Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-05-31
-4MNESTKTO REBELS.

1Iobs invariably fail, but rebellion
sometimes succeeds, and the measure
of its success Is generally commensur-
ate with the character and ability of Its
leaders Without leaders it cannot
/ succeed and hence its first step Is to
/ secure as such the ablest men availa-
bic. For this purpose it offers a boun-
ty in the highest places and most
/ tempting prerogatives within its gift.
Di3 no one dare to accept them rebel
lion could never amount to anything
more than a mob. Its passions would
destroy themselves Ior want Of some
strong ceutraI authority to control and
guide them oh for a leader" the
mob often cries and in this frantic ex-
clamatisn fr5r betrays its hopelessness.
Without organized leadership the
spirit of secession would have burne
itself out in sporadic c,neutes such as
the riots at New York, Memphis and
New Orleans Without such leader
ship it never could have succeeded in
forming an army even, much less in
making systematic war upon the Uni
ted States Government.
But fortunately Cor unfortunately
for the rebellion it found such men Of
ability as Davis. Lee, Stephens and
Beauregard ready to step forward ana
become its leaders. They accepted the
/ traitors bribe5 aud voluntarily took
upon themselves the responsibility of
giving the rebeliun that unity with
out which it must have remained a
mob and miscrably perished as such in
sixty days These intelligent and
Influential meu well knew this, and
clearly cUmpreheuGed Ihat in assuming
the leadership oi the rebellion they
took into their Cwn hands the control
of its destiny and the responsibility
for its success Or failure. Without
leadership they knciC it would fail, with
i it they believed it would succeed They
assumed therefore the responsibility of
making the destruction of the Union
probable which before was not posi-
bic. They did more. By the inhu-
ence Of their example they Induced
thousands upon thousands to engage
in the rebellion who would not have
done so. In this way they still farther
increased the probabilities of1ts success
. hundred fold Theywent IL farther
{ They NOT only stimulated the besi-
tating but compelled the unwilling
. There we're thousands who despite
} the pernicious example of leading trai-
= tors and the immense social pressure
raised to crowd them inIo the ranks Of
treason. yet remained true to the flag.
? These the minions Of jeff Davis seized,
! prosecuted. shot or hung. When they
= could not force these patriots into the
rebel service they desolated their
homes and drove them to the forest
and caves for refuge The Confeder-
ate leaders robbed the cradle and the
grave " to fill the armies of the rebel
lion. They not only led the people but
they drore them. Having assumed to
be the legislators and instructors ofthe
people they led them to the mouth of
ruin and then drove them in. Thous-
ands of the people of the South appre-
ciated this at the close Of the war
! Thousands considered Davis as a cold
hearted tyrant and Breckenridge as a
selfish trickster.
Now what should be done with such
men Does not the rebellion itself
teach us that in order to make rebel
lions improbable, if not impossible,
we should make it a hazardous thing
for men of ability to become leaders
Of them ? Do we not owe it to the
welfare and safety of our country to
punish such men? Do we not owe it
to the Southern people who, when
hesitating in a false step, were by these
} men precipitated to make it, and then
? hood -winked, beguiled, bullied and de
: ceived? ? Do we not owe it to the peo-
t pie of the North whose sons these
men have slain, and among whom also
they have endeavored to SOW the seeds
f Of dissouaion and rebellion?
l But some timid reader of the Tri-
e bune thinks it Is Il terrible thing to
0 hang people, particularly such bril-
a liant and talented individuals as Da-
y Wis annd Lee During the war our
: timid friend probably read with great
4 composure the bulletins of killed and
, wounded, and the lists of the starved.
e But whom would you hang?" asks
t some one. Perhaps our enquirer uses
the language of President johnson,
! would you hang eight millions ?" We
: answer in the language of Gen. But
Ter, by no means, Mr.. President, by
no means. You begin and hang one,
and we will tell you when to stop"
We use in reply also the language of
Lord Macaulay, the eminent English
historian and statesman whose opinion
We recommend to considerate atten-
ton, Commenting on the policy OF
William of Orange toward the nal
contents and conspirators who had
sought his ruin says: The rule by
which a prince ought, after a rebel
| lion, TO be guided in selecting reb-
eel, for punishment is PERFECTLY OBJ
) ''VIOUs. THE RINGLEADERs, THE MEN
l OF RANK, FORTUNE AND EDUCATION,
, WHOSE POWER AND WHOSE ARTI-
FlCES HAVE LED THE MULTITUDE IN
TO ERROR, ARE THE PROPER SUB
JECTs OF SEVERITY. TIE DELUDED
"PoPULACE, WHEN ONCE THE sLAUGm-
( TER ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE Is
t over, CAN SCARCELY BE TREATED
TOO LENIENTLY." This we hold to be
5 the doctrine of common sense, corrob
GRATED by the practice Of every civil
r. lied government IN the world.
But some one dcclaims to us about
u the virtue of clemency, and there Is y
= certain class who are continually
shrieking to phlegmatic justice to be