The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-05-09

|. / ONE OF EhEknS uSbAGos A4HANI ~
to freedom and humanity. An
other subject of thanksgiving is pre-
scented In the very constitution OF your
body furnishing ocular evidence that
the age of lust and class cruelty Is de-
parted, and the new era Of equality and
Justice breaking through the clouds of
persecution and prejudice Is now dawn
ing upon us; and, strongest OF all, that
| this city OF Richmond should be the
spot Of earth to furnish this gracious
manifestation. Richmond, the beauti-
fuI and abandoned seat of the Rebellion,
looking as comedy and specious as a
goodly apple or a gilded sepulchfe,
where bloody treason f1oufished its
whip of scorpions. Richmond, where
the slave-trade SO long held high car
nival; where the press has found the
lowest depths Of profligacy; where IL
centiOusness had ruled until probably
a majority of births were illegitimate or
without the forms OF law, where the
fashionable and popular pulpit had
been so Frustrated thatfts fulfilled min
istering gay Lothartos GENERALLY recom-
mended the worship of what they most
spected-pleasure property, and pow
er-corresponding to the pagan and
psychological ideas of Bacchus, Nam
mon, and Mars
Gods brutal, partial, passionate, unjust,
Whose attributes Were rage, revenge. and lust,
1t was as L the t1ends prevailed
Against the SeTaphs they HsSalled;
And liked on Heavenly thrones should dwell,
The freed inheritOrs OF he'll. l
SO formed for Joy, = aa
50 curse the cause that destroy.
But We are reminded that where sin
Rbounded grace may much more
abound, and in the light of recent
changes may. we not hope material
and moral future for this City of Rich
mOnd in strong contrast with itsawful
and athelstic past, and in harmony with
the salubrity of its climate, the poetic
beauty of its scenery and the magnih-
cence OF its water powers? have
| sometimes feared that by the usages of
this State, which have given the selec-
ton of jurors to the SherifIs and Mar
shRlls, or, in professional language,
have packed jurieH instead of drawing
| them from a box of names selected by
other officers, as is done In most Of the
States, there was danger of getting in
different persons upon the panel, but
the care and rare Judgment which our
MRrshals have always shown In their
selections prove my fears uufounded.
and, j am truly grati1ed to find so many
gentlemen Of public and private worth
upon the present jury. We so often
hear from reasonable sources around
us ofcruel acts passed by Congress since
the beginning of the war; acts which
we are called upon to enforce: that 1t is
well, perhaps, for one moment to con-
| slider the utter falsehood of such
charges, and to find on examination
the unparalleled elemency and for
bearance of the victorious Government,
which, but for the cost of the
Rebellion, would now be felt only
In its protection and its blessing,
while 1t has heretofore been the common
law or all nations, our own in
cluded, to punish treason by death. II
was reserved for the American Con-
gress, in the midst of gigantic rebel
lion on the 18th day OF July, 1862, to
reduce that punishment, If the courts
shall see tit, to fine and Imprisonment.
Again 1t has been the usage of all ma
tons, in peace as we'll as war, to make
the wrongdoer, even In the most trivial
tresspasses, respond out of his property
to the full amount Of the damages Re
has committed, practice and usage
also OF victorious governments in all
ordinary wars; and yet we have seen a
| patriot statesman, venerable alike for
his age and for the blessings; education.
culture and improvements he had con.
ferred upon his State and country. a
statesman greatly eminent among his
fellow legislators, and by common CON
sent of successive Congresses, acknowl-
edged as a leader and father, with a
Difference that neither Clay, Fox, the
Pitts nor even Cicero had ever known.
this noble man We have seen assailed
4 wi h u bitterness and a falsehood pecu-
culiar to the authors of and leaders OF
the Te6ellions, its pimps and apologists,
And for what2 Why, for proposinp
that few ofthose who had been chiefi1
instrumental in filling the land with
woe and mourning, and debt and taxa
ton, and who, like the late Secretary OF
the rebel finances, had made millions
by blockade running, and by her
spec1latng upon the general! distress,
should out Of there princely estates
contribute one-tenth of the damages
they had done and at the same time
expressly exempting from penalty all
the great masses of those who had been
| drawn Into the late war. This humane
statesman also proposes not to punish
any with that extreme rigor usual in
civil wars, and not even to the extent
exacted by every European nation in
ordinary foreign wars. Was such mod
GRAFTON and clemency ever before so
est old statesman of our county and
age, this honor to humanity and LIGHT
among the nations, still continue to live
Notwithstanding the advance of years
and disease, and may we yet be guided
| by his wisdom. and heneficence untl
the great questions now pending shall
be decided In the interest OF peace, pro-
gress, and freedom. regret, gentle.
men, that l cannot encourage YOU with
the hope of short or light session, as
/ am informed by the District Attorney
that your labors may be considerable.
The unmitigated disloyalty which ami
II mAL1H an InRnTa tNr.pkfata ~
per press In this State, Is producing
such elect upon the public morals, es-
Il PecIalLy IN creating a disposition by
frauds and perjury to escape taxation
necessary for the support Of the Gov
eminent, In encouraging the circulation
OF counterfeit money, and It il 10 Ia
1 leate1 tne anxiety 70 vote at the APP
lproachlng elections by persons en-
\ gagged IN the late rebellion, is
about to produce an immense amount
/ of labor, for our Grand Juries ON this
| subject may have occasion to address
you more at length on a future occa-
sion. Your attention is particuIariv
called to an abuse which had assumed
an alarming aspect in this city as a
relic of the old barbarism of slavery; I
mean the brutal rejection of great Ia
4 boring and useful class of the people
from the street cars, under the act OF
Congress commonly called the Civil
Rights bill. There is an undoubted
remedy for such ontrages. Chartered
transportation companies owe impair
tial duties TO the public. and the gross
wrongs complained OF deserve our In
dignant reproduction. 1 know the mat
ter has been arranged by the Commando
ing General with his usual great pru-
denee and judgment, but 1t IS from it's
nature a mere temporary settlement.
anu needs confirmation by me la9ai
sanction Of courts and juries. / oniy
ssk mat you add your, weight to what
mas 2sen 50 we'll and wisely done by
tne General. II any ofyo6r number
SnSW o. any violation OF law, It Is your
4 be.alwaYs 16 in number, ana the meant ~
/ OF II is req uired to find 4 true sill