The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1867-03-23

y
essence OF despotlsm, TO arrest md imprisOn
where there can be no lawful trial
Itmeans spies and delators, setto watch
mems words and looks and to follow their
infamous vocation even IN the family circle
1t means the qualification Of private
revenge, by the aeHaReiatien0 Of these whom
malice hates as disloyal, or whose property
greed coYets
It 1neans. tie giving Of profitable employ
ment to the iegaltzRltuTes Whof0Eage on the
outskirts and in the suburbs of the profes-
sion of the law, and to enable whom to ex-
tort ezOrbitant fees for Obtaining releases,
unlawful arrests are made and it means
the sharing Of these profits with the officer
ordering the arfastiaHdt bribed to order the
release,-a renewal Of the infamons atr0ci-
ties Of the irving Block.
1t means that of which one miscreant has
boasted in pub4ie. to an audience of those
who beast higher civilization that wives
and daughterssshall kneei- to bloated Military
Tyrants to obtain she release of husbands,
sons or fathers unlawfully imprisoned, and
dying in the'barred cells Of tyranny
Is means what the Leffre de cGehet dc
par te Rio, meant Ia the. days OF Louis
XVI.-that the power of arbitrary arrest
shall be 8 c1nveHieht means to remove
troublesome iltis band, OF a. father or brother
whose vengeance for a deadly injury, or IN
~
1t means unlawful seizures and searches,
without legal warr;tit, on the information
of malicious knaycs, the silencing and snp-
preston of free press; the preaching Of
the Gospel and the last heuors paid to the
dead, punished as crimes and an lnQuisi-
ton for the eZtirpation of political heresies.
1t means IN the language Of Justice
Woodbury., 'the breaking up the founda-
tions Of all sound municipal rule, no less
than social order, and restoring the reign of
the strongest and making mere physical
force the test Of right sal sw a8au
1t means the apppinting of FIVE unre-
strained Military Dictators at the head Of
armed men; or of one, with FIVE PrOconsuls.
1t means, again, in the language Of the
same judge,Ha return 10 the uabridied des-
potism of the Tupors, which had been &C
customed, in peace as well as in war, to try
not only soldiers under it, but others, and by
courts martial rather than civil tribunals,
and by RO-settled laws, instead Of the mani-
cipal code, and for civil offences no less than
military ones.
1t means, in the language of the Virginia
Assembly of 1FF5, -sanRulling the law of
the land, and introducing the most exscra-
bic of all systemss martial law.
1t means the investing with absolute power
that class of men1whO invariably abqses it,
and are least fit to be entrusted with it
1t means cruelty, oppression, tyranny and
injustice, and all Che most odious practices of
despotism IN the worst of times. 8s
And yet those who sanction this great
crime by their silence, if they do not, like
the parasites of the EmperOrs, apologize for
it, well know that " in peace the occurrence
of civil strife does not Justify individuals,
or the military, or the king, In using mar
tial law over the people fa.f. f..4-e
They know that the English Mutiny Act
of 36 Geo III begins by reciting,
~ Whereas no man can be preiudged of life,
or hurt, or subjected, in time of peace, to
any punishment, within the realm, by mar
tial law" and that Lord Coke says IF a
Lieutenant, or other that hath commission
of marshal authority, in time ofpeace, hang
or otherwise execute any man by colour Of
marshal law, this is murder, for this is
against Magma Charta; cap. 29, and is done
by such power and strength, as the party
cannot defend himself and here the law i'm
plyeth malice 2 IIlstit 50. zz -58sE
And upon this law Coke adds, " Thomas,
Count of Lancaster being taken in an open
insurreetiOn, was by judgment of marshal
law put to death in Ammo II Edw. is. This
was adiudged to be unlawful, because it
being in time of pence, he was not arTaigned
or put to answer, though the ChanceryT and
other Courts of the King were then open, in
ing to ancient custom which was against
the Charter Of Liberties.H
Will those journals that repress honest
impulses which mast rise from their hearts
and almost prompt them uncOnsciously to
cry aloud against the intemperate excess Of
hate that begets these outrages on public
liberty, that must agitate them with an eager
and tremulOus desire to protest in burning
words against being mistaken for the accom-
plices of the greatest public crime of all the
ges,-will these journals timidiy whisper
cautieus disapprOval, or boldly tell as we
deserve the punishment2 What If we do
Punish rs, then, according to la9 but do
not assassinate liberty with more daggers
than hacked the body of Caesar Is free
government such a failure that crime must
be committed TO punish guilt2
Or viii they say that the consequences
we paint so darkly are~nOt legitimate, and
only possible If so, we will reply that
these and worse are not the abuses of ire
spOnsible power; but its natural and con-
slant fruit and issue The exeesses of
Caligula were the lawful issue of the I'm
perial despotism. Neither are they merely
possible During the war the military power
Of arrest and imprisonment, IN conquered
places, was used for purposes as base as any
here depicted and all that we have supposed
probable Has done and even excelled. Not
New Orleans only felt the sharp stings Of
military rule. 1t is because such things
are possible, and hare been done before,
that in al free countries they are zealocsly
guarded against by declarations Of rights
paramount to and supreme over ali legIsia-
ton, intended to make them impossible.
Whenever and wherever the privilege Of the
writ Of Habeas Corpus is suspended, the
tragedy Of Appius Claudius and Virginia
may be re-enacted and every Province Taay
be Sicily rayaged By a Yerres. lt IS a
high crime to entrust any human being with
absolute power aud to assassinate liberty
Ia thousand times more heinous than that
treason, If il Be treason, which aims at Po-
itical independence.
Our partner, when quite a youngster, on
tered the Office Of the Arkansas Baptist, pub
liaL-ad az L.iLlla Rhek - -IaarEl Lha nrinting