, 1865-08-11


| both at Washington and here in Missouri,
have never been able to ascertain that the Gov
| ernment, acting by any of its higher function
aries, ever gave apparent sanction to the guilty
subordinates by ordering the preparation o
/ the outrage. 1t seems, on the contrary, tha
/ the mischief was done by the quiet usurpatior
of subordinates backed indeed by bayonets
and winked at, it may be by their superiors.-
! And some of those superiors (neglgent of theii
great duty, as soldiers, to resist and subdue the
| public enemy, to command those who are law
| fully under them, and maintain discipline and
obedience to the laws), have already suffered in
part at least the penalty of their transgressions
| They have been deemed by their superiors unfit
for position whose duties they had so Inefficient
! ly performed, and compelled to retire under q
! cloud that darkens all their future Like the
high Eli who in his day, bore good reputation
/ for both patriotism and piety, yet he allowed
his subor1nate officers to trample upon the
laws Of lt acountrv and to defile the temple OF
| God. And for this great sin of omission, his
| nation was deeply humilated and his own
| household was destroyed. The host of Israel
| fed ingloriously; before its enemies; Saul and
Jonathan and Hophni and Phineas, fell in the
great battle of Gi.boa; the arc of God was taken
by the Philstnes; and Eli himself dropped dead
from his seat in the gate of Jerusalem. And
these calamities were the legitimate fruit of
Ellis neglect Of the duties of his office, and his
failure to enforce discipline among his subordi-
mates. For (says the Holy Scripture) 81 will
judge his house forever, for the iniquty a0hich he
k7loweH because his sons made themselves vile,
and he restrained them not.
shall dwell no longer upon this miserable
monarchic notion Of governing the people of
this State by District Provost, each independent
and supreme in his district, without any COM
mon method of proceeding prescribed for them
all, and without any law to restrain their capri
cious will. This is what | called in former
letter. despotism multiplied By republican forms.
proceed now to the consideration of my otha
er proposition, the last remaining unconsidered
of the four distinctly announced in my first let
ter. 1t is the exact opposite of martial law
whether administered by high generals COM
manding departments or by petty provosts, who
dominate districts and neghborhoods. And
this is my propositions The laws of the land
las found in the constitution and statHtes of the
United States and the State of Missouri) do con-
fer upon officers of the Government, National
and State all the powers necessary to the sue
cessful prosecution of the war, and to the peace
full rule of the country. And any attempt to
substitute in place of the Laacs the will Of any
military officer, is not only act of disJoyaLty,
but also dangerous blow struck at the Gov
ernments lawful power for good"
If there be any virtue in Republican Govern
ment; if civil liberty be any benefit to a people;
if it be any advantage to nation to be ruled by
a code of laws, rather than the fuctuating will
of man; then we are not wholly ridiculous in
our habitual boasting that our Government as
established and heretofore administered by law,
is better than most of the governments of Eu-
rope. We hear every day, and from all classes
of politicians, that the people are capable of
self-government; and yet we are shocked with
fbas oil hafo .oft nj -of
Missouri tameiy submitting for a long time to
the absolute dominion of few local military
commanders and Provost Marshals, who at will
seize their property imprson their persons,
trample down their laws and despse their
courts. And worse than all that, we have the
moral shame of beholding Convention, pre-
tending to represent the people of Missouri, in
the the very act of making their fundamental
law, insisting upon the continuance of this tyr
amy, and begging general of the army still to
rule us by martial law
do not deny the dogma that the people are
capable of sef-goyernment, but cannot forget
the teachings of all history, that nations and
men do very. rarely avail themselves, for their
own good of their capabilities. But of one
thing am sure if the people be really capable
of self government, there is bHt one way in
which they can exercise that glorious power,
and that is by making good laws for their own
government, and causing them to be executed
by their own officers, who are responsible to tho
laws and bound by legal forms and methods of
proceeding. The people can never secure their
freedom by making Dictator from time to time,
{ as the Romans did), to take them through ey-
cry trying emergency; nor by submitting, (as
We do now,) to every usurper who pretends that |
there is a necessity for him to be our master
Our fathers of '76 and SO were brave and wise
men. They knew that to win liberty they must
work and darej and that to preserve it they
must watch and guard necessarily and be always
ready to resist the assault of greedy ambition
and to defend the ground principle of civil lib
erty-that is, that the government belongs to
the many, and not to the one or a few! And
they laid the foundation of our system accord |
ingly; and they built upon it a superstructure
which has challenged the admiration of man
kind for more than three quarters of century, !
because it is the only example in the history of
the world in which the inhabitants of large |
country, wisely governed by their own laws
have advanced rapidly in numbers, wealth and !
power without impairing. the majesty of the
law or impinging upon the liberty of the peo-
pie.
I said that our fathers were wise, and the |
truth of the saying glitters extant upon every
page of our history They did not waste their
labors in petty schemes for small and transient
objects, They perfected a system of govern
ment proper for great nation, capable of in
definite extension over space, and of endless en-
durance And the Constitution contains ample !
provision to meet all possible exigencies which
may arise in all the vicissitudes of national |
life. Whether we be rich or poor, prospering |
Or declining, in peace or at war, the Consttu-
tion and the laws of Congress made under its |
do supply fit instruments to do all |
possible national work, and the rule to work by, |
and appropriate means to punish or reward the |
workmen, according to their works.
The Constitution does not set up any man or |
set of men-not even the Government itself-as |
our SoUereign entitled to all our allegiance. 1t |
requires every officer, both of the Nation and Of |
.he State, to swear that he ''aoiU support this |
and that is the only oath of allie
glance which it does require.
And it declares itself (the Constitution to be !
he Supreme Lam of the land. This, then, is /
our only sovereign, to which we owe fealty and |
obedience at all times; and whoever (setting 1
himself up to be wiser and better and stronger |
han the law usurps unlawful powers, under |
he pretense of serving the country, by break |
ng its laws, is not only disJoyaJ man, but also !
presumptious charlatan; for, to crafty his /
personal vanity or party ambition, he breaks /
he only bond of union which holds us together 4
Is nation and destroys the only safeguard Of /
Individual liberty By yaO
Ny proposition, think, is fully made cut -
i e. L. .r-f1.- l.