Year: 1866

General Henry A. Wise, in the course of an address delivered at Norfolk recent ly attempted to show that it was no spirit of insubordnaton or rebellion to lawful authority which forbid his taking the oath :; but that tho oath itself was false in it's terms, in that 1t was tacit admission that there had been a rebellion, that he and others were rebels, and therefore traitors ]; that there is an existing rebellion, and that he had been false to the Constitution of the United States and the union of the States themselves, whereas, for nearly half a century he had, by word and decd, in peace and war, battled for the Consultation and the Union, and before the war began had been one who had desired to fight ill the Union. Those oaths Were not neces- sary, could not accomplish any good result, and did but promote perjury, hypocrisy and general demoralizatlon- As being the precedent ofeven making an application for pardon, itwas an absurdity and crime, A man must swear, not before he is pardon ed, but before he can ask to be pardoned In the kingdom of grace, said he, who ever heard ofsuch monstrosity i? For himself he asked no pardon, tor the reason he had committed no ofense for which to be par doned.

 The asking of pardon admitted guilt, and for himself he was conscious of no guilt He had obeyed those who had the right to command The very article ofthe Constitution of the United States which WIS invoked to warrant the making of war upon Virginia and the other Southern States, gave those States the authority to do all that might be requisite to defend themseyesagainst invasion and insurrec- ton. Virginia called him to the field of blood, and duty demanded hat he should obey that call. And it was too late to talk about there being no cause, when Virginia had been invaded in her every county and every square foot of territory, and had been blasted, burned, dostroyed her churches befoulea, even the graves of her dead wor- thies polluted, her houses burned, her la Dor stolen away

 And yet, now that for peace her sons hadsunondered at Appomattox and Greens D0f0 ana iad taken the amnesty OncrGu them, they are told, although they could not leave the Union, nevertheless they are not in the Union, and shall not come into the Upion until they consent to submit to terms of degradation, than which death would be blessed boon Aye, the grave of George Washington is to- day out of the Union, we are told. Those sacred relics of Mount Vernon are not in the Union, but Virginia once the Mother of States and uf Statesmen" dismembered and dsman- tied, is to be held in vassalage and a condi-. tion of territorial dependence,

 The terms of the amnesty oath were still further criticised, especially that clause referring to the laws and proolamations issued during the war. The speaker ,Yowed that vith the result of the war in the cxtirpas:;Qn of slavery he had no quar- rel It was q cause oi Ilevout thanks to God that he had been released l,TM the presence and pressure of negrodom; but while he thus rejoiced at the result, and while he would not alter that result if he could, never would he concede the right fulpess of the means employed to effect that end.- Huttons R, R. Advertiser,