Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1865-04-19
From the New York Tribune, 18th
PEACE--PUNISHMENT.

That i, a very title observation which imports that
he who says all men villains cOnvcts at least one
30 there mus De base 10 think more oil their
own standing popularity snd prosperity than OF the
AN bc good or there could be 10 threaten personal
peril or damage a. dssuasive from the course die
tated by the gravest considerations OF National we'll
We do drmly believe Tat Gen. Grant was as wise as
he was generou, in granting such liberal terms TO the
remnant of Gen. Lees army on condition OF its laying
down its arms We do not doubt that he did so with
and by the advice of President Lincoln who, we are
confident will proceed in the line of magnanmous policy
thus indicated If he is not oyerrued by bad advisers and
deferred BIZ what he mistakes Tor public opinion. For
n we allow Lee Wise, Gordon Picket, Elzey, Rugg'es,
Ould &C. &C. &c. upon their surrender to go in safety
10 their homes with pledge that they shall there re-
main .undisturbed" long they shall continue TO
denort Themselves Loyalty and quietly how you fail
10 treat with equal lenty those who may hereafter sur
render2 If these ought not to be tried and punished
Who should be Nay. with what show of fairness
YOU put Others trial for their lives yet allow these to
90 free ~,
on vour guard if continue 10 express such opinions
Now If he means that should take that
try receive no dermen from our eounses We can assure
him that we have scarcely thought of aught else for the
last four long solemn years From the hour wherein
struggle for National existence became inevitable, We
have had but one purpose, one anxety-that She be
brought safely tlNOugh her great and bloody peril
Others NAV have had their eyes on jobs on Offices on
rGts on pcrsonal advantages of all sorts. We have
MIN ted In silence unjust and baseles3 reproach when
the salvation OF the Republic seemed to require that sac
rdce great many have doubtless been far wiser and
NOR Efficient in their support OF the National cause but
In psalHsh devotion 20 IT, in readiness to suffer for it,
5 n none Yet there are those who 20 fancy that
m may be turned aside from the course deem vital to
the Nations webeng by menaces OF personal damage
We are lust emerging from Of the grandest and
most momentOus struggles in human history. In this
Struggle we have individually done well or i'll, as the
a m ~ be. but there is no time yet to discriminate and
be ms az patriots otherwise. Suffice it for the pre-
- mat orr country forth triumphant from the
,ca wherein she has been eaTfuly tried and tested
H integrity preserved and vndicated in defiance OF
Ne rnsf gigantic and formidable Rebellion which the
world ha, ever known. Her place among the nations
of tie earth will henceforh be higher and prouder than
er before The 20 Of her domestic toes thoroughly
,te the ca ger opes OF her foreign revilers utterly
blasted Never were sanguine expectations more sig.
pav COMPOUNDED than are those OF the partlsans OF
,nion American European And, best OF all, that
drsgdfrl institution which has been our abiding
scop~ge and shame-whc1 was the great stumbling
boc 10 the republican progress in the Old World and TO
onr National growth and enlightenment is in the last
Conie o; dissolution. Its attempt to ruin the Great
Psnrbic has resulted in its own destruction. Haman
HANGS IN the gaows lie had erected for Mordeca and
the whole civilized world eXults AT the spectacle Our
trinmph is COMPLETE only remains that we take care
not 10 suIly il by virtually degrading great conflict OF
| ideas and principles into pary matter OF detected
! foIonv and ee q, Tetribution.
The New York Times doing injustice to its own saga
city in characteristic attempt to sail between WIND and
vater saws Let hang Jef Davis and spare the rest
n seems - us well to catch cuprt before you decide
% Ionr MIN but we do not concur in the advice Da.
Wis did moi devise nor instigate the Rebellion the
contrary he was of the latest and most reluctant Of
e notabes of the Cotton States to renounce defntvey
the Union His prom is purely official and repre-
sentative the only reason for hanging him is that you
therein condemn an stgmatze more persons than in
hanging any one else. There is not an exebel in the
ord no m latter hew penitent, who will not have
neasant alb ut the neck the day when the
onfederate President is to be hung. And to what od
! end
We insist that this matter must not be regarded in any
,or-o asDeet We are most anxious to the as.
sent Of the South to Emancipation not that asse mt
| which the condemned gives to being hung when he
shakes hands with the aior and thanks him for past
acts of kindness but that hearty assent which only
be won by magnanimity Perhaps the Rebels as a bods
would have given, even enc year ago. as large and as
hearty vote for hanging the.writer of this article
any other man living: hence il more especially to
him important to prove that the Civilization based
Free Labor of higher and humaner type than that
based Slavery We cannot realize that the gratifca.
ton to sanguinary friends from the hanging
of any one man fifty should be allowed to out
weigh this consideration.