Year: 1863

For the Standard.


10 the army Of the citizens of North Carolina or


suen part thereof as desire certain resolutions


GGtetg pHPtlshea 10 be regarded as their opponents


The State of North Carolina being a free and in
dependent State in the Southern Confederacy, and
bound foreman therein only long may be DEEM
ed advisable, after consulting the public mind p1r
suance of and according to- the Constitutional modes
provided its citizens must always regard with great
Jealousy any influences operating out of the State,
and controlled by the Confederate government; and
will be disposed to respect as of every little weight
IN regulating their opinion, the professed voice OF
regiments uttered through officers not dependent,
in the smallest manner for their present future
position, upon the political sentiments of the State.
The voice of the men they would duly appreciate,
II they could be assured that each and every man IN
the regiment would be just as free to speak and vote
as they were when assembled at home, in the midst
OF peace and under the egis of the Constitution
Let me assure you officers, who lately assembled IN
solemn eonclave, that one in the State believes
such to have been the condition of the men of the
army. But every one knows that although possibly
You may have truly expressed their views you
have satisfied nobody that you have done so. The
people know too well how a few officers very
tew-may, without open dissent from any one pro-
less to speak for an army, et whose hearts they
know nothing, and of whose desires they care less,
so long their own hopes and aspiring designs are
ascending the ladder of ambition to put much con-





gentlemen let me assure you that your address,
uShered to the public eye with whateEer ceremony,
will be met as your resolutions are Disenthra the
army-turn loose the fettered and bound and tongue
tied-let each one speak out where he may be safe
from the frowns and petty malice of chafed officers,
as at the ballot box, in bygone day and let each
officer be dependant for his position the courtesy
of his conduct and the opinion of the army will be
distinct and emphatic; and whatever it may be, it
will be respected Twill not say what it would be
upon the topics discussed but as q freeman long
to seeit once more thus freely expressed In this
day of threatened despotism, would feel refreshed
once more to behold this oasiS in the desert" Would
you, gentlemen? 1 court i'll long for it, Iwant
10 see once again the great body of the people go
out to the ballot box and consult upon the pros.
poets and destiny of their beloved country, with all


the sacrifices of the past and all the responsibilities
of the future before their eyes Do you desire it ?
shall not gentlemen, question your right to as
semble and express your opinions of the conduct of
| public affairs. But you know the jealousy which
freemen at all times have entertained of your esti
mate of true liberty. May |, without offence tell
you universal truth written in the history of eve
ry fallen republic p The army has ruined the free
dom Of eUery country uhose ciUiI liberties 1T has ta
ken in charge. This truth had been so thoroughly
established by the examples of the past that your
forefathers nearly century ago, small cause for
fear as was then presented, compared with that
which now exists, deemed it necessary 20 lay down
among the fundamental principles of Republican
government "that the military should be kept in
strict subordnation to, aud be governed by, the
civil power; :" that armed bands shall not be con-
vened to overawe peaceable people in the enjoyment
of the "ght to assemble together to consult for the
common good; toin instructtheir representatives, and
to apply to the legislature for redress of grievances
And, for general shield against despotism from
every quarter, they declared THAT the freedom of
the press is of the great bulwarks of liberty,
and ought never to be restrained" Afterwards,
in 1890, these cherished principles were planted by
the voice of every State in the national Constitu
| ton; and in the most solemn manner it was or
| dained, that no law should be passed abridging
the freedom of speech of the press, or of the
people peaceablY to assemble and petition the gov
ernment for redress of grievances" Even within
| three years past, they have been repeated by the
! people, and embodied among their fundamental ba-
ses of liberty, where they yet remain reposiDg in
security, and even under the guardianship of your
| own devout oaths to maintain and defend them
Yet unless greatly misconceive your outiOns
they are sufficiently expressive of your wish that
the freedom OF the press may be extingushed if it
| do not reTlect yUur political sentiments Every
man knows that those who could adopt such reso-
lutions concerning the press and the right Of the
| people to meet and consult on all that is dear to
them, their lives and liberties-peace and war
would rejoice to see every press in the State abo-
Shed that did not speak their peculiar opinions on
public affairs. You would not sigh, even, if you
knew that fifty thousand readers in the State had
| no paper to peruSe except such you might t6l-
crate. And still you would persuade yourselves
that You are ardent lovers of liberty and the true
! guardians of free speech and free press Your
fellow citizens at home have avishedbn your brave
ry and gallantry the field of battle the highest
praise, but they know well the difference between
the impetuous and heroic warrior and the cool and
balanced statesman. With the former the earth
has teemed in every age and Cline but centuries
alone bring forth Fredericks and Washingtons-
Let me tell you that fear you have forgotten the
lessons of liberty with which you entered the ar
my, and but realizing the apprehensions of our
| ancestors when they warneds US against men who
had been long in arms. When or where did q free
people trust the guardianship of free speech or
a free press to an army? When or where before
did freemen in arms, reared the principles of true
liberty, ever ask for such thing2


Trained as you have been under the most conser-
vative of constitutions, in which you are taught
that free press is the life blood of liberty and
having had too constantly before your eyes the ~-
ing examples of despots suppressing it to hide the
crimes of their tyranny, it but natural to ex-
pect to find in you the most faithful defenders of
this great palladium OF liberty and the very FORE
most to rebuke any power in or out of the borders
of the State, which might undertake to impair it
The disappointment of your fellow -ctizens is both
sorrowful and sore; and you may. expect como
what may oftentimeS to hear of your efforts to de-
ter the people from assembling together to consult
for the common good, and to suppress the press
which dared to publish the results of their counses
Your action is but another melancholy instance to
be added to the thousand which darken the page of
freedoms history, and prove how soon the great
principles of liberty may be forgotten in camp
and how terrible to freedom is standing army
ReoUifv1t urUr1u%er, gentlemen that you are part
of the Confederate army, every officer of whchilas
eqnal right with yourselves to assume the dictator
ship Of the State press and State primary meetings
of the people to consult together Remember,
moreover, that even the great Caesar made Ten cam.
paigns before be dared to pass the Rubicon; and
that even Lincoln restored to freedom press which
Burnside had suppressed.


When you shall have put under your feet the
State constitutional right Of the people "to assem-