The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-27
TEE ApoTaEos1s OF TREASON,

time like this, when one indignity doth tread
upon another's heels, so fast they followa The
shame and humiliation that have been heaped
upon loyal heads during the past few weeks,
the contempt that has been cast on loyalty
and upon that sturdy fealty to the right
which characterized the Nations best citizens
and soldiers, is absolutely astounding, and
without parallel in the history of civil govern
ment. 1t has come to such pass that in
America the impulse of loyalty and patriotism
is a stigma instead of avirtue. The man who
dares boast of faithful service for his country
in the field must do so at the peril of being
insulted for his temerity. ''Old things have
passed away, and, behold, all things are be-
come new" The veterans Of 1865 may well
rub their eyes, feel for lost limb or touch
old scars with trembling fingers, to assure
themselves that they do not dream Evidences
there are on every side that some time in the
past there was war. Some men have use
for but one shoe, some for none at all; there
are empty sleeves and sunken eyes, scared
faces and manned bodies--all these by the
thousand. There are scores of national GENE
teries peopled by men who once wore their
country's uniform, carried their countrys
flag, and died that their country might -.
But no; say not that this man who wore the
blue was patriot. It might offend the man
+bo t1ov
| who murdered him. The Southern chivalry,
who. just twenty years ago, reluctantly gave
up the business of killing the invaders of their
SOIL" are now again il. the saddle, booted and
spurred. and elated by the knowledge of polit-
ical power and official preferment. By agrudg-
ing concession the stars and stripes still wave
| above the Capitol; but for the Union soldier
there is contempt, and pension bestowed
much as one might toss to dog a bit of bread
from we'll filed table. Contempt and pen
sion--that is all. In this year of grace no
man dares boast of honorable service in the
federal army without inviting insult. The
| lips Of loyalty are sealed, and the man maun
| ders who prides himself on having been
| Union soldier.
| To day the Nations capital mourns the
| death of man, and pays him honors paid
only to the Nations best; department is
closed, and the flag is lowered to half-mast.
So far from being character to be remem-
bered, it is but fair to say that Jacob Thomp-
son was one of the most infamous scoundrels
| that disgraced modern civilization. If man
could be more contemplate, more treacher-
Gus, more Infamous than jeff Davis, that man
was Jacob Thompson. We attach to these
adjectives the meaning they usually convey,
| and in using them only regret that they fall
so far short of the deserts of the man to
whom they are applied. Jacob Thompson
instinct, and it is more than
doubtful if he ever had decent impulse
in all his life. He has gone into history as
one of the few men who sought out lower in
| famies than treason and rebellion. His craven
| spirit devised the most dastardly schemes of
murder and slaughter that devilish malignity
could conceive. Millions Of people in this
country know that to-day distinguished con-
sideration is being paid to the man
| who was connected with conspiracy
to introduce yellow-fever into North
ern cities, and with others plotted the assas-
sination of unsuspecting loyal citizens while
their homes were being burned by Northern
sympathizers with Southern treason. There are
those who know that through the Vaccinations
of this same Thompson the prisoners confined
here in Indianapolis were to be released and
armed, and turned loose upon the people, and
| that the houses of Democrats were to bear GER
tain signs so that the death angel Of treason
and treachery should pass over them to glut'
its vengeance upon those who still loved the
/ Union and believed in liberty.
But the stigma put upon loyalty does not
end here. The successor to the plac, once
held by Thompson is man who heartily be-
| lieves that the man whose life has just closed
was patriot, moved by the Hottest patriotism.
Within the past six weeks the new Secretary
of the Interior had the effrontry to rise in his
place in the Senate, and enlogize Jefferson
Davis, and to defend him from the charge of
having been the enemy of his country. In
1879 he said: 1.-THE only difference between
myself and Jefferson Davis is that his exalted
character, his pre-eminent talents, his we'll
established reputation as statesman, as a
patriot and as soldier, enabled him to take
the lead in cause to which consecrated my
SELF" The newly appointed minister to Eng