The mountain Democrat., 1864-08-13

RETURN or Ma. VALL.ANDIq1AH5y$AgF.
Vallandigham has returned ~ Ohios@AA
doiOR tAie Ae~hSa dose .~ssst> &SSSH Hnly
Dad feature Of 1t being tardiness. He
should never have respected the ukasa Of
his expatriation. He should, at The hrst
opportunity. have thrown himself upon
his rights as an American citizen. and
have presented squarely the issue between
the deepotic acts Of mere individual and
the constitutional rights Of citizen Of
this Republic.
Who banIshed Mr.. Vallandigham -
Was Il Q properly constituted 'couTt Of
Law, before which he was brought by e.
tablished processes, and his guilt proper
ly sUbstantiated, and as . conclusion Of
which he was found guilty by . jury Of
his peers and thereafter punished By
"bAnishment" as provided by lawe Not
ct ell. Who banishen hime Mr.. Lincoln
and who Is Mr.. Lincoln who thus, in
person, or through his agents, takes upon
himself the part Of Sheriff, Judge and
Juryl He is nobody in these capacities
"a mere individual-a mere John Smith,
bearing no more extended relations to 30
ciety that any other John Smith, Should
bis acts as an individual be respected,
then9 No; and therefore Mr.. 'Vallandig-
ham, who was banished by Mr.. Lincoln,
the individual, the mere man, does right
when he refuses to obey any order issued
by Mr.. Lincoln.
The question for Mr.. Vallandigham is
not one of resistance to law, but Of adhe-
renee to law and resistance to tyranny
He was not banished bylaw; no court
had taken cogniEance Of has case he was
not tried or sentenced by legally consti-
tuted tribunal. He was simply kidnap-
ped and sent out of the country by . pos
Sc acting under no valid authority.
If body Of rufians acting under the
leadership Of some Bill Jones, Tom Smith,
or Abe Lincoln, should come to Chicago
and seize some citizen and hurry him OF
to some secluded place, and there, iua
court with Judge Lynch presiding, should
sentence that citizen to be hung, or to be
sent to Canada, and should proceed to
carry that sentence into effect they would
do precisely what was done some months
ago by posse Of men to Mr.. Vallandig-
ham. Would that citizen be thought
guilty Of disobedience to law If he should
tSluSo W otuy III OduAubS WubtucE uo Woo
banished by these rufiahsf No; nor is
Mr.. Vallandigham one whit more. guilty
of disobedience to law when he refuses to
stay where he was sent by body Of ir-
responsible men.
II Mister Lincoln chooses to attempt to
arrest Mr. Vallandigham and again send
him out of the country, an issue viii be
raised in which every citizen of the Re-
public is deeply interested. It is wheth-
er the Constitutional rights of the citizen
can be abrogated by the will Of mere in-
dividual; it is, in short, whether the Con-
stitution or the simple will of q despOt is
supreme. It can be settled now as well
as ever; it is better to settle it now, for
If the country submits longer to attempts
to suppress the freedom of the press and
the citizen, we will yield ourselves TO q
tyranny which in little while will re.
duce this people to a condition more In
famous and degrading than that of Helot.
ism in ancient Sparta.
If Mister Lincoln is wise, he will not
attempt further usurpations. The people
have borne much already, and the time
is close at hand when further endurance
will cease to be either virtue or q posi-
bility.-Chicago Times.