Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-04-21

zstruggle. | have been in camp, have been
lin the field, / have been everywhere where
athls great Rebellion was have pursued ID
#nntll believe can now see its termination.
Aoince the world began, there never has been
$a fepeiiion OF such gigantic proportions, so
#llIaiiious IN character, so diabolical IN mo-
@tVe, 20 entirely disregardful of the laws of
aclvllzed war 1t has introduced the most
mode OF warfare ever practiced upon
#tne earth will repeat here remark for
(which have been in no small decree cen
#snred. What is it, allow me TO ask. that
%zhas sustained the nation IN this great strug7
l5gle2 The cry has been, You know, that our
%Government was not strong enough for a
4time Of Rebellion; that in such time She
would have to contend against internal
4weakness as well as internal foes. We have
now given the world evidence that such ii
Anot the fact and when the Rebellion shall
Iahaye been crushed out, and the nation shall
%once again have settled down in peace, our
AGoyernment will rest upon a more enduring
#basis than ever before But, my friends, IL
what has the great strength of this Govern
#ment consisted? Has it been in one man
#poWer? Has it been in some autocrat, or in
ggsome one man who held absolute Govern
Amentl Nol thank God 1 have it in my
SpoWer to proclaim the great truth that this
has derived its strength from
Athe Americanpeople They have issued the
$edict; they have exercised the power that
Ahas resulted iIfthe overthrow of the Rebel
Zion, and there iS not another Government
upon the face of the earth that could have
Awithstood the shock. We can now congrat-
aulate ourselves that we possess the strong
Nest, the freest, and the best Government the
$World ever saw Thank God that we have
Hiyed through this trial, and that, looking in
ayour intelligent faces here, to-day, / can an
4nounce to yon the great fact that Petersburg,
8the outposts of the strong citadel, has been
$occupied by our brave and gallant officers,
aand our untiring, invincible soldiers And
#not content with that, they have captured
#the citadel itself, the stronghold of the trait
ESors Richmond is ours, and is now occupied
Nov the forces of the United States. Death
Ito the conspirators-cl to their vic.
&tims One word more and | have done
git is this; | am in favor of leniency, but, in
4my OPT Mon, evil-doers should be punished.
u Treason is the highest crime known in the
catalogue of crimes and for him that il
#guilty of it--for him that is willing to Lift
#his impious hand against the authority oi
athe Nation-I would say death is too easy a
punishment My notion is that treason
Smust be made odious that traitors must be
%punished and impoverished, their social
apower broken, though they must be made
Iaato feel the penalty of their crimes Hence
Ill say this-the halter to intelligent, inAuen-
;aatial traitors But to the honest boy, to the
5deluded man, who has been deceived into
gthe Rebel ranks, | would extend leniency.-
n Il would say return TO your allegiance, renew
Blyour support to the Government and become
Ia good citizen; but the leaders would hang.
I'LL hold, too, that wealthy traitors should be
ssmade to remunerate those men who have
lasuffered as a consequence of their crimes,
II Union men who have lost their property,
3who have been driven from their homes beg
4gars, and wanderers among strangers. Its
awell to talk about things here to-day, in ad-
ssdreeing the well-informed persons who
compose this audience You can, to a yer,
sgreat extent, aid in molding public opinion
s5and in giving it proper direction. Let US
Commence the work We hare pat dd1c1
atiese traitors IN arms let as put them dol0n
aiil lar, IN public Judgment, and IL the moral
aof the gorid =