The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-19
3. L. YaLLANpEGHAM.
How and when ne Jolned the sons Of
Liberty.

Liberty.
To TIVE EDITOR OF THE srN--Sfr: Mr..
Ionniemarp n inaccurate. I think. In whR, no
says Of Clement l.. vallHodighsms relations
TO the Sons OF Liberty. MY impression u
that Mr.. vAlllndighAm nrst became q mem
Der Of che order some months after htS Hrres'
and bnnhhment in 1868. As to hts arrest. E:
was made at the instance OF Gen, Burnside,
then military commander In Ohio. which State
was under martial Jaw: and the immediate
cnlne Of the arrest was Mr.. VAlandigham's
contemptuous public condemnation OF a MILL
tary order issued by Burnside ana directed
toward sIlencing criticism cf the Adn,inlsira-
ton. Mr.. vallAndiEbam was not condemned
20 be ahOt, but to Imprisonment during the
conxln nance Of the war. which sentence Mr..
lincoln very shrewdly to BAN
Iahment 70 tho Southern Confederacy
Tn 10 che time Of his arrest and Punishment
Mr.. yaiiAndiRhAm had been merely an open
and pomewhnt rash opponent OF the Admins
rrHti0n IN y. pr0secptSS no tb o. loosir az u."n
nag tho Union could not be restored and main.
tanned by force OF. arms. In tue elections 81
manderine Of his district, Republican, IN
Ohio and elsewhere thought ne ought 70 be
ailenoed for the good OF Lhe s~Ouits a0S Tic,
feit that the best way 70, silence him was 10
compsss hls detess; with entirely patriotic
'1ts MAKE his sHd district HsplbiicSp'
prrhaus the lcss OF . forum where hrs words
carried the weight that g9es GiS SbS oD,'l an Po No
aoIIht ma arrest and bantshnen, prepared
Min Tor his subsequent dealings With The
S SIts Of ra aSSSe1ay watching him, emissaTies Of
the Sous OF Liberty came and uhiolded par
OF their plans. he Oonsented 10 Decohle me
head of the order upon the assurance thhl lie
rrincinles Nere not at variance with he Com
stitutlon Of the United states. ny thls ttr'e
he seams to have been conyu.r r,C va va ~, u ,r "at a
a thresteninc denomination In the rear or
the Federal Niovernnent. ne coon nsGslne
Wset could not with proper scif-respeci have
DEALING with the Confectionery, Tor agents OF
the Confederate tiovernmSnt NH E 6at ~ NE
event could the south and the Middle west
he Joined in 2 union. .
II was with this. conviction that h" returned
secretly 10 Ohio in 1854. expecting TO be re-
arrested and probably ,eNpeGting also thal
his second arrest Would De nT'io }SeTt 10y s'"e
Rash as we're ms dealings with that order
and with the Confederate agents, nc seems
manert dissolution Of the Union, and he id
not countensnce the darFer pT3lesis OF lhe
Confederate junta IN canada rurtherlnSLn
HE that a foolish rising OF the Sons OF llocflv
would he attempted Without bis consent, ~
| warn the Washington Government himself,
I The't.sr that he was not rearrested otter ms
return from Canada II pcrhaIrs me resi- "S-
dence that he Es5cral Govcrnment could x
nothing upon him touching his relations 10
Ks a matter Of lact there is reason 10 sun.
mae that Mir Lincoln regretted his original
arrest as tending TO turn n rash political
enerry into a martyr. Mr.: Nall9ndighnu
in becominH the head Of the Sons OF Liberty
went to the very limit of what his theory
| touching the preservation Of the mon !nsi''
hed. hut whatever his fanlts and mistakes
his was not a nature that took delight IN con,
aniracy and intrigue, He was the victim o.
| his own academic constitutional theory ,and
Of his inability to see the essential morhllles
involved in our great civil conflict.
+. n. N~ALLANpIGHAM.
BpooKLISE. Mass. September is.