Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1864-10-04


parallel in the history of this war. Tho
Yankees have warred on our women and
children, and all good men, everywhere,
hate and loathe them for it; but this is the
first instance i'll which any public func-
tionary, civil or military, has warred on
his Oa0n women and children. Sherman's
from Atlanta robs them only of their
homes and property but here women and
children are deprived of their liberty and
subjected to "torture" without the shadow
Of law or authority for the proceeding
To those prominent citizens who are now
writing to us from different counties about
these Outrages, we have no answer to
make. We and our friends are powerless.
BayonetS ruled i'll North Carolina in Au.
gust, and they rule now, and we only re-
member the healthful operations of the
civil law as among the rubbish of the past
an indistinct dream or a half forgotten
nursery tale. Our friends will remember,
however, what we predicted relative to
reign Of terror in the event of certain
things happening, and do us the justice to
concede that all which we prophesied and
more, has come to pass, and that much
sooner than We supposed or predicted.
We will say no more at present, but the
following letter from Western county
will show that we have abundant material
at hand to call forth the remarks we have
made. Tho writer is 10 imaginary char
acter, and he makes no request as to Sc
crecy. He is gentleman of high char
acter, and when the General Assembly
meets We trust that his voice will be rails
ed in that body in defence Of the weak
against the strong-in favor of civil law
and personal liberty against usurpers and
tyrants. We append his letter and ask
for it careful perusal
CIVIL LIBERTY GONE.
MIR. EDITOR Every true friend Of Civ
il Liberty, everywhere, in Europe or
America, now looks upon "the torture J"
as the foulest stain on ancient Jurispru-
dence. King James IT, of England, has
obtained an immortality of infamy for the
| use of which he made of it during his adj
ministration in Scotland previous to his
accession to the English throne. lie in
fiicted upon all State prisoners, or those
whom he suspected OF being privy to any
conspiracy against the government, all the
horrible and exquisite fortunes OF which
the rack, the boot and the thumb-screw
were capable. In England this horrid sys-
tenn never obtained the sanction of law or
prescription. Yet daring the worst days
| of the Iudors and StuaTts it was occasion
ally inflicted upon the State criminals in
the tower. The fact that it was thus used
has ever been deplored by all wise and
virtuous Englishmen, being regarded by
| = ,a do ri CT
their country's history. The glorious rev,
olution Of 1858 rid England and Scotland
of this foul eycrescence forever. 1t IS
never mentioned there now but with alb
horrenco, and no one supposed that it
would ever again be revived by the An
glo-Saxon race i'll any part of the world.
But in this they were greatly mistaken.
This relic OF barbarism has again, in the
high noon of the 10Th century, been in
tr0duced into Conservative and liberty
loving North Carolina, and that, too, it is
said, by order of Gov. Vance. 1t has not
only been introduced in North Carolina,
but it has been introduced in far worse
form than it ever existed in England and
or Scotland, for it has been done under
the auspices of the military authorities oil
tic State For the last three or four weeks
the militia or Home Guard have been
hunting dcserters in the Counties of For
syth, Randolph, Davidson, and perhaps
others, by order of Gov. Vance, and have,
especially in the counties of Davidson and
Randolph, been arrcsting and imprisonin2
helpless women in order to ctiapcL them
to give information as to the whereabouts
of their husbands, brothers, sons or sweet
hearts, who are deserters from the army
endeavoring to force them to do by Tor
ture what it is in many instances impOssi
bic for them to do. This they say they dc
by order of Gov. VANCE, who has promis
cd "to stand between them and all dam
ages" l obtained my information from
al intelligent Justice of the Peace, him.
self engaged in tho business, who assured
me that Gov. Vance had given such order.
and used the precise language quoted
above. The order has been vigorously
executed, and women, it is said, who were
in that situation in which they arc enti
tied to be treated with peculiar tenderness
have been arrested with others. In some
instances thirty or forty of them have been
huddled together in all old school house
and kept guarded for several days.
IIarboring deserters is undoubtedly d
crime, but not one of those great State
crimes which the torture was used to dis
close in England and Scotland several cen
turtles ago. If there is evidence to impli
cate any parties in the crime of harboring
deserters, let them be arrested at once
upon a warrant issued by a magistrate
and bound over to answer for the crime
before the proper tribunal, or be commit
ted. And, above all, let the Grand Juror;
do their duty. In one of the above ma
med counties, 1 know that the Grand Jury
at the last term of the Superior Conr
made tho most dilligent inquiry and in
| I'LL III o,.o;,,st ,yhnpo auidnnoa cOn lie