Weekly Trinity journal., 1864-02-27

p,, cor,ruorsE.-This individual who
,.os mainly instrumental in fitting out the pirate
,,t,,nmon in San Francisco harbor, and VINO was
,,o reanon;zed leader of that party OF TRAITORS
took the oath of allegiance on the i''n; "Hu ""'
liberated under the Presidents Amnesty froci"-
,,,.tio, from, his late boarding house-Fort Al
cotraz He passed through MarysFillc last week
-, rovte for Yreka. Judge Hoffman rendered
worry lengthy opinion in the case, reviewing the
Acts of Congress which gave authority to United
Sta .es Courts In conclusion, he said
:. If the petitioncr in the case at bar had been
sentenced to death and had accepted pardon
which commuted his punishment to toimprisonment
for life his acceptance would, under this de-
c.sion have been deemed voluntary, and his i'm
prisonment for life legal. Can it be contended
that when the condition is that he shall take an
oath which binds him to discharge his duties as
a citizen and to refrain from further committing
of treason, his acceptance of the pardon Is not
oluntarv and legal? How far the promise of
the petitioner or any other person who may ac-
cept the conditions of the proclamation is sincere
and expresses real determination to fulfill 1t we
cannot know The President has seen fit to in
yite all persons guilty of treason, with certain
exceptions, solemnly to assume anew their obii-
cations rs citizens, and as an nducement ne mas
oiit:r t:r"d to them pardon for past ohenses; tap,
noors 70 mo nl,in that all persons, not included
in the excepted class, are --n;rcd
pardoned on their compliance with The r.4-
condition have thus noticed, believe, every
objection or suggestion urged by the District
Attorney to show that the petitioner is not within
the operation of the proclamation. My conclu-
sion is that the punishment to which he was
sentenced has been remitted by the Executive,
and his otfense pardoned. He is consequently
entitled to the writ prayed for, on the return of
which, if nothing further appears, he must be
discharged reach this conclusion not without
reluctance The crime of the prisoner has been
grave !; for it invol ed not only the violation of
the duties he owed rs an American citizen to
this country, but the breach of the allegiance he
owed to this State, of which he has long been
residcat and citizen, well as an outrage upon
his neighbors and fellow citizens whose property
he proposed to plunder. am, perhaps, justified
in assuming that if the special circumstances of
the case had been brought to the attention OF
the President or had heen in his mind when
framing his proclamation, the petitioner and his
associates would probably have been excepted
from its operation but my duty is to admins
ter the law and to construe this proclamation
like public statute, according to its terms and
legal import. am not at liberty to withhold its
benefits from any persons embraced by its terms,
whether they have been embraced by inadver-
tence or design.
The opinion of the Ju 5e is to the point and
should think the reading Of ii would bring the
blush of shame to Greenhouses check. Little
faith will he placed in his promises honorable
men will entertain greater sympathy and respect
for Harpendng, the other pirate, who insists that
he will not take the oath of allegiance after
having been arrested in a bona fde attempt at
q outrage upon his neighbors and fellow citizens
whose property he proposed to plunder, The
name of Ridgcly Greathouse will not occupy an
enviable place in the history of this State or of
this rebellion.