The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1865-12-06
AND POTENT DE-
FENCE OF JEFFERSON DA-
Wis AGAINST THE CHARGE
OF TREASON. ff

The following extract from. a splendid
article In the London Quarterly Review,
presents the merits ofyJeffersop DAVIS
desenes, against any charge Of treason
Such q trial would be q mockery, and q
conviction underit could not be obtained
from any jury, ,'iinpartially selected, out
side'of New England, from the other
States, or from the whole world. Even in
England, where attempts to rebel are
sometimes punished by the forms Of law,
nojury, withcut being packed like John
Mitchell's, could be found to convict
And, if q jury, for such alleged crimes,
were an institution known in Russia or
Austria,..no pannel of twelve men, fairly
taken from all classes, could be made
unanimous on vcrdict:
"Last, but not least, the calm, resolnte
statesman, who was said by one of no
mean authority, to have made the South
into nation, Jefferson Davis; of him a
few words may not be out Of place.
But the other day Jeff f.rson Davis was
one Of the worlds foremost men, admired
as statesman respected as % Christian.
the Washington ol another generation of
the same race, "Now, none so poor as
to do him reverence" In this country,
happily free from excitement, we can
calmly weigh facts which others see for
The time through the distorted media of
predjudicc and passion. Jefferson Davis
simply followed tlo example of George
Washington. Both were Southerners,
both slavc-owncrs, both levied war against
an older government Washington, a
subject of The British Grown, under
which he held commission, committed
an act of treason, Jefferson Davis was
never a subject Of Abraham Lincoln. -
He was the chosen ruler Of millions OF
the American people, twice as many as
demanded their independence from this
country. Over them he ruled for four
years under the most complete forms Of
constitutional law. That such men should
be hunted down as a felon, is one Of some
dark spots that will be left by this strug-
gle on the page Of American history-o Of
all the darkest. The charge which Pres
ideut johnson attempted to fasten upon
fallen loe, has been secuted upon every
hand. The assassin of Mr. Lincoln was
stage stricken, ,fqnaiic, incapable at tLr
time Of seeing that his crime would be
ruinous to those he sought TO serve. AT.
ter the surrender of Lee, even if the
Whole Northern Cabinet had perished,
this could only have Influenced the re
suit by rendering the irresistible armies
of Grant and Sherman more revengclul,
and adding TO the suiferipgs of the van.
auishtdg Booth was not Southerner,
aad had no connection with any State Of
| The Coniederacy had endured no Outrage,
suffered no loss 1t was well known that
his fathers intellect was disOrdered, and
that he had comtIittod acts of violence
The circumstances of the crime-the
theatre, tie Stage, the flourish, the quo.
tation, the mans life, his letters, his dy.
ing request to his mother that be done
what he thought for the best-all indica
ted the individuality Of the act the origi
nality, the Intended hero Of the tragedy.
it is one of the crimes that throughout
all history, and all nations, has invariably
| accompanied such commissions. No great
disturbance occurs in European history
but some one comes forward to play this
part, There is hardly sovereign reign.
ing in Europe whose life has not beer at.
tempted; and there are those old enough
to remember the conspiracy of Thistle.
wood, when it was intended to destroy
the whole government Of this country at
blow So far, then, from the event be.
ing rare phenomenon, it was ono to be
anticipated ; indeed it seems to have been
expected by Mr. Seward. As in certain
sanitary conditions certain diseases attack
the body, SO, amidst wars and tumuts,
this form of monomania seizes on minds
so predisposed, In all this, however de.
plorable, there is nothing astounding
but astounding it is that President OF
the United States should bring a charge
| of ccmplicity in such crime against an
eminent American Statesman and soldier.
To make such charge heedlessly with,
out evidence of tho clCarest character,
was to bring an ineffaceuble stain upon
the dignity of his Office, and the history
of his country. 1t bears the aspect Of
an attempt to assassinate the reputation
of defenceless man, Amongst sayages il
is the practice to gloat over the torturcs
of the defeated, to make target of the
quivering body, and trans6x it with ar.
rows as pastime Civilized na,ions
usually treat the victims Of war with hu
manity, even with generosity. The whole
conduct Of the government in this mat
tor of the conspiracy trial is painful in
the extreme-the trial OF an offence Who'll
lly uuconnected with war by court mar
Itial; the composition Of that court, itl
president its reporter the little tattlc
received as evidence; and beyond all
the secrecy attempted, carry us back tc
1.-THE worst usages Of the darkest times.
\ Jefferson Davis is now in the hands ol
his enemies, and remOins to be tried fol
treason. If he had committed this crime
he would then stand on level with
Washington, Kossuth, Garibaldi and 9th
ers, hitherto the objects of AmerioaDad