The southern aegis, and Harford County intelligencer., 1863-07-31

barbaric ages RACES in several OF the
States Of the Union, as. its more immedi-
ate field, and casts the lurid shadow of
its death and lamentation -athwart, the
the whole expanse, and into every nook
and corner of our vast domain. Nor is
that all for in those of the States which
are exempt from the actual ravages Of
war, in which the roar of the cannon, and
the rattle of the musketry, and the groans
of the dying are heard but as q faint echo
of terror from other lands, even here In
the loyal States, the mailed hand of mill
tary usurpation strikes down the liberties
of the people, and its foot tratnples des-
ecrated Consultation, Aye, in this land
of free thought, free speech, and free
writing-in this Republic Of free suffrage,
with liberty Of thought and expression as
the very essence of republican institutions
-even here, in these free States, it is
made criminal for citizen-soldier-like
gallant Edgerly, Of New Hampshire-to
vote according to his conscience; or like
that noble martyr of free speech, Vallan.
digham, to discuss public affairs in Ohio
(applauseD aye, even here, the temporary
agents of the sovereign people, transitory
administrators Of the Government, tell us
that in time of war the mere arbitrary will
Of the President stakes the place of the
Constitution, and the President himself
announces to us that it is reasonable to
speak or to write otherwise than as he
may prescribe; nay, thateit is reasonable
even to be silent though we be struck
dumb by the shock of the calamities with
which evil counsels,, incompetency and
corruption have overwhelmed our country!
(Applause.) I will not say this without
referring to the authority upon which l
rely In his letter of June II, 1868, ad.
dressed to Erastus Corning and other citi-
zens Of the State Of New York, the Presi-
dent makes use of the following extraordi-@
nary language:
| 'Indeed, arrests by process of courts,
and arrests in cases of rebellion, do not
proceed altogether upon the same basis. .-i
| The former is directed at the small per
centage of ordinary and continuous pcrpe-
tration of crime, while the latter is direct
ed at sudden and extensive.upfising against
the Government, which at most will sue
ceed or fail in no great length of time
In the latter case, arrests are made, not
so much for what has been done as for.
what probably would be done. (Laugh- :
ter and applause.) The latter is more for
the preventive and less for The vindictive
than the former. In such cases the pur-
poses OF men are much more easily under
stood than in cases Of ordinary crime
The man who stands by and says nothing
when the peril of his Government is dis
cussed cannot be misunderstood. (Laugh-
ter) lie not hindered, he is Sure to help
the enemy; much more if he talks am,
biguously-t talks for his country with
butts and 'ifs' and 'ands..'" u l'i,.'s ..,.'
1t seems by this letter, at least, that
there is no longer doubt as to where the
responsibility Of those unconstitutional acts
of the last two years, perpetrated BY In
subordinate officers of the Federal Gov
ernment, both civil and military, properly"
attaches; but who, I ask, has clothed the
President with power to dictate to any Of
us. when we must Or when we may speak,
or be silent upon any subject, and espe-
cially in relation to the conduct of any
lpublic servant? BY what right does he pre-.
sumo toprescribe o formula Of language for
your lips or mine? II seems incredible, and
even with this authenticated paper before
u.s. Is amazing, that any such sentiment
lshould have found utterance FROM the