Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1862-05-22
Sir, no jdrist yet has had the folly to at

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and 80 no statesman will attempt TO limit
/ the power that nation may use when the
4 life Of the nation is assailed There is no
limit to It. Yor have right to 90 forward
in an individual case 10 your might; and il
your life is. sought, any force, any power,
anything that you may do honestly in de-
fence of your own life, the law pronounces a
justifable act. SO, when the life Of the
nation is assailed by vile traitors embodied
in military array for its destruction, they
pre- beyond all law, they have repudiated all
law, and the nation, in defence Of its Con-
stitution, its Union, and its flag, may resort
to any means that God Almighty has put
into their hands honestly to maintain their
constitutional rights. know very well
that small lawyers may get up on these
great questions Of craftsmanship and petit.
fog as man would to screen felon before
a justice of the peace, aud place his argu-
meDts on those narrow principles of consti-
tutional law. He may require all the pre-
sumptions of innocence that are so often re-
sorted to to shield culprit from the punish
ment of his crime. 1t is done here. But,
sir, the man whose life is assailed does not
summon jury, and the nation whose life is
assailed by traitors need not summon jury.
All you want is the power, honestly exer-
cised, to put it down.
Sir, am tired of hearing these arguments
in favor Of traitors. The Constitution takes
their lives, their property, their all. Why
shall we stop short? Are they not in quest
of ours? If there is any stain on the pres
ent Administration: it is that they have
been weak enough to deal too leniently with
these traitors. know it sprung from good
ness Of heart; it sprung from the best of
motives; but, sir, as method of putting
down this rebellion, mercy to traitors is
cruelty to loyal men. Look into the seeded
States, and see thousands of loyal men there
coerced into their armies to run the hazard
Of their lives, and placed in the damnable
position of perjured traitors by force of arms
If there is man there bold enough to main
tain his integrity in the face of these inter-
nal powers, do they scruple to take his life
bis property, his all 4? Sir, BY your merci.
full course you have paid premium to trea-
son, and made it almost impossible that a
loyal man in the seeded States can main
tain himself at all. Those States are over
run frequently by lawless bands of rebels,
who do not scruple one moment to take their
property and their lives, and treat them
with every indgnity and every cruelty that
a perverse ingenuity can invent but, on the
other hand, when our armies come along
there they deal quite as leniently with the
traitor as with the loyal man. What teaches
human nature? A man. having solely a
regard to his sef:interest, living in one ol
those communities, will undoubtedly reason
thus: Il must profess to be traitor;
must Co operate with them, for it their law
less bands overrun the country inhabit, il
\. Y II
the old Constitution and the old flag, | shal
lose not only my life, but all possess; while
on the other hand, il the Federal force:
overrun the country, they are so lenient
that, even proiessed traitor as | am, they
will respect not only my life, but my proper.
ty, and all have" Sir the rule is as i'm,
polite as it is unjust. You should carry
the avenging sword along with your armies,
and smite traitors and smite treason, and
put it down, and yield protection to honest,
loyal men. Until you adopt that course,
you will war in vain. Mr.. President, fol-
one, say let us go forward against treason
and traitors; let us put down this rebellion
at all hazards. If, in doing SO, your darling
institution must go under, shall not regret
it, lift must come to this, that the Union
and slavery cannot live together, let slavery
die the death, for the Constitution, the
Union, and the time honored old flag shall
live forever.
Sir, i have been in the Senate for some
!, considerable time, and should have been
an exceedingly dull man if | had not learned
the course of defence that is constantly SCI
up here for those who have assailed the in
stitutions of our country. There is an un
varying course of remark that they indulge
in, so that no man need be mistaken as t.
n what they intend. Those who assail the
Administration on account of what they call
tyranny to men sympathizing with traitors,
never to my knowledge, open their mouths
on this floor in condemnation OF the mer
who have risen in arms and are endeavorine
to murder your Constitution and your Gov
, ernment. Towards them they are as milo
as sucking doves. You will find one gener
al ear mark among them all and that is t.
assail those who are opposed to traitors ant
, endeayor to bring them to condign punish
: ment but you will never hear a lisp from
one of their mouths in opposition to thu
men who are now with arms in their hand:
assailing our institutions and our Govern
, ment. While the Senator, in his long anC
, elaborate speech, has accused everybody
else, have you heard n word from his moutl
= against the men who are now in arms en-
QcaVOfluB 10 ONeTtiTtW yOui
Not one syllable Sir, you may know a
, these men from this circumstance: they ar
! the men who cry peace, peace, when the
r know there can be no honorable peace. :
: Since the Senator--if the papers report hin
4 Alright and see no contradiction of it
\ descended from his honorable position o
z this floor and went into secret conclave witt
: those who sympathize with traitors for tn
. avowed purpose of reconstructing the Dem
:, ocratic party, he and all those who cooper
; ate with him throughout, the land hav
!. violently assailed the administration Of th
;. Government, and especially are they OF
!. posed to the proceedings of the Secretary c
|. War There is a premeditated attack
|, the whole party upon the Administration
v In the FIRST place, they assail them as ty
n rants as oppressors, as Constitution breal
. ers and externally, out of this circle, the
!. are arraigning those who have acted in th
v Administration before eyourjudicial tribunal
!. Witness the late attack upon our late Sc
If retary Of War, General Cameron. 1t Is b,
,s the commencement of proceedings wei! III
4 derstood by that party in order to assail an
4 to iutmsidate the agents Of the Governmer
IA through lhe Judiciary, to overawe them,
!. prevent them doing their stern duty !
= fiN.. - l.Ea,;no Iounpoeai that thev wl