New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-04-21
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"Save me from my friends. ald viii deal
with my enemies" is very trte naxim,
which finds frcsa aud striking illustration il
he case of John Wilkes Booth and his Illus
'rious victim. There is no room FOR doubt that
Booth was sincerely, fanatoally attached to
slave Power end its belongings. Born and
ireareG in Slave State, be felt, believed aud
reasoned rs The yogng bloods of that section
usually do, 10 matter whether they belong per-
sonally to tie slayehoiding caste or not. IL his
lcrude conception, Slavery was the Constitution,
The Coasti;ution was Slavery; aud whoever con-
deinnod tbe latter was an eneiny Of the former.
So long as he opposed the Onion bulwark Of
'Slavcry, be was an intense Unionist; but, when
ne found the Union and Slavery in conflict, he
ielaye 10 the latter, aIiuring, detesting the for
mer. ii any anu-Slayery State had seeded,
he would have deemed her people guilty of the
most migrant treason; hut whom Slave States
4 for SiayeTy's sake seeded he deemed their
high, TO do so too clear 10 be questioned. Is
1 to waiting for an "overt act" he scorlod the
! srcgestion: hadn't the North chosen Lincoln
I president by "scc.ional" vote 7 and what
more would yOu ask III short, Booth felt
/ and reasoned just as young Souihrons Of his
class with many of their Northern sympatlii1ers,
have habtua'ly done, and would have been
strcmenGcusy SPplauded il, escaping To Rich
,noud two months ego, he bad poured forth his
feelings in a public harangue, ending with a
declaration that he was ready to strike a dagger
% the heart of the Abolition tyrant and muir
dercr Nobody would have dared orlnly 20
doubt that this fiery, theatrical young orator
was tue, devoted friend OF the South" Yet
all the abolition fanatics" that ever lived,
with Abraham Lincoln thrown in, never struck
her so calamitous blow as has this disciple OF
Cain.
Booth justified Slavery (see his letter. ex-
acly as a British Tory Of thirty TO forty years
aeo justified rotten boroughs and resisted their
overthrow. care not We Brtons a great
people7 Didn't we conquer and cage Napo-
leon7 Have We not moro MANUFACTURES, more
wealth, and a more productive agriculture, than
creasing in wealth and industrial efficiency
And al this while Old Sarum, with but one
voter, sends two Members TO Parliament, and
Manchester with quarter Of million
people, sends none at all! Who dare pretend,
then. that rotten boroughs GRE not yitnl and
wholesome element OF the British Consiitu-
tion1" OF course you do not reply to this
logic. You might as well PROFOUND problem
in Algebra or Comic Sections to an Arapahoe or
Digger Indian.
John Wilkes Booth, devoted friend and
champion Of the South, kills Abraham Lincoln,
who is accounted her deadly epemy-kills him
for no personal reason, but solely in her interest
and for her sake; bat all the John Browns who
ever lived never had the heart to strike her 50
Ideally blow. "Tho South IL avengedr e4-
claims the irenzied wretch--not suspecting that
&" the SOuth"-his " SOuth"--was simply ruiuod.
1 If there lad been remaining chance for that
there was nothing further to hope or to fear for
/ the doomed institution"
His case illustrates general law. Abraham
y Lincoln was anxious that "tbe South" should
be treated with the utmost lenity and kindness
consistent with the National integrity and
safety, Drs. Beecher, Tying &c, fully sympa.
fthized with this feeling; but John Wilkes Booth
puts these abruptly aside. and RENTS "tbc
South" to the tender mercies Of such old and
jealous champions of her rights" as Andrew
Johnson, Edwin NJ. Stanton and Benz. +
Butler. This is not as We would havo had it
Ibut we must take things as we find them.