THE BURNING PRAIRIE IMIIIIZIiIiIZI3I fhe prairie stretched a. smooth as a floor Far as the eye coo id see, Arid the settler set at hie cabin door With a little girl nn his knee, Striving her letters to repeat, And pulling her apron over her ,feet. Ilit face wee wrinkled, but not old, 'Tor beheld an upright form, And hi. Aid...leave. back to t he elbow rolled, They ehowed 1 - kawny arm; And near in the grake, with toes upturned, Was a pair of old shoes, cracked and burned. A dog with hie tied betwixt his pales t Lay Melly oozing neew Now and then snapping his tar black Jaws, At the fly that bossed at his ear; And our wes the cow-pep, made of rail• . And • bench that held two milking-pails In the open door an or-yobe lay, The mother), odd redoubt, To keep the little one at her play On the floor from falling out, While the ewept the hearth with .• turkey wink, And filled her tea kettle at the epring. girl on her father, knee, With yea CO bright and blue, From A, Cln X,ll, Z, RsJ mid lemon through, When a ninth ca 1 e r the prairie-lend And caught the prim iur out of her band The watth.dng whined, the cattle lowed And bleed their here)! abaut The air grew gray en If it mowed ; "There will boa storm, no doubt' So to himself the settler maid "But, father, why le the sky no red ?" And the little girl slid oft his knee, And all of • tronthß stood , "Rood wide," he cried ; "come out and gee! The clouds ore as red as blood!" "God save um sled the sect for s Wife. "The prairie's n tire! We must run for life' . She caught the baby up—" Come come' A re ye mad 7 to )our lietti, my limn '" 110 followed, terror etriekee, dumb, And Co they rat? and ran , Claim upon them the snort end awing Of buffaloes, mat galloping. The wild wind like a sower cowl The ground with spark lee rod, And the flopping wings of bate unit crows Through the mhos overhead, And the bellowtngdeerand the hissing'snake-- yltat n swirl of terrtble sounds they make No gleam of the n t en water ) et' And the flames leap on and on' A crash, and a fiercer whirl and jet, • ' And the settler's house is gone I The air growl lizt—"This fluttering mill Would blaze like flan," Pop the little girl And as the awoke against her Ilrifte, And the lizard slips clues by her, • She tells hots the little con uplilts tier epeckled fare trite the fire; For ehecannut be hindered fruin Inviting back At the fiery dragon on till I/ track They hear the eraeklipg gra!" and eedge, The flame, as they Whirr and rave; Vn 14.1.. they are ,kite P. the water', edge! Tfty are there, brea.t. deep In the wave! And rifting their little 0111.1 high e'er th' tide— "We are no red' thank Owl We are envcd "' they cried. —Lachat j VETO MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT >lnrch 2, 1867 The following in the message of the Pre. deut of the United States, returning to the House of Repreaentativen n bill entitled ..An Act to provide for the more efficient government of the Rebel States". To the House of Repeefteritutters-1 have ex amined the bill "To provide for the bore efficient government of the 'Rebel States," with the mire and anxiety which its tren• ncendent Importance is calculated to awa ken lam unable to give it my nesent, for reasons so grave that I hope a statement of them may. have some influsze on the niiiida . 3l , l4-patriotie and Frilighted men with whom the diemsion must ultimately rend The bill places all the people of the ten States I her'ein named under the absolute domination of military rulers, and - the pre mettle undertakes to give the reasons upon which the measure is based, and the . ground upon which it is justified. It declares that there exist. in those States no legal govern menls,nnd no adequate protectiontir liberty life or property, and asserts the neceesity of enforcing pence and good order within their limits Is this true as mot ter of feet ? It 19 denied that the States in question have mob of then, an actual government, with nll the powers, executive, pod total, and leg islative, which properly bet amp Starer' The me orgirnised like the other States of the Union, and, like them, they make, administer, and eseente the laws whioh concern their domestic affairs, An existing are facto government, exercising such functions no these is itself a law of the Stale upon all matters within its juri. diction To protdiinde the moment,' la ‘vi making power of all established Stale illo gal is to nay that lave itself is unlawful. The provisions which these governments have made for the preservation of order, the suppression of crime, and the rettreSn of private injuries, are in suleitance nntlprin &pie the same qs shone which prevail in the Northern States and iii other civilized ceuri• trite They outtilnly hare not, succeeded in preventing the 9011119118{411 of all orime, nor has this been accomplished anywhere in the world, There, as well as elsewhere, offenders sometimes e.scapnforwantof vigor ous prorecntion, and occamonally, perhaps, by the inefficiency of courts, or the preju dice, of jurors ft is undoubtedly true that thane evils have been much int:weaned and aggravated, North and South, by the demoralizing influences of civil war, and by ,the rancorous pllsions which' the contest has engendered. But that these people are . maintaining local governments for them' selves which habitually defeat the object of all government, and render their own lives and property limonite, is in itself utterly imprornable, rind the averment of the bill to that elfeot is not supported by any evidence which has come to my knowledge. All the information I have on the subject tonvinoes me that thumasses of the Southern people and those who control their public, axle, while they entertain diverse opinions on questions of Federal policy, are eompletely united In the effort to reorganize their itio. eiety on the basje of peace, and to restore their mtgual, prosperity as rapidly and as completely as their eiroumstanbee will per mit The bill, however, would seem to show upon its rues that the establishment of peace and order is not its real object. The fifth section declares that the proceeding sections shall cease to operate - In tiny State where certain event' shall hare happened. Them, events are : First—The selection of delegates to .State Convention by ao election, at which negro.' shall bif allowed to vale. Second—The formation of • Slate Con satiation by the convention so chosen. Third—The insertion into the State Con stitution of a provision ultioh will secure the right of voting At all elections to ne rves, and to much white men as may not be diefranohised for rebellion or felony. Fourth—The submission of the Constitu tion for ratification to negro'', and white men not disfranchised, and ite actual rati fication by their votes. 'Fifth—The eubmi-sion of the State Con. stitutien to Congress for examination and approval', and the actual approval of it by that body. ..,11,4t1L—The adoption of a certain amend ment to the Federal Constitution by a vote of the Legislature elected under the new Constitution „ Eleventh—The adoption *Bald amend: meat by a sufficient number of other States to make it a part of fiestL'onstitution of the United States. All these conditions moat ;Mt fulfilled before the people of any of these States,iikh be relieved from-e he bondage of military domin ton ; but when they, ire -- -L. • alb.' , . V , by. 1 l f_ ou h • „..., , 4 .....„ t t h . r _ 3 - ' i rmotr4ll( i . i . ~ T., ' . VOL. XII 6 ,11111.1 . 0t0n imdiateli pains and pennliien the bill are to cease, no matter, whether there be Vence and order or not, all with all any reference totge security of life or property. The earns given for the bill in the preamble is admitted by the bill itself not to be real The military rule which it establishes is plainly to be used, not for any purpose of order or for the prevention Of crime, but solely as a• is of coercing the people into the allopf on of principles and measures to which it'is known that they are opposed, and upon which they have an undeniable right to exercise their own judgment. r I submit to Congress whether this areas. lire is not in its whole character, scope and object, without prectodeqt and without au thority, in palpable conflict with the plain, eat previsions of the Constitution, and ut terly destructive to Eltist* great principles of liberty and huiiiiinity for which our an cestore on both sides of the It!antic have shed so much blood and expended so moot t reneurc. The ten Stales named in the bill nro di vided into-five dish lets For each district nu officer of the army not below the rank of Brigeilice-General is to be appointed to rule over the people, and he is to be sup ported with an efficient military •force to , enable him to perform hie duties and en force his authority. Those duties and that authority, as de. defined by the third section of,the bill, ore "to protect all persona in their rights of person and property, to suppress insurrec_ lion, disorder, and violence,"noil to punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the publio peace or criminals. The power thus given to the comminuting officer over all the people of each district di that of 80 abSOll4lO monarch lire mete will is to take the place of all law. The law or the Slate's is-new the only rule ap plicable to the aubjecti placed under him control, and that is completely displaced by the clause which declares all interferenee of State authority to be Dial kind sod Ile alone is permitted to ileterininp what are rights opersou or property, nod he may protect them in such way as in his discretion may scent proper, It places at his froo disposal all toe lands and goods in his district, and be may distribute them without let or hindrance. to whom he pleas es. Being bound by no State law, And them being no other wegulate the subject, be may make a criminal code of his own, and lie can make it ns bloody as - any recorded in his history, or he can re serve the privilege of acting upon the im puleee of his private passions in each rase that arises. Ile is bound by no rules of evidence; there is indeed no provision by which he nuthorize tor required to take any evidence at all Everything is a crime which he elloo/1011 to moll so, and all persons ere condemned whom be pronounces to be guilty Ile is not latind to keep any rec ord or make any report of his proceedings. Ile may arrest his v iol one wherever he find theta, without wart not, accusation, or proof of pretabjp.cose It he gives them a trial before be inflicts the punishment, he gives of his grace and nirrcy, not . Vcause he in commanded so to do To n casual render of the bill, it might seem /hat some kind of trial was seemed by st to persons accused of crime, hit such 15 got the case The officer "may allow local chit tribunals to try offenders," but, of course, this does not require that he shall do so If any Sloth or Federal court pre ,sume to exercise its legal jurisdiction by the trial of a malefactor without his special permission, he can break it up and punish the judges and jurors no being themselves malefactors lie can save Ks mends from justice, and despoil his enemies contrary to ju,dice It iv also plovole.l that "Ile shall hare power to crgatille oltlttary contatta•ionv or Tribunals ' lint this power he is not commanded to exercise It 14 merely permissive, and is to be used only when in his judgment it me, be necessary for the !nal of offende Even if the sentence of a commission was made a perquisite to the punishment of a party, it would be teorcelit_the slightest check upon the officer, 17110 has authority to organise it as he pleased, prescribe Its .node of proceeding, appoint its nienibms from among' Ws own subordinates and revise all its decisions. Instead of mitigating the harshness of hin single will, such n tribunal would be used much more probably to di vide the responsibility of making it mole cruel and unjust Shveral provisions,. dictated by the hu manity ofCongress,bave been insecte'd in the bill, apparently to restrain the power pf the commanding officer, but it amnia to ii 44 Lhat .obey are of no avail for that purpose. The fourth section provides: Ftrat —That trials shall not be unneeees eerily delayed; but I think 1 have shown that the power is given to punish without trial, and, if so, this provision to practical ly inoperative, Second—Cruel or unusual punishment is not to be inflicted; but who is to do:3We what is cruel and what is unusual? The words hare acquired a legal meaning by long use in the courts Can it be expected that military officers will understand or fol low a rule expressed in linguage so purely technical, and not peEtifining in the least degree to their profession? If not, ttheu each officer may define cruelty according to his own temper, and if it is not usual, ho will..maki it usual. Corporeal punishment hinriaonment, the gag, the ball and chain, and the almost insupportable forms of tor ture invented far military punishment, lie within the range of eboice• • Third—The sentence of a commission is not to be executed without being approved by the commander, it it affects life or liber ty, and a sentence •f denth must be approv ed by the President. This applies to cases in which there bee been a trial and a sen tence I take it to bo clear Willer this bill that the military commander may condemn to ( tri death without even the form of a al by u military commission, so that th life of the condemned may depend upon he will of two men Instead of one . It in plain that the authority hare given to the military officer amounts to absolute despotism. But to make it still unendurable, the bill provtdes 'that it may be delegated to as many subordinates.as**ooses to appoint, for it declares that he shall "pun ish or cause to be punished." Such a power has not bee wielded 'by any monarch in England rut:Awe than five hundred years. In allAstlime, no people who speak the English language have born such servitude. It sauces the whole pop olatiation of the len States—gill persons of every color, sex and =Willett, and every 'gouger vhflhin their Emits to the °lntit and dtgrutling ataver,v No roaster ever had a control so absolute over his slaves as this bill gives to the military ofTi acta over both what, and ookired persons It'may•be,answered to this that the offi cers of the arm) are too magnanimous, just humane to oppress and trample upon a sub jugated people Ido not doubt that army officers are entitled to-this kind of confi dence as any other class of men But AIM history of the world hat been written in Vlll3l if it does not teach us that unrealrained ,authotay can never be safely trusted in human hands. It is almost (SVC 10 be noire or less abused under any Clrctimelantes, and it has always resulted in gross tyranny *We the rulers. who viereiae it, are strangers to their subjeetsi and tome a. moug them its the representatives of a dis tant power, and more especially when the power that Fiends them is unfriendly. Gov ernments closely resembling that here pro posed have been fairly tried in Hungary and Poland, and the suffering endured by those people'rouEed the sympathies of the entire world k was tried in Ireland, and though temperid nt first by principles of Eughsh law, it gave birth to cruelties so atrocious that they art never recounted without just indignation The French Con' vention armed its deputies with this power, and eel! them to the Sotherndepartments of the republic The massom-eqnurilet emend other atrocities which they committed,show what the passions of the ablest men 111111 e 11111V1 civilized society wrtl tempi them to .1., when wholly unrestrained by law The men of our race us every age have struggled to do up the hands of their gov ernment and beep them within the late, be cause their own bspericuce of all mankind taught them t Litt rulers could,not be relied on to concede those rights which they were not legally gound to reapers, The head of a great empire has sonietiotes governed it with It 11111i1 owl palm nal sway, but the k111t111,411,r nn irresponsible deputy net Cr yeilds what the law does not 0111,11 hem him, Between such a toaster and the peo• pie subjected to 1119 Ilomination, there can be nothing but enmity , he punishes them if they resist Mies authot ity, and if they submit to it be Intel theta for their I come now to a question which is, if possible, still More 'aqui] hint 1%0 we thel,power la entublidi and carry into exe cution a inea•nro like (hit' I answer, cer tainly not, if we derive [fur authority from the Constitution, and if we are (email by the limitations Much it imposes This proposition is perfectly clear dint ! no Branch of the Federal government, Ex. active, Legislatiee or Judicial, can have slily 11151 powers except those whit.), it de rives through, nail exercises ;miler the or ganic law of the Union Outside of the Constitution, we have no legal authority more ihan private citizens, cud without it we hove only no 11111011 ail flint moil Omen( gives WI. Th to broad principle limits till our function.; and applies to all Hilijects fl protects not only the cat lions of State, which are .within the'Vninn, lint it shields every human being who comes or is brought under our Jurist/101On We have no right to do in nee place none 111'111 in another that whirlt the Constitu tion nays Ife 8111111 not do at 1111 If, there fore, the Southern States wet e, in truth, out of the L:111011, we euelll not lical their people m n way 0.11e,11 the lutulatiteillnl law forhul4 Some prrion4 11,4111110 that the nurer9• of our trill, iu cru,hing the oppieitip.o whioh wa9 made 111 PlllllO of the Rtaleii In the exe. canna of tho Federal law, reducer! thote Stites and all their people. the innocent a. well ng the guilty, to the condition of vat. sd.loge, and gave 114 n !miter over then] loch the Constito ion doe, not II& low, or define, or limit No fallacy can be more transparent limo this One victories subjected the insur gents to legal obedience, not to the yoke of nn arbitrary despotism 'When an absolute sovereign reduces his rebellious subjects, he may deal with them according to his pleasure, because he bad that power before But when it limited monarch puts down an bison colon, Inc bunt still govern according to law. If no insurrection should take place In 0110 of our Slates against the sov ereignly of the State government, amt.. end in the overthrow of those who planned It, would that take away the rights of all the people of the counties where it war favored by in part or a majority of the population? Coidd they, for such a reason, be wholly inulawed and deprived of their rwresenta lion In (ho Legislature? I.have always Contended that the goverment of tile United Shies was sovereign within its 'coustou tional spore, that it executed its laws like the Slates themselves by applying its crier sire power directly to individuals, and that it could put down insurrection with the same stied as a Slain, and no other.-- Theaipposite doctrine is the worst heresy of those who advocated secession, and can not be agreed to without admitting that heresy to be right. Invasion, insurrection, rebellion and domestic violence, were anti cipated when the government was framed, and the menus of repelling and suppressing them were wisely provided for by the Coif siltation; but it was not thought necessary_ to declare that the States in which they might occur should be expelled from the Union Rebellions, which were invariably sup pressed, occurred prior Wet. out of which these questions grow. But e States con tinued to exist, and the Uniciit remained unbroken. In Massachusetts, in Peopsyl- Tani., in Rhode leaffd, and in - N - ew tork, at different periods of our history, violent and armed opposition to the United Stales was carried on. But the relations OTT - hose States with the Federal government were not suppossed to be Interrupted ej- changed thereby, after the rebellious portions of their population were defeated and put down. It is truo that in these earlier cases there was no formal eipression of a deter mination tovrithdraw from the Union. But it is also true, that in the Southern States the orthsranoes of secession were treated by all the friends of the Union as mere nulli ties, and are how acknowledged to be so by the Slates themselves. If we adroit • that they had any force or validily, or that they Aid, in fact, Hike the States in, when they were missed out of the Union, we sweep from under our feet all the grounds upon which we stand in justifying the use of Federal force to mein the integrity of the government . his Jen bill passed by Congress in time of peace. There is not in "STATE RIGHTS AND rExamrszt UNION.: BELLE FONT E, ERI one of the Slates brought wider its operation either ‘ 'war or isisnr,ctiou The law, of the States and of the Federil government, are all in undisturbed and harmonious op oration The courts, State and Federal, are open and in the fall exercise of their proper authority Over every State, com prised in these live military district+, I. in, liberty, and propel ty are secured by Suite laws and Federal lawn, and Ile ne.tional Cocci talon is ever) where in force, nod 1 everywhere obeyed. tihal, then, ix the ground on which this bill proceeds' The title of the bill announces that it is intend ed ( . 2 , r the more efficient government of thesetAi Slate golrernmeats, nor adequate protection for lifetor property, exist in those Slates, and that pence and good order should lie thus enforced The first thing fliiel3 arrests attention npon !lino& recitals Niiich prepare thevfay for martial Inn is this: That the only foes -411011 upon which the martial latican ex ist under our form of government,is not sta ted or so nitwit pretended , actual war foreign Mvrision, Ibt1109•10 immrrection , none of these appear, and Mille of there in fact exist It is not even recited that any sort of war or insurrection is threatened Let us pause here to consider, upon this question of constitutional low and the pow er of Congress, a recent deciwion of the Supleine Corn! of The United States Mn ex pro . te Milligan I will first quote trots the opinion of the majority of the I l oui I . "Martial law cannot arise front n threaten Oil invasion The necessity moat he actual and pi °sent, the invasion 'cal, such as effectupy closes Ili.. courts and deposes the civil atithoi iiy list Hits bitl , in time of peace, inakes . Mama] law operate as though we were in ag . tunl war, anti become the cause instead .1' the COo2lo2o 2 nee of the it'orogation of cird allhot IV 'lota Itiorw /deletion: • •It follow+ front what It w heed'( yd en this subject that thtie Ille °Cell 2 1011. when marital law can be propel ly applied. If nn fat elgn ilivasthn or cis I vr.ir the con. Is or" actually dosed, and it If imposrible to ad. minister criminal justice, act:aiding to law, then on the Ihealte oraylia e military opera tions,wheie war really plea ils,there is n tie- ie . Csetty-to 41ipimh a "diatonic for the cis notion ityttlins overthrownAtrareserae the safety tit 11, and society ; and as no power in felt but the military, it is I:Homed to govern by martial near until the I aws C2llll ' have than Gee coiner I now quote float the opinion 01 the minority of the Court delisted by , Chid' .It, , itt — ll ' e by lilt 111,1111 11,31211 11111 Congiess low establish . and apply the I IWB Jof wet where no war has been declared, er Where pence exit., the lit, 01 1 , e...• must prevail" Th is is runic. only rsphctt Pence exists in all the irri thoy In which thia lull up phey I. so, is a power in Congress in time of pence to set abide the laws of ponce and to substitute the laws of war The minority I crownn trig with the majority declares that Conei ens dries not possess that power Again, and If possible, more emphatically the Chief Justice 111111 , 1112tralthle cleat moon 111111 condensation, 11111118 111/ the whole mallet a, C 111 1 211,1 • There are, under Ike Constitution, three kinds of military jar's diction, one h . / be exercised, both in peace and war, unit lieu to be t. xeicired 111 tune of foreign war, without the hotintlarfes of the Canted State.., ur in lime of rebellion and ei•il war within Slates or Districts OCell - by ar ts treated nn belligerents, and.' a third io 14. exerci.ed 111 lime of invasion 01 1114111 reel ion n itli,o the Inuits of the United State', or dining rebellion within the limits of the States 1111111111111111 g adhe men to the nalional government, when the public danger ret i ?creris exercise The fin vt of these ins nt called jortsdiel ion til7. der military law, and is found in nuts of Congress prescribing rules and art telex of war, or otherwise providing for the govern ment of the national force. The second may be distinguished as military govern ment, superseding, as far as may lie deemed 'expedient, the local law, and exercised by the milltiary commander, under the direc tion of the l're.totent, With the express or implied sanction of Coogan es While the third may lie denomhatted martial law pi open, ant m called info action by Con gress, or, temporarily, when late action of Congress cannot be invited, and in the case of justfying or excusing peril, by the Pres ident ; in times of insurrection or invamots; or of civil or foreign-Ivor within districts or localities where ordinary law no longer ad equately secures public safely and private rights." It will be observed that:rof the three kinds of nulitary jurist lotion, st ir 'eh can he exercised or created undeVenr Con stitution, there is but one that can prevail in time of peace, and that is the code of laws enacted by Congress for the govern ment of the national forces. That body of military lost ban no application to th'e citi zen, nor even to the citizen soldier evolled in the militia in limo of peaciti But this bill is not- a part of that sort of military law; for that applies only to thelobtier,and not to the citizen, while contrarywlere the military law provided by this bill applies only to the citizen and not to the soldier. I need not say to the representatives of the American people that their Constitution forbids :he exercise ofjudioal power in any way but one, that is, by the ordtined and °As:ll,4lod reticle. It is equally well known that in'all criminal eases a trial by jury is made indispensable by the express words of that instrument I will not enlarged on the estimable value of the right thus secured to every freeman, or speak of the danger to public liberty at ,611 parts of the conntry, which must ensue from a denial of it any where or upon any pretense. A very re cent decision of the Supreme Court has traced the history, vindicated the dignity, and made known the value of this great privilege, so clearly that nothing more is needed. To what extent a violation of it might be excised in I imeof war or public danger, may admit of dYscuesion. But we are providing now for a time of profound peace' when there is not an armed soldier within our.horders, except those who are in the service of ifie govirnment• It is such a condition of things that an act of Congress is propelled, whieji, if carried out, would deny a Lrlal'ley the lawful courtilkend judg es to nine millions of American citizen. anti to their poettriey for au igittflaitxl r perlod: - It seems to be scarcely possible that any one should seriously believe this consistent Vith a constitution which declares in sim ple, plain and unambiguous language, that .111 persons shall have that right, and that MARCH 15, 1867 no permit shall ever, in nay case, befelc pi rod of tt Constitutionmien firbids the orrest4f — The citizen, without judicial warrant founded on probable,c4use This hill-authorizes an at rest without t, arrant, at the pleasure of military commander The Constitution declares stint "no person shall ho held to answer for a capital ter otherw iso infamous crime, unless on pie. s r euttnent by a grand jury " This bill holds every person not a soldier answerable for all crimes and alt c7iiirges without any pre ee'elment. Thu Constillition declares that "no person shall be deprived of life, I.ber ty or prpperty wltLout due process of law." This bill sets aside all process of law, and makes the citizen answerable, in his person and property, to the will of one man, and as to his life, to the will of two. Finally, the Constitution ili.elares that "The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus pended unless when in ease of rebellion or Thrasian, tho puhlid safety may relieve it;" whereas this bill requires martial low,w hick 1 1 of itself stoyends...this great will in time of peace, and nethorizeg the rilitary to make the arrest, and,give to ilionosniter only one privilege, and (bit , s a trial Alan, it unnec eesvey delay lie hits no hope of I, lease from custody, creep) the hope,such its II Is, of release by acquittal before n to ilitnry commission 'l'lll. Celled Stiles are bound gearentce to cash State it r. j ittilican form of governinent ' , Can It lie pretended that tills obligation is not palpably broken, II sr• ea ty out a measure like this which wipes fanny every vestige of tepublican governi,lit in ten Stilled, and puts the life, property, lib, sty end honor of nail the prople,in each of them tinder the domination of a single per•on 'clothed wltLitu him itvd spiel up The Parliament of England exereisieg the ant &potent power which it claimed, was nc - cuff:timed to miffs bills of attainder , that is to say, it would tort ICI Melt of ilea/ten, tad whet citifies by legi-ftetive etifictinent The pe,tin nete.t.d. had a hearing, sometimes It pollen , anfPa fiir en.ff, b tat pit ty prejudice In, tiled instead of jiistice It often literate lateessaly for Parliament Ili acknots ledge ill enrol, and reverse 114 Mtn or ion Toe finer; of Mil country deter mined iliat no oncli thing slum 1 , 1 occur here They withheld the poem front Cori . - gress, nod thus forbatig its Caere,. by that body, and they provided in the Constitution lilt no State should pass any bill of attain. der It is therefore impossible for any per eon in this country to he constitutionally punished for any crone by it legislative proceeding of nay soil Nevertheless, here is a bill of attainder against nine of people at once It is based upon nn ac cos:Ilion so vague tin td be scarcely intent , gible, and found to be trite upon no ered i ble evidence , not ono of the nine millions was heard in 1114 own defense The rep resentatives of toe doomed rallies wine ex cluded flout all participation in the trial The Conviction Is to be followed by the most ignominious punishment ever inflict !cd On largo masses we teen It detrain:l...s Them by It - Malteds of tluusafids, and de grade+ them all, even those who ore ad ova led to be gillille44, from the raid. of free men to the condition of slaves The pur pose and object of the bill, the genital in tent which perindes it from beginning to end, is to change the entire structure nod character of the Stale goVerillitenl4, and to compel then] by force to the adoptmn of or ganic laws nod regulations which they are unwilling to accept, if left 10 theinselles The negro°, have not listed fir the pntil ego of voting , the vast majority of them have no idea what it mei.. Th le bill not only thrust 11110 their liatids,litti compels !Item, Its Well lto the it In use II in a particular wrif If they do not, fuel 0 Constitution with proscribed articles nut it, and afterwards elect a Legislate,. which will net upon err lain measures in a prescribed troy, neulier black nor who, - can be 'cheviot from the slavery wing the bill imposes non them 11 whoa( r icßeiZ to consiiref IMO policy or unpohey 01 .16 icaniiing the Southern part of our territory, ILO 0111t1 simply link the at tention of l'oncittiis to that manifest, well known arid 11111Vereolly orlotoarletlted role of con , titutional law, which'ileclares Ilia( rite Federal government hue no jurisiliotion , authority, or power to regulate ouch sub jects for any State To force the right of suffrage out of the Lands of the white peo ple, and into the hendn'of the negrocs, is au 'liflattrary violation of this pyinciple, Thisposes martial, law at once, and its operations will begin as soon as the gen eral and his troops canebe put in place, Thu dread alternative between its harsh rule, and compliance with the terms of thin measure, in not suspended nor the people afforded time for deliberation The bill nays to them—Take martial law first ; then deliberate Aud when they have done all that this measure requires them to do, oth er oondiotions and contingencies, over which they hare no control, yet fun ain to be fulfilled ; before they can be relieved from martial law, another Congress_must first approve the Constituttons made in con formity with the will of this Congress, and must declare these Stales entitled to repro aentation in botChouses Tho whole ques t remains open and unsettled, and statist again occupy the attention of Congress; and In the meantime the agitation which now prevails will continue to disturb all portions of the people, The bill also denies the legality of the governments of lotto( the Stales which par tioipated in the ratification of the amend amnia to Jhe Federal Constieution abolish ingelavery for ever with.n the jurisdiction ofUlti United States, and practically ex cludes them fteig„ilts, Union If this as sumption of the bill be correct, their con currence cannot be considered as having been legally given , and the important fact is made to appear that the consent of three fourth, of the States, the requisite numbei, has not been constitutionally obtained to the ratification of that amendment, (hub leaving the question of slavery where it stood berme the . amendment wan of hcially declared to bare become a port of thie Con stitution. That tEli measure proposed by this bill does not violate the Constitution in the particulars mentioned, and in many etberweitylf;wh)ch I forbear to enumerate, I. too clear to admit of the leist doubt. only remaiss to consider whether the injunctions of that instrument ought to ►e obeyed or not. ' think they ought to be obeyed, for reasons which I will propose td give as briefly as possifelk, In.the first . . -„ place, it is Inct only system of fit, payer?- ' ineig_whichto.con Impe,to bar_oas no lien, when ceases to lel the rule of our oonduct we may, perhitpn, take our choice benten complete anarchy, a consolidated despotism, and a total dtesolui•on of the Union lint national liberty, regulated by law.-will have passed beyond our reach It is the best frame of government the world ever sat; no other is, or can be, so well adapted to the gentian habits, or wants of the American people, combining the strength of a great empire, with unspeaka ble blessings of local self gut eminent, hav ing a central power to defend the general interests, and recognising the authority of the Stales as tliF - guardians of industrial rights. It is "the sheet anchor Of our safe ty abroad, and sente_eace at home." It was ordained t.to it" .. so=grfect: Union, establish justice, insure domestic triimpiiii ty, prompte the general welfare, provide for 'the romMon defense, and secure are blessing. of liberty to enreelves and to our postei ' These great cads have been as , fumed limetufore,and Till be again by faith ful obodicuctil%rt ; but they are certain to be lost disc trent with disregard its sacred obligations It was to punish the gross crime of tidying the Constitution, and to vindi cate its supreme authority, that We canted' on a blopily war of four years dant,. Shall we now acknowledge ilittal we s'acri- Seed n million of lives, and expi oiled bil ious of Ireaure, lo enforce n runsliinlion which is not worthy of respect and preser vation' Those who advocated the right of zcession, alleged in their own justification that we lihd 110 regard for law, and that their rights of property, life and liberty would not be see under the Constitution,as administered by us. If we now verify doe assertion, we prove thatithey were..in troth and in fact fighting for their liberty And instead of branding their lenders with the, dishonoring name of traitors against a right eous and legal government, we elevate them in history to the rank of self sacrificing pa trio is ; consecrate them to the admiration of the world, and place them by the side of Washington, Hampden and Sydney. No. Let no lease them to the itiSnmy they. de serve Punish them as they should be pun ished ncemiling In law, and taken upon our selves no share of the odium which they should tear alone. It is a part of eblio history, whith ran serer he forgotten, that both houses of Convene, in July, 1861, de claroiLin tlie form °fa solemn resolut ion,that the'ssar was, and should be carried on for no purpose of stibitigation, but solely to en force the Constitution and Taws; and that when this was yieltled'by the parties in re bellion, the contest should cease, with the constitut.ional rights of .the States, of indi viduals, unimpaired. This resolution was adopted, and sent forth to the world, unanimously, by the Senate, and with only two dissenting voices by the house Il was accepted by the friends of the Union, in the South is well as in the Nerth, as expressing honestly anti truly the object of the war. On the faith of it, many thousands of persons, in both sections, gave their lives and their fortunes to the cause T. repudiate it now, by re fusing to the Slates and to the individuals within them the rights which ilia Constitu tion and laws of nho uo,oo would secure to therm in a breach of our plighted honor, for which I can imagine no excitie, n d to which cannot become 'Forty. , The evils which spring front the unsettled state of mir genet ninent will.be acknowled ged by ell Commercial. intercoursz IS im pended , capital IS 111 COIIMISTII peril); pub lic se...nrieties thictato in value ; pence it self is not secure, and the sense of merar and political duty is unpaired To avert these calamities (tom our country it is im peratively required that we should irnmedi otely decide tition some course of whom's it mum which can be steadfastly adhered to. I mu thoroughly convinced lb at any set tlement, or compromise, or plan of action which is inconsistent with the principles of the l'nusuitumo,wnll not only be unavailing hilt mischievous ; that it will but multiply the present evils, instead of removing them The Constitution in its whole integrity and vigor throughout the length and bredth of the land is the beet ofafl compromises Besides, our duty does not, in toy judge ment, leave us a choice between that and any other. I believe that it contains the Iremedy that is so much needed, and that if the emanate branches of the government would unite upon its provisions, they would be found broad enough and strong enough to sustain, in time of peace, the • nation which they bore safely through the ordeal of a protracted civil war Among the most sacred guarantees of that instrument are those which declared that• Each State shall have at least one rcpreseniative," and that .'no State, without its consent shall be de prived of its equal suffrage in the See lei' Each Rouse is made the “Judge of the elections, returns, and' qualifications of its own member.," and may 'with the concur rence of two thirds expel a member." _Thus, as heretefore urged, in the admission of Senators and Representatives from any and all the State!, there can le no just grounds of apprehension that persons who are dis loyal will be clothed with the powers of legislation, for v Ais could not happen when the Constitution anal laws are enforced by a vigilant and faithful Congress, When a Senator or Representative presents his cer tificate of election, he may at once Its ad— milted or rejected , or should there be any question as to his eligibility, his creden— tials may he referred ffir investigation to the appropriate lommitff If admitted to a seat, it must he upon evidence satisfacto— ry to the lieu., of which he thus becomes a member, that lus.possesses the requisite constitutional and legal qualifications. If reused alkission as a member, for want of due allegiance to the government, and re— turned to his coestituents, they are admon ished that none but liaisons, loyal to the United States will be allowed a voice in the •legislatioe (councils of the nation, and the political power and moral influence of Con gress are thus effectively, exerted In the in— terests of , loyalty to the government and fidelity to the ULIIOII. And is it not far better that the work of restoration should be accomplished by simple compliance with the plain requirements of the Constitution, than by a recourse lo measti;es; which, in effect destroy the States, and threaten the subversion of the general government All that is necessary to settle this simple but important iiiistion without Partier agi tation or Wapiti s & willingness on the part 111141 L . or pllla Bitstaili the runettlation god cur .rovistone into practical Operation to morrow either branch ef . Congress would declare upon he presentation of theit eMdentials, monbers constitution ally elected and loyal to 'Le' general pie- L. eminent, wool! be 'Omitted to Rents in Congress, while all °eters would he exclu ded, and their places remain vacant nett] the selection by the people of loyal, quali fied persons. and if at the same time as,iir- Iwo were given that this policy would be continued until all the Slates were repre sented in Congress, il would send a thrill of joy throughout the entire land, Se indi cating the inauguration of a iijstein which must speedily bring tranquility to the pub lic mind While we ore legislating upon subjects which are of great importance to the pee ale, and which must affect all parts of the country, not only during the life of the present geneintion, but for ages to come, we should remember that all men are enti led at least to n hearing in the councils which deciile upon the destiny of themselves and their children At present ten States ore denied representation, ' Ad alien the Fortieth Congress assembles on the Ith day of the present month, eixteen litates will be without a 'Voice in the House of Itepresen tn;ives This grace fact, with the important ,itiestions before us, should blurs ut to Thkh ,,, 111 n career oflqiele,ion which, look ing solely to the attainment of political ends, fails to conic tier the rights it transgresses, the law which it violaee";, or the Constitu lion which it imperils I,DCW Jou rl •u■ IV,lshington, \larch 2, 1867 T 1 LITTLE CTRL THAT MEETS ME There's n Wile girl that meets me, And with laughter cies greets me, And to kll.l , her oft entreats me, A. I stray 'Long the path of life so dreary, Whhre the saddened heart and weary Shades the sunlight, shining near rue, On my way. She no blue as heaien, (Only aged nbout eleven.) But unto her God bee wt. Such a-heart, That forever she is ringing. And her sweet voice, ever ringing, Benuty o'er the wrap( heart bringing With sunny lair so early, With her teeth so white and pearl) I hare met her, late and early, Ily h And hake herha t ni e l a wt n, t l - iirestrit In my oilw, just to tares. it— . Pretty little hand—God bless it " I do nay May the world smile kindly on bar. Benedictions fall upon her. Angela ge her guard 01 honor, As who go. Through this world of ours singing,. Peace to troubled spirits bringing, Nu grief her'pure heart wringing IME=I May the sweetest harp in heaven— ((righted crown that e'er was given Where the waves of life are driven Past the throne— Echo to her dainty anger. 'Pon bet pure brow et er linger, While each.angel be a singer, Calling home' THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER. —Baltimore has Contributed ib0y1 .. .!50,000 for Southern relief V 44riaMW 4 ' --A Radice] in the Wisconsin Legislature demands his per diem in coin. —There in a revival of religion among the convict. in the Kansas penitentiary. —ln the forty year. from 1520 to 1560, we took from Europe 4,912,111 emigrants. --The health of Alexander A Stephen. again reported to be failrng rapidly —There are only forty candidates for the Republican nomination for Governor in lowa. —The failure of the Equitable Life and Ma rine leturance Company, of Bodon, la an nounced. —The Penneyhanla Reser ret annual banquet at 111.arrieZ will g,o: old theth. 13th of May. —A great conflagration at Yeddo, in Japan has destroyed four miles of homes in the com mercial quarter. -L—An eagle Wag killed at llarrison, Ky., last week, which measured 8; feet from tip to 41p of the —The etty of PelEtsburg, Va., has built two dredging meows, and called one Gemmed Grant and the other Gen. Lee. —A German woman in Cincinnati, who died met week, and left behind her ST,SOO in gold, bad been a subject of charity. —A young lady in Norfolk walked into a atom and cowbided a clerk who bad been my fng naughty thing. about her. .—A brick of pure silver, half a yard long and one foot wide, Was exhibited at the Chicago Stock Exchange hut week. —At • recent wadding in Now York, the bride!, preiorte—eilver,Jewelry, laces, shawls, &e.,—.here valued 4100,000. —A Westerly (11. I.) Pit enterprise flrrn km disappeared, with about $lOO,OOO forwarded by deluded peupla who hoped to pt suddenly rich. St. Lout.,e man wishing to end the sufferings ors sick dog, etruuk It on the head with a revolver, which going off, shot the man dead ,n the spot. —ln a Liverpool breacl'of .promise ease, the plaintiff produced nine hundred And eighty. nine love , letters if evidence. The judge. ex cused the attorney from riading them. ... - 7 -4. shoemaker in Richmond finished • pair o f' shoes seventeen and • half Inches long and five inches and • half oride,for • negro man. Ile will have to go to the fork, of a road to And • boot-jack. —lt Is very dielcuft to live, said a widower with seven girls, all In genteel poverty. You must husband your time, said • sage Mond, I had rather huslmad some of my daughters, mad the poor lady, A Missouri bbutkamith has preparhd a honeshoe for the Paris Exposition, made of raw on from Iron Mountain. Half the shoe, I. 6.- biked, mad the other half .bowl the on u It was dug from the mine. —The 26th day.of April be. been appoint ed a day of thanksgiving among the Odd Fel lows of the United States. The haternity In tend celebrating the day with appropriate ser vices and cereseynies. —Five dead bodiesNhipped to Ann Arbor, Mich., were d Ulcerated In noir barrel. at Buffa lo. a few days sin.. Four of the bodies were adults and the fifth an infant. They were prob ably designed for diamotion. —A laboring man in PrprAgnce, R. I.,hu been And and sent to jail for ten dam for Ibll leg asleep in chetah. The Freebies. AVM.' thinks the minister eaglet to be lined for net preaching.o as to keep him awake: A SX&KIK IN A BTOVIL—We leant that a gentleman residing in our lawn moms few weeks ego purchased a lot of old, condeptn el f ro m the railroad company, for Ike pugpope of-uaing them as t3re,wood.— Mr/ were accordingly ..veyed to his r.idruce, onJ saxeul iu suitable lengths for she stove and were used as fuel, and as such gave great satisfaction, until one evening the good wife placed one of the piece% 111 the stove, wlpen a very strange Lou remarkable occurrence happened.— Shortly after placing the wood in the stove her attention woe attracted by a angular no•ee to Ike routs, not unlike the drying of a child or the moaning of • person In Julius s, and upon scorching for the cause or ;, ascertained that the noise proceeded train the Muse, and becoming, somewhat NO. ]l lamed called in her husband andicquain ed him of the molter The gentleman at once advanced to tie aluve, "and upon opening the Joor a .triage.. and fearful sight eel his gnwe—right tin the midst of 'the blueing flame. NVI a large blank snake, writhing in agony.and uttering the , pitevine noise which had attracted the kttenfion of the lady. The snake slowly crawled o'ui of the stove and dropped on the floor veritable tt fiery .serpeni," and in a flew seconds expired, Tho snake had tlonbtlese entered • cavity in the sleeper in the fall, and relapsing into a torpid sue, was only ousel when encompaese4 4 44 the flames Ilanocer Spectator -.--Some of these .4 lo3isi'veirthltures,while rolling their eyes leaikelward in pitiable horror at what they term the perjury of come Southern men 'who left the United Rtates army on the breaking out of the war, forget that George Washington, the purest moo who hes lived since the days of the Redeemer, was once a British subject and an officer In the Britishiarmy, having taken the oath to sustain King George the Third, of Knglaniti-against all foes! If these Southern men, going with the States to whom they claimed to owe paramount allegiance, have committed palpable feria ry in their blind party reel, so did he.— The priuoipli . ithicla clears the soul of Wash ington from perjury, washes their unques tionable sin away also. But to carry the subject further, we hold that the "loyal members of Congress have committed pal pable perjury in their blind party seal. They took an oath to support,respeet and d•fend the Constitution. How much of It have they respected I The Constitution . yequires that the consent of the real government Of o State is necessary, before a new one can be created,from any- -portion of it. How did West Virginia become a Stale 1 But why speedy, when every clause of the Constitu tion has been boldly and unblushingly violated and the guaranteed civil govern_ silents of sovereign States set at naught and a military 4 despotians built upon their !Ilion for the perpetual aggrandisement of the Jacobin party •—Es. CAVORT .n Tee ACT —Dan Rioe has writ ten • letter detailing him - observations dur ing an extended tour in the Southern Slates Hr says tae Southern people are sadly nets represente4, prinalpally by • class of fel lows noted in the following paragraphs. -There is a set of traders in mime die, (riots who swindle the pow. Degrees shame fully by selling them born jewelry and gewgaws at most eshorbitant prices. In some institthen these persons writs for the northernpapers, and it is far their interest to hare the South di:Tilt:Wad by a military force, they will, of course, paint horrible pictures of the subdued rebels. '•ln one instance thit came to my knowl edge, a trader had sold a breastpin to a ne gro for $5, which was made atWalwrbury, Connecticut, for sixteen ends, and this min was the correspondent of the Chicago Tn. base, • loading Radical paper in the Noith." —FA rho orge We willingly credit Ibis, because a fellow who is mean enough to correspond with a Radical organ, is Jost about rascal. enough lo swindle a darkey. Turning around to the other-stand point, the fellow who would swindle a poor negro couldn't be anything else than • "loyal" correspondent of Radical organ: Dan is right.—Patriot fin on Ova Tomo Myer Cora.—" Generation af ar generation," says • fine writer, "Azov felt ac we now feel, and their lives were so active as our own They passed like a va por, WilliaAlliliZe.NOre...llll. BID" aspect of beauty as when her Creator ootdtianded her to be. They will have thel4ame attraction for our offspring yet unborn, that she had once for us as children. Yet • little while and all will have happened. rThe throbbing heart will be stifled, and we shall be at rest Our funeral shall find its way, and prayers be said, and we stall be left alone in silence and in darkness for the worm.. And it may be, for • short time we shall be spoken of, but the things of life will ereep In, and our names will soon be forgotten. Days will continue to move on, and laughter and song will be heard in the room in which we died and the eyes that mourned for us will be dried, and glisten again with joy, and even our children will cease to think of us and will not remember to lisp our name." —lt is said that the pogrom in Nashville are greatly enthused over the mnossisudlon of Brownlow for Governor. If this is true It slows a greater degree of demoralisation among them than we had supposed they could reach In so short a time. —Bennett awes no pains to make Otitis's Herald eatablishmeets smallest edillem The windows are eased with" "plate ghee, • Nis& pane tilling the whole of each mak. If ever m mob make an attack on that building, that. will be • costly emashlag. —The Senate, 1 pursue* of the law, elected Sehn D. Dellotii, Seq., Soperintendent of Public 'Ninthly, In place of Conlettas Iteq., who was appointed by the Pre•Weat ender the old law last snontog which pee changed • lbw days ago ter the purpose of no lodating Mr. Debase. —Mr. Seamel Hutu, of Roelleap, while espied la tellies some treeetta thi viethit7 l .f Gram Pond, a few days mime, ramie undo s hollow hem to which he loud seereted the o . lll ' of $BOO le 'liver. /rota auks apes ewe of the colas it is evident that the deposit wan "lade over 14 yeas ago. —Anna poldnoon has given to !IN dabs who attended her when oho oru 11l ant wail, pah of goblet. with oa tnieniptlem Moab& anteing things, that they are even "ha reemoe broom of a We well sawed,. which II &AIN ao a emotional &et, soak anyhow, argon peat oho& In Aeon to my. -11x-flov. Brows, of Seers* to the ability of the iteeth eeettel the metre vote to suit themeives, to es solvessto of roorgealsatioe of the illentiseen Make /S. .theithenitee Military Reeemitssetket NU. If the Rediesis lied thot the ex-Goventlir i t s V ent Id his eeeelesiesi; he wilt ba Not le Southern States will out tie eitadtted to sedation quite quite as moos es ho gains. —Polity's ellesikk erns Great s sow aril. because hipi does not Esau, but tit Radials. ME
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers