East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1865-07-26

1t impeaches a MEM
Der of Mr.. Johnson's cabinet of some-
thing very different from an error of
intellect, or a misappr ehension of con-
stitutional law, or positive usurpa-
ton of power. Of all these Edwin
NJ. Stanton has been accused /; Of all
these the history of the last three
years proves him to have repeatedly,
obstinately, habitually guilty. But
he is now put, by the formal and reit-
Grated accusation of the Tribune, in
such light before the country that
continued association with him inflicts
personal dishonor upon the persons
who submit to it.
1t is q painful tribute to be obliged
to pay to lie ltific accuracy that one
must describe as "man" the creature
Of whom that is true which the Tn
bune now and stands ready to prove OF
Edwin M. Stanton. For the other
offences laid at this persons door from
a thousand different quarters, there
are remedies reserved in the laws OF
the land. For every outrage psrpe-
trated by him on individual rights du-
ring his tenure of power, he may, il
he lives, he one day brought to
Judgment. For the indescribable mis-
cry, directly or indirectly, inflicted by
him upon hundreds of thousands OF
human beings; for the slow agony OF
prisoners left by him to perish for
the broken hearts and ruined lives Of
widows and of orphans innumerable,
he will assuredly, if he lives, be held
in one way or another responsible by
an indignant country, when reason
shall reassert her sway in the land,
and the truth shall finally force its
way to the light.
But no law exists to punish the
man who merely uses a desolate wo-
mans faith in her GoD, and her fear
of that awful something after death, ("
as a means to intensity the horror and
the torment Of her death agony. 1t
may be that, as said Of the omission
Of less revolving crime from the
statues Of England, those who made
cur laws never dreamt il to be posi-
bic that such a crime could be COM
mitted among us: and it is, indeed,
unlikely enough that the conception of
Edwin M. Stanton should ever have
entered the brain of any English or
American freeman since the day Of
Jeffreys and of James III. With
crimes which the law fails to reach,
however, the tribunal Of every mans
honor and conscience must deal, on
pain of completely with the criminals.
II adds but little to the enormity OF
this wickednese, now fastened upon
Edwin NJ. Stanton by the journals OF
the very sect which has most madly
insisted upon keeping him in power,
that by his eagerness TO silence all ex-
pressions Of honest belief in the inno-
cence of Mrs. Surratt he confesses his
own doubts of her guilt. 1t is a sick
ening and horrible thing, indeed, to
conceive of man interposing himself
between an innocent victim Of his
own lawlessness and the throne of the
Eternal. But if this woman was
guilty, and her torturer believed her
to be guilty, his own crime was not
less appalling. In Christian land
III TIE middle OF .l.o ..in.LsvutiI CON.
fury, one Of the highest functionaries
of free people seeks to send a wo-
man condemned to death into the
awful presence of her God,
''even in the Blossoms Of her sins,
Cnhouroled, disappointed unanealed
No reckoning made, but sent to her account
With all her imperfections on her hsad
o horrible! o horrible Most h rrible"
And men who call themselves Chris
tians are to be expected 70 speak with
this man; to touch his hand; to take
counsel with him on the affairs Of q
Christian nation!
We have just seen, on the other
side Of the Atlantic, how a people who
respect themselves and their liberties
enforce respect for both upon every
servant Of the state. In the public
censure by Parliament, and the subse.
quent resignation in disgrace, Of the
lord high chancellor of England, the
British people have given the world q
new lesson in the principles and the
practice Of liberty protected by law
A single such act is more glorious, and
will prove more useful, to the nation
in which it is done than tho conquest
Of an empire. We shall be unworthy
of our ancestry and ourselves if il
fails TO rouse us from the moral stu.
por into which four years of passion
have thrown us. - Ut
The offenses which drew down thi.
blow upon the greatest parsonage in
England, after the sovereign, were
slight indeed in comparison with the
ofienses cognizable by the law o.
which hundreds of officials in THU
country were guilty during the whole
war, and of which they still continue
to be guilty in the midst of peace
At the head Of these criminals, direct
ing most of them, and inspiring al
by his audacious precepts and hi
more audacious example, stands Ed
win M. Stanton. The condign ant
solemn punishment Of this man, q
least, is absolutely necessary, ii TIT
nations honor is to be indicated aut
its liberties intelligently guarded.
The revelation which the 7ri5an
has now made of crime committed
by him which no law can reach, bu
which finds its judge IN the common
conscience Of Christian people, anc
its avenger in the self-respect of eve
ry honorable man, may, at least il
the providence of an insulted Heaven
help forward this most desirable con
elimination.
Captain Henry Wise, late prisol
q. .1< A. 4.