Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1863-04-16

tely in every relation, arrested IN my own
State for no offenses known to any law
and without warrant, without commit.
ment, made to "eat the bread which cap
,ivcs' tears have watered" in every age
Of despotism. In the month of October
last / met three friends, distinguished cit
izehs of Indiana, who, six years ago,
served as Senators together in her Legis-
lature. / met them, sir, serving togeth.
or in the same prison term Of imprison.
ment which had no other duration or lin
it, no beginning or end, no other cause or
conclusion, no other condition or clcum.
stance to support it than tho mere arbi-
trary, unlawful unenligh.ened will Of the
man here in Washington city. Sir, as |
stood in their guarded room, listened to
the story of their wrongs, and looked out
upon the sunshine and the air-and the
flag of the white mans freedom floating
in the distance strange thoughts posses
sed my mind, and strange visions arose
before me. A new sensation penetrated
my heart. seemed to dwell for awhile
beneath the shadow of the Bastile, and
hear the cries and groans which finally
rent its walls. The dungeons of Austria
opened around me, and the prayers of
their victims for liberty seemed to fill all
space and all time. The damp vaults
of venice and the fearful cavcrns Of the
Spanish Inquisition yielded up their hor-
rible secrets. The Tower of London,
that melancholy tomb of genius and OF
beauty, the imperious form of Henry
} VIII, the headsman's axe, the rocking
block, all become distinct to my view
and | looked as it were, face to face in
to the frightful, appalling countcnance
Of tyranny. | studied its ferocious and
revolving features in the light of histori-
cal associations. But when | came to re
fleet on all this, and reason from cause to
effect, found that precisely the same ter
rible principle of oppression which has
disgraccd the past, and filled other coun
tries with tears and blood, was triumph
, ing in my very presence. | turned away
+ and took my "appeal from tyranny tc
? God"
But, sir, the people of this whole coun
held worse scenes than even all these en-.
t acted in our midst. This House has beer
invaded The principle of popular rep
r lesentation, on which the theory of this
7 Government is based, has been assailsd
, in the illegal and brutal arrest Of two
members Of the American Congress. -
The honorable gentleman from Maryland
+ Mr.. May, early fell a victim to the spir
it Of executive usurpation, which has since
! spread like an evil shadow over the en-
tire land. He had dared in an hour OF
: envenomened popular frenzy, to raise his
voice in this Hall and assert, in no sup
plant tones, his right as a representative.
He had dared to assert that the Consti-
tuition OF the country was binding in all
! its provisions, in time Of peace as well
as in time of war, and that his allegiance
was due to it and not to the party which
has assended into power by trampling it
under their feet In the exercise OF his
? undoubted prerogative as a legislator,
and in accordance with his sense OF
/ duty rs a citizen, he had brought for.
, ward measures here looking to spec ly
. and peaceful solution Of that unnatura
c strife which has turned our rivers to blooC
| and lined our once fraternal borders will
= u thousand miles Of grave yards--not The
$ sweet resting places of those who lie dowr
= to sleep together in peace at the close o
e happy lives, but where hostile specters
. will forever haunt the dismal scenes and
vcx the air with shrioks Of uniying hate
For those acts of duty as Representative
t and these acts alone, sir, tho honorable
gentlemon from Maryland was arrested
5 and made to feel the iron of helpless cap.
, tivity enter his soul The sanctuary OF
= his home was invaded at midnight, that
t tit hour for the assassination Of liberty,
g by an unknown band of armed men, who
1 searched every privacy of domestic life,
and then tore him with violence from a
| young and delicate family, with that tota!
Indifference to agony and despair which so
well becomes the calous of crime. lie
was thrust into prison, and became thG re-
cipicnt of all those odious indigntie5
which il is tho trade and calling OF ailorS
and turkeys to innict on noble minds and
exalted natures. lie languished inside OF
the bars Of iron aud the bayonot of sen.
tinels until the caprice Of the Executive
threw open the doors Of his cell and told
him to go. AS he was arrested without
charge guilty of no oilense, imprisoned
without authority of law, punished with
out trial, SO he was released from canhuc-
ment without an explanation and without
II hearing under the Constitution. This
case. in few brief sentences, comprises
the ultimate point of a wanton and reck
less despotism. And what | have said
of it applies in principle with the same
force to the case Of the honorable gentle
man from Illinois. Mr.. Allen. Both are
representatives of the people on this floor
and both havo been subjected to punish
ment due alone to criminals by the arbi-
trary and lawless edict of one man for
the exercise of their opinions.
Sir, do we live in Il Republic or an alb
solute monarchy Is this an American
Congress or Roman Senate in the most
abject days of tho Roman Empire ? Is
this an assembly of Freemcn or French
assembly in the days of Louis XIV? How
much moro are we expected to bear .
What deeper degradation is to be inllic-
ted on us? If ono member Of this body
can be arrested for his opinions and made
to feed on the damp vapors Of living
t tomb during the pleasure Of tho Exccn,
tive, so can all the rest of us who do not
with bated breath and words of whispnr.