E 
 
 
 ["XtS 
 
I 
 
( 
 
 THE PJ:0FLE 
 
 V s . 
 
 Maj.-Gen. John A. Dix, 
 
 ox THE CHARGE OF CLOSING THE OFFICES OF 
 
 ''THE WOELD," AND "THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE," 
 
 BECAUSE OF THE PUBLICATION OF A FORGED PROCLAMATION, 
 
 ASSUMED TO BE WRITTEN BY THE PRESIDENT 
 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 (PRINTED IN "THE TRIBUNE" OFJULV 29tu, 1864:,) 
 
 BY 
 
 PETER Y. CUTLER, LL. D. 
 
 NEW yORIv: 
 BAKER & GODWIN, PRINTERS, 
 
 PRINTING-HOUSE SQUARE, OI'P. CITY HALL. 
 
 1865. 
 
4 
 
THE PEOPLE 
 
 V S 
 
 Maj.-Gen. John A. Dix, 
 
 ON THE CHARGE OF CLOSING THE OFFICES OF 
 
 "THE WOKLD," A^i) "THE JOURNAL UF COMMERCE," 
 
 BECAUSE OF THE I'UBLICATION OF A FORGED PROCLAMATION, 
 
 ASSUMED TO BE WRITTEN BY THE PRESIDENT 
 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 I'Ul.NTKJ) IN "TUb; TKIBUNE" OF JULY 'iOxu, lsr.4,) 
 
 BY 
 
 TETEU Y. CLTLEi:, LL. D. 
 
 NEW YOKK: 
 BAKER & GODWIN, PRINTERS, 
 
 I'UINTI.NG-UOUSK SQUARE, OI'P. CITY HALL. 
 
 1, 18G5. 
 
i 
 
 61^0* 
 
 05 
 

 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 To MY Friends : 
 
 I am induced to re-publish the following argument — 
 
 1st. By the comments of The Times, The Tribune, and The Eve- 
 ning Post newspapers, upon the remarks which they attribute to me, 
 at the Broad Street meeting. It Vf'iW be seen that the following argu- 
 ment was written in the midst of the conflict ; and my friends can 
 judge, from its whole scope, whether I was a Secessionist then ; — if 
 not then, surely not now, since Secession has been overthrown by the 
 sword ; and 
 
 2dly. Because I have recently been denounced by the Republican 
 papers as a Secessionist, a charge most false, but which has never- 
 theless injured me much, socially and professionally. 
 
 I never was a Secessionist. In 18G0, at a Convention in Saratoga, 
 I delivered a speech in which Secessionists and Abolitionists were 
 alike denounced, the fnrnieras earnestly as the latter, iihd'myopposi- 
 tidu to Secession has been consistent and uniform ever sir\ce. 
 
 But I do not deny that at the same time I have" opposed the acts 
 of the political Abolitionists with equal zeal, and have exposed the 
 wanton violations of the Constitution of which the late Administration 
 were guilty, Avith an unsparing hand. It seems to be, however, quite 
 impossible for the ultra political x\bolitionists to see any distinction 
 between one who refuses his assent to their doctrines of extermination 
 and one who is an out-and-out Secessionist. 
 
 In fact, the extreme men yv\\o have wielded the power of the 
 nation for some four yeai's past, and who still exercise so great a 
 measure of influence over the Administration, have been compelled, 
 in order to accomplish their objects, to set the Constitution at naught 
 and its defenders at defiance; and it is not at all singular that they 
 should heap obloquy on those whose arguments they are unable to 
 answer. 
 
 The following argument is designed for the perusal of those calm 
 and conservative men who can see no inconsistency in the course of 
 one who, while adhering to the Constitution and all its guarantees 
 of personal liberty, is nevertheless not a Secessionist. 
 
 The greatest compliment a Secessionist should desire is to find 
 
n 
 
 himself uniformly grouped with the defenders of the Constitution, in 
 the catalogue of the exterminators. 
 
 Could the ultra political Abolitionists, "the Exterminators," have 
 all the powers they desire, they would introduce a reign of terror not 
 a ])article less bloody than that which prevailed in France at the 
 close of the last century, if we may be permitted to judge from the 
 tone of their newspapers. 
 
 They are all the time crying out for more blood. All who have 
 taken part in tlic war arc guilty, and, according to their theory, all 
 the guilty should \h', executed. 
 
 They advocate the trial of Davis by a military commission, in 
 defiance of the known and atkuowlcdged ])rohibitions of the Consti- 
 tution. 
 
 Until Ik- is tried, they demand and have secured his imprisonment, 
 ill a mode which to him, or any other intellectual man, is in itself 
 torture — a la bastille, in the middle ages. 
 
 So, too, with other political prisoners. Their constant cry is, — 
 Away with them ; let them be executed. 
 
 I believe that a time will come when the sober second-thought 
 of the j>eople will calmly review the cvi-iits of the last fmir years, and 
 then they will sec that all its bloodshed and .ill its harrowing scenes 
 have ht'cii liroiight ujioii us by extremists of both sections — not by 
 those who defended the Constitution, Init by that persistent, zealous, 
 puritanical baud of fanatics, who setting all constitutional restraints at 
 deiiance, were the fn-st and original Secessionists, acting with the 
 extremists of the South. The Altolitionists first declared that to live 
 longer in fcllowshi]) with the Southern States was a deadly sin, pro- 
 claimed the Constitution " a covenant with death and an agreement 
 with hell," and refused to be bound by its provisions. From that 
 point they went un, and on, and on, until they had tortured and 
 provoked the sensitive South into an attempt at revolution, which of 
 course, and very properly, failed. That the lanatics designed to 
 bring on the war is plain t'rom their own language. Thus, Wendell 
 Phillips said in on,- m[' his speeches: "Let ns goad on the South in 
 hei' madness till every step she takes forwaril in hei- i.liuducss is one 
 step nearer nil it.'''' 
 
 Who, then, were the original Secessionists ? Why, Secession was 
 proclaimed as a lawful remedy by a New England Member of Con- 
 gress in 1808, about fifty years before it was thought of as a remedy 
 in the South. As in days of yore, these men pointed the finger of 
 scorn towards all who were anxious to stay the steps towards M^ar 
 
Ill 
 
 befori' it begun, as "Union savers;'' so now they point with equal 
 scorn to tliosc who desire to save the reputation of the country from 
 tlie indelible stignia a military trial and executionof Jeff Davis would 
 attaeli to it, as "the iViends of -letf Davis." A great nation in the 
 execution of its laws, especially those in vindication of its sovereignty, 
 should be magnanimous as well as just. Such has been the pervad- 
 ing spirit of all Christendom during the last half century. Even 
 Austi'ia granted an amnesty to Hungary after the insurrection of 
 1841), and Russia to Poland after the late insurrection. 
 
 But look abroad, Ibr one moment, and <'onsider the spectacle 
 presented by the acts of this party. They have subjected us to a 
 military despotism, in time of peace, the most absolute the Morld 
 ever saw ; in no quarter of this feir land is either life, liberty, or 
 property safe i'rom the hands of a military satrap. Free speech, a 
 free press, free elections, and whatever erst was free, is now held at 
 the mere will of the militarv commander of the district. Althouirh 
 the war is ended, the Habeas Corpus is still suspended, military trials 
 of citizens still continue, and military punishments are still remorse- 
 lessly inflicted. 
 
 When will these tilings cease? When will the Sovereign People 
 arise in their majesty and drive these military despots from power? 
 When will our worthy President cast off the influence by which he 
 has been surrounded, and re-assert his life-long principles, one of which 
 was a strict construction of the Constitution and a literal fulfillment 
 of its mandates 1 
 
 I believe the time is not distant. And millions of Democrats 
 who are as pure patriots as the land contains are anxiously looking 
 for tlie dawn of that day, that they may then give the President their 
 full and undivided support. 
 
 I am sure they will not wait long, fn- it is inq:>ossible that Andrew 
 Johnson, the sterling Democrat, whom we have all admired as the 
 first and greatest of America's self-made statesmen, should long listen 
 to the advice of New England fanatics of I lie Sumner-Wilson school. 
 
 The President is a man of almost unrivaled grandeur of intellect. 
 Among the statesmen of tliis country he has few if he has any equals. 
 A man of massive mind, keen penetration, astute, far seeing, alive to 
 the interests at stake, and well acquainted with tlie men by whom he 
 is surrounded, can it be doubted that he will soon assert his independ- 
 ence of Radical influence, and will, like Andrew Jackson, make him- 
 self felt as the President and the lluler of the Nation. 
 
 From my youth up Andrew Johnson has been my model, my 
 
IV 
 
 Meal of a patriot statesman, ami I laiiiKjt give liiiii u|i to the fanatics; 
 but, on the contrary, I yield him my earnest support. 
 
 The "Radicals," as they call themselves, are daily guilty (if the 
 highest of high-treason, ("or it is treason against our most cherished 
 Repuljlican institutions. They interfere with the elections, for exam 
 pie, and thus render an absolute immunity to mal-administration by 
 exempting it from ])unisiiment ; they clamor for, and obtain, the 
 arrest by the military of loyal men on frivcjjous charges, and thus 
 violate one of the most sacred guarantees of the Constitution; they 
 demand that blood should flow in torrt-nts in strains as unreasoning 
 as those of tlu'li- ancestors the wildi persecutors of Plymouth Rock. 
 
 And in some places it is granted them, as witness the recent 
 murder of .1 udfre Wright and his four sons bv the militia of Missouri — 
 one of the most cold-bloooded murders ever known in a civilized 
 State. 
 
 Unless a speedy remedy is pioxideil ; ii' these men are permitted 
 to continue these lawless acts of despotic power much longer, without 
 the intervtMition of tlir l'i('sid(Mit, 1 feai- me much that the people will 
 resort to a remed}^ terrible as the wrongs under which they groan. 
 And what remedy does history teaeh us the people under such 
 circumstances usually seek ? Not a Vigilance Committee, as in San 
 Francisco, because there the wrongs were local and temporary ; 
 whereas these evils pervade the whole land, from Maine to California, 
 anil extend to the whole people. No man can say when he retires 
 at night to his peaceful couch, that he may not be dragged to prison 
 before the dawn liy the guard of some petty Provost Marshal whose 
 •lignity he may have offended ; or by the authority of some higher 
 military power wielded by a man who, prior to the War, was, perhaps, 
 his steward or his clcik,if not his coachman vr footman! Threats 
 have been freely thrown out even in the Repul)liean newspapers, that 
 innocent persons slionld lie thus ari'csted loi- no oll'cnse whatever, 
 except differing from the editor's opinion. What, tluMi, is the 
 remedy? Is it the renie<ly whii'li the Ibngnndian democrats of the 
 Middle Ages foimd in the Jloly N'elim ? ( h- those of Arragon in 
 " The Holy Ofliee?"' These Trilmnals — acting in secret — bound by 
 secret oaths, wielded a power higher tlian that of the thi'ones above 
 them, and though Charles of Burgundy sought to snp|)ress those in 
 his territories, and Fer<linand those in S[)ain, yet history teaches us 
 how vainly their eflbrts cnde<l. I would not advocate such a remedy 
 for despotism; Iml without any advocacy of mine, the People will 
 resort to a remedy, possibly ablootly one, if experience shall in the end 
 prove that thei-e is no other mode of abating these evils. Possibly the 
 
V 
 
 people may seek and liiid it, as the noble old English barons did on 
 the plains of Runnymede where the guarantees of liberty were origin- 
 ally extorted, sword in hand, and solemnly recorded in Magna Chaita. 
 
 When Charles I. violated the guarantees of personal liberty, a 
 Cromwell arose and Charles lost his head ; and later, wiicii .lames II. 
 again violated the liberties of tin- people, a Prinee i»f Orange was 
 found to drive him frmii his throne. Sueh are the renieilies wliieh 
 history teaches us the })cupl(' fnid for despotic power. 
 
 At the present moment no man can shut his eyi-s to the |ior- 
 tentous fact that all the guarantees of personal liberty and personal 
 security contained in the Constitution are practically suspended. 
 In a word, whilst, the Habeas Corpus continues t(j be suspended, 
 and military arrests are allowed at the mere will of a military com- 
 mander; whilst trials by jury can be at pleasure suspended and mili- 
 tary trials substituted ; whilst elections are under tlie control of the 
 nnlitary, and no man can vote except as the military powers decree ; 
 whilst these things continue it is a mere mockery to remind us that we 
 have a Republican Constitution, and an Elective Government. When 
 the Constitution is ])ractieally annulled, and free elections have ceased 
 to exist by the act of the military authorities, we have, in fact, a 
 military despotism — notliing more, notliing less. What, then, sh;ill 
 be the remedy 1 
 
 Shall we sit down and supinely submit to the despotic sway of 
 the patriots of Plymouth Rock? Shall these persistent, meddlesome, 
 intrigning, hypocritical politicians, rule the nation with a rod of 
 iron ? — by the bayonet and the sword, and that bayonet, that sword 
 in the hands of their creatures alone? Forbid it. Heaven ! And 
 may our Gracious Father above find us a bloodless remedy. 
 
 Whilst I am happy to see this proud galaxy of States once more a 
 unit, it pains me to the heart's core to see the one-half of our once 
 peaceful and happy land made a second Poland. 
 
 The arrest, trial, conviction, sentence and imprisonment of the 
 Brooklyn alderman by tlie military authorities, was an insult to 
 every citizen in the land. Insult — it was more — is was a pt'i'petual 
 nunace to every citizen, whether the huml)lest or the most exalted, 
 and when such events are transpiring around us in a time of profound 
 peace, we see the estimate which our rulers place uj)on the value of 
 our free institutions. Perhaps it nuiy be said that Chesterman 
 was o-uilty. \t' no, why not try him in the civil courts and liy a jin-y 
 of his peers, pursuant to the law of the land. Trial by jury is 
 guaranteed to all: to the nu'anest criminal as well as the proudest 
 citizen. And the conviction of that man, and the execution of the 
 
VI 
 
 sentence by the military tribunal, despite Judge Lotts' Habeas 
 Corpus, proves that every man is in jeopardy ; none so high, none so 
 low as to escape the fangs of tiiis irresponsible power, acting in the 
 silence uf miilniglit, and ae-tiiig, too, without law not only, but in 
 opposition to thr dii'L'ct pn)Iiii)itions of the highest law, the organic 
 law of tiic laud. Can these things be? asks the indifferent and unin- 
 lornied citizen. Ask of the keepers of the Bastiles at Forts Warren, 
 f^aFayette, Delaware, and wherever we have a fortification witli case- 
 mates large enough lor tlie reception of ]>risoners. Ask of tiie 
 thousands who ha\'e hern thi'i-c ininini-ed, and wli^se loudest coinphduts 
 were eciioed iiaek l)y liie waxes of the Atlantic — witiiout awaking a 
 responsive sentiment in the heart of any pitying official. But ask in 
 whispers. To speak out in maidy tones on the subject of these 
 military imprisonments is treason — for aught I know, high treason — 
 (according to the new code of the radicals) and so punishable by 
 death. 
 
 'i'ell it not in (!atii : that in this lu-oad, once happy and free land, 
 where a Washington fought tiiat he might enjoy the liberties 
 guaranteed to Englishmen by Magna Charta ; in this land where 
 erst a nation fought for seven long years to maintain their Declaration 
 of Independence, (a declaration containing a specification of the 
 inalienai)le rights and liberties of man) that these rights ; all those 
 liberties ; were basely surrendered, to an irresponsible military power, 
 at the close of four years of wai-, waged avowedly for tlie extension of 
 liberty to an oppressed race. Tell it not, I say, that the victorious 
 liberators became, in turn, the oppressors; and oppressors, too, of 
 men of their own race and lineage. 
 
 But ere long, tVei'men will arouse from thcii- ju-esent lethargy, and 
 will see that every military arrest is a direct attaik upon the liberties 
 of all; no matter how humlile the man may be, his arrest puts in • 
 jeopardy the rights and liberties of all. W ho. indeed, is safe in tlfese 
 times 1 
 
 We have made Majoi'-Generals of eoachmen, an<l. for aught I know, 
 of footmen. !Suppos<' one of these exalted personages entfrtains a 
 nndicions [)assiou of revtMige to gratify against his former nuister ? 
 IIow easy and clfeelual a mode is presented. Tie has only to order 
 his arrest and imprisonment. No eye can see him — no ear hear liis 
 complaint, save those of the military, and he might as well address 
 himself to adamant as to a])ply to the militai'v for leliet'. lie cannot 
 obtain even a form of military trial, ludess il suit the |ileas\ire of the 
 militar\ authorities, and if he does it is a ti-ial iiv a Military Commis- 
 
VII 
 
 sion, not Inj jury. But many have "been imprisoned fur long periods 
 Avithout trial : without ever knowing the complaints against them. 
 It was thus with General Stone, and with Olds, of Ohio, and many 
 others. 
 
 "What, then is to be done? Shall freemen in the land of Wash- 
 ington, and Hancock, and Adams, sit tamely down and Lear these 
 evils without a word of remonstrance. No, forbid it Heaven ! 
 
 Let us first address ourselves earnestly to the Pi'esident. He was 
 a Democrat. Let us hope he is still impelled l)y the high and holy 
 love of liberty which inspired him in his earlier life. 
 
 Let us hope he will rid himself of the evil counselors around 
 him. Let us hope, and while we hope try peacefid means, until longer 
 to hope becomes a mockery, and then act as becomes ficemen having 
 a priceless heritage of liberty to preserA'e. 
 
 I attended the Broad street meeting at the request of some gentle- 
 men, to protest against the trial of Jefierson Davis before a military 
 tribunal. I deem it more important to the fair fame of the country 
 than to Davis that no such trial be had. It would allix an indelible 
 stain upon the bright escutcheon of America thus to try him. 
 
 Whilst at the meeting I stated my objections to a military trial, 
 as I thousht, fairlv ; but uttered no word of treason: no word that 
 a truly loyal man could object to in the least. Yet what was the 
 result '? A police spy gave a colored, fictitious, and garbled statement 
 of the proceedings, false in every essential feature, and one of the ultra 
 Republican new spapers deems the. clemency of the (Tovt'rnment ex- 
 treme in permitting me to go at liberty so long. 
 
 Of what offense was I guilty \ Was it treason ? Treason consists 
 in acts, not in words. What was it then % A calm discussion of opin- 
 ions which differ from those of the Radicals. This I had a right to do 
 under the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech. But the 
 Radical Republican press, represented by The Times newspaper, 
 would annul the guarantee that it might thus put down opposition. 
 
 The jieriod may arrive when The Times may represent opinions 
 entertained by the minoiity, and then I am sure it will a]>|>eal to 
 the freedom of speech and Ireedoni of the press, as guarantees worth 
 preservation. 
 
 Frequently during the war it was proclaimed in tlie Kepuhlicau 
 journals, that all they desired was a restoration of the Union, 
 with a return of the Southern States upon the terms of perfect ei|ual- 
 ity contained in the organic compact. And that so soon as the war 
 was ended, military arrests, and other infractions of the Constitution, 
 
VIII 
 
 would cease. This I fondly believed. But how have these promises 
 been kept 1 The South lies helpless at the feet of the North ; and 
 yet no concessions are made ; no stej) is taken towards a return to 
 Constitutional nilo. l»iit llic rights <.f'tli(> Noi'th are as much jeopard- 
 ized by these acts — aye destroyed — as those of the South. And 
 patriots are appealed to by the actual state of affairs, in all parts of our 
 common country, to re-asserl thr rights tenipurarily (1 trust only tem- 
 porarily) taken from them as well at the North as at the South. Re- 
 jtublican forms are still i)reserved. liut so was it in Rome. Long 
 after Octavius Ctesar (called Augustus) had deprived the Romans of 
 their liberties, and introduced the most absolute despotism, he retained 
 the ancient forms of the Republic. So here, the substance of lilterty 
 lias vanished. Its lifeless form only remains with us, as if to mock 
 us, like the skeleton in the closet. 
 
 A dark portentous cloud looms drearily over the land, and por- 
 tends the outbreak of a storm, which will rend fiercer than fiercest 
 lightning-stroke, and resound with a detonation more dread and dire 
 than tliunders' loudest peal. It is a cloud created by despotism 
 and it threatens to Inirst in another ainl mightier tempest of civil 
 war, than that just ended, at no distant day. Should the present evils 
 continue, ten years will not elapse before we shall have another out- 
 break more dire than the last. It will he an outbreak at the North 
 as well as at the South, to put an end to intolerable despotism. May 
 Heaven avert such a calamity. 
 
 Let us, then, with one accord, strive to avoid so terrible a step. 
 Let us do so by nKU'al means. Let argument take llie place of tlie 
 sword, moral-suasion be used instead of cannon balls; and I hope and 
 trust that ere long the personal rights secured l>y the Constitution, may 
 once more be restored to </// the people. May we soon again adopt 
 the doctrine that the Constitution is the supreme r)rganic law of the 
 land, and is to be strictly construi'd, and imp/ici/ft/ ohet/e(f ; any vio- 
 lation of whose guaranteesof personal rights (such as a denial of free 
 speech, a fi'ee press, right oftiial liy jury, and habeas cor{)Us), is in 
 itself despotism. Let this be adopted as a funda mental principle — 
 vital, life-supporting — without which liberty will cease to be, because 
 no |i'iio(.|- secure, and without which a Iki>|>ublic becomes a sham, a 
 liN-wonl, and term ol" reproach among the nations. It is so, because 
 it is a constant living lie; it professes to be free, whilst it is actually 
 despotic; it is a mere mockery, tor it claims to resprd the rights 
 ot" man, only to deprive him of all those rights. May Heaven for- 
 bid that our ( Joveinment should be such a sham, such a lie, such a 
 mockery. 
 
ARGUMENT 
 
 OF ^N AMICUS CURIAE. 
 
 -♦►-♦♦■-♦- 
 
 THE PEOPLE agt. GEN. DIX. 
 
 A groat war is raging in tliis country, bnt tlie causes M'liich 
 have ])rodnced it, ami tlie circumstances wliicli have accom- 
 ])anied it, are constantly ignored, and denied, by a certain class 
 of our citizens, who, while they are unwilling to expose their 
 <»wn persons in the tield, are yet anxious, nay, determined, to 
 reap and enjoy all the advantages of active Treason, without 
 earnino; the name of Traitors. 
 
 The forbearance of the Government, not oidy to those bear- 
 ing arms against it in the tield, but to those plotting at home 
 to aid their brethren in the Held — its forbearance, its patience, 
 ay, even its compassion for such persons has been conspicuous 
 from the very beginning. 
 
 Before the actual commencement of the war, the Rebels 
 Avere in arms, with avowed purposes of hostility to the Govern- 
 ment, yet it was humanely determined, that while every con- 
 stitutional means should be used to preserve the Union, to 
 ari-est, if jiossible, by moderate but firm measures, a recourse 
 to force,^' and that, if the curse of war should fall on our 
 
 *The following is from 'J'hc ChriHt'um Advocdte uml JinirudJ of July 
 28th, 1864 : 
 
 " No thoughtful American can have much difficulty in solving the prolj- 
 Icm of European opinion respecting the American war. But the very ap- 
 parent, the certam solution of that problem (if problem it may be called) 
 gives it its saddest aspect. 
 
then happy land, it slionLl, at all events, not l>e called d(nvn 
 Ity any offensive act on tlii' jiait of the goveruuient of the 
 United States. 
 
 Tlie Govennnent waited w ith wonderful patience till it was 
 attacked, till llic caiiiinn of South (^aroliiia were dlscharii-ed 
 at^ainst its i;-aiTison in Fort Snniter, and the ciulth'in (tf oui- 
 sovereio-nty traikvl in the du^t : and tlicn it actctl ; it declared 
 
 " The assumption that, liy the tenns of the National Conferleration, the 
 right of secession is justified, is a specuhitive affectation whieli cannot l)e 
 seriously avowed by European thinkers. They must know, they do htoir, 
 tliat it is a flagrant fallacy. The founders of the Tlepu1)lie expressly declare 
 that by the consoli<hition of the colonists, they founded a va/ion, not a mere 
 league of nations. The monstrous al)surditics which logically and inevita- 
 bly flow from the op])osite theorj% forl)id any reflecting man to entertain it 
 a moment. What, on such a theory, becomes of national financial credit { 
 Nations must borrow money ; all do so. What security remains to national 
 creditors if any or all ])arts of a nation can recede from the national compact 
 at discretion ( What l>ecomes of a people's security in periods of war if 
 the largest or smallest section may step aside from the controverey and re- 
 fuse its cooperation ? What, even in ordinary times, becomes of the support 
 of the conunon government if its commercial revenue can at any moment 
 ))e deranged and defeated by the independence of States ha\nng chief ports, 
 like Alassachusetts with Boston, New York with its great metropolis, Penn- 
 sylvania with Philadelphia, Maryland -with Baltimore, Virginia with Nor- 
 folk, South Carolina with Charleston ? No, no ! European politicians and 
 statesmen know well that such a right of secession is the flimsiest possil)le 
 sophism ; that the great statesmen of the American Revolution were the most 
 ])reposterous fools that ever dabbled in State-craft if they organized the Rc- 
 ])ul)lic on such a basis of quicksand. European thinkers cannot admit such 
 an absurdity without consciously insulting their self-respect. 
 
 " What then ? What but that the reliellion is an enormous national 
 crime, against which all civilized comnumities should protest — that it is a 
 crime against the national life, as much so as Avould be a similar revolt of 
 Wales or Scotland fnmi tiie government of England :' Would not Ensrland 
 deem herself justi fled in resisting such a revolt to the utmost i Would she 
 a<hnit mawkish and whim])ering ])l('as of humanity for the plotters of such 
 treason^ Would she listen to remonstrances al>out the slaughter of men 
 and the sacrilice of property in a struggle for her national existence against 
 such a heinous offense i! Would she not rather demand, and rightly de- 
 mand, that the greater her sacrifice's, the more extreme her struggle for the 
 maintenance of righteous government, the greater should l)e the res]>ect of 
 the civilized world for her ? " 
 
that war existed by the act <if tlie Eebek, and called out an 
 army to sn])press the rebellion. Thns the war beo'an. 
 
 One or two other words ]>rcliminary to (Uir snbject, and 
 then we will examine the eonstitntional qnestions invohcd 
 more closely. 
 
 The Kebels contend now, and always have contende<l, thut 
 they had a rijxht to secede; that onr liepnblic is a sort of lim- 
 ited partnershi]), not a nation ; that the Constitntion is l>u1 :i 
 treaty between soverei_i»"n States. 
 
 The fallacy of these arguments is easily shown to those fa- 
 miliar with the C\)nstitntion. The States, in ceasing to be an 
 aggregation of connnonwealths, a confederation, and in becom- 
 ing parts of a nation with one snpreme Government, deriving 
 its powers not Irom the several States, but from the whole peo- 
 ]>le of the United States, formed a Constitntion, not a league, 
 which was to be a permanent definition of the rights and powers 
 of the Government so established, as well as a deiinition of the 
 mode in which its sovereio-ntv was to be exerted. This is plain 
 from the fact that the States surrendered all the essential atti-i- 
 butes of sovereignty to the General Government. The right 
 to make treaties, to declare war, levy taxes, exercise exclusi\e 
 judicial, legislative, and executive powers, were all of them 
 functions of sovereign power. The allegiance of their citizens 
 Avas transferred to the Government of the Union, and they then 
 owed their first obedience to the Constitntion of the United 
 States, which was declared to be the snpreme law of the land, 
 and to govern and form the rule for decision even when in con- 
 Hict with the provisions of a State Constitution. How, then, 
 can a State be said to be sovereign, whose citizens owe obedi- 
 ence first, to laws made by the C^ongress of the United States, 
 pursuant to the Constitntion of the United States, which laws 
 and Constitution ai'c dcclai'cd to be paramount to those of auv 
 State i 
 
 What shows most conclusively that the States are not sover- 
 eign is, that they have expressly ceded to the Government of 
 the United States the right to punish treason — treason not 
 against them, not against a State, but treason against the Gov- 
 ernment of the Union. Treason cannot exist except where 
 
tliore is sovereignty. It is in its very essence a crime against 
 sovereignty. If, then, tlic government of the State were sover- 
 eign, tlie crime would be against tlie State; but treason is, by 
 the veiy terms of tlie Oonstitntion, a crime against the Govei-n- 
 ment of the United States, and tlie Constitution contains an ex- 
 press delegation of ]_)(M^er to the (iovcrnmeiit of the I'^nion to 
 punish it as such treason. 
 
 The Constitution, therefore, forms a supreme national Gov- 
 ernment between independent and sovereign States — not a 
 league. It is a Government of the people, made by the people, 
 according to its own preamble, which recites : " We, the peo- 
 pk; oi' the United States," &c., " form this Constitution," &c., 
 and it operates directly npcm the people as individuals, and not 
 u]>o]i the States as States. Each of the States, with all of the 
 other States, having delegated to the United States, by the 
 l>lain import of the language em])l()yed in the Constitution, 
 supreme sovereignty and all the powers requisite to create a 
 lJni(jn and a Government invested with such sovereiffntv, which 
 should be a nnit, any offense against that unity is an offense 
 against the sovereignty of the Nation, i. e., it is treason. 
 
 To say that a State may secede, is to say tliat the Govern- 
 ment of the United States is not sovereign ; that this Republic 
 is not a nation ; that we are not one people, bnt several peoples, 
 loosely acting togethci- on i)rinci])les which are no better than 
 anarchy. 
 
 Ihit it is a solecism to declare that any part t)f one nation 
 may dechu'e its secession, and total and final severance from 
 that nation ; to declare the disintegration of a power -w liicli is 
 a nnit. I shall proceed no rni'tlier to ]»rove tliat Secession is an 
 im])ossil)i]ity as well as a criiiic ; that the supreme and ultimate 
 power and sovereignty reside in the (government of llie Fiiited 
 States; that allegiance is due to it, and treastdi may be com- 
 mitted against it. 
 
 The Government being a unit and supreme, an attempt ttt 
 destroy it by force of arms is an offense in whatever mode the 
 Constitiif ion luav liave been formed, and such supreme Govern- 
 ment ha^- the rigiit of self (U'teiise — a riglit by the \\\\\ of self 
 defense to pass any l(-;ishitive act l<i punish those who offend 
 
against its sovereignty, or who countenance or defend, aid or 
 give comfort to those who are acting in hostility to the Govern- 
 ment in any way whatsoever, as well as those who adhere to 
 their cause. Congress has power to pass all laws to carry the 
 constitutional powers of the Govenimeiit into effect, and there 
 is no limitation to the power. 
 
 But, independently of any delegation of power, every gov- 
 ei-nment has, from the necessity of the case, ultimate power to 
 maintain its own sovereignty, to protect its existence. The 
 moment a government is created, without saying more, it is 
 empowered to defend its own life hy all means, peaceful or 
 warlike, which may be necessary or usual, or not, if the govern- 
 ment vested with this idtimate sovereignty deems such means 
 to be necessary. In such a struggle, a struggle for existence, 
 the war is a war of might. The question is simply, Avliich is 
 the stronger, the Government or they who seek to destroy it i 
 
 ]3ut more of this presently. The Constitution contains the 
 rules by which this supreme and idtimate power of the Nation 
 is to be exerted in time of peace, but not in time of war. This 
 is frequently overlooked and seems to have been signally over- 
 looked in the case of Gen. Dix. The Constitution provides 
 the mode of conducting civil Government in time of peace, and 
 the rules which are to be observed between the Government 
 and its own citizens in peace, not between the Government and 
 its enemies, in war. It nowhere prescribes how a war is to be 
 carried on, either against Rebels or against other enemies ; or 
 against those who adhere to them, and give them aid and com- 
 fort, nor how Rebels shall be punished, except that it limits 
 ibrfeitures to the period of the life of the felon, who has been 
 guilty of treason. As to the punishment of the treasonalde 
 num himself, it says nothing, but leaves Congress to enact the 
 remedy. 
 
 If the foregoing remarks are true, it appears that we have 
 in existence a war, between a National Government and indi- 
 vidual Rebels. S(jme in open rebellion, with arms in their 
 hands, aided by many Rebels who have not taken up arms, and 
 especially so aided, by persons in sympathy with them, in this 
 city. That the Government patiently and compassionately en- 
 
deavored to put down the rebellion without the use of arms, 
 but it M'as finall}'^ attacked and drawn into a war, which war is 
 now being conducted, and that there is nothing in its Constitu- 
 tion directly prescribing how a war shall be conducted. The 
 war, then, must be conducted according to the known laws of 
 war Avhen the Constitution was adopted. Tluit is the implied 
 rule and the only one which can well be adopted on that sub- 
 ject. The attempt to wrest from the Constitution, by violence, 
 some of its provisions which were inserted in it as rules for the 
 government of the judiciary, in administering justice in time 
 of peace, and apply them t'" the events and crimes arising in a 
 time of war, and declare that they are imperative, and must 
 always and under all circumstances be obeyed, such an attempt, 
 I repeat, is ridiculous. Inter arnui silent leges is the true 
 maxim. Amid the din o^ arms it is impossible to follow laws 
 iramed for civil administration in time of peace. 
 
 Take' the famous 29 Ch. Magna Cliarta, fur exaui})!*'. In 
 substance it provides that no free man shall be deprived ot 
 ])ropcrty or liberty, unless ])y the lawful judgment of his peers, 
 or the law ol the land. Does that apply at all times and under 
 iill circumstances 'i Yes, sav the advocates of this stran<:c idea. 
 Well, if so, it is obvious that Grant and all his predecessors 
 have strangely mistaken their duty, tor ;u-cording to that rule, 
 (ilrant should never attack a redoubt, until he li;i> sununoned 
 a grand jury, and had tlie Kebels indicted ; never seize a Jiebel 
 and kee[) iiini inipristnied w itliout the judgment ol* a court ; 
 nor execute a deserter or a spy, until tried ami convicted by a 
 jury of his peers. 
 
 By the terms of the Constitution, however, we see that the 
 President is the Commander-in-Chief «>f the land and naval 
 forces; Congress has the poAver delegated to it "to declare 
 war, grant letters of nuvnjue and reprisal, and to make rules 
 regarding captures on land and water.'^ The Constitution fur- 
 ther declares tluit (bngress has power '' to raise ami support 
 armies;" "to provide and maintain a mivy ; "" to make rules 
 I'oi- the government of these Ibives ; " to provide for calling forth 
 the militia, to execute the laws of the rnion, .^otjjjj /'ess insurrec- 
 tions and repel invasions ; " and further *" to provide for organ- 
 
9 
 
 izing, arming, and dij^ciplining flic militia, aiul for governing 
 such part of them, as may be employed in the service of the 
 United States, who are to be disciplined, according to the disci- 
 ]>Hne ])rescribed bv Congress." 
 
 A glance at these powers will show that tlie fathers of the 
 Republic, in framing the Constitution for the Government, 
 which by their wisdom they created, designed that it should not 
 be a powerless fal)ric, liable to be blown over by every wind of 
 faction. It was to be a stable Government, and to have power 
 when occasion demanded, to call out an army for its defense. 
 And how, pray, was this military power to be used ? Was it to 
 ]troceed according to " due process of law 'i " Was it to make 
 war through the intervention of a Grand Jury to present, and 
 a Petit Jury to try? Away with such nonsense! The civil 
 government ceases to exercise its powers /?/s^ where the military 
 government hegins. The law of power, superior force, then in- 
 terv'enes, and takes awav the functions of civil ofovernment, and 
 the military acts, according to the laws of war. The maxim, 
 inter anna silent leges^ then begins its application, and mil- 
 itary law is emphatically the law of force, because it prescribes 
 as its fundamental rule, that the most powerful shall govern. 
 It allows, indeed prescribes, that the Commander-in-Chief 
 shall so use his forces as to do the greatest possible amount of 
 damage to his enemy, to M'eaken him by all the means in his 
 power, and to arrest all persons, and take or destroy all prop- 
 erty used for the aid and comfort of his enemies. Now, who is 
 to determine in time of war who are enemies, and who give aid 
 and comfort to enemies, or what property is used for the pur- 
 pose of giving aid and comfort to them ? 
 
 AVHio, for instance, is a spy ? AV^ho furnishes arms to ene- 
 mies, or who furnishes them food or clothing or medicines >' 
 Who but the Connnander-in-Chief, and he alone, without the 
 aid of the Civil Magistrate, or a Grand Jury, or a jury of his 
 peers, must determine these questions? It is necessary that 
 they be decided instantly and the intervention of a Court would 
 be im])ossible. Von say, perhaps he may err. So he may. 
 But in the contiict of arms, when the maelstrom of battle is en- 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 £!;nliing- all — or even In presence of an enemy in aetnal contliet, 
 it wonkl be impossible to conduct war on any other principle. 
 
 Besides, this principle is recoo;nized by the Constitution it- 
 self. It pi-ovides for calling; ont armies and creates a Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, and tlins iiiii>liedly gives to liini all the nsnai 
 powei'S A\ith Avhicli such arunes are clothed and with which 
 such connuanders are invested, and these are among the usual 
 powers of a Commander-in-Chief. The Constitution by its 
 terms grants all the incidental powers requisite to cai-ry int(» 
 effect the ])owers expressly delegsited. 
 
 Tlieiirst duty of such a Comuumder is so to conduct the wai- 
 as to protect the nation, another chief duty devolving on liim is 
 to ])rotect his army and render it as etKcient as possible. 
 
 It is not necessary that the Constitution should contain an 
 express delegation of such powers; they are iin})lied by the 
 creation of an army and a CoinniaiMli'i'-iu-Chief with the usual 
 powers. 
 
 The President, then, as head of the army, as well as the 
 chief of the Executive branch of the Government, is in tiuie 
 of war to see to it, that the liepublic is not placed in danger by 
 any one, and if any person does any act which aids and com- 
 forts the enemy, or even if lie snspects any person of such a de- 
 sign he nuxy, nay should, arrest him. For a suspected spy shouhl 
 be arrested before he has time and opportunity to w^ork out his 
 meditated treason. And the functions of tlie civil government 
 are snspended as to stick persons ; they become subject to mili- 
 tary law, and cannot com])lain even if an error is committed in 
 respect to them. Hence the snspensioiv of the habeas corjnis in 
 time of war. 
 
 The editors of The World 'A\\(\ Journal of Coiivmerce^VsQXQ 
 arrested and tlicir pa])ci's suspended by the (\>mniander-in- 
 Chief ol" the army within a nulitary district, in time of actual 
 war. Had he the right to do it { If what has been said is cor- 
 rect, the act was cleai'lv no breach of anthority, and certainly 
 not a crime. "^Fo hold it to be a crinu' Avould tend to dissolve 
 the army, and ihi'ow tlie nation into anaivhy. if every act of 
 a Commander in ( liiel' of an ainiy, or any act in that capacity, 
 can be examinetl, i'e\iewe<l, and punished hy the civil magis- 
 
11 
 
 trate in time of ivar^ then the power of a commander of an army 
 is gone forever. In time of 2)eaee, of coin-f^e a dilierent rule 
 prevails. 
 
 Our citizens have been so solicitous to preserve our lilierties 
 that some of them, in pursuit of ti'ial hy jury, the great palla- 
 dium of liberty, have forgotten tliat it does not ap]>Iy to the 
 government of an army, nor of a military district, while in a 
 state of vmi\ but relates only to the govenunent of a civil com- 
 munity, at peace. 
 
 I might here rest tlic case; but it maybe i>roj)er to mention 
 some circumstances surrounding the subject, which render it 
 peculiarly improper for the civil magistrates t(j "Attempt to inter- 
 iere in this particular case, at this time. 
 
 These newspapers were pul)lishe(l in a city in wliicli, less 
 tlian one year ago, all authority, both civil and military, Avas 
 for some days entirely overthrown by an armed mob, to which 
 many independent facts show that the Rebels looked for aid 
 and comfort ; and which mob did eifectually aid and comfort the 
 Rebels, at a time when an invading force of their army, powerful 
 by its nundiers and means of assault, actually, for a time, 
 threatened the overthrow of the National Capital,if they did not 
 also contemplate the seizure of this great metropolis. That 
 mob o})posed the soldiery of the I^s^ational Government, and 
 nnirdered in cold blood many of those soldiers and their officers. 
 
 That, that mob, was incited to act no less by secret agerits 
 than by their own misguided passions, there are facts which prove 
 beyond reasonable doulit, and it would be easy to show that 
 articles published in those very newspapers, and others of a 
 kindred character, had also a powerful tendency to produce the 
 riot. Day by day, for more than a year past, those newsjiapers 
 have teemed not only with the most violent invectives against 
 the administration of the Government, and the administration 
 t»f the Army, but with articles, the manifest purpose of which 
 was to endiarrass the Government as much as possible in its 
 conflict with the public enemy. And on the very day on which 
 they were seized, they each published a forged papei', purjjorting 
 to be a Proclamation by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army 
 of such a character as to have an inevitably injurious eflect on 
 
12 
 
 the Army, and on the credit of the Gorernment, which was 
 then seriously impaired by the constant attacks made npon it 
 in the newspapers Avhich were thns seized. The entire manage- 
 ment of those papers, hut especially on the day on which they 
 were seized, tended to give " aid and comfort to the enemy," 
 and manifestly " adhered to " their cause, if not '' to them." 
 
 They say that, the i^roclamation was not known to be forged. 
 It suffices for the case of the representative of the Government 
 to say that no other paper published it. All the other editors 
 discovered its character, and if these did not, they should be 
 treated as persons managing a dangerous machine, without skill 
 to conduct it with safety to the common -wealth. 
 
 IS^ow, under such circumstan(;es, 1 maintain tliiit it was not 
 merely the right of the Gommander-in-Chiet' to arrest the 
 editors and seize the papa's, but that he wouhl liave lieen 
 derelict to duty had he not done so. They were manifestly 
 "aiding and comforting" the Rebels. Their editors, jiot Gen- 
 eral Dix, should be placed on their defense. 
 
 But it is said that the act was in conHict with the clause 
 forbidding the Government to deprive any person of life, liberty 
 or property, without due process of law. \ li:i\e ah'eady 
 attempted to show that this chnise does not prescribe a rule 
 for a Commander-in-Chief of an army in, time of war, but to 
 the administration of civil government in time of peace. That 
 this is true, is clear from its language. It relates to a criminal 
 prosecution in a court before a judge sitting peacefully in the 
 due administration of the law, in the usual course of justice. 
 It breathes an air of peace and security. It implies, at least,- 
 that a civil court coidd sit, and administer justice. Could such 
 a court be held in a camp? Could it be possible to bring every 
 spy before it ? 
 
 It obviously is a provision to be enforced in time of ^ctice 
 and not amid the clash of arms. 
 
 Perhaps a slight examination of the history of the clauses, 
 ''due process of law" aii«l "trial by his peers" may not be out 
 of place. 
 
 The clause is taken by us from 2i) Ch. Mag. C'har., ^\•here we 
 read, " Nullus liber homo capiatur vel imprisonetur * * * 
 
13 
 
 nisi per legale judicinm parinm suoriim vel per legem terre," 
 which mav be translated : " Ko free man shall he arrested or 
 imjyrisoned, cfr., unless hy the lawful judgment of his ijeers or hy 
 the law of the land.'' This clause, in substantially the same 
 words in translation, is contained in tlie Constitutions of tlie 
 several States and in the Constitution of the United States. In 
 the 29 Mag. Char, it is found in eoimection with a promise not 
 to sell justice, &c,, and was part of the grant originally made 
 by King John to his rebellious Barons in arms on the plains of 
 Runnymede. The clause is, however, tirst fomid in an ordi- 
 nance of Conrad, Emperor of (Tcrmany; about 137 years prior 
 to that time. It is a solemn promise by tlie Sovereign tu his 
 subjects not to imprison without trifd l)v jury. It is not quite 
 apparent liow this clause is applicable to the state of citizens in 
 a I'epublic, in such circumstances as the present. ^V^as that 
 j)romise ever kept, in England or America, even in peace { No. 
 It was not even observed in form, either in Eup-land or here. 
 There are more than one hundred statutes of the Colonv, and 
 State of New York, authorizing summary couAactions, without 
 jury ti-ial, and imprisonment, on conviction. Of such descrip- 
 tion, are, all the statutes as to punishing vagrancy, and petty 
 larceny. So, too, the statute allowing the Mayor to punisli 
 cartmen, for driving without a license. The cartman on com- 
 plaint is brought before the Mayor, and, if guilty, is convicted, 
 and either lined, or imprisoned in tlie Tombs, or perhaps both. 
 Is the imprisonment any the less real, Avhen it proceeds from 
 the order of the Mayor, than when authorized by a conviction, 
 based on a verdict 'i I fancy not. 
 
 So, too, in England, the books are tilled with cases of 
 imprisonment for a violation of the privileges of the House 
 of Commons, by summary proceedings, in that body, without 
 any trial by jury, or even the authority of a special statute. So 
 too, punishments as for contempts, by order of the Chancellor 
 \vithout tlie intervention of a jury, have Ijeen comnmn from the 
 earliest liistorical records of that court. But the Statutes of 
 England authorize numy such arrests, and imprisonments, by lo- 
 cal magistrates. Take one for example — tlie 4 Hen. 7, as to labor- 
 ers. It provides that every man found without employment, and 
 
14 
 
 who refuses to labor fur a small fixed sum per diem, shall be 
 summarily convicted bv a maijistrate withdut a jurv, and be im- 
 ]»risoned, till thefne in paid. Of the same rlescriptiun are nudti- 
 tudes of smiiptuarv laws, laws a<>;ainst the em])]oyment of certain 
 kinds of boats, and nthers. So we see Hint llic nilr \v;i> Ky iin 
 means of universal a|i]»lic;iti(iii. in tlic ailniini>ti-;iti<>ii df jii-ticr, 
 in time of peace, even, there. Tli is is attested most eloquently 
 Itv the fact, thai Ma<j;na Chai'ta. \va^ confii-nicil bv Parliaincnt, 
 after repeate(^l violation>, u\ci- one hnndrcil times, by s})ecial 
 statnte. These statutes were in \iolatiiiii of AIaii"na Cliarta, ami 
 therefore void. They wci-c al'tci-wards, in etiect, erased l)v the 
 bloody record (tf Cromwcirs wai'. 
 
 AVhile, tlieivl'ore, we si'C that men were dailv impfisoiieil 
 withont trial l»y jnrv, in the course of the admiinstratiou 
 oi' justice, how was it, in resjicct toils apjilicatioii to uulitai'v 
 affairs? It is true that at remote ])eri(ids, there were spasmodic 
 efiVu'ts, to ai»[tiy I lie lade to ])ei'sons accused of treason, faint, 
 iniperfect effe>rts, as we see by the British state trials; but it is 
 clear that no one e\er a]i]>ne(l it, to test the conduct of a com- 
 mander-in-chief, of an aiMiiy. His conduct must be in(piired 
 intobva different tribumil, and approved or punished accordin*^; 
 to the judgment of a court-nuirtial, not a court, civil. 
 
 DuriuiT the loni!; w.irs of the Roses — the wars of tlie houses 
 of York and Lancaster — the lowerinji; clouds, succeeded by the 
 loud thunders of the wai" of Parliament ai;'ainst diaries I.; as 
 well as, during the cam[>aigns of Marlborough and AVellington, 
 Avas it ever attempted to investigat(! the conduct of a connnan- 
 der-in-chief, in time of Avar, — in any place, under any circum-' 
 stances, — before a ci\il tribunal ^ No, sir; no. The concession 
 of such a right, would ha\e rendered nnlitary operations abor- 
 tive. 
 
 U])on the just linuts of military power, and tlii' (piestion of 
 the effect of the 29th (luipter Magna Charta. or rather as to 
 whether that chapter, applies at all. to limit the war power, we 
 have also the opinion of that great hiWTer, Mr. Ilargrave. He 
 says, in his opinion upon (Irogan's case ((-rrogan. win* was 
 tried by Court Martial and executed as a Rebel) that : 
 
 " In 1799 an Irish act of J*arliament was passed, which in 
 
15 
 
 effect appears to recoo-nize tliat it is a part of the Royal jpre- 
 Togatlm^ durLno- the time of rel)ellion, to aiitliorize the Kiiig-'s 
 (Teueral, and other conmuindiiig oiKcers, to pimisli rebels accord- 
 iiio- to martial law, by death or otherwise, as to them shall 
 seem ex})edie]it. That an act of Parliament may, for more 
 etibctually suppressino- tlie rehelUo))^ so extend trial by martial 
 hiw, and so also ffive to o-enerals and other eommandino; officers 
 a tUscretion of punishino; rebels found guilty upon sneh trial, 
 either witli death, oi* indefinitely in any otlier way, is not 
 doubted." — (I. Jurisconsult Exer,, p. 399.) 
 
 If such a law is not deemed to be inconsistent with Mao-na 
 C'harta in Eiio-land, surely our far milder acts of Congress are 
 not to be deemed infractions (^f the yery same Charta. No doubt 
 Congress has the same power possessed l)y Parliament in respect 
 to nuirtial law. What may be claimed imder royal prerogatiye 
 in England, may be expressly granted by act of Congress here, 
 although no such power can exist by implication, eyen in the 
 President. 
 
 Tlie Court of Star Chamber, also, while it existed, punished 
 offenses without proceeding by due course of law, and without 
 trial by jury. 1 Fargrave says : 
 
 "The grand ol)jection to that Court (the Court of Star 
 Chandler) was their exercise of arbitrary j)ower c»f fining, im- 
 2)fisonhi<j^ and stigmatizing the King's subjects for libels and 
 other jnisdemeanors, without trial hy jury^ and on a S(»rt of 
 ]»roceeding yery contrarient in other respects to the ordinary 
 course of the English law." — (Ilargraye*'s opinion as to the 
 h'gality of imprisoning Mr. T'eri-y, editor of The Morniny 
 Chronicle^Xov an article reflecting on the House of Lords.) Yet 
 \ye know that, that court, existed and exercised all its powers, 
 foi- a v(M'v lono; time. It was not abolished till the 16th Charles 
 1st. It had jurisdiction to Irv for forgeries and perjuries, which 
 were then visited with the death penalty, and for routs, riots, 
 !ind maintenances, emlu-acing, &c., which were all ]»unished l)y 
 iiiil»risonnu^nt, without any form of jury trial. 
 
 Property is j)rotected by the same clause of Magna Charta, 
 and in as strong terms as personal liberty. If the clause is 
 ai)plicable to the case before us, a commander-in-chief could be 
 
10 
 
 Biied tor all the j)i-0])ei'ty dcsti'oyod hy nii army. If this were 
 so Tio one would take comniand of an army. 
 
 r>iit it will be asked, may arbiti-ary arrests l)e made without 
 any remedy for an abuse of powers The remedy,! reply, is 
 rnll, ample, complete. The President may not be indicted by 
 the (xrand Jury, it is true, but lie may \m' impeached, if he 
 transcends the limits of his ])()wcr, iiiid acts maliciously and 
 oppressively. That is the remedy ]»res(^ribe(i by the (\)nstitn- 
 tion, and it is the <»nly remedy, \vl)icli (•;ni be aj»pli(M|. And it 
 is an am])ly sntHcient remedy. 
 
 The power of makinji; arbitrary arrests, for If tlie arrest is 
 to pass uiKjuestioncd, it amounts to a ])ower to nrrest, is dele- 
 »i;ated to tlu^ President as C'ommaiider-in-C.hief ; i)ut it can be 
 exer(;ised : 
 
 1st. In time of war only; 
 
 2d. It must be within a military district of the Pnited 
 States ; 
 
 8(1. And pertain to military affairs; and, 
 
 4th. Tlu! act must be of such a natnre as to aid the army in 
 actual military oi)erations in the field; or, to avert the conse- 
 (juences resulting' from the acts of a hostile }>arty, or to punish 
 l)ersons guilty of those acts: as to punish a spy, or any other 
 pel-son aidinc; and abetting the enemy. 
 
 The ])ower, althongh thus limited, is, in its immedhde exer- 
 cise, to be judged of cmly by the Commander-in-Chief IFe 
 alone, in his military capacity, is to determine the fact and the 
 exigency, which demands the arrest of ])ersons, or the seixure or 
 destruction of property. And his ordtM- must be obeyed. If, 
 however, he transcends the just limits of his power, it cannot 
 for that reason or any other be subjected to the adjudicati(»n of 
 a civil court of law, except upon impeachment. 
 
 And what lesson has been taught us, hy the pi'actice of 
 patriots ill other hinds, in contests for natiomd indcpcMideiice 
 and ci\il and religious liberty^ AVhen.the hardy followers 
 of Cromwell were battling, in iron phalanx, to s(H'iire the lil)- 
 ei'ties of their country, against Charles J., and when tlu' patriots 
 of England were again warring under theleadershii* of William 
 of Orange in 1688, to establish and guarantee, by the triumphs 
 
lY 
 
 of the Revolution, the riglits of the people of Great Britain on 
 a iirm basis, they did nut liesitate to arrest all who opposed the 
 onward march of the Nation, and many such arrests were made 
 bv tlie niilitarv, without j)roeess of law, at tlio very time when 
 I'arliaiuent was discussing-, and (lc('idini>-, tli;it the Crown was 
 vacant by the Nohintary abdication of .laim-s 1,1. The history 
 of the time iibonnds with snch arrests. So, too, (hiring the 
 memorable contest between the Protestant heroes and pati'iots 
 of riolhnid against (Miarles V. iind Philip 1 1, of Spain, many 
 plots were prevented, a,nd often was meditated treason defeated 
 by the timely arrest, without due ]>r(jcess of law, of those who 
 were thus jdotting. The pages of Motley and Prescott contain 
 many instaiices of such arrests. Paul Buys, a distinguished 
 counselor, as well as the three persons who conspired to deliver 
 uj) Leydeu, Mere thus arrested. The three cons})irators were 
 tried and executed, yet we nowhere read that the military au- 
 thority, under which the arrests and executions took place, was 
 objected to or complained of in any way. 
 
 P>ut to say nothing of the history of arrests by the militarv 
 ;irm in other countries, what was the course pursued bv our 
 Kevolutionarv lathers ^ From the very beii-inninff of the con- 
 test to tlie close of the Revolutionary War, such arrests were 
 made without due process of law, and no one questioned their 
 propriety or legality. 
 
 Take one statement, for example, from Wakeley's Early 
 J 1 istory of American Methodists, L. chap., }>. 27. lie savs : " As 
 early as October, 1765, tlie merchants generally resolved not to 
 im])ort goods from England ' unless the oppressive and uncon- 
 stitutional stani]) act was repealed.' Those wdio continued to 
 trade with England, were C(»nsidered and treated as open ene- 
 miex to the ciinl mid. religious interests of their cmmtnj. Some 
 were sent to jail for importing English goods, and their families 
 ruined in conse(pience." 
 
 But there is yet clearer ju-ecedent, yet higher authority u[)on 
 this ])oint. Throughout our struggle with the Government of the 
 mother country for our riglits as English freemen, there were 
 certain of our people who (to use the words of Mr. (Teor<>-e 
 Tick nor Curtis, the historian of our Constitution), " from a 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 Rense of duty, or from cupidity, or from some motive, good or 
 bad, made their election to adhere to the public enemy , and they 
 were therefore rightfully classed^ according to their personal ac- 
 tivity and importance, among the enemies of the country, by 
 those whose business it was to conduct its affairs and fight its 
 battles." The most of these people were in South Carolina, 
 where the present war against our Government began. But 
 they were t(» be found in many other places, and there were 
 some in Queens county, Lonj Island, in this very State. These 
 New Yorkers, like those among us of whom they seem to have 
 been the pn^t^type, did not actively and oj)only ()]ip()se the 
 war, but their coiKhict was such as to cause them to be " sus- 
 ])ected of designs nnfriendly to the views of Congress." The 
 reason why they were so suspected was, not that they worked 
 against the Congress, or even wrote and talked against it, l)ut 
 that they simply voted against electing members to the Pro- 
 vincial Convention. The Province of New York was not at 
 that time the theati'e of hostilities, l)ut there were a])prehen- 
 sions, as there have been in the present war, that it might ere 
 long l)ecome so. It was in January, 1776, Congress was in 
 session in Philadelphia, and Washington the Commander-in- 
 (;hief of our army, was with the army in Massachusetts. Now 
 it is remarkable and very important that Washington, as Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, and the Congress, as the then sovereign power 
 — sovereign by necessity of the case, for Independence Mas not 
 yet declared, and even the first Confederation was not yet 
 formed — acting iiulependently of each other, and without con- 
 sultation, sent an armed force into Long Island to arrest, sum- 
 marily and arbitrarily, these people who were "suspected of 
 designs unfriendly to the views of Congress." 
 
 The troops entered Queens county from both east and west, 
 and marcliing into it, they "disarmed every inhabitant who 
 had \oted against choosing members to the Convention ;'' and 
 not only so, but they arrested many, and without any "judg- 
 ment of ])eers," or "process of law," they sent nineteen of the 
 most prominent of them out of the county out of the so-called '' sov- 
 ereign " province of New York, to Philadelphia, where they M'ere 
 imprisoned. Yet this was done by men who wei-e then in arms 
 
11) 
 
 for tlio rio-litf* wliicli they inherited in Mao-na Charta and the 
 Bill of Itio'hts, and whose res])€H^t for trial by jury and the writ 
 of IIaJ/eaj< Coi'pu.s was i)robably not less, we will say, than that 
 (►f the editors of The World and Journal of Commerce^ or even 
 his }?].\cellencv (Jovenioi' Seyuioni". For tlieir names were 
 (ireorg'e Washino'ton, Thomas. Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, 
 Benjamin Fi'anklin, John Adams, Chai'les Carroll, and Thomas 
 Pinkney — bnt is it necessary to ii'<» fnrther down the illnsti'ions 
 rolW 
 
 Fortunately for us, and that a precedent of hig-hest author- 
 ity miu"ht be left for the guidance of our National Executive, 
 civil and military, in these trying times, both the parties to this 
 significant case of arbiti-ary arrest, left the reasons for their 
 action upon record. The Provincial Congress declared that 
 '' the majority ot the inhabitants of Queens county, having av( >wed 
 a design of remaining inactive spectators of the contest, and 
 shown a general want of public s])irit," " those who refuse to 
 defend their country should be excluded from its protection, 
 and prevented from doing it injury^ They then passed an act 
 which amounted to a virtual outlawry of these men, and which 
 ])rovided that any attorney or lawyer who should prosecute or 
 defend any suit at laM' for any one of them, should be treated 
 as a public enemy. {Journal of Congress for January 2d, 1770.) 
 Washington in his correspondence at the time, gave as his reason 
 that, " (Jur enemies from the other side of the Atlantic will be 
 sutticiently numerous ; it concerns us to ha/ve as few iyiteriud ones 
 as possible. "'' {Writmgs of Washi7igion, vol. iii., ]ip. 230, 255). 
 To folk»w out this important, may I not say this leading case, 
 the Provincial Congress was finally obliged to leave these vic- 
 tims of arbitrary arrest, to be dealt with by the authoi'ities of 
 the comuionwealth in which thev lived. But as the hiji'h Con- 
 stitutional authority above quoted, Mr. Curtis tells us, this was 
 n(»t because Congress had not performed "a high act of sover- 
 eignty, which was entirely within the true scope of its powers, "" 
 (though remember that the (Tovernment of the sovereign peoi)le 
 of the ITnited States was not yet established), but l)ecause " it 
 had not tinally severed the tic which bound the counti'v to 
 Great J^ritain, and because it had no cixil niachinerv of its own 
 
20 
 
 tlii'oii^h wJiicli its (>] (('rations could l»e ediidnctcd.'" Tlii^ di?;- 
 idiility ceased wlicii that sovereiirnty was establislied tliii'teeii 
 years at'tcrwai'ds. And now, sir, I ;i|)])rclicnd that we oiiii'lit t.> 
 liear no nioi-e of lack of aiitliority on the jiart of the Coni- 
 nnindcr-in-Cliief of tlie ai-niies of the Indted States to arrest, 
 by iinlitar\' foi'cc, in time of cixil war, at his ]ii'o|ici- peril as 
 l>ro\ide(l in the Constitution, any man wiioni he has reason to 
 believe '"adlieres to the public enemy'' of his conntry, or 
 "whom tlie safety of that (-(Mint ry i"e(|nires to he '' prcv cntcHl from 
 doin<;- it injury.'" 
 
 It would seem, indeed, as if in a city in whidi the old |)i-(»- 
 vost still stands, in which hundreds of Tories wei'c imprisoned 
 without '■' jr/'occs-'i ()fl(fiv'' hy the indignant army of the ]>atriots 
 umler Waslnni>;ton tbi- acts which tended to aid and comfort the, 
 enemy, only about eiii'hty-nine years ag"o, it wei-e not neces- 
 sary to cite authorities. Our fatliei's of the Ile\'olntion thouiiht 
 it more important to secure tlie liberty of tbeii' conntiw upon a 
 permanent basis, to secure their own liberties, than to |)rt»tect 
 semi-traitoi's and suspected spies from arrest, even if such arrests 
 were by the nnditai'v arm without due ])rocess of law. 
 
 Indcecj, the doctrine; that the military cannot arrest without 
 due pi'ocess of law in tim(M)f civil war is a new conceit invented 
 bv disloyal |»ersonsdurin<i;; this wai", t(» enable Rebel sympathizers 
 to publish treasonable articles whieli will divide and weaken 
 the supporters of (Tovernment, and thus aid the ])ubHc enemy, 
 and also to screen from deserved })unishment men who have 
 furinslied ai'ms and supplies to the liebels throno-h Nassau. 
 
 In truth, those who are such sticklers foi' immunity from, 
 arrest, the freedom <»f speech and tVeedom of the press, seem 
 to be (pnte williui;- that liberty shall he entirely o\ ci'throw n, 
 ;ind anarcli\- establislie(| on the ruins of this (Ttovermnent, if 
 they can succeed only in protectinjj; tVoni arrest those w ho are 
 plotting;; for the oM-rthrow of that (TOvernment. The doctrine 
 is never appealed to except in behalf of traitors. AV^>l4l(l it not 
 be a better policv at a time like this to subnn't to a little ii'reiiu- 
 laritv in the admiinsti'atioii of formal justice — some mistakes 
 e\en to be made in the matter of arrests — than to protect our 
 lilierties ])\ an arl(itrar\ rule imipplicable to the events actually 
 
21 
 
 takiiio- ]>laoe l)ef()re us, and wliicli, if rigidly enforced, wonld 
 render tliis onr third War of Inde[)enden('e nuo-atory and nn- 
 availino'. J^,nt it needs not that the question should be thus 
 l>ut. ( )ur laws at present are suffieient for the emergency. It 
 is only re(jnisite tliat they sliould 1>e understood and enforced. 
 V>y thiise.laws and oni' (constitution, the legislative, executiye, 
 jii(h'cial, and niilitai-y de])artnients are established. Each acts 
 in its own ])articular s]>here independently <»f the otiiers, ])nt in 
 harmony witli the wliole. Neither of tliese (le])artments can 
 encroach upon the powers of the others; nor will it, so long as 
 it is govei'ned by the rules established by oiu' beautiful but 
 coin])le.\ system of government. Each of these de])artments 
 determining its own powers, neither of the others can determine 
 )i])on them. The remedy to be a])plied where powers are 
 usurped, I haye already stated. 
 
 To repeat all in a word. The laws of the United States 
 clothe the President with an impenetrable armor of protection. 
 He is not subject to the jurisdiction of a court of law when 
 acting in either his Executive capacity or in his character of 
 Comnuinder-in-Cliief of the Army and Navy, l)Ut he may l>e 
 im))eached, and that is the only remedy for an abuse of power. 
 
 I sn])]>ose the learned and ingenious counsel for the prose- 
 cution will not contend that they could iiulict the President 
 and his Cabinet for approying an act of (l(»ngress. But when 
 he acts as (V)nnnander-in-Chief he and his officers are as much 
 exempted from the interposition of the judiciary as when he 
 acts in his Executive ca])acity; the acts conqdained of here 
 were perfoi-med by the President and those who acted under 
 liis orders in their military capacity, and they are actually and 
 absolutely exem])t from the investigation (»f the judiciary. The 
 courts have no jurisdiction of the nujtter ; the President has an 
 inunniuty, (•omj)lete and absolute. Nor need it be jdeaded, foi- 
 the mattei" is not matter of defense, it I'csts on, an altsem-e of 
 power to investigate in the courts. 
 
 "• Thei'c must be an ultimatum of ]>olitical power in every 
 ( Tovi'i'iiment ; and the pei"S(tns in whom such power is lodged, 
 whoever they may be, will necessarily be in some sense abso- 
 lute."— (Hargrave Juris. Ex., vol. I., p. 30:^.) 
 
Many, however, of tliose wiio arc ()i»|>(»se(l to tlie President, 
 like tlie Attorney-deneral liere. too learned to deny these 
 |)i'o|tositions, virtually admit that the coiKhict of the Pi'esident, 
 as ( "oiiiiiiaii(h'i'-iii-( 'liicf, caiiiiot he iii(|iiircMl into hy tlic cix il 
 nia<i"istrate, and that the words ''(hic process of hiw," apply 
 nidy to the mode of the admIid>tratioii of justice in time of 
 peace. >\<hiiittini;' all this, they say, that the city of New "4 oi'k 
 is at peace, we lia\(' no army here, and that in this time of 
 |)uhlic tran(piility General Dix was uuilty of a ciiiue in seizini*- 
 the paj)ers and arrestin*;' the editors. 
 
 What! has it come to this ^ lie indeed must be a bold 
 advocate who can insist on such a pi'oposition. Is it in accord- 
 ance w ith either the laws of war, or with the facts, as they are 
 kn(»wn to exist i 
 
 \\\ a welhkiiown rule of the laws of war, each individual 
 ])erson in eithei' nation, at war, is at war, with every })erson in 
 the other. I lence the Supreme CJonrt of the United States held 
 (in the Crenshaw case, I think) that all the i-esidents in the se- 
 ceded States are alien enemies. It follows, as a corollary ecpially 
 well settled, that the area of war is limited only by the boundaries 
 of the nation, and the ( \>nnnaiidi'r-in-( 'hief is in command ot" all 
 the armies, means, and ap})liances of war in the entire terri- 
 tories of the Union. I fence the entire territoiw of the United 
 States, in(duding New York, has been divided into nnlitai'V 
 districts, under the C(>numnid of district commanders, and the 
 city of Ncnv ^ Ork is as much at war with the South as any 
 other p;irt t»l" the Uiuon. This is not a war of the inhabitants 
 of any <>'iven portion of tei'ritory ao'ainst those of any othei- 
 portion, but it is a war by the (iovernment against individual 
 Rebels in ai*ms, either ivsidents of Richmond or of New ^(>rk. 
 llow, too, is the fact '. \\\ point (»f fact this is a military post. 
 In effect within a camp. We ha\'e an ai'iiiy here, w hicli is part 
 of the Army of the Potomac, to detend the city from tbe> 
 within and foes without, and (Jeneral Dix is in as full and as 
 absolute command here as (ieneral (ii'ant is before Richmond, 
 and it is most necessary that we should ha\'e a nulitaiw com- 
 mander here. This is a pai't of tlie o'l'eat army of the liepuhlic, 
 called into service to put down the Kebellion, sid)ject to the 
 
Jl€> 
 
 same discipline and having the same powers as other armies in 
 the field, and its commander is clothed with all the attribntes 
 of the other commanders in active service. He is bound to 
 obey the orders of his military chief or be punished. It comes 
 then to this, if the civil magistrate had jurisdiction, if such a 
 preposterous rule prevailed, General Dix would be punished by 
 the civil tribunals for obeying orders, or if he disobeyed the 
 orders of the Commander-in-Chief he would be punished by the 
 military tribunals for that disobedience. 
 
 Our laMS involve no such absurdity, create no such collision. 
 In trutli, the civil tribunals are supreme in time of peace ; but 
 the military authorities in time of war are equally supreme 
 within the legitimate bounds of their jurisdiction. And this is 
 a military matter wholly within the legitimate power and juris- 
 <liction of the Commander-in-C^hief It is immaterial, therefore, 
 whether we are in a camp or not. The act is a military act, 
 and that alone exempts from lial)ility. The case of Borden, or 
 Dorr War in Rhode Island, defines and limits the powers of the 
 different departments, military, judicial, and executive, and 
 denounces as a crime the encroachment of either upon the 
 powers of the others. And it is clear from the principles laid 
 down in that case, that should the judiciary attem})t to punish 
 the C^ommander-in-Chief, oi' any one ivJw executes his orders^ 
 the judge who should so act would render himself liable to im- 
 ])eachment. 
 
 The interests of the people in this great war, and the powers 
 of those whom they have invested with their sovereignty for 
 the time being, are not to be interfered with with impunity. 
 The impolicy of doing so is only equaled by its disloyalty. It 
 would be quite in keeping for a faction to seize such an opportu- 
 nity to attempt to make political capital by these events. Let 
 him beware, however, who attempts to interpose his puny arm 
 t(j arrest the onwai'd progress of this mighty Nation — to attempt 
 to paralyze its military arm, and thus stay the Nation in its 
 progress to a great destiny; for it is a course of policy better 
 calculated than any other to secure the condenmation of the 
 entire ]ieople, as it does now the reproach of all good men who 
 understand tlie subject. As well try to arrest the course of 
 
24 
 
 Niagara with a feather as to arrest the o.onr.se of tlii ^ AVar hv 
 such proceecliiigs as these. It is the will >>\' the peo]>k^ that it 
 should go oil. and nox popiili \(i\ del. 
 
 Again, Cougress, pursuant to tlic powi'is delegated in the 
 Constitution, lias sus])eiided tlic lndteas cor]Mi>. Wliy ( Because 
 it was necessary <lufini:' flic \\;ii' to make irregular arrests of 
 ])ersons suspected nl' ci'inic. hut otWIiidi no |ii'oof df guilt conld 
 at the luoment he funiislicd. 'rii;it net \\a> designed to author- 
 ize such jtri'ests MS tlicsc l)v tin- nnlitai'v ai'in ot' tlu' (io\ crnnient. 
 The wisdom ol' tlint ;ic1 ;dl nin>t concede wlio know the history 
 of the War. This city has t'urin>hed arm.-, |)rovisions, clothing, 
 and medicines to the liehels tlii-ough the poii ol' Nassau. Now 
 it was necessai'v to arrest these, treasoiudile dealings, and to do 
 so the CoiniMander-iii-( 'liiet' has the power, under the act of ( 'oii- 
 gress, to order an ai"re>t of susj)ecte(l pei'sons, who ai'e to he de- 
 tained in piMson and denie(l the haheas corpus. I'liis the safety 
 of the Ivepuhlic <leniands. So/i/.s j)nj)i'// .si/j/re/na le.i'. A more 
 direct legislative authority to make such arrests is found in the 
 act of Congress cominouly called the Indeninitv act. in Jones 
 <<//#. Seward the(7eueral Term of the Supreme Court of this Dis- 
 trict declai'cd this act, including its 4tli section, to l»t' constitu- 
 tional, notwithstandiuii' the learned and ini>;enious criticisms of 
 Mr. District-Attorney Hall. That statute ahsolutely e\enn)ts 
 Geu. Dix. froui punislunent for any act diMie pursuant to the 
 orders of the President. K\-en if the act were erroneous the 
 exemption is full, perfect, and complete. 
 
 Jjastly: I <lisclaim ])lacing the ai'gument on f-o low a gi'ound 
 as to sav that it was done without criminal intent and so cannot 
 he punished as a crime. Having an impenetrahle shield, I dis- 
 claim the use of less iuipregnahle armor. 
 
 Gen. Dix is a })atriot, engaged in the discharge of the highest 
 duties which now devolve on tlK> patriots of this iiati<in, and he 
 has discharged his duties with patriotic ardor from the time he 
 ordered an officer, that if any man attempted to strike the Hag, 
 he was to ''shoot him on the sjtot,"" until the present moment. 
 He — untiring, uncomplaining, thoughtful of others, ])r(')(ligal of 
 himself, generous, modest, hra\e; with so much intellect aiul so 
 much devotion to his duty — deserves the crow n of the i)atriot 
 
25 
 
 and champion of the right. Yet this man, this glorious gray- 
 liaired man is charged with crime. 
 
 Mark liim well, at the time this event occurs ; he pauses 
 for a moment, — witli much work done already, but his hardest 
 life-task before him; still in the noon of manhood, a fine 
 martial figure, standing full in the sunlight, though all the 
 scene around him is wrapped in gloom — a commanding figure, 
 entitled to the admiration which the energetic display of 
 great powers must always command. A light physiognomy ; 
 a quick, imposing head ; gray, close-clipped hair ; an eagle's 
 eye ; a man always ready, never alarmed ; living in the senate, 
 the cabinet, or the saddle, ever present where duty demands — • 
 such is Dix the Patriot ! Dix, whom the enemies of his countr}^ 
 would make criminal. Let those beware who touch a hair of 
 his head. He represents the Sovereignty of the People in this 
 District, and the people will protect liim. 
 
 But to resume. We are engaged in a war to defend the ex- 
 istence of the National Government, a government which is the 
 first and only successful Republican Government, in which liberty 
 has been duly protected, without descending into anarchy. In 
 this contest the armies of the Union have not met all the ene- 
 mies of the Nation. Faction has stimulated some of our citizens 
 to the verge of treason, till they raise their puny hands, and 
 exert all their pigmy powers, to thwart and render nugatory all 
 the efforts of the Government to put down the Rebellion, at a 
 time when the fire of civil war is at the vitals of the Republic. 
 These two newspapers in their own way, and so far as their 
 powers have extended, have used all .heir ability, all their skill, 
 and their utmost resources, in the cause of the Rebellion ; and 
 much more effectually than if they had been in the Rebel 
 States. And in Home Tooke's case it was decided that an 
 overt act of treason might be committed by writing and print- 
 ing treasonable matter, if it led to riotous assemblies, to oppose 
 the Government by violence. The Rebellion, instead of hiding 
 away, and crawling off in secret as formerly, now raises its 
 crest and spits and mutters its treason, in the very face of the 
 Government, in the daily columns of these papers. 
 
 So, too, a small branch of a discontented party, as if de- 
 
2G 
 
 inciited, as ifimablc to see tliat the entire ])COple liave doter- 
 iniiied to assert tlieir supreme sovereignty, tlic unity and indi- 
 visibility of tJie republic, and t]iat tliey Avill repel all assaults 
 U})on it, institute such measures as this prosecution, to annoy, 
 harass, and thwart the Government in conducting this war to 
 a successful conclusion, as well as to create dissensions among 
 loyal ])eople. 
 
 T]\e example furnished by the history of the war of the 
 United Provinces, afterward the United States of Holland 
 against Spain, contains an instructive lesson, teaching the im- 
 portance of unity of action in war, and the necessity of avoiding 
 dissensions and tlie fatal consequences which are sure to flow 
 from them, wlierc the military authority is not centered in a 
 sinu-le head. The forces of the States were more than enoui>-h 
 to have defeated the Spanish on many occasions after the death 
 of William of Orange (usually called "William the Silent), but 
 when he ceased to direct the military anii, there was so nuicli 
 internal dissension, so much bickering between the Earl of Lei- 
 cester (whom Elizabeth had appointed her Governor-General) 
 and the estates and rulers of the cities, that efficient and united 
 action became impossible. And the painful consequences of 
 these dissensions and this want of unity, soon exhibited them- 
 selves in the surrender of Antwerj), Sluys, and many other of 
 the cities of the States, until they were brought to the brink ol" 
 ]-uin. The English would not act with the Dutch, nor tlie 
 Dutch cordially with the English. AVliat was planned by Prince 
 Meurice or his Lieutenant-General, the celebrated Count IIo- 
 henlo, was derided and opposed by Leicestei", or Sir Philij* 
 Sidney, (»r Black John Korris, so that at the last there was n(» 
 unity, no leader, no a('ti\e and efficient warfare made by these 
 world-renowned generals against the Si)anish ; while on the 
 (itlicr hand, the S})anish troo])s, nniU'd nnd efficientl}' led by the 
 Duke of Parnia, one of the gi-eatest captains of tlie age, were 
 :d>le to acconq)lish great results indeed, in two years, from 
 1 5S5 to 1587. As we read in the eloquent ]>ages of Motley, Parma 
 \crv neai'lv succeeded in the conquest of llie entire counti'v, 
 ;iii(l iii'(.li:iM\' wt>nld h;i\ e (lone so Imt I'oi' t he loss ol' the Spanish 
 Anii:i<!:(, nnd ol I ht losses which rarnia surilained by reason of 
 
27: 
 
 his attempt to join that great fleet and invade England with 
 his entire land as well as sea forces. 
 
 Perhaps, however, the ni(»st instructive lesson furnished by 
 the page of history on this subject, is to be found in Napoleon's 
 campaigns in Italy in 170(3 and 7. lie, and he alone, led the 
 French army, and controlled all its movements with a rod of 
 iron. lie never had more than 80,000 men in the held at any 
 one time, until he invaded Austria, and then he took with him 
 onlv 50,000 to 55,000 men. It was with the 30,000 men that 
 he ffained his most brilliant victories. WitJi that small force 
 lie defeated four Austrian armies, none of which were less than 
 t>0,000 strong, aud commanded by the ablest warriors of the 
 age, such as Marshall Wurmser, Alvinzi, Quasdanovich, Boil- 
 lean, and the Archduke Charles of Austria. 
 
 Tlie secret of Napoleon's success lies chiefly in unity of action, 
 the concentration of all power in himself, his admirable disci- 
 pline, his complete control of all the avenues through which in- 
 formation could reach the enemy, and the absence of all dissen- 
 sion either in the army or in France. Did a newspaper utter 
 an indiscreet word, it was suppressed ; Avas an order disobeyed, 
 ur even obeyed with lukewarmness, the officer guilty of the 
 neglect was discharged at the very least, if not tivied by a Court- 
 Martial and punished. A Captain who had allowed himself to 
 be coo])ed up in a tower with three hundred soldiers, in the 
 centre of a town, and the town to be taken by a force Ave 
 times greater than his own, he caused to be tried and shot 
 because he had not made greater eftbrts to defend the town. 
 Cowardice, thus punished as the highest of crimes, at once 
 ceased to exist in the army, and his soldiers gained victories 
 which seem to be almost miraculous. With 15,000 men he de- 
 feated 45,000 Austrians at Areola, and finally, with his cannon 
 thundering ahnost at the gates ofYienna, he compelled Austria 
 to nuike a peace with the French liepublic which was of the 
 most advantageous character to France, whose boundaries were 
 carried by it to the Rhine, wdiile Austria was stripped of many 
 valuable provinces. 
 
 AVithout cpioting historical examples, it must be apparent 
 to the most casual reader, that unity of action, concentration of 
 
^s 
 
 command in the hands of a single leader, and concentrationj 
 not dispersion of forces, are each and all indispensably requisite 
 to success. 
 
 In this "war we have sadlv violated these fundamental rules ; 
 but without dwelling farther upon them, I desire to call atten- 
 tion for a moment to the almost criminal dissensions which 
 have prevailed at the Korth throughout the war, and which 
 have been kept up, if they were not originated by the news- 
 papers. 
 
 The pernicious effect of an article, such as that published on 
 the 8th page, first and second columns of The World on Friday 
 last (the 15th July, inst.), can scarcely be under estimated. 
 
 The correspondent of The Woi'ld said, in speaking of 
 an interview between the writer of the communication and 
 a Eebel officer (and it is worthy of remark, that the facility 
 of communication between the writers for The World and the 
 Eebels, is apparently very great, ^m\ that thej^ often avail 
 themselves of it), that the Kebel officer said, " That at the 
 battle of the Wilderness, Grant massed his men and hurled 
 them against impregnable works, time and time again, when 
 it could not but have been apparent to him that no slight chance 
 existed for him to damage their troops in the least by such 
 sacrifices. The slaughter was so great that the Union dead 
 were piled in heaps, and the Confederate troops hesitated to 
 continue the firing against the poor fellov/s ^^'ho were rushing 
 on to certain death. Frequently he heard them curse Grant 
 for his harljarity in expos'ng his men to such fearfid carnage.''^ 
 
 All this is said to prove the general allegation made a little 
 above in the same communication, that " Another reason they 
 have for thinking this campaign will close the war, as they state 
 it, is that Gen. Grant is so hihumanly unsparing of the lives of 
 his soldiers he loill soon use up all the men yen (wo can raise 
 to keep up the army," 
 
 It might be thought by some, from this isolated passage, 
 that perhaps the article is inofiensive, as it merely states tliese 
 matters as the opinions of Ttebels, to M'hom the editor had as 
 great a feeling of hostility as either you, sir, or I myself. Not 
 so, however, for the writer has taken great pains to commend 
 
29 
 
 the Rebels higbly in the same letter, lest their opinions should 
 not have all due weight. He says, in a preceding passage of 
 the same article : " / believe I have already stated that the 
 hehavior of the Rebels toward residents of the countrv through 
 which they passed was gentlemanly and courteous. The men 
 under Early, with very few exceptions, seemed to respect them- 
 selves too much to wantonl}' outrage the feelings of anybody ; 
 and even when insulted by foolish persons, forbore to resent 
 with bitterness." 
 
 All this is said in commendation of the murderers and horse 
 thieves and thieves of every sort who followed Imboden and 
 other guerilla leaders, and Avho have recently swarmed through 
 Western Maryland — men who robbed the stores and banks and 
 levied black mail on the toAvns not only, but who stripped the 
 clothing otF from their prisoners, taking everything down to 
 General Franklin's hat, at a time when he was quite ill, and 
 stripping the passengers in the cars of their money, their clothes, 
 their shoes, "m this gentlemanly and courteous^'' style, while 
 others stole the trunks and women's dresses, even refusing Mrs. 
 Bradford leave to take her clothes ; still others robbed the 
 farmers of their horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, chickens, and poul- 
 try of all sorts. This the writer of the letter well knew, and 
 yet he vouches for their '"''gentlemanly and courteous" deport- 
 ment, tor the purpose of giving weight to the statement of 
 Grant's inhumanity, Grant's brutality, and the murder of his 
 soldiers by thousands at the Wilderness, and all the other 
 falsehoods Avith Avhich that letter abounds. Grant, whose 
 splendid strategy is the theme of the unbounded praise of all 
 the military critics of the land ; Grant, Avho is dealing deatli- 
 bloAvs to the Rebellion, at its very vitals, must be (say they) 
 injured as much as possible. Hence, at a time when a fresh 
 call is made by the President for 500,000 men — at such a time 
 the loyal World hastens to publish, taking care to place the 
 Avords in the mouth of a Rebel officer, but one Avho is " gen- 
 tlemanly and courteous," that Grant is an " inhuman " monster, 
 Avho " masses his men, hurls them against impregnable works," 
 Avhich it Avas certain they could not take. The words are 
 placed in the mouth of a Rebel, that the editor may excuse 
 
30 
 
 himself with the flimsy apology that they are the langiwi^e of a 
 Rebel, and do not purport to be his own statement ; Init by 
 his mode of statement in etlect, lie vouches as strongly for 
 their ti-utli as if they li;i<l Im-cii made in direct terms l)y him- 
 self. The object of i>ublisliing such a letter at sucli ;i time 
 it is not ditiii'ult to perceive. A bolder stroke, in ert'ect to 
 prevent men tVoni joining tlie army, has not been made since 
 the war began, nor one mure skillful and ingenious; and it is 
 calculated to produce a greater impression, to create more ilis- 
 sension, to induce desertions and pi-event enlistments, than if 
 the charge had been made in direct terms hy the editors, "^'et 
 the editors of The World claim to be War Democrats, and they 
 claim for their paper that it ])atri()tically sustains the war. 
 
 I submit these ])assages from The World without further 
 comment. They are their o\\ n commentator. To othei's they 
 may seem harndess; to me they are the utterances of open, 
 flagrant treason. ()tliei's may deem il a great crime to suspend 
 such a pa])er for a day; to me it seems clear that it should be 
 suppressed altogether. 
 
 1 see by to-day's World that another eft'ort is made to dis- 
 courage the negroes and prevent them from enlisting. I (piote 
 a. single sentem^e, which breathes the s})irit of the whole. It is 
 a part of the heading of the article, in large letters, '''' Darkle li to 
 the front ^ w tliat Yankees may stay at Iwmer 
 
 Neither Napoleon, Wellington, Washington, nor any great 
 nulitary conunander would have pernutted such a pai)er to l)e 
 puldished a day after |)ul)lishing an article with such a manifest 
 intent; ami it is more than probalfle that their utterance would 
 have cost the editors their lives in either Russia, Austria, or 
 France, it not even in Kngland. 1 1 oriie Tooke was convicted 
 of the crime of high ti'eason and sentenced for the pulflication 
 of far less ofl'ensive woi-ds in res})ect to the Tiritish Army after 
 the battle of Concord, during the Revolutioiuiry War. 
 
 I rejoice that this proceeding was taken before a judge of i)ene- 
 tration sufficient to see the right and courage enough to discharge 
 his duty. Be assured the Grand Jury, in refusing even to 
 consider the accusation })resented against General Uix, correctly 
 reflected the sentiments of this community, and any departure 
 
31 
 
 from those will not be sustained by the people. Faction has 
 made the politicians mad on this snbject. They boldly demand 
 that yon will fovcibl}^ wrest a pr()^^sion of the Constitution, 
 which was designed to reo;nhite the conrse of the administration 
 of justice in a judicial tribunal in a time of peace, and apply it 
 to the Executive and Military Departments of the Government, 
 in a time of war, and thus violate the statutes of the United 
 States and the Constitution by which that military power was 
 created, wlien it was called forth for the defense of the nation. 
 
 Let those who oppose the mighty destinies of this great 
 nation beware the punishment which awaits them. Those who 
 rush u]>on the thick bosses of the Almighty's buckler must 
 expect to be ground to powder by his wrath. And I as firmly 
 believe that the destinies of this nation are in his Holy keeping 
 as I believe in any other great manifestation of His providence. 
 He will lead us and never forsake us till we have passed 
 tlirf>ugh this wilderness of war, and emerged therefrom puri- 
 tied, elevated, and fitted to enjoy the promised land of liberty 
 and happiness that lies beyond. The futnre of this conntry is 
 1 (right and M'ill be as glorious as liberty, peace, and prosjjerit}' 
 can make it. I believe the man-child is now born, who will live 
 to see the United States occupied by 300,000,000 of free and 
 ha]>py citizens. 
 
 AVitli some among ns it is believed, so far as acts indicate 
 belief — now that the storm and the tempest are blowing from 
 afar upon our conmion conntry — that chaos and confusion are 
 the deities at whose shrine we must devoutly pay our devotions. 
 Not so with the humble advocate who now in all solemnity and 
 sincerity addresses you. " Let every sonl be subject nnto the 
 higher ])owers.''' For there is nc^ power bnt of God. 
 
 You ai'C a magistrate, jn'esiding in a fornm where your 
 decisions have the force of law, 1 pray yon, that yon also 
 respect and honor the Chief Magistrate of this great nation 
 when he is acting in his military capacity as Commander-in- 
 Chief of our Armies and Navy; and reniend)er the just limit 
 of your jurisdiction in the forum; of his in the camp, and all 
 that is connected with tlie cam]) and its atfairs. Reflect — youi- 
 elassic-al reminiscences will aid von to tlie recollection — 'that in 
 
32 
 
 an ancient Roman camp lie who entered the Pretorian Gate 
 must first he committed to the Centurion and his guard, or the 
 Lictor with liis fasces and rod, till his real character could be 
 ascertained. He was presumed to be an enemy because he 
 came in at the enemies' gate. How much more is there reason 
 to suppose that theywlio daily advocate the cause of Rebels, 
 who ])ublish forged documents which, in point of fact, do 
 " aid " the Rebels and assault the credit of your country abroad, 
 at a time too when your Secretary of the Treasury is nego- 
 tiating for a loan of $400,000,000 with foreign bankers, which 
 had not when this event occurred been obtained, and may in- 
 deed have been defeated by these very publications — reflect, I 
 repeat, that those whoseconduct is so marked by indications 
 of a desire to serve the Rebels, may well have been treated by 
 the military authorities as suspected persons ; as having entered 
 at the Pretorian Gate ; as prima facie enemies, and, for the time 
 being, that it was proper to hand them over to the Centurion 
 for safe-keeping. 
 
 You will, I know, decide the case fearlessly and honestly, 
 and in doing so you will at least deserve, and I believe obtain, 
 all honor from those who desire the impartial administration of 
 justice. 
 
 AMICUS CITRUS. 
 Dated July, 1864. 
 
lis?/ ^'^ CONGRES? 
 
 012 028 953 6 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 012 028 953 6 
 
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 Hollinger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
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