been no change that would
cause ripple on the surface of the waters. The
ship of State has sailed in her great career of
Justice, without reefng sail or changing a spar.
In national affairs the difference is still more re-
markable. Instead of no general government, and
dependence on the discordant legislation of thr-
teen States, we find Constitution of national gov
eminent copied almost literally from the Constitu-
ton of the United States in full and vigorous oper-
alton, with President Congress and Judiciary, de.
Tending our cause with an army, in effectiveness, if
not in numbers, such as the populous North never
found on the Rhine or the Danube, or the sunny
plains of Italy-with treason defned in the Consti-
tuition for the security of the citizen well as safe
ty to the government-with the possible power to