The Portland daily press., 1865-04-26

The appalling calamity which has draped 'ne
whole land in symbols of mourning mas nc.
merely awakened everywhere an emouon OF
profouutest gries, bat it has aroused senu-
.ment of bitter aud burning Indignation Wncn
will not be soon allayed. II Is a feeling
which. If less tumultuous in its expression, is
not less deep and intense than that which, on
the same day four years ago, was awakened
nv the fall of Sumter Men everywhere re-
co0nize the fact that both blows have been
dealt BY the same hand. The failure of the
first has prompted the last. The barbarous,
aggressive, tyrannical, treacherous slave pow
er, failing after thirty years of secret prepare
ton and four years Of open effort, to assassi-
nate the nation, gratifes its vindictive spite
by assassinating its Chief Magistratel 1t is
an act which, from the attendant circun-
stances, and from the peculiarly )enient and
merciful character OF the victim, fills us with
especial horror; yet thoughtful minds will
find in it no new element Of atroctiy, nothing
which might not have been expected from
men who could perpetrate the massacre Of
Fort Pillow, the outrages to the dead which
followed Bull Run, and the deliberate murder
by starvation Of prisoners of war. But the
mass OF men are accustomed to take their i'm
pressions from feelings rather than from rea-
son. Perhaps we needed this last fearful L.
lustration Of what the spirit of treason is, to
save us from grave error into which we
were about TO fall.
From the earliest times it has been custom
airy on occasions of great national rejoicings
for rulers to add to the general joy by acts of
clemency aud mercy; by the pardon and lib
Grafton of criminals. In the gladness of re-
turning peace and restored country, soften
ed by their great happiness, the sovereign
people, magnanlmous ruler, felt their hearts
moved with mercy and forgiveness. and hast
ened to hold out the hand of friendship to
those whom, with all their crimes, they still
regarded as brethren. Perhaps they are right
who assert that in this we were In danger Of
committing great wrong; that in too
promps mercy to the guilty few, we forgot
justice to the innocent many; that the era of
good-feeling had well nigh betrayed us into
disregard of the sacredness OF law. We
kuQu&Hb Lub IGO6illOu buuuQ6Qs duu OuT pity
for the misfortunes Of those concerned in it
led us to think too lightly of their crime.
But bitter experience has opened our eyes
to the truth. We see that though the materi-
al power of the rebellion has been subdued,
its spirit yet lives, and the conquest Of that
spirit is our next task. Whea first the flag Of
the nation went down at Fort Sumter, the
whole land rose as one man, and swore q
mighty oath that they would never rest till
that insult was wiped out in the restoration of
the flag so outraged, and the authority SO de-
fed. Four awful years has ragged the battle
OF ths Titsns, and we see now how that vow
has been kept Once more, amid the univer-
sal cry Of mingled grief and rage which goes
up from every heart, an oath is registered.
With hands joined above the blood stained
bier of their murdered chief, the American
people have sworn eternal ennity to treason,
undylng war to the last relic OF that baleful
Institution which has been its chief instigator.
Righ.fully, wortaily to keep this oath is the
business Of to-day. Let the new Union
which is to spring above the ruins Of the old,
be built upon the sure foundations of equal
and exact justice. Let the long-deluded,
down-trodden PEOPLE of the South now have
their chance. Above all, let us hear no more
talk OF compromise with treason, no more va
porting about not "woundiug the feelings" or
'scrushing the high spirit" of red-handed a.
sassins. From the very inception Of the re-
volt one man has understood the spirit and in
- kt,o l.. 81 lo~
tently adhered to one principle in his manner
Of dealing with them. That man is Benjamin
F. Butler, who the other day ia Washington,
launched the bolts of his fiery denunciation
at those who pirate to us Of "chivalric trea-
son, magnanimous murder, and pare minded
perjury" oil BsG
We have had enough of this kind of talk
Leta sense OF the nations just horror at his
crime be SO burnt into the soul of the traitor,
that if incapable Of feeling his guilt he may at
least feel the infamy 1t has incurred. Not for
revenge. Far be it from us to speak one word
which should stimulate or encourage the spir-
it of mere vengeance. There is time for
mercy and compassion. When the authority
of the law shall have been vindicated by the
condemnation of the guilty, that heavenly
quality may, in many cases, be legitimately
exercised by those whose prerogative it is
But compromise is not cIenency but compile
ity NTH crime. If we have been in danger of
forgetting this, let us lay the lesson to our
hearts to-day, and it shall be well for us even
under this heavy stroke.
And one duty, not perhaps sufficiently felt,
is imperatively binding upon every citizen,
sternly to denounce and trown down every
symptoms of lawlessness and riot, no mat
ter on what pretext INDUCED. There is man
ifest among the less thinking portion of the
community disposition to compel certain
justly obnoxious persons to the observance Of
outward decency. by holding up to them the
terrors Of mob law. We have not now learn
ed that any person has been injured, and we
admit that the atrocious sentiments avowed
by these men afford great provocation sum-
marily to visit upon them the dspleasure Of
an outraged community. But lawless mots
are not the proper authorities to deal with
them. There are civil laws and penalties fer
onenses OF this nature, and they should be
sternly applied. The custody of the constable
and the safe keeping of the Jail are the proper
remedies for such cases. This is not merely
the only right but the only eficacious means
Tor suppressing the evil. Let all good citi-
zei's remember that whenever they favor or
encourage demonstrations Of this character
they are lending countenance to one form of
that same law>defying spirit which precipita.
ted the South into rebellion. and hurled against
the safeguards Of national law and order the
whole force of that gigantic mob which called
itself the Southern Coufederacy.
BosToE HARBoR.-A bill is before the
Massachusetts Legislature to establish hoard
Of harbor commissioners. In the debate