Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-04-20

OLON4MCl = - ~ ~ - IL W4Ar IL '
again res0und with the voice of liberty. Let the
hctors advance and bind us with cords and scourge
us in the open marketplaces as the unworthy
successors of a nobler and prouder race. Let the
pilgrim of future times visit not this dishonored
Hall, bat 60 and linger IN the old and deserted
one, and draw inspiration from the glorious mem
ories which hover over it. The voices of the
mighty dead, in behalf of freedom of opinion,
freedom of speech, freedom Of the press, and the
supremacy Of the Constitution, vet seem to echo
from its venerable walls; and its place in the bis
tory Of the progress of liberty is as secure as the
battlefield Of Bunker Hill.
Sir, am / to be told that there was cause for
the arrest aud imprisonment of these gentleuen!
Who dares to say sol Why were they not frled
for their ~offenses, and if guilty, punisheda Who
viii assert that the thousands who have been
imprisoned without authority of law and dis
charged without trial were criminals If they
were a double infamy awaits the Executive and
the agents of his usurpations, for lberating upon
society unprecedented and UNPUBLISHED offenders
against the laws. If they are the dangerous
criminals which they are daily described to be,
then this Administration has coruptly COM
pounded with felony, and made itself a party to
treason by refusing to bring them to justice, even
when the criminals themselves protested against
being liberated without a trial. BRt, sir, / deny
their guilt in every instance; and in doing so, |
plant myself on the plain precepts of the laws of
God and man. have but little indulgence for
this constant assumption of guilt against citizens
who have courted trials, and whom you have not
dared to try. The assumptions are all in favor
of innocence where Just laws prevail. They are
in favor Of guilt before trial only in the minds of
tyrants. But whether guilty or innocent, not
one single provision Of the Constitution has at
any time or place been complied with IN the
treatment of citizens arrested by Government
officials.
In violation of the Constitution, American citi-
zens have been al rested for using the freedom of
speech.
In violation of the Constitution their houses
have been forcibIy entered.
In violation of the Constitution, their papers
have been searched.
In violation of the Constitution, their persons
have been seized with armed violence.
In violation of the Constitution, they have
been deprived of liberty without due process of
law.
In violation of the Constitution, they have
been held to answer infamous accusations
without presentment or Indictment of a grand
jury.
In violation of the Constitution, they have
been denied the right to a speedy and public
trial by an impartial jury.
In violation of the Constitution, they have
been carried out of the State and district in
which their offenses, if any, were committed.
In violation of the Constitution, thew have
been kept in ignorance of the nature and cause
of the accusations against them.
In violation of the Constitution, they have
not been confronted with the witnesses against
them.
And, in most supreme and wicked violation
of the Constitution, they have been denied coun-
sci for their defense, and informed, in all the
i~nsolence of a ~fanatical disregard of every prin-
ciple of humanity as well as law
That the General Government will not recognize any
one as an attorney for political prisoners, and viii look
with distruSt upon all applications for release through
such channels; and that such applica ions win be re-
garded as additional reasons for declining TO release such
persons.
Sir, 1 challenge the worst ages of the most
p~rofigate and corrupt despots for a more intol-
cradle picture of personal outrage than is here
presented In prisons, in dungeons, in cells, in
solitude and desolafion of heart, citizens of this
free country are threatened with increased pun
ishment if they resort to the only possible mode
of approaching those in power to obtain informa-
ton or trial with a view to liberty. Many new
otfenses, unknown to the Constitution and the
laws, have been created by the proclamation of
the Executive, andtO these it must be added that
It is a crime for an innocent man, overpowered
by unlawful force, and wearing away his life in
prison, 10 employ counsel to secure for him the
benefit of the laws of the land. Sir, ~posterity
viii hold in remembrance the authors of these
outrages-the President and his Cabinet-in
~ NAhNA aASI
have made of their high offices to the overthrow
of the Constitution. When they retire from
their exalted positions, and descend. to the quiet
walks Of private life, where the voice Of partisan
applause and interested fattery viii no longer
reach their ears and shut out truth from their
conscences, let them spend the evening of
their DAYS in bordering over the wretchedness
they have so needlessly and wantonly caused.
Let them recall the tears of bitter grief, bereave-
ment, and shame, which they have caused deli
cate and tender women to weep as thew implored
their iailors in vain for relief against outrages
which the pen bushes to record. Let them visit
the mad-house, and listen to the shrieks and cries
Of their inmates, as they pour forth their wailings
from the shattered dome of thought, and in that
saddest sight which earth can present. mind in
ruins-behold a portion of their handiwOrk,
which viii accompany their names into history.
And if dreams come 70 them in their slumbers,
let them dream of the poor suicide, who COM
muned in solitude with his sad heart until his
room became filed with shadows and impalpa-
bic forms, which Knocked his agony and despair,
and who, to escape from his unlawful imprison-
ment, launched his naked soul into the mysteri-
Gus realms of the infinite, and appeared for trial
before a compassionate God. Let them awaken
20 hear the heart-broken sobs of the widow, and
the pitiful lamentations of the fatherless. Let
them make some atonement for the grief they
have inflicted by looking into all the detailed
horrors which their system Of internal outrage
has brought on unOtiending men and women. /
speak not in malice, i wish evil to no man on
earth. / feel pain 10 know that / infict it. But
i'll could fOrbear to speak with indignant empha-
Sis on this subject, / would feel that the bond of
sympathy which binds me TO nv suffering fellow
men had been broken asunder. / would feel
that my heart was an outlaw from the sacred pre-
cepts of the divine Nazarene, who pronounced
the merciful blessed because they showed
mercy.
But IT is said that this system of open disre-
gard Of the Constitution, and the arrests which
have been made under il, have been necessary to
the stability and existence of the Government.
All the world knows that this Is false. Neither
instructions nor inyasions have taken place in
the loyal States of the Union. The courts of
justice have never for a moment been disturbed
in the discharge of their duties by any of the cir
cumstances attending this civil war. Every
function IN the machinery Of government has
been free 10 act. Does this Administration dis
trust the entire judiciary of the country, the
clerks, the sheriffs and the juriesl. And in what
way has the whole body of the people shown
that the safety of the Republic requires that they
should have a masterl Sir, / scorn to pursue
this thought. / spun from me, at once and for
ever, this base, false, and dangerous plea of ne
cessity. What is there TO Americans worth pre-
serving, If the principles of liberty, the doctrines
Of the Constitution, shall perish7 We hear
much stormy defamation about the life Of the
nation being in peril. 1t is true. It is sadly
o imoeriled on all sides. But does mere land and
water, mere extent Of soil, constitute the life of
this nation! No, sir; immortal liberty is its life;
the soul which animates the body, and without