West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1880-07-17

administration resume its natural and
rightful dominion"
Thereupon, Inc issued his order No. 40
announcing that ''thc right of trial by
jury, tho habca8 corpus, the liberty OF
the press, the freedom of speech, the
natural r1g,Rs Of poroons cot tho rights of
property must 10 preserved"
With this order the carpet-bng Gov
pcase, took Issue. lie wrote lettor of
rcmonsirancc TO Gen. Hancock against
tho reinstatement Of tho civil authority in
Tcxae, and claiming that Texas should
be part of the Fifth military district,
and subject TO military power, and often
ders should be punished by military
commission.
lie argued for the Same arbitrary and
oppressive military powoS which 30 long
after tho war afflicted several Of the
Southern States. and against which
Wade Hampton had tho memorable con
test in South Carolina with tho carpet
bag Governor Chamberlain.
Peasc tried 10 convince Hancock that
Inc was violating the epirit and letter Of
the laws of Congress for tho rcconstruc-
tion of those States, and that there were
no legal local tribunals having any
authority.
This drew from General Hancock the
letter in reply "a Pceso which has become
80 significant in the matter of defining bic
position upon the relations between the
military aud civil authoritica.
81 am not a lawyer" said Hancock, in
reply, "nor has it t,ecn my business, as It
may have been yours, to study the pnilos-
ophY of statecraft and politics. But
may lay claim, after Rn experience Of
more than half lifetime, TO some poor
knowledge Of men and some appreciation
of what 10 necessary 20 social order and
happiness. And for the future OS our
common country, l could dcvOutly wish
that no great number of our people have
yet fallen in with the views you appear
to entertain. Woe bo to us whenever il
shall come 10 pass that tho power OF tho
mogistratc-ciYil or military -is pei
mittcd 10 deal with She mcsc opinions or
feelings Of the people.
have been accustomed 10 believe that
8cnUmcif8 Of respect OF diarcspcci, and
fccling8 of affection, love or hatred, 80
long as not developed into acts Of viola
tion Of law, wore matters wholly beyond
the punitory power of human tribunals.
/ will maintain tbU tho entiro freedom
Of thought and speech, however acrimon-
ioufly indulgcd, is consistent with the no
blcst aspirations OF man, aud the happlosl
condition Of bis rucc.
When a boy j remembered haVIDg read
q speech Of Lnrd Chatham, delivered in
Parliament. II was during our rcvolu-
tiOnary war, and related TO tho policy Of
employing the savagcs on tho side Of
Britain. You may be more familiar
with the speech than ! am. If am not
greatly mistaken, his lOrdsbip denounced
the British gOvcfnmcnt-Hg government
in terms OF uumeasurCd bitterness.
iIc characterized its policy as revolving
90 every sentiment of humanity and re-
.lgiOn proclaimed IL covered with die
grace, and vented his eternal abhorronco
Of Il and its measures. It may, / think,
bo safely asserted that majority
Of the British nation cOncurred in tho
views Of Lord Chatham But who ever
supposed that profound peace was not cx.
isting la that kingdom, or that govern
mcnt had any authority % question the
absolute right Of the opposition 70 ex-
press their objections % the vropriety Of
the Kings measures Ia any words, or to
any extent they pleased2 10 would Dc
difficult 10 show tl4t the opponents Of
tho government I'm the days Of tho elder
Adams, or Jefferson, or Jackson cxhib
ted for it either affection" or "rcspcct. "
You are convcrsaut with the history Of
our past parties and political Btfugglcs
touching legislation on aiienage, seditIon,
tho embargo, national banks, our wars
with E0glaDd and Mexico, and cannot
be ignorant of tho fact that for one party
10 assert that Jaw or system Of legisla