Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-01-24

SplIdcy, anu tnaU the execution, III 1t had
taken place, would have been a mere Law.
less murder What else could they do?-
To hang men without Judge or Jury is an
act so clearly forbidden by the fundamen.
tai law that no one can make any mistake
about it, if he has sense enough TO know
his right hand from his left The rrohibi.
ton is written down as plain as any one Of
the ten commandments /; there is not son
tence in the Lords Prayer more simpIe. NOT
a moral precept can be found in the cbiId's
primer that is more easily understood -
Yet the court is viipended and abused
and slandered for saying it. The ORGANS Of
disunion and anarchy publicly proclaim
their determination to disregard the decis-
ion, not because it is erroneous, but he
cause it confines their power by limits in
conveniently narrow. They declare that
they will do in defiance of it, whatever
gratifes their own purposes or promotes
their own interests and they imprudentlv
use this very expression :" If the law
stands in our way SO much the worse for
the law"
Mr.. Tnaddeus Stevens, the leader and
driver of the present Congress, denounceg
this decision on the floor of the House.
To my certain knowledge he knows it ole
perfectly right. The senseless twaddIe
about hanging American citizens by the
law of nations, on criminal accusations Of
their own government, could not for Il
single instant impose OIL an understanding
like his. But he denouGces the Judges for
deciding what he knows and whaI they
know to be true, for no conceivable reason
except his desire that his particular friends
may continue to enjoy the delightful luxury
Of shedding innocent blood.
The Judges, and all who think with tber,
are called traitors because they declare the
Constitution to mean what it SAYS, and be-
cause they will not violate it themselves or
permit its violation by others when they
can prevent it. If this conflict for or
against the Constitution implies treason on
either side, the guilt does not lie at our
| door. 1t is not the man who sustains and
| loves and believes in the laws Of his coun-
! try ; it is not such Il man that can Justly lie
called n traitor. But if there be an Amer
can citizen anywhere who, with al oath
| upon his conscience to support the Const-
tuition, would make war upon il, subycrt it
| by brute force, and take away the deEences
it affords to life, liberty, and property
| leaving them to the mercy of mObs. muir
derers, kidnappers, military commissions
and bureaus of military justice, such a man
is thoroughly a traitor
faye, from the EXTREMIST upward Of his head
To the descent and dust beneath his feet,
A most toad-spotted traitor"
These arrows which they cast against us.
barbed and poisoned with the accusation
! of treason, rebound from our inpenetrabie
armor, and fall harmless at our feet; for we
are shielded and helmed, and weaponrl
with the truth but if we choose to take
them up and send them back at our adyeI-
saries, we would leave them quivering IN
their very hearts.
A great truth, on which the safety OF ST.
ciety and the security of individual rights
must depend, is in its nature indestruct-
BILE. You may crush it to-day, but it will
appear and vindicate itself tomorrow. On
the other hand, nothing is so evanescent or
so tickle as the passions that spring from
the interests and the preiudices OF the hour.
| Let the lessons Of history be needed. Iitus
| Oates, Bedloe, and Dangerfield enjoyed "A
| far greater measure of popular coniideucp
| than ever was bestowed on Mr. Holt, Mr.
Conover, Mr.. Campbell, alias Hoare, or by
all the officers, agents, spies, dilators and
witnesses Of the military bureau put to-
gether They-I mean Oates and company
were loudly applauded in Parliament
| they were the former favori cs of the Bri,-
| lsh people, and they were the very darling
of all the political preachers. They held
the life and honor of the nation in their
hands. II they but pointed finger at an
individual he was doomed, and no purity
| OF previous character, no proof OF iuHU-
cence, however clear, could save him from
destruction.
Such was their OVERLOOKING prosperity
one year; but before the next year came
round those wretched miscreants were how
ing at the carts tail of the public execu
toner, and the whole population Of Lon
don was clasping its hands with JOY. Let
the man who puts his trust in q false popu-
| laIity beware of the rebound which is Surc
to come, sooner or later. 1t is written down
among the Interchangeable DEGREES of Al
mighty God that no lie shall live forever;
and especially is this true Ct a great, mon
strous, bloody lie like that which the SD
preme Court has put its broad foot upon,
| l have spoken of the court us q collective
body. All the judges concurred III the de
cisiOn of the question before them. On
merely speculative point which lay outside
of the record there was dissent The mi
nOrlty was wrong, of course, as all minor
ties are. Each Judge, however met his
duty to the case itself. and all are therefor
entitled to the reverence and respect which
is justly shown to the highest talent, con
| pied with the purest integrity. But one
among them is prinaus inter pUreS, not be
cause he is better or greater than the 9th
orS, but because he is more fortunate. lie
was selected as the organ of the majority,
and gave expression to their Judgment
The thoughts that breathe, and the worl,
that burn all over that opinion are his
thoughts and his words. The Irresistible
logic which goes through and through all
adverse arguments, the felicity of ilu>tra-
ton which makes the whole subject blaze
with light, are all his own. That great
production will be guide and landmm&
for all future time it identifies its author
forever with the sacred cause of constltu-
tlonal liberty, and makes his
"One Of the few, the immortal names
That were not born TO die"
| 1t gives him a position to which no earth-
~ station can add any dignity ; for man
of just ambition would always rather be
| a public benefactor than to hold high 81
| flee.
Mr.. Chairman, when You .recolect thar
the court has saved us from nothing less
| than the overthrow of our free Government
and when you observe the roaring and
toamlng OF the calumny which asaais II,
| think you will agree with me, that ii IS the