Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1864-12-22

mind, not successful. HAD there been no re-
bellion, the sentiment of the resolution which
you quote, would have been strictly carried
out, because it conformed to the letter, and
spirit, of the constitution but the very
men whom the candidate for the Presidency
proposed to protect by law, rebelled, and
by this act, changed materially their status.
They become criminals in the eye of the
law, in the place of citizens; and the crimi-
nal code had to be applied to their case, in
stead Of the civil 1t is amazing that you
cannot see this distinction ; nor is it the
least part of this amaZcment that this men
tai obtusty should run over the fact, that
it is not the instrument, or the administra-
ton Of the law, that changes the condition
of those who commit crime, but the crimi-
nails own act Besides the cases which oc-
cur daily in the civil life there are hundreds
taking place in the army, which illustrate
this. The army regulations alike impose
duties, and afford protection to the soldier
and so long as he heeds the one, the other
is his defence but il he deserts, or mutin-
les, the aspect is changed; and it is not
the officer in command who makes this
change, but the soldiers own act | might
refer you to the six militia men of Georgia,
who were shot by General Jackson's order,
in 1915, after peace had been declared, and
others, but will reason it in another way
Suppose you were assailed by a ruf1ian who
tried to take your life. In defending your
self you seize poinard and when the weap-
on is raised to strike, another man says to
you, it is unlawful to use deadly weapons.
In your paper you have contended that the
laws must be obeyed, and now i'll defending
your life, you are the first to break them
You would pronounce this man both a fool
and an enemy. You are not breaking the
law in defending your life, no matter what
kind of weapon you use but he who
threatens to take it is. lie therefore, is
amenablc to law, not you. Just 50 with
our government and the rebels. The gov
ernment, you say has used unlawful weap-
ons but was it not in selfdefence and
therefore, justifiable? might even grant
that the imininency of the danger was over
rated, when tne weapons were used, and
still be iustifablc You do notilose your
right of self-dcfcnce, because you plead for
an observance of law III your paper Nor
does the government, because its admins
tration, as an individual, expresses will
ingnesS to respect certain expressed and
implied laws.
You have a considerable to say about
passion and prejudice. Is this not pot cal
ling kettle black-facc? \ democrat talk
about partizan prejudice and passion, Just
as if he was innocent of this weakness
Well, to my mind this is pretty bold The
most bigoted partizans this country has
ever produced, who have ruled the country
and the party, by means of the prejudice
Df yb, lac, +,, Ii
death almost every independent thinker who
was joined to it, who have ground to pow
derbeneath the weight of prejudice all
rebels against its behest, talk of passion
and prejudice in others ! Well, we'll Are
you not in the position of darkie who
undertook to prove before an alderman
dat de black man wer de wite man, and
de wife man wer de black man" Doubtless
Sambo believed this. And then, how un-
reasonable to charge the republicans with
being controlled by prejudice and passion
for a leader, or cause. These are gener-
ally the results of years of devotion, as is
the case with the democrats, but the re-
publicans young party, made up in some
measure by discordant materials, and not
long enoughtogether to become assimilated,
how can they be prejudiced to the same ex-
tent as an older organization Moreover,
the very history of this campaign disproves
the thing. One-half, at least, of the party, |
did not want Mr.. Lincoln as the candidate
for the Presidency and this was owing to
these distinct parties within the party. The
abolitionists, as such, wanted the candidate
The old democrats wanted him, and the old
wings had choice. How can such party
be under the control Of prejudice and pas
sion. The enthusiasm of the party for the
union you mistook for prejudice and my
belief is, that were you as free from this
weakness, as are the republicanss generally, |
you would not serve the democratic party
as you do, instead of the nation at large !
For this it is-nothing more nor less--that |
zeal for the party, has blinded the democrats
to their duty to the country. The large
ma iority of that party love the county as
well as republicans, but like their southern
brethren, hate for therepublicans, and partial
ity for the party, led them to believe delu- |
sion and they follow it.
You remind me of the Scottish laird, in
olden time, who wanted trap set which to
catch wild boars He, accordingly sent
twelve men into the forest to locate and
build fall-trap, without giving any dircc
tions, or authorizing any one of the twelve
to superintend the work In the evening,
the men reported that nothing had been
done, for the reason, that they could not
agree On the next day three were appoint
ed, with equal power, to attend to the busi-
ness but it was spent as the one before
had been. The day following, my lord,
placed a menia1 servant over the party, with
full power to enforce obedience. At noon
of the same day the men returned, having,
in that half day located and set up good
trap. But the men complained bitterly Of
the tyranny and abuse of the menial, saying,
that he had made them lift too heavy, and
had goaded them with sharp stick, as
well when they lifted as when they did not
Upon lnquiring however it was found that
the men, who esteemed themselves much
above the servant in civil, as in social con-
dition, were sorely vexed, inasmuch as he
had been placed over them, and had, as
sequence, combined among themselves to
hinder the progress of the work. Here, the
utility of head, in any business, is aptly
shown, as well as the caprice which can
actuate human conduct. And. does not
this little parable fifty represent the demo-
cratic party, in its antagonism to the ad-
ministratOn ?