The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-02-21

hororable compromise, and might have
~ republican institutions by showing their.
osnsc,ty to take She sting Of death out of
evil discord. And thsy could have done
all this without risk Of any sort to them
selves. They were immensely In the ma
jority as to numbers, and they had the
wealth, the intelligence, and the influence
Of their section with them. But they had
not the moral courage to stand firm before
the first onslaught of demagogism. They
fell PROSTATE at the first yell Of city mob.
They surrendered at the first summons OF
party catch-word. Nay, they not only
surrendered, but went over, almost In
mass, TO the men whom they despised, and
to schemes which, as they knew, involved
the overthrow of all that they .revered In
the institutions Of their country. Ihey
were warned of the perils which must fol-
| low the introduction of force as an element
IN n popular government. They were
told Of the folly of attempting to pre-
serye by armies Union which came
from affection, and would be worthless rs
aeon as brotherhood ceased to animate it.
They were implored to remember, as the
plaifest lesson of history, the impossibility
| of preserving freedom without respecting
law. They were warned against the
wretched weakness Of snpposing that they
could entrust absolute power to their
rulers and yet live free themselves under
its shadow. They were ccounselled to
stand by the Constitution as their only re-
fuge and hope, assured that If they per-
mitted 1t to be violated in what they
might consider to be their interest for the
time it would no longer be safeguard to
any interest or barrier against any
wrong. They were told that their love for
the Union was only appealed TO py way OIL
ensnaring their sense of right. Ii was ie-
monstrated to them that even il tho Tor
tunes of war should be ultimately with
them, victory would be but the beginning
Of their real danger, inasmuch Is conquest
would put an end to equality and liberty |;
and it was madness to suppose that ma
ton could be enslaved in one of its Sec
tions, and free, under the same govern
ment, in the rest. .-
1t is needless to say that all these warn
ings were hooted at even by those once
pledged most deeply to the truths which
they involved. Indeed, the renegades
were worse than the Turks. Throughout
the whole of the heart-rendmg struggle
which followed, 1.-The most reckless adve-
Gates of the EXTREMIST measures were
those who had apostatized from their re-
corded convictions. Two years have now
well nigh gone by since the last sword OF
the war was sheathed and where is the
Union, where the peace, for which the ma
ton and its institutions were upturnedf
What has been seen of the patriotic Off
Gals who were to bring back and deliver
up the extraordinary powers with which
they were entrusted for the hour of crisis
Where is the Constitution, in whose sacred
name so much blood was shed, and so
much hope and happiness and plenty
we're turned to desolationS Except
the knaves who have grown fat on
: power and plumber, the monopolists who
have thriven on high tariffs, and the tax
gathering leeches that suck out the mar
row of the land, who is there, from
the Aroostook to the Rio Grande, that is
better off for the war? Who but these
should not pray God, on Bonded knees, to
be RENTED to what we were in 1861, be-
fore the torch of the "irrepressible con-
fictn was put to its incendiary work
Not discarded warning of those days but
has been brought home to us in sorrow
Not a prophecy whose fulfilment is not
written on the crumbling walls of the great
edifice which our fathers builded. And
how many thousands who scoffed at warn
ing, when to have needed it would have
been our salvation, are now timidly NUT
teripg their idle and useless protests
How many, who denounced hesitation as
" treason' and remonstrance as "rebel-
:, hnd a fprrfhip
uncertainties of future which they could
have ayerted by the commonest exercise
of moral integrity and courage! What
right have they to be virtuous and indig-
nant now? Their own hands undermined
the tower, why should they wonder that
il totters? With what effect can they
invoke the sanctions of a Constitution
: which for four years they were steadily
engaged in bringing to disgrace? They
strengthened the hands of radlcalism
when they might have crushed it.
What is the use of their talking
conservatism now? Learned jurists,
); who taught us that the President, as
commander-in-chief, had right to sus-
pend the provisions of the Constitution
when he thought "the life of the nation !"
required it, have surely small cause to
complain at this day if the gauntetted
hand is thrust into their faces. Courts OF
Justice, which bowed abjectly down before
executive and military power, have them
selves only to blame if the people have
lost respect for the law and confidence in
its administration. The recent refusal OF
local court in the District Of Columbia to
obey the decision of the Supreme Court in
the matter of the test oath was as Infamous
as Infamous can be. But what could the
{ Supreme Court expect, after it had set the
example of judicial decentralization by
postponing for twelve months its own deci-
sion on that very point and on the yet more
vital question of military commissions Ii
political influence can affect the highest
tribunal. how can we hope that judges OF
less responsible position will keep,them-
selves above itl And so il is throughout
the whole range Of the troubles which are
upon US. There is not department OF the
Government or class Of the people now
feebly essaying to vindicate the right
which is not haunted by the Nemesis of its
own deliberate misdeeds. The only conso-
lation is that radicalism also has its Nemesis
behind it H4&e
!, "The eternal law,
That where guilt is, sorrow shall answerit."
1t may be apleasant thing, while it lasts,
to WELD the mighty sceptres of legisla-
tive despotiSm. But the same history
which tells how legislative despotisms have
arisen, depicts as with the hand of fate the
perilous ignominy of their inevitable over
throw. 1t is no doubt agreeable to those
who hate the President, and seek his office
for themselves or for their friends or party
purposes, to find impeachment so simple
and effectual an engine. But such les