The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1864-01-07

command, he cAn find 10 prece1 lent for the
proclamation in question. Had it been
possible to produce a precedent, undoubt-
ely Mr.. Owen would have brought it
forth with all the particularly and circuL :
stan:iality of a young lawyer in prepar-
ing his frs. brief, because NJ. O. being
versed in all history, ancient and modern,
sacred and p%rofaue, it would be at his 6n-
gers ends, ready for this great emergen-
CT.
We come nos to Mr.. Owens "Histori-
cal Precedents." They are three in num-
her. First, the cause Of Charles the Sec.
ond, when preparing to ascend the throne
Of his Gecapitated father, after the de3t-
sition Of Richard Cromwell; second, the
pardon granted by George the Second 10
the Spanish rebels who had taken up arm
in behalf ofthe Protcnder. The third case
is that OF the pardon or amnesty granted
by President Washington 10 the men-
some fifteen thousand in numbcr-who had
been engaged in the Whisky 1nsurrection
N Western Pennsylvania. But neither Of
these cases furnishes a precedent for it.c
Proclamation of Amnesty %issuc,t l., Mr..
Lincoln. In neither Of ..ne pro CARNATIONS
issued by TIE Engli-,h X ngs isthe pardon
Gu rebe! required 70 take an oath to sup
port the royal edicts that had been or night
be issued. We quote from the Proclalna-
ton Of King Charles, following Mr. Owen:
We do grant a free and general pardon,
which We are ready, upon demand, to pass
under our great Seal of England, to all
our subjects, of what degree or quality So
ever, who, within forty days after the pub
fishing hereof, hall lay hold upon this our
grace and favor, aud shall BY any public
act declare their doing SO. and that they
return to the loyalty or obedience of good
subjects, excepting only such persons az
shall hereafter be excepted by Parlia-
ment."-Parliamensiary Hnyryof Eng
lard, Fol. ", p. Is.
1t will be seen that the implicated par
ties were merely required to show their re-
turn to loyalty by ANY act" All that
was necessary was thatthey should declare
in the presence of the Mayor of a town, q
a Justice OF the Peace. or in the presence
Of witnesses, that they owed allegiance tc
the King instead Of to the Commonwealth
No oath was required that they would sup
port al the edict. that King Charles h.,
issued or might issue Oh certain subjects
In the ease Of the amnesty granted b,
Gorge II to the insurgents who adfough
for the Pretender n III, a full anC
free pardon WAS granted to allexccpt about
eighty, who we're banishcd from the king
dom, but most Of whom were Subsequent,
paricned and permitted to return. The
only condition to this amnesty was tha
thoso who accepted it should max .he:l
public declaration Of the fact within f,rs}
days.
We should think Nr. Owen would h
ashlmel to cite the proclamation Of an
mes ! issued by President Washington L
the Whisky In,urrection:sts as 4 ''prece
dent for Nr. Llncoln's Proclamation
What are the facts? Although ampit
powers were vested IN him - suppress h,
rebellion by force Of arms, he chose 4
a Top; a more concilatory policy and there
orc appointed three commissioners 10 trca
with the insurgents and their leaders, an(
by this means. followed by a free pardon
he put an end to the rebellion. Mr.. Lin
coin, acting directly contrary to the cxara
pc set BY the iilustrous Father of h..
Country, has uniformly refused to have
any communication with the rebels, or t
a certain whether by conciliatory meas
ures, the war cannot be ended and the Tn
ion restored. Gen. Washington did 40
ask the insurrectionists t. swear that they
would abJure he use of whisky, as Mr.
Lincoln demands that the rebels of our day
shall abjure the possession of slaves. Ane
yet there would have been Just rs mucl
'log.cinGen- Washington proclaiming that
whisky being the cause ofthc rebellion o.
1875, 10 moro whisky should be made ol
: drank, as in Mr.. Lincoln declaring tina
slavery being the cause of the rebellion o
1861, slavery should no longer exist.
The papers have given full reports o.
the conservation Of Gettysburg Cemetery
There, right over the graves Of thousands
did an Everett deliver an Grafton re4olen,
with infatuated treason to our civil institu
tions, and a Seward and Charles Anderson
mingle their rhetoric hate and Abolition
! acknowledgements. and tho Drosid,yt read q