Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1866-04-05
General Lees Testimony.

to the doctrine OF secession and the
spirit rith which he entered into the
late war. In answer to question of
Senator Howard bearing upon this
point, General Lee stated, that it was
his view that The act of Virginia, in
withdrawing herself from the Union,
carried him along as citizen OF
Virginia, and that he considered her
laws and her acts to be binding upon
himself. This reply sets at rest the
MANY surmises as to his degree OF
unwillingness in making war upon
the General Government, and shows
thst he, in common with the other
public men of the South, had imbibed
that political heresy, that their pri-
msry allegiance was due to their re
spectiye states. and that they owed
to the General Government only
secondary allegiance. Whereas the
doctrine embodied in the constitu-
ton itself and held by ALI the early
expounders of the great instrument,
is this, that the first and paramount
allegiance of every citizen is due to
the General Government. and that
where State laws and the laws of the
General Government clash, he is
hound by the laws of the latter
1t has been claimed by many ad-
mirers of General Lee, that he fought
through the war merely rs the sol
der of the State of Virginia, and
that he had never taken the oath of
allegiance to the Confederate States.
But this apology for ahe Generals
course seems not to be warranted
by the facts; for i'll answer to the
question whether he had ever taken
that oath, he says, 81 do not recol-
lect having done so. but it is posi-
bic. When / was commissioned, l
do not recOllect whether it was re-
quired. IL it was required, | took
if; or if il had been required, ] would
have taken it." His evidence upon
this end other points shows that his
feelings were more strongly engaged
in the cause of the South than has
been generally supposed.
General Lee frankly. acknowledges
that the people Of the South never
have and do not now consider them
selves in the least degree guilty of
treason for their late attempt to
break up the Government of the
UUruru f,rat0s, 'IUu Jfr,fU .rrIr1es in the
South would in all probability acquit
any and every man that might be
arraigned before them on a charge
o: treason. This acknowledgment
came out in the course of the follow
ing colloquy. Senator Howard asked
this question: Q. "Do you think it
would be practicable to convict a
man in Virginia of treason for hav-
ing taken part in this rebellion
against Aernment. by Vir-
ginia jurS "On that point
have no knowledge, and / do not
know what yon would consider trea-
son against the Government If
you mesn past acts''-Mr Howard
"Yes, Sir" General Lee-"I have
no knowledge as to what their views
on that subject in the past are" @.
"You understand my questions; sup-
pose q jury was iompaBneled in your
own ne;gbborbood. taken by lot.
would it be practicable to convict,
for instance, Jefferson Davis, for
having levied war on the United
States. and thus having committed
the crime of treasoD?" 4. Il think
it would be very probable that they
would not consider he bad commit
ted treason. do not know whether
a jury would heed the instructions of
the Court to convict the offender"
Q. "They do not generally suppose
that it was treason against the Gov
ernment, do they?" A. Il do not
think, that they do so consider it, as
far as / know" The General is un-
doubtly right in the opinion he here
expresses. that the Southern people
do not regard themselves as guilty
of any crime in their attempt to over
throw the Government. Treason in
their view is not odious. And here
in lies the great danger of immedi-
ately restoring them to their full
rights and privileges as States. For
so long as they continued to justify
their late rebellion. and believe their
cause to have been and still to be a
Just one, what guaranty have we Of
future peace and security.
In reply to the question whether
the people of Virginia desired the
repHdiation of our national debt
General Lee stated that from his
knowledge of the people, he believed
that they would be in favor of the
payment of all Just debts; but as to
whether they regard this ss just
debt, he processes not to know what
their opinion upon that subject was,
but stated that he had never heard |
anr an;n;1, a,rxaeaod ao-4~arr m /