The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1865-12-06

it follows that, when the event occurs,
the State becomes foreign power as re.
CARDS the rest; and it war ensue, the
acts Of citizens are acts Of war, and not
fof treason The difference produced by
the step is very material, liza citizen of
Maryland were now to take up arms
against the Federal Government, he
would commit an aet Of treason. But if
that State should at first seeede, and call
out its forces to resist invasion, ho must
then respond to the call, in obedience to
to the law Of bis land. Can be commit
treason by acting in obedience to law |?
According tothe Washington theory, the
position Of the Southern man would bo
hard indeed for if he obeyed the FEEDER.
eral call, and should be found in arms
against his State, he would be guilty of
treason against the law of that State, ard
il he oboyed the State call, he is now
charged with treason against the Federal
Government. Such position cannot be
tenable. The law of the State plainly
absolvcs the citizen, who has no choice
but to obey it. Against the State itself,
redress may be desired and demanded,
but cannot bo found rightfully in that
Constitution from which the coer-
cion ofa State was excluded. A traitor,
too, takes up arms against the Governs
mcnt that is over him, and attempts to
overthrow it, We can not find that any
one attempted to overthrow the Washing
ton Government; on the contrary, strong
efforts were made by the South to enter
into amicable relations with it. But ar
guments of this kind are hot likely to OBJ
tain much attention at period Of such
Excitement. One that can not be over
looked is the fact that state of war was
recognized by the Federal Government
1t was SO adjudgcd, not only by prize
courts, but by the Supreme Court, whose
decision can net be set aside. 1t was re-
cognizcd in the exchange of prisoners,
and various conventions entered into dur
lug the war. 1t was admitted in the
most striking manner by President Lin.
coin and his Secretary of State, who went
in person to treat with the commissioners
of Jefferson Davis. II has been said that
all this was done under the pressure Of
events, leaving original rights in abey,
ance, which may now be revived. By
this argument, almost any breach of faith
could be defended. Whatever the mo-
tives, there is the fact, 1t is impossible
to say that President Lincoln went to ne.
gotiate with ambassadors appointed by a
traitor, Whoever treats with the embas-
sador treats with the Government, and
with the head of that government; and
after this, Mr. Johuson has no more right
to charge the head of that government
with treason than we had to charge it
upon the Emperor of Russia at the close
of the Crimean war. We cannot take
opposite principles, change them abolt,
reverse them, leave them, return to them,
to suit the convenience Of the day.. No
government can play fast or loose in mat.
ters Of life OF death.
There ore other considerations. For
lour years Jefferson Davis IVES the ap-
pointed ruler Of eleven great States
States, several of which had been ac.
knOwledgcd as free, sovereign and indie
pendent powers, by the governments of
Europe. His dominion was no mere in
surgcnt district, but region ample
enough for many Kingdoms He sent into
the field great armies, made illustrious
by brilliant victories, and leaders Of en-
during'renown, Supported by unani
nous people, he ruled in strict conformity
with the laws Of the land and its consti.
tuition. When vahencntly urged as he
was, to suppress the opposition papers,
which were ever buzzing and singing at
Richmond, greatly to the profit of the
enemy, he resolutely refused to interfere
with the freedom of tho press When
urged to rctaliatc the murder of ten men,
shot IN cold bool at Palmyra, by the
federal Mcneil under circumstances Of
atrocfty that none can read without q
shudder, he refused to listen to the voice
of natural indignation, and declircd to
shed one drop Of blood except on the open
field of battle, In all but penury-for
his property fell early into tho enemy's
hands, and his salary, payable in depre-
ciated currency, soon afforded but the
nccessaries Of life-calm, dignifed, sway.
ing with commanding intellect the able
men that surrounded him; eloquent as q
speaker, and as q writer giving state pa.
pers to the world which are among the
finest compositions of our time of warm
domestic affections in his inner life, and
strong religious convictions held up by
q vigor Of spirit that nerved an exhausted
and enfeebled frame such was the cho-
sen constitutional ruler Of one fourth Of
the American people, whom II is now pro.
posed to visit with felon's death. We
do not believe that such an act will be
perpetrated. Three minutes may end
that life on the scaffold, but all the cen.
turtles to come cannot undo the deed -
We feel assured that there are those in
the North who will reflect how such an
act would read in the future history Of
the countrymcn of Washington. Nor
can there be wanting in tho North men
Of sufficient judgment to discern that the
obstacles in the way of reunion are great
enough without adding another-a spo,
that could never be washed out while
memory holds its place among the people
of the South. lEl4gEi
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