The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1866-01-18

pul W COhlOlm uiio SoluDilSh luCli
The one great doctrine which has
been settled by the war is that the
National Union can not and shall
not be destroyed by the action Of
any of the States composing it; but
its continuance, its modification, OF
its dissolution shall be determined
by the whole people acting as one
nation under the ferns of the Fed
eral Constitution. The one great
social change which has been de.
termined by the same event, is the
abolition of slavery, the existence
Of which was staked upon the sue
cess of the rebellion, of which il
was the cause. ibh-'."'t.- .--'oI !
These things have been de.
cided in the dread court of last
resort for peoples and nations. BY
as much as the shock of armed
hosts is more grand than the intel
lectual tilt of lawyers; as the God
of battles is more awful Judge
than any earthly court; by so much
does the dignity of this contest and
the finality of this decision exceed
that OF any human tribunal. five
have not been right in pledging
our lives and our fortunes to save
our country, then the blood of the
myriads of heroes who have fallen
rests with murderous guilt upon
our souls, and we should never
consent that the justification or
condemnation of this great people
should rest, now or hereafter, with
any bench Of judges, however
learned, especially when each judge
must determine his own cause, since
he must have been for or against
the country in her struggle. There
are some things to which courts of
law can add no sanction, and a
nations appeal to God when it
seizes the sword is one of them.
We may, when necessary, try indi-
vidual traitors, and the people of
the United States will appear as
prosecutor, but not as defendant at
the bar.
Being conquerer, the Govern
ment has the undoubted right to
impose terms upon the conquered,
but in the statement of what should
limit and define those terms, diff
culties arise. We are apt, indeed,
to listen with impatience to any
limitation of our control over those
who are subject to us. The pleas
ures of rulership and the joy which
is felt in the exercise Of power
have always appealed with pecu-
liar force to the frailties of human
nature, and professed Republicans
have been as subject to their temp
tation as other men. In a time
like this most of us feel the neces-
sity of checking our impulses and
passions, challenging the motives
and the consistency of our actions,
and of fastening our attention, by
effort of will, upon principles of
government and of human rights
which have been axioms to us
during the period of the growth of
our institutions and of conflicts
between us and powerful foreign
powers. However unwelcome the
task of self-examination, we owe it
to ourselves to make it thorough
and searching. The ancient con-
querer was accompanied by slave
in his triumphal car, who reminded
him Of his humanity and his weak
ness; we must act as our own
prompters to moderation and jus
tice, and remind ourselves of the
rules which should control our
action, and the dangerous tenden-
cies of our own nature. We need
no stimulus to anything which runs
with the whole current of popular
impulse and feeling; such things
will take care of themselves, but
no duty can be more important
than that of stopping occasionally
to weigh we'll what seems to cross
our desires or to question the
direction of our progress.
We have the right and are in duty
bound to insistupon sufficient guar
antees for the future safety of the
Union; but those guarantees must
be such as shall not be inconsistent
with Republican Government for
those who give as well as for those
who receive such security.
Conquest does not rightfully give
unlimited sway over the persons
and property of the conquered, and
their rights may be diminished no
further than is necessary for the
public safety. '' A
If it were proven that.it would
be impossible for us to live safely