Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1863-05-27
Gov. Seymour's Vallandigham Letter.
- Tie text of the letter of Gov. SRyMouR,


The tex. OF the letter OF Gov. SEYMOUR,
of New YORK, to the meeting of VALLAN-
DiGRAN sy mpathisers, held ia Albany last
Saturday evening, will be found below.
1t shows where the heart of the man is.
W hen traitors were Selling tie forts and
arsenals of the United States, when trail
tors stood up in Congress and announced
the dissolution of the Union, when States
declared themselves out Of the Union,
when bands of armed men organized in
the very purlieus of the National Capitol
to assasslnate the constitutionally elected
President, no voice of warning or reproval
was heard from HoRATIo SEYMOUR. But
now in the midst of life-and-death strug-
gle for national existence, when man
is arrested for counseling resistance to the
military authorities, and attempting to
excite hostility to further effort to put
down the rebellion, this tase and con-
temptible political. demagogue hastens to
express his sympathy with the offender,
and to encourage others to initiate his ex-
| ample:
STATE OF NEW o1iH.x, EXECUTIVE Dept,
ALBANY, May Is, 1868.
/ cannot attend the meeting at the Cap
itol this evening, but | wish to state my
| opinion In regard to the arrest OF Mr.
Vallandigham.
1t Is an act which has brought dishon-
CT upon our country it Is full OF danger
to our persons and to our homes: 1t bears
| upon It's front a conscious violation OF law
and Of Justice. Acting upon the evidence
! of detailed lnformers, shrinking from the
! light OF day In the darkness of night,
armed men violated the home OF Ameri-
can citizen, aud turtively bore him away
to military trial conducted without
those safeguards known in the proceedings
of our judicial tribunals.
The transaction involved series of Of
| fences against our most sacred rights 1t
interfered With the freedom of speech it
violated OR rights to be secure in our
homes against unreasonable searches and
seizures il pronounced sentence without
a trial, save one which vas mockery,
which insnted as well as wronged. The
perpetrators now seek to impose punish-
ment, not for an offence against law, but
for disregard OF an invalid order, put
forth in an utter disregard of principles
of civil librty. If this proceeding is APP
proved by The Government and sanctioned
by the people, It is not merely step to-
wards revolution, it is revolution it will
| not only lead to military despotism, it es
tablishes military despotism. In this as
pect it must be accepted, or IN this as
pect it must be rejected.
Ii it is upheld, our liberties are over
thrown. The safety of our persons, the
security of our property will hereafter de-
pend upon the arbitrary wills of such mil
ltary rulers as may be placed over Us,
while our constitutional guarantees will be
broken down. Even now the Governors
and Courts of some of the great Western
| States haze sunk into insignificance before
the aespCtic powers clai med ami exercised
by military men who have been sent into
their borders, 1t is fearful thing to in
crease the danger which now overhangs
Us, by treating the law, the Judiciary and
the authorities of States with contempt
The people of this country now wait with
the deepest anxiety the decisions of the
Administration upon these acts. Having
| given il 8 generous support in the conduct
! OF the war, zoe n0t0 pause TO see what kind
of Government it is for which we are
asked to pour out our blood and our
treasures.
The action of the administration will
| determine in the minds of more than one
half of the people of the loyal States
whether this warts waged to 0uL d01on re-
6elIion at the South, or to destroy free an.
stitutions at the North. We look for its
decision with the most solemn solicitude.
HoRATIo SEYMOUR.
To Peter Cagger, Solmon F. Higgins,
Era5tus Corning, Jr., Committee.
The Albany Journal, paper that has
treated Gov. SEYMOUR with much more
lenience than he deserves, is constrained
to protest against the infamous nature of
this letter. It's language, though mild,
conveys just and severe rebuke. IL
says: "This is not the language of IN
conditional patriotism for it makes
support of the Government and prosecu-
ton of the war for the suppression of the
rebellion contingent upon the decision of
an individual. Whether the President
shall act wisely or unwisely in this case of
! VALLANDIGHAN, cannot affect the question
of the restoration of the Union. In as
Stunning that it will, Gov. SEYMOUR reveals
more of the partizan than the patriot, and
| insults the common sense as well as the
loyalty of the people. He, and those who
| think with him, may pause while the
| bloody hand of rebellion is at the throat
of the nation, but they will pause alone.
The loyal people will know no pause I'M
| til the rebellion is put down and the
! Union restored.
g But His Excellency not only pauses
! bat threatens. If VALLANDIGHAM, the
contrere of BRECKINRIDGE, and the pimp
and pet OF the whole tribe OF traitors, is
not released, then, according to Gov.
| SEYMOUR, the war will be deemed war
to destroy free Institutions at the
North and, that event, of course, the
war will be opposed Thus, His Excel
leney makes the fate of the Union hang
upon the decision of the President in the
case of NALLANDIGHAM. This is neither
Craftsmanship nor Patriotism. If the