Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1866-05-25

his property loses The right to hold proper
ty. A man may have rights which he
cannot for the moment exercise, because
of defeat, misfortune, or of some wrong or
illegal force in his way but does he,
therefore,, lose the sacred quality OF his |
rightsa Does he, therefore, passiseIy st
down and consent tl.at he has been trans
formed into creature without rights, and
without manhood? No, certainly, unless !
lie be The veriest fool or coward that ever
disgraced the human form. Because al
wal has for the bour overcome State SOW
eseigrty, are we therefore to acquiesce in
this great crime against liberty, and ad
NIT to be our depiorab.e stutUs ali time
to Gomez Not unless the war has also
made us a nation OF sneaks aud towards.
And even admitting that, for the present
moment, we are thus cowardized and be
Titled by the war, has the devil so far got
possession Of us that we mean to lie down
forever in swinish rest and sleeps No, in
Gods name, no! ! Rather let rs cherish at
least SO much Of the ;.uck and decency Of
manhood as shall make us trust the time
Will come when We shall arise in our wratI
and seize this gigantic, mouarcIica!, des
|,otic, ceiItralizlng heresy by the threat
and assert again the liberty which can
never be lost except bv our own weak
ness and crime! II is the nature OF SOW
ereignty that il can neither be destroyed,
alienated, divided, nor given away. 1t Is
to the State what the aOtW is to the man.
! A State can no more lose or give away lis
sovereignty than the man can lose or give
away his will. No war can so far kill
State sovereignty that it will not, during
all fame time, have the sacred and eter~
ma, right TO hang who,nsoe> cr has attempt
ed liz destruction. " hen old John Brown
made his attempt upon the soverei gnty OF
| Virginia, all admitted that he was Justly
and legally executed. There can never
come time when Virginia will not have
the right to administer Il similar punish
nent to amy party violating her sovereign
/ ty. Her inability to enforce her soverei gn
rights cannot be,quoted as proof to the
contrary. On the other hand, that very
inability must be received as a presunpt-
i've evidence that her people will never
cease to watch and pray and Struggle 10
re-assert their sovereignty, and 20 punish
the criminal viulators of it.
In this State for twelve months the strong
hand Of the military snbordlnated civil t.
martial law. Tie aolW of the soldier was
omnipotent. It overroce the organic a:
we'll as the statutory law OF the common
! wealth. 1t determined who should anC
who should not hold office. 1t set aside
constitutional elections, ,and utterly ignored
, every article OF the bill of rights 1t nul
lifted acts Of the Legislature, disregardec
: the orders Of the Executive and the de
. cress OF the Judiciary. 1t asserted ant
% exercised the most rigorous censorship .
:, 5he press, suppressed public Journals, ant
: imprisoned editors at will. But this ex
:. ercisc OF the most. absolute powers bv th
y army OF occupations did not destroy a sin
/. gle constitutional or legal right of the Vii
gina citizen, 1t did not change the cl,al
acter OF our State Government, nor pei
naneutly disqualify any gentleman VIII
: was excluded from office by order of tn
military. With the Presidents proclams
;. ton OF peace we were at once rehablitate
'fI in those rights which martial law denie
i, lis for twelve months.
e AS soon as the proclamation Of peac
b announced our liberation from the thra
, dom OF the sword, with the noble mani
d, ness Of a free people We straightway a.
le serted those rights. Nowhere was this a
sert,on of our civil rights more speedil
h. than in Richmond. The late charter ele'
re ton show that our people did not regar
rs some OF our best citizens as disqual:he
I'd from holding offices because they were NJ
IN acceptable to the military authorities.
ir Tire war has not destroyed" a sing
IL civil or political right, State or FEEDERS
i'll mL;nh ;c r,uar.ntood hv thA Gonstitutif