Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-09-14
VOLUME XVI.

Gov. Wise PROSTATE himself in the dust tC
live few years longer in the disgrace he
has so well earned
John Brown atoned for his crime in resist
ing the law by his DEATH but what shall be
the meet expiation for the one a thousand
times greater, perpetrated by Jefferson
Davis? Are they parallel cases? Is not
the guilt of Davis the same in kind though
immcasurably greater in degree And if
the majesty of law demanded it's full and
entire satisfaction in the one case, will it
be content with any thing less in the other!
| One struck for the freedom of the slave, the
other to perpetuate his bondage. Let i'm
partial justice say which most deserved
death
The American People have this solemn
| question to answer. "The voice of our
brothers blood cries to us from the ground"
| From the SUBMITS of thousand hills an d
| battle fields, from the shores Of a thousand
rivers, and bays, and gulphs, from innumer-
! able prison-pens reeking with the filth and
slime, and ot1al Of a starved and famish-
ing soldiery, there comes up one long, loud
deatening cry for JUSTICE, not revenge, but
justice, justice upon the guilty traitors who
compassed the downfall of the only free
government upon Earth.
And treason has ever been punished with
death if we except the case of one Euro
pean nation, in which, for minor degrees,
perpetual Punishment to a cold and inhos-
pitable cline is substituted Great Britain
has always decreed death to the convicted
traitor-that has ever been her law though
we may except recent instance where her
policy decided the question, as in the Cana
dian outbreak few years ago, as well as
in that of Ireland, also quite recent. How
many sturdy warm-hearted Scotsmen, how
many patriotic lrishmen, how many poor
ignorant Hindoos have paid the penalty of
death upon the scaf1old because they low
ed their own native country best? Let
her own history answer and then having
truly answered, let her dictate to US oar
duty. Do we not know that an order was
sent to the commander of the British army
in the war of the Revolution, to hang or to
shoot our own beloved Washington if he
became a prisoner
1t is entirely unnecessary to notice at
length the instances in which the punish
ment of death has been inflicted for the
commission of treason. In all ages, and
climes and countries, the traitor has yield
ed up his infamous being-who that in saw
age or civilized life, there is one universal
law of humanity that DEGREES his DOOM
The human heart must change, it must
turn trairbr to it's most conservative in
stincts, ere it overturns the base of all So
cial organization and order, and govern
ment among men.
Those who would persuade us that it is
the part Of clemency as well as Of policy
to spare the life of Jefferson Davis, forget
that he of all other men is most response
ble most guilty of the crime and bloodshed
of the last four years. There is not a sin
has o,on solitary SELF might not have quiet
ed the angry and mistaken prejudice of the
South, and have opened the way to an ac-
commodatiOn. 1t was has voice, that first
fired the Southern heart" has act, which
spread broad cast the seeds Of secession,
his advice, and example which for long
hall cd bn Of,
lion, and at the critical moment brought
them in direct antagonism to the Union-
And when resistance and war became a
9. faH accompH he, as President of the
Contederacy, directed every movement and
organized every opposing force. Let every
man who indulges in clemency for him,
ing the Northern soldiers with the per-
pctration Of the most horrid and unnatural
crimes-crimes which he knew had never
been committed let him revert to his mes
sages to the Rebel Congress-.w written to
influence the action and opinion of foreign
powers messages which in every line be-
u dy lIlC anu III CFCIJ uIIcI-
ance asserts what he knew was false, and
then let him say in his heart if jefferson
Davis was not the head and front Of the re-
bellion, and directly chargeable with all
its violence and bloodshed and if he
should not be, by human law, held respon.
'sible for all it's wickedness and atrocity 1t
is not denied that there were others as
jealous in this insane movement but what
was their power, their opportunity for mis-
chief? Nothing in comparison with his
nothing. He was the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end of this Great
Rebellion that sunk thousands of millions
Of Treasure and sacrificed more than a
half million Of lives upon the altar of
Jefferson Davis ambition.
Fun is the most conservative element of
society, and ought to be cherished and en-
couraged by all lawful means People
never plot mischief when they are merry,
Laughter is an enemy to malice, foe to
scandal, and friend to every virtue. 1t