The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-01-11


try aTe in the mos danger OF change
and perhaps no natiOn has ever passe,
through such convulsion Is ours snC
then returned 70 the principles OF gov
ernment and exact form Of cOntituuoI
which it had before The maxim tha
revolutions do not go backward, hsl
seemed TO have even q wider and despel
significance than has been popularly
given 70 IT The same law Of progres
sion which has made the eonvulsions O
| mOnsrchical governments tend toward
the development OF popular liberty
has in republics too often led 10 dos
| potism Of elssses or of factions, and
thence by easy stages 10 anarchy aad
utter disruption A victorious maj ajority
flushed with is triumph, finds 1t easy
| to forget the rights OF mlnOriues; and
| il remains for US to prove whether, in
our day, the old cry Of Woe 70 the con.
quered " may be silenced by q truly re.
publican determination to administer
tha Government for the real advantage
of all-of the defeated rebels as sell
as Of the loyal yictora
The war was not Wagsd by Us, who
remained faithful TO the Government,to
snbvert any Of the principles Of human
liberty upon which thar Government
was based, but to confirm and establish
them. The one great doctrine which
has been settled by the war IS that the
National ni0n cannot and shall not
be destroyed by the action Of any OF
the States composing it, but its con
tinuAnee, It's modification, or It's Usso-
luton, shall be determined by The
whole people schng as one nation under
the forms Of the Federal Constitution
The one great social chsnee which has
been determined BY the same event is
the abolition of slavery, the existeucs
OF which was staked up9n The success
of the rebellion, Ot which Is was the
cause.
These things have been deciied in
the dread court of last resort Tor Beo-
pies and nations. By as much rs the
shock Of armed hosts is more grand
than the intellectual tilt Of lawyers; as
the God OF battles is a more awful
Judge thsn any earthly court; by 50
much does the dignity Of this contest
and the hnahty OF this decision exceed
that Eof any human tribunal II we
have not been right in pledging our
lives and our fortunes ~ gave our couu-
try, then the blood of the myTiads oi
heroes vino have fallen rest with mUr-
derous guilt upon our souls, and We
shall never consent that the justifca
cation 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 fer or against the
country in her. struggle There are
some tnlEgs 10 which courts Of law can !
add no sanction, and nations ap-
peal 10 God. whenit seizes the sword. IS |
one of them. We may, when ueces-
sary, try individual traitors, and the |
people Of the United States viii appear
as prosecutor, but not as defendant at
the bar
Being conqUeror, the Government
has the undoubted right to impose
terms upon the conquered, but in the
statement Of what should limit and de-
fine those terms, difficulties arise We
are apt, indeed, to listen with impa
tience 20 any limitation of our control
over those who are subject 10 US. The
pleasures of rulership and the JOY which
Is felt in the exercise OF power have
always appealed with peculiar force to
the frailties of human nature, and pro
fessed Republicans have been as sub
iect to their temptations as other men
In a time like this most of rs feel the
necessity of checking our impulses and
passions, challenging the motives and
the consistency of our actions, and OF
fastening our attention, by effort Of VIII, |
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 be
tween Us and powerful foreign powers
unWelcOme the task Of self
we owe it to ourselves 10 |
make it thorough and searching The
ancient cOnqueror was accompanied by
q slave in his triumphal car, who re.
minded him of his humanity and his
weakness we must act as our own
to moderation or Justice, and
remind ourselves of the rules which
should control our action, and Of the
dangerous tendencies OF our own ma
ture. We need no stimulus to anything
which runs with the whole current of
popular impulse aud 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 10 cross our desires or
to question the direction Of our prog
ress.
We have the right, and are IN duty
bound, to insist uDOn sufficient guaran-
tees for the future safety Of the UniOn;
but those guarantees must be such as
shall not be inconsistent with a republi
can government for those who give as
well as for those who receive such Sc
curity.
Conquest does not rightfuliy give
Unlimited sway over the persons and
property Of the conquered, and their
right may be diminished no farther
than is necessary for the public safety.
II it were proven that it would be-
for Us 20 live safely,as sharers
ofa common government with the peo-
pie Of any State or community, cur re-
publicaBism might force rs to consent /
to separation, bat could not Justify us
in holding them Is subjects; and this
is true without reference to /
race or color
Representation is not g privilege con-
ferred upon maj0ritiez, but it IS most
for good when il approaches
most nearly 10 giving voice in the Legis-
ture to all miaorities in proportion 70
their number
il is better and safer that minority,
however hostile to US in principle,
should be 50 represented ss to be OPEN
ly heard and answered, than that T.
should have the advantage OF winning
the sympathy and gaining pariisans by
making issue upon the question OF the
instead OF upon the fal-
sity Of its obnoxious principles.
Military government Il in It's very ss-
senoe q despot.sm, and any long con-
tinuanee Of il sitter the cessation OF
armed resistance is contrary 70, aud
confession of the failure OF, republican
ism.
These and many similar general max
inns ct government are the intellectual
diet upon which every living American
has been bred, aud OF which We have
been such earnest propagsndisis shat
no one Of us can deny them without
mourning the contempt Of tie civilized
world They are mere distractions, it
is true, but We need 10 bear them 10
mind none the less carefully for that
All rules are distractions, whether they
be the fofmuls for solving the prob
lens Of government CT OF other s5i-
ences. We recall them 70 test our
work, sud we reckon ourselves 70 haVe
made good progress IN proportion to
the faithfdlnes5 with which We have
adhered 10 them.
In the heat q our lust wrath against
those who would have swept repubI.
e4nIsm from the continent had they
been successful We are in danger Of
forgetting principles to vhich We owe
allegiance, and theTefors We should not
excuse ourselves from the thanEless
task Of reminding each other Of them.
To follow these rules and yet provide
lhct the national safety be not encan.
gered. 70 deaeTmire who Of the late
enemies Of the 0OFera4st sEe without
a. nala oF rIarnarrv and vet N -