The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1866-06-09
A Loyal Plea for the Life OF
Jefferson Davis.
From the Louisville ,Journal.1

The proper disposition to be made
the oDly remaining State prisoner IS
question of the highest moment. ]
taking time to deliberate upon it, til
Goyernment and the people have aete
wisely 10 II iIiff
As an mdigidaql, the fate Of Jeffel
son DavisfS Off no more consequence
{, than that of any other person; but n
the leader Of the "Great Rebellion,
i as the representative man, and in it
bearings upon the future of our coul
try,itl looms. up iutos huge proportions
any decision must be historical
wrong, one maybe irrevcrsible.
Concerning it, the loyal people ma,
Z be divided into three classes:
l. Those clamorous for his blood.
2. The Indifferent NeFE
2cS. Those opposed to his capital pun
ishmcnt. .,,.r.-
Reason and reflection have range,
the writer with the third class.
The first class demandh his life on two
principal grounds: y
First, on that of eternal justice-as
merited reward of his crime.
Second, on that Of security for thu
future, and Of rendering treason
odious.". -lr,sa Jr,gs.H4
As TO the first reason l beg leave tc
ask who knows what eternal JUSTICE is
Docs any one know the Eternal him
self? Shall presumptious man essay
to tathom its depths? Does any one
see any connection between the Exc
dus of the Children of Israel and the
late war? No one. Yet there may
be a close and consequential depend
ence. The Past and Future have no
place in the grammar Of the Almighty.
With Him it is one eternal Present. In
hunting down Hannibal the Romans
believed that they were but executing
the DEGREES of Heaven. Does any one
think so now? Was the Republic real
" benefited by the fulillment of the
patrioh;c wish of Cato, "thc just" de-
ieada est Cartilage? Though the Ro-
man people cried amen, does history
Justify the fearful doom meted out to
Jugurtha? 1t becomes man, erring,
short-sighted man, to be careful how
he trenches upon the prerogatiyes Of
Jehovah. He has warned him that He
has chosen to execute His own DEGREES.
Jcngeuoce is mine, soiM tile lori, / wW
Tepoy.
AS for the second and more plausible
ground Of the demand, | hesitate not
to declare that, that if Jefferson Davis
and one hundred more OF the leaders
were hung tomorrow, the day after the
bloody spectacle, Il thousand Others
would be Ready to brave the halter, if
they had a reasonable assurance of
success. Uno orulso, 0 dcfcH after.
No. The %"sccurity for the future" is
the signal failure Of the recent attempt;
the utter hopelessncss of another
If other securities" were at hand, they
are not needed, This generation will
not forget the costly lesson.
/. there any onc in the South who
has not heard the roar Of cannon, the
clash Of arms, the shout Of the combat
ants? Is there any one who has not
seen the manglcd heaps of the slain in
Who has not mouTcl over
hay, who does not still mour over
the freshly made grave Of some near
and dear one ?-somc whose place
cannot ID tlledAwho was the darling
of a parent, the idol of a wife, or the
pride of u sister? "~
But you say that it is requisite "to
make treason odious" Odious to
whom2 To loyal men? Surely, for
them no such example is necessary.
viii it loyalize or change the senti-
lnentS of Il single rebel-evcn the weak
Amore enlightened prescription
IS the faithful execution Of just and
equal laws, consideratc c]lcmcncy, con.
citation and magnanimity. 1t is more
a scalfold in every coun-
ty Of the South. In this way, and in
his way only, can the rcbellious be
inade to sccthc wickedncss. the "odious-
Of treason. Any other formula
the disease Ito carry out the meta
phor) argues II profound Ignorance Of
he Southern-indccd Of the American
t'oRSttption.
But | propose to push the argument
! step further-to show that nothing
nut dishonor and danger to the future
,ould be expected to flow from the OK
,cution ofJctfersOn Davis.
Let us, fora moment, glance at some
If the opposite lessons of history.
We're liberal principles advanced, ortht
Commonwealth strengthened by the
of Charles |? So far from
it is not altogether absurd to believe
hat, but for its baleful and reactionmy
influence upon the better classes and
cal influences of. popular institutions,
to-day might be a rival Re,
She had the workmen to lay
he foundations. Two hundred and I
Iity years have not reproduced their
quais. {
Again, after the Restoration, did the |
indictive persecution ofthose who had
onsented to the Kings death tend to
Consolidate the power of the Stuarts : ,
light it not rather be affirmed that, ,
nong the auses of the expulsion of ,
lmcs III, and of the Stuarts, forever :,
'om the throne, these b%lood-capped .
.avcs of the Restoration played u not (;
nimportant part? :
Did the execution of Louis XVI help :,
ne cause of egaih ct Jraternie in +
rance? That act and the subsequent
for political offences, dren-
hing the streets of Paris with blood,
isgusted the French people with De s.
locracy, and drove them back for 4
acurity and quiet to their ancient forms o
nd chains. ii
What American has not read with 81
emotions the matchlcss elo- i
lence'of Robert Emmett? Has his