Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1867-06-05

enemies. :.
These words originally found in the earl;
statute of England against treason, have re-
ceived their settled interpretations in Eng
land and American Courts. They arc uset
in this withou; any qualification, and We give
them tuIl force and application when they
are made 10 apply to adherence or giving ale
aid comf.rt TO foreign enemies. Such ar
act as to the, breach OF oath or duty OF allie
glance stands upon the same policy OF dis,
qualification, as engaging in rebellion or civil
war. A person, therefore, gho gave aid apo
comfort 10 our enemies in the war with Great
Britain of lsl2 and in the war with Mexico
in lS47, would, in that particular, come with
in this clause. In laying down :nis rule | fo
not forget that for certain purposes and in
certain sense every citizen in the rebel States
during the late rebellionis to be considered
q public enemy, as,in respect to the liability
of his property 10 capture ss prize OF war,
and in respect to various Acts Of Congress,
passed durpg the rebellion, which, as to
property, declare its liability to captur2, for
fei,ure or con6scation when used in aid of
the ae rebellion. But wherever in. any OF
these Acts of CONGRESS these terms aid and
con6scate are uset in any other ,han the
commonly received acceptation, some quail.
fcation or description is added to make them
apply TO the rebellion. Nevertheless, al
though am strongly inclined to think that
the aid and comfort here mentioned should
strictly be confined to its al acknowledged legal
Interpretation, | am not quite prepared to
say that Congress may net lave used it as
applicable to, the rebellion. [ shall there
fore, alloy it due weight in the next inquiry
10 giving construction on +he clause now to
be considered.
We are now to inquire what is meant by
engaging in instruction or rebellion against
the United States? The force Of the term
ito engage" carries the idea of active rather
than passive conduct, and Involuntary rather
than compulsory action. Take as an in
stance a rebel soldier Compelled to service
by force Of conscription; take as another in
stance the case of 4 slave, who,. by the CON-
mand of his master Or by military order, has
served in the ranks or aided in the constluc-
tion of military works. 1t you'd be an abuse
of language to hold that in these Instances
the parties have engaged in rebellion within
the meaning Of that word as used in the law.
But whilst in my opinion q conscript or slave
forced into the ranks or other military SER
vice is not included, it does not follow tha:
othe, classes than those who actually levied
war and voluntarily joined tbe ranks ofrc9els
are to be excluded, taking 1t to be clear that
in the sense of tl4t law 2ersous may have
engaged in rebellion without having actually
IIevied war or taken arms. AlI;hosc, who, III
legislative o- other Official capacity, were en-
| ga ged in furtherance of common unlawful
purpose or persons who, IN their individual!
capacity, did any overt act for the purpose
Of promoting the rebellion, may well be said
in the meaning of this law to have engaged
in rebellion. All persons nho, during re-
be licn, acted in an official capacity whetc
the duties of officer necessarily had relation
to he support OF the rebellion, SUCH as mem-
bers of rebel Legislatures and rebel Congress,
ani rebel Conventions, ana rebel diplomatic
ageas OF the rebel Confedsracy. CT such other
officials whose duties moe specially apper-
't.ined to tie support OF linf rebel cause, :.nst
be held to come within the terms OF eXc.u
sion. Officers in those rebel States who,
curing the rebellion. discharged oiic:al du-
ties not INCIDENT to war, 0nt III Preservation
of order end administration 0! law, arc not
TO Ge considered as tkereb: engaging in re
! bel!;on. The interests oi humanity require
such officers for the performance o; such eill-
cia! conduct in time ot war or iHsu;rectnn,
- well as in time Of peace, and the perlor-
nance cf such duties can never tc consider
I'd as criminal. l cannot brig myself to the
conclusion that Congress coni,! lave rnrant
that such purely civi. and necessary ritcas
avolvsd tic Incumbent in the Gull: Of irsnr-
rec,ioa Nothing but Tie most cogent i.a-
guage, such IS was used II the test oath ior
lawyers, could manifest sllch Il purpose. The
Supreme Court, in Constituting that test oath.
aud in reference to the clause 20 WHICH /
have alluded, uses this language.
The ;hi,d clause apple, 10 the seeking,
acceptance ur exercise not Only OF ciilces
created for lhc purpose OF mere eliaelualiy
carrying on husiiiileS. In: also of those OF
lices which are required in every community,
whether in peace or war, for the adminlst'a-
lion of ias;ice and the preservation Of order.
fad no such purpose in the use OF any OF
the terms OF ;hc Act HOW under consideration.
| am accordingly Of opinion that holGinG a
simple judicial Office, or other executive Of
fee or public employment as are 'of pn'li'
civil character, suct as corniy cIilces. NUM-
cpa! Offices, and eli Others Of like nature
which were not created Or tEc purpose OF
more etec;usliy car yine on losIiiiiies: and
which did not iryovc tie performance oi
duties expressIy.in. iarlcr@nce Of rebellion,
do not come within the meaning oe ta> part
OF the oath or iix on the incumbent ;he guilt
OF engaging in theArebe lion. 80 much for
tic official par;cip&on.
now recur to what amounts to iEGisIcuat
participation in the rebellion. In ric atiemp;
to arrive at tue classes Of persons or ofec;s in.
tended 10 he comprchended IN the matter o.!
engaging in rebei! on, We must have cue re-
gard 10 The subject matter, undoubtedly, al
though every rebellion against the United
States is colnprehended. 1t is the late re-
bellon which almost, if not altogether, cen
be said to be the proper subject matter. A
rebellion which extended over eleven States
OF TIC Union involving more or less a mill
ion of their people, continuing for more than
f ur years, and martained byl vast military
authority, Which. as to all ofthesc people Tor
time and as 10 most Of them duriug It's con'in-
uulcc, excluded Them irvm ali protection un.
der The lawful Government.
The obligations Of allegiance, when titus
separated from the corresponding right Of
protection, and the breach of thai allegiance,
are necessarily modified under such circum-
stances. Pie obligation is less stringent,
and breach of that obligation less repre-
hensible than in cases Of temporary or local
insurreclion. Nor mustwes s@,getth hat though
out these rebel States there we're large cla'ses
of their populations more or less opposed
to the .rebelous movement, and who were
ret more or less necessarily. involved IN Its
support.
have already said that the language used
in this Act as 20 participation, carries the
idea of voluntary participation. and am sat
islicd that these considerations, growing out
of tue nature of the rebellion, induced Con-
gress TO use the word engage. in the place
Of involuntary participation. When an in.