Amcrimit WBSSM H fltattert
VOL. 49.
AMERICAN volunteer
PDBUSHED EVERr THURSDAY. MORNING BT
JOIIJI 11. BRATTON.
TERMS.
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not exceeding one square, will bo inserted three
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proportion.
Jon-PaiNTiNd —Such ns Hand-bills, Posting-bills,
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accuracy mid at the shortos notice.
foal.
WOULDN’T TOD LIKE TO ENOW.
A MADRIGAL —BY JOHN Q. SAXE.
I. know a girl with tooth of pearly
And shoulders whit© as snow
She lives—ah! well,
I must not tell—
Wouldn't you like to know.?
Her sunny hair is wondrous fair*
And wavy in its flow;
Who made it loss
One little tress 1 -
Wouldn't you like to know ?
ilor eyes arc blue—celestial hue! —
And dazflirigAn their gIoVT;
On whom they beam .
With inciting gleam—
Wouldn't you like to know?.
Her lips aro red, and finely wed,
Like jtobcb oro they blow;
What lover sips '
Those dewy lips—
Wouldn?t you like to know?
Her fingers aro like lilies fail*
When lilies fairest grow ;
Whoso,hand they press.
With fond caress—*
Wouldn’t you liko to know? .
Her foot .is small* and bias a fall
Like snow-flakes on the snow;
■- And whore it goes
Beneath the rose—
Wouldn’t you like to know ?
She has a name* the sweetest name
That language can bestow ;
’Twould break the spoil
,*T If! Should-toll— v
Wouldn’t you like to know?
ffiimllanemis.
TUE LITTLE SOLDIER BOY MB UIS SOCL
AN INCIDENT OP THE WAR,
The love of a mother is as truly sot forth
in the'life of a soldier, as in any other which
may be selected. To - hear the soldiers while
seated around their camp-fires, telling the
innocent tales, of youthful days and their
past-times, while under the charge of parents
and friends, and how they_ enjoy those days
of youth, is' always relieving to the hearer,
and many a time will it cause a tear-drop to
steal silently down the cheek without the
conscious eifect it has made. One incident
as an illustration
While commander of the convalescent bar
racks at Ba'rdstown, Ky., in February, 1862,
on one cold, stormy night, I through
the wards about the dead hoar of night, ns 1
was accustomed to do. In one of the wards,
during the day previous, I had noticed a
small boy, not exceeding fifteen years of age,
who" was from all appearance rapidly decli
ning with a severe cough,-occasioned by
having had the measles. His place under
the circumstances, should have been in the
hospital. He had come from, that institution
a few days previous; and not been entered
upon the books of the barracks. _ When I
entered the ward, I found him sitting upon
his bed weeping, and as I entered I" heard
him reproaching one of his bed-mates ns fol
lows: '
‘You had no business"to throw the sock
away, so you hadn’t, for you know I thought
bo much of it.’
‘You can go and get it, Bill, for your
mcaness. You can have your trouble now ;
go and got it, or I’ll tell the captain,’ said
one of tile warders.’ ■
Bill went out of the n(hm, and soon re
turned with an old sock, and threw it spite
fully to the little boy upon the bed, uttering
an oath ns he turned away.
The little fellow caught it up and placed
It in his bosom, and laid down as if content.
J passed through-witbout making any re
mark, and returned to my office.
During the night, I felt as though I should
have talked to the little sick boy, and then
there appeared something singular about the
tenacity with which he clung to his sock,
find, finally, I again went back at breakfast
hour to his ward. The soldiers werp eating
ihoir breakfast, but the little feltaw still
e. 1 Stood over him and watched his
things. He rested upon his'back, with
his right hand upon his bosom. HU eyes
Ivere set, and cold perspiration stood in large
flrops upon his white forehead. Ho appeared
ip, bo dreaming, and occasionally a sigh would
interrupt his slumbers. I gently shook him,
Ivhon ho awoke, pulled his hand from bis
bosom, in which was clutched his little sock,
find, instantly returning it, ho looked mo
gently in the face and exclaimed:
Oh lit is you, captain, thank you; thank
you, for waking me.
‘ Are you sick V said I.
‘Yes, sir, I am sick,’ he replied,
‘ Why did you come out of the hospital?'
I asked.
1 The medical director told me I was no
account, and might ns well be dead ns alive i
besides, the doctor in hospital No. 2 gets
drunk, and I am afraid of him and that gi eat
juan, the director, and I slipped out and came
here. I want to stay with you, captain, if I
can.’ . ,
‘ You can stay,' I returned; ‘ butyou must
®nt something,, and I will havo Doctor Mo
<J° i "’un B lvo y° a modioino.’
‘Willyou, sir? I willbo much obliged,
captain, and take the medicine j but I can’t
oa ‘ ; And b'o she'd tears; and bis little chin
quivered;
' ®“t you must not weep,’ said f. * flh'oer
Pi and I will have you cured uud send you
back home.’ To this ho smiled.
.* But tell me now,’ continued I, ‘.why you
hold on to thatsock?’ Why keep itso close?
Whnt is there so precious about it ?’
‘ I keep it, captain,’ and his voice faltered
—‘ I keep it because it was given to mo by
my mother. It was knit by herfingers, and
it is all I have that she gave me, and she
didn’t want me to come either.’ And ho
burst into a flood ot tears.
‘ Well, well, never mind the sock,’ said I.
‘Let’s have some breakfast; now, what can
you eat?’
* I can’t eat anything, captain ; I am very
sick, sir. I could not cat at hospital No. 2,
and I have not ate for over a week.’
I then commenced to name over the differ
ent kinds.of food, nil of which ho rejected,
until I mentioned mush and milk, when he
smiled, and immediately I had a small bowl
of milk and mush taken to him, and the doc
tor from hospital No. 1 to prescribe for him.
I had him transferred to the barracks from
the hospital books, and then placed his rations
in the hands of Mrs. P—an old lady, to
gether with the rations of several others, and
she gave them, two meals each day, cooked
in good old Kentucky fashion, and soon lit
tle Pleasant—for Pleasant was his given
name-—and little Jemmie, and little Willie,
and Sergeant Miller, and Soltor, all of whom
had been pronounced incurable, commenced
to recover, and after three months’ kind
treatment I liad the pleasure of seeing all of
the four others rejoin'their .regiments, in
health, and little Pleasant receive an honor
able discharge from the service, on account
of his being under age; and when he left
Bardstown for his home, he_ still Carried in
his bosom the sock knit by his mother.^
To some this incident may seem-.simple,
’yet to the’writer it. proved conclusively that
there is ho affection so deep, so .dear to the
child, as that they inherit for the mother.—
The mother is always first, always uppermost
in the prayers of the sick and dying son.—
The wife is no more in sickness to the wound
ed or dying man than the mother, and bles
sed is he who has by his side, in sickness, his
mother. I believe "the hope this little boy
had of once more seeing his mother, occa
sioned his recovery.
The Wood Ant. —The wood-anta seem to
be acquainted with the loading principals of
civilization, their nests being the centre of a
radicating system of roads, extending for a
wonderful distance, and as permanent in their
way as Watling street, or any of the old Ho
man roads which now traverse our. land.—
Mr. William Hewitt tells me that he has
wached one of these roads for more than twen
ty years, and foiind that on every day it was
crowded.with ants going off for plunder, or
returning laden with spoils for the benefit of
the community.. Even on wet and cold days,
when the ants, who are chilly beings, wisely
stav at home, their roads aro plainly percep
tible, and are marked out by their freedom
from bits of sticks, leaves, oct., those having
■ been removed by tbo insects as materials for
their nest." It.is always easy,.to, find the host
by following up the road, and the right di
rection can be at once learned by foliowipg
the course adopted by the laden insects.—
The difference in the demeanor of those that
are setting out in search of prey or materi
als, and those that are returning homo, is
most notable ; the former bustling along with
a quick, eager step, looking this way and.
that, running first to one side and then to
the other, interchanging rapid communica
tion with their ■ comrades, and altogether
brisk and busy. But when they have suc
ceeded in their object, they march steadily
homeward, with a pre-oecupiod demeanor,
taking no notice of passing events', and.being
apparently absorbed in the one task of de
positing their burden in its proper place.
A Soldier’s Life. —A soldiers life is a
hard one. It is full of privations; Tt is hard
ly one that would be selected by the indolent
or the luxurious.’ It is one of toil and care,
and no little endurance. Yet it is remarka
ble how well a soldier’s life agrees with oven
many of those whom we have been accustpm
ed to consider effeminate. , We have person
ally known several young men of feeble
health and indifferent physical stamina who,
having “gone to the war,” have returned ro
bust, hearty, vigorous, and substantial. Some
of them whom we certainly believed would
soon bo carried to their graves by a camp-life
have, on the contrary, been regularly built
up into stalwart men by the hardships they
endured, and owe the promise of a long and
healthly life entirely to the extraordinary
change brought about by military discipline
and duties. We dare say that there are
cases in which sleeping on the -ground, the
fatigue of heavy marches, wet clothing, a
poor diet, and so on, have exorcised a differ
ent effect. Death has visited many, no doubt,
simply because they were subjected to such,
trials; but no instance of that kind has
come under our observation, white we have
been an eye-witness to a number of instances,
in which sickly men have been transformed
by a soldier’s life into specimens of rare
manly vigor and piiysical excellence.
“ All the Brains.” —The Cincinnati In
quirer, in reply to the Gazelle, of .that city, in
an article abating the assumption that the
New England people have all the. brains in
the Dnion, makes the following points upon
its neighbor:
“ The Declaration of Independence was
written by Jefferson, a .Virginian. The Con
stitution of the United States was mainly the
work of Hamilton, a New Yorker, Madison,
a Virginian, and Jay, a New Yorker. The
great General of the war of the Revolution,
and the father of bis country. Geo. Washing
ton, was a Virginian. The heroes of the war
of 1812, Jackson, Scott, Harrison and others,
were - not from Now England. The great
orators, Patrick Henry, Wm. Wirt, William
Pinckney and Henry Clay, were not from N.
England. The great novelists, Brookden,
Brown and J. Fonnimore Cooper, wore not
from New England. Now England has not
impressed her views on any of the great
national transactions of the Government
upon the country until she thrust Abo
litionism upon it! She did not take
the lead in the adoption of the Federal.
Constitution nor anj of the Administra
tions under it for sixty years. The groat
controlling men of this county, the men with
big brains and greaf hearts, who have gui
ded and directed the 1 do'stiuie's of this nation!,
have not come from Now England. At pres
ent New England brains and New England
ideas are in the ascendent, and see to what a
strait they have brought the country 1”
Sgy* An old bachelor geologist once boast
ing that, every rook was as familiar to him as
tho alphabet. A lady who was present de
clared that she know a rook of which ha whs
vgbolly ignoraht. “ Name it. modam'!" sajid
Ctelelis m 1 a 1 rage. “tt is rock th'o' cradle
sir,” replied the lady.
“ OUR COUNTRY-MAY IT ALWAYS, BE BIGHT—BUT BIGHT OR WRONG OUR COUNTRY.”
WAITING FOB i SUAVE.
Not long ago an casy-go-long auctioneer,
who did not care whether he was shaved be
fore or after dinner, found himself in a crowd
of impatient patrons of the barber shop lie
was in, Combining speculations with amuse
ment, the auctioneer offered to dispose of his
“ turn” at auction to the highest bidder.—
There was instantaneous response, so he
mounted a chair and auctioneered as follows;
“ Gentlemen, my turn is next. John is
now soaping the head of that gentleman, and
as soon as ho is through the turn is mine.—
Several of you are in n hurry, and I am not.
I am willing to do one of you a good office by
selling my turn. I knock down to the highest
bidder. So pitch in. Who bids and what is
bid?”
“ Three cents,” sang out a clerk from
the post-office.
“Three it is—who advances?”
“ Five,” responded three or four. ,
“ Five is offered by a dozen. Who goes
higher ? Be quick, gentlemen, for this time
is precious.”
“ Ten,” shouted n livery stable keeper.
“ Twelve,” said the landlord of a restan
rent.
“ Fifteen," said a merchant who had not
received his letters. »
“ Fifteen for the first shave,fif-fif fif-fifteen,
going at fifteen, gentlemen, and the time is
nearly up, and going, going, go ”
“Eighteen," bid the stable keeper.
“ Twenty,” the saloon keeper.
“ Twenty-five,” the merchant.
The barber was just topping-off. the cus
tomer in the chair, and but a minute more
was to spare.
“ I go thirty,” responded the stable man.
“ Forty,” shouted the merchant.
. “ Five to that,” excitedly exclaimed the
saloon keeper, “ and I'll have it if it costs me
a day’s receipts.”
So. will I—fifty!” promptly responded
the stable-keeper, more excited now than the
rival bidder.
The two merchants .withdrew from the con
test, and the auctioneer proceeded in a strictly
business manner to urge on the remaining
bidders. He used all the cunning and inge
nuity of a man of the hammer. The bidders
became more excited and bid against each
other rapidly. The stable man bid one dollar
and five cents, when the barber shouted ;
“ Next—who next?’’
“ Going, going,” was the response of the
auctioneer. “ Going, going, and,—”
‘‘One ten,” shouted the saloon keeper.
“ One fifteen,” said the stable keeper.
“And gone at one dollar and fifteen 1”
closed the auctioneer.
A hearty shout of laughter arose from the
crowd in the barber shop, all of whom had
become more or, less interested in the rival
bidding for the first shave.
The stable-keeper promptly paid oiler the
dollar and fifteen cents to the auctioneer,
remarking as he did so;
*• It’s a'tear shave, gentlemen,” but! would
have gone double rather than lib bent.’*
■ PluCk—call again next week,” was the
response of the auctioneer, and he pocketed
the clear receipts.
Lighting a cigar; and spreading himself
out on two chairs, he lazily awaited his do
fered turn for a shave.
•Advantages of Years. —You are “ getting
into years.” Yes, but the years are getting
into you—the ripe, rich years, the genial,
mellow years, the lusty, luscious years. One
by one the crudities’of your you\|i are falling
ojffromyou, the vanity, egotism, the isolation,
the bewilderment, the uncertainly. Nearer
and nearer you are approaching yourself.—
You are consolidating your forces. You are
becoming master of the Situation. Every
wrong road into which you have wandered
has brought you, by the knowledge of that
mistake, so much closer to the truth. You
no longer draw your bow at a venture, but
shoot straight at the mark. Your possibili
ties concentrate, and your path is cleared.—
On the ruins of shattered plans you find your
vantage ground. Your broken hopes, your
thwarted purposes; your defeated 1 aspirations
become a staff of strength with which you
mount to sublimer bights. With self-possess
ion and self-command return the - possession
and the command of all The title
deed of creation, forfeited, is reclaimed. The
king bas come to his own again. Earth and
sea and sky pour out their largest of love.—
All the past crowds to lay its treasures at
your feet.—l Gail Hamilton.
Father and Daughter. —Their is no pret
tier picture in life than that of a daugh
ter reading to her aged father. The old man,
while listening to her silvery notes, goes
back to other times, when another one sat by.
his side, and whispered words he will never
hear again, nor does he wish to do so, for in
the soft evening light he sees her imagine re
flected in her child ; and as one by one gen
tle emotions steals over him he veils his face,
and the daughter, thinking him asleep, goes
noiselessly in, search of other employment.
Virgin innocence watching over the cares
and wants of old age, is a spectacle fit for an
gels.. It is one of the links between earth
and heaven, and takes from the face of
the hard and selfish world many of its harsh
est features.
■; Good Luck. —Some young men talk about
luck. Good luck is to got up at six o’clock
in the morning ; good luck, if you have only
a shilling a week, is to live upon eleven
pence, and save a-penny; good luck is to troub
le your bead with your own business and let
your neighbor's alone ; good luck is to fulfill
the commandments, and do unto other people
as we wish them to do to us. They must not
only work but wait. They must plod and
persevere. Pence must bo taken care of, be
cause they are the seeds of guineas. To get
on in the world, they must take care of
homo, sweep their own doorways clean, try
and help other people, avoid temptations,
and have nn abiding faith in truth and God.
K 7” A good story is told by the Newport Her
ald of a voung woman in that section, who,
convinced of the death of her husband in
a recent battle, put on morning, drew the
bounty money of the deceased, and then en
gaged herself to bo married to another de
fender of his country. The wedding day was
appointed, the gifts made, and everything
ready, when the' startling nows oame that she
was no widow, her unreasonable - first having
had the audacity to bo taken prisoner instead
of being shot, and to return from Richmond
alive and well! YYo hope she had patience'
with him.
How to Stbaioiiten a Neouo’s Wool.—
Tho New York Tribune states that Fred.
Douglas gave a lecture or speech, nt the
Cooper Institute, in New York, on Friday
night, on the President’s Proclamation.
Among other thipgs.he said V Since the ut
tering of this Proclamation I have _ greyin'
taller, felt whiter, and comb my hair with
much loss difficulty.”
CARLISLE, .PA., THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 1863.
Whose JKfltpU Is lit
“ Why don’t you go out more and enjoy
yourself?” we asked one evening of a lady,
still young nnd attractive, who was sitting
alone, amusing herself as best she could with
reading and sewing-during her husband's
absence. There was nothing special to keep
her at home ; the husband and wife always
appeared to bo on the best terms ; wo knew
she liked society, and felt really puzzled at
little care she seemed •to have to share
her husband’s evening amusements. A lec
ture was all ready at hand on the bad policy
of allowing husbandsdo spend their leisure
without any reference to their wives’ wishes
or pleasure, and the absolute duty of a wife
to share in her husband’s: enjoyments when
ever it was practicable foe her to do so ; but
before there was time to even make a begin
ning, she said : , ■
“ I don’t care to go out' with my husbanfe
and as yet I have not grbvrn wicked eumjgn
to go out with anybody-olpp.” ’ ■' ’’ d,
" But , why don’t you flare to go put with
your husband ;J
“Well, the truth’is, ho does not make,
himself agreeable. He iSialways fault find
ing or silent. He does not defer to my wish
es in any respect as he used to before wo
were married, and bo grunts and soalds
at the slightest mishap imprecisely the same
way ns it he was at home and fretting about
his collars and coffee. Now," she continued,
“ I am nut such a fool as .to expect a man to
be always amiable, or always devoted and at
tentive. I am willing he-jshould bo a little
cross if ho finds his shirts badly ironed and
the buttons off, or a poor dinner when he ex
pected a good one. . I eon even make allow
ances for the cares and anxieties of business,
and give him at .least-fen minutes after
he reaches home to clear his knitted brow
and.smooth his raffled tehiper ; but whonlie
invites me logo out to a lecture, for’instance,
or to the theatre, I want jto be treated with
something like the consideration which any
other lady would receive from him under the
same cirounjstancea. If Tprefer a particular
part of thebouso, which?does not cost’ any
more, even,-if it is a little additional trouble
to reach, I want to bo able to go there with:
out being scowled at. If 1 want a bill of the
performances, I should ijko to ask for it
without being told that there is ho need of it,
and that I am always wanting something
I Can’t gel. If we stop at jn, restaurant on our
way Home. I don’t like to be urged to give up
my own special tastes and adopt his, which
I never interfere with, and, it I don’t do
it, suffer his grum looks irid displeasure for
the rest of the evening]. Such treatment
spoils all pleasure for mef and indured it un
til I was tired. I deternvinedjtheh never to
go opt with him if I cuuldlielp it, to find plea
sure in my own way,, and let him seek his
alone. When Igo out it «in the.day time,
or with friends, and Wo g,|t along much ea
sier. Ho tells ovtrybody tl'lat lam the strang
est'woman ; that I will .iiot, go out if he
asks mo—a part of which fa true, so I do,not
■ contradict bn»,P.... ,- .- -.
This is not a solitary case by any meads,
and wo should like to ask liny husband who
may read this paragraph if. there .is not
a spice of truth in it 1 Perhaps there may be,
fault on both sides ; but is it not true that
most men drop very soon after marriage, the
character of gentlemen in their conduct to
wards their wives ? Do they perform any of
those little acts of courtesy, of kindness, and
of attention which all woman like, and which
helped to win them ? Not often, if one may
judge from the testimony of most wives.
Certainly men do not realise the danger
there is in such a course, and which may
only escape by a seeming providence, which
one. cannot imagine was interposed for their
benefit.* Food, shelter and clothing is not
sufficient to satisfy any woman’s nature, and
we always suspect a screw loose somewhere
when a.man says his wife.does not ” care to
go out.” Let him ask himself if he is as
kind and considerate towards her as to the
wives of other .men whom he meets abroad,
and if no unlucky contrasts are over forced
upon her which result to his disadvantage. _
The love between husband and wife is
a very delicate plant, and requires- and re
pays cultivation. If it was worth having at
all, it is worth keeping, and as quite often
dies from starvation and neglect as from
more.activo cruelty.
[CT 1 The. rebel Congress have adopted a
novel mode of getting, rid of the negro regi
ments that General Hunter or Colonel Hig
ginson or Gen. Phelps is going to load against
Dixie. The negroes, when caugh, are not to
be shot—but sold, for what they will fetch, —
half the proceeds to go to the captor, and half
to the '‘Government.”
New Jersey U. S. Senator.— Wm. Wright
of Essex, was on Thursday elected United
States Senator by the New Jersey Legislators,
for six years from the 4th of March, The
vote stood: Wright 54, Wm., A. Newell 25
(CT* The notorious traitor, George N. San
ders, has worked his way through Canada to
Halifax, and sailed in the lost steamer for
Europe. He bears dispatches to the rebel
emissaries abroad. -
IT* Wo see in the columns of one of our
contemporaries the announcement of tho nuu’-
riago of Mr. Samuel Hogg to Miss Annie G-
Hogg. We presume the result will bo a lit
ter of little pigs.
DCT" Congress has made appropriation of
$50,000 for medical attendance and medi
cines for the contrabands now in the hands
of the Government
[£7“ A white woman at Fishkill New York,
has eloped with a negro preacher, taking all
the money her husband had, and leaving him
three small children.
jJSy* An old bachelor who edits a paper
somewhere in the Western county, puts “ Mel
ancholy Accidents I 'as a head for marriages in
his paper.
O'He who loves a lady’s complexion,
form and features, loves not her true self,
but her soul’s old clothes.
O” Why is a drummer the fastest man m
the world ? Because time boats all men, but
the drummer beats time.
jjgf C. L.Vallandigh'am nnnounoeshimself
a candidate for the Democratic nomination
for Governor of Ohio.
fear that many persons, Unliko
theTngel at the pbbl of tfetbseda, never
trouble wafer.'
n—p tthat did a blind wood-sawyer take to
restore his sight? He took his horse, and
saw.
BEFOBEjMR BSIN.
Wo know It would rain, for.all the mom
A spirit on slender ropes of mist
Was lowering its goldoa buckets down
Into tbo vapory amethyst.
Of marshes and. swamps and dismal fens—
Scooping tbo dew that lay in the .flowers,
Dipping the jewels out of tbo sea,
To sprinkle them ovor tbo land iu showers.
Wo know it would rain for tbo poplars showed
.The white of their loaves, tho amber grain
Shrunk in tho wind—and the lightning now
Is tangled in tremulous skoius of rain I
AFTER THE RAIN.
Tbo rain has ceased, and in my room
The.sunshine pours an airy flood; .
And on tho church's dizzy vano
The ancient cross is bathed in blood.
From out tho dripping ivy-leaves,
Antiquely carved, gray and high,
A dormer, facing westward, looks
■ Upon tho villiago like an oyo.
And now it glimmers in the sfln,
A globe of gold, a dise, a speck ;
And in the belfry sits a dove .
With purple ripples on her neck.
ftoltfual
From tho California Republican,
RECORD OF JUDGE DOUGLAS.
Among the false pretences set up’ by that
party claiming, the distinctive appellation of
“ Union"- I—of 1 —of which falsehood is the, chief
element of success—there is nothing so en
tirely Wsoless as the assumption that it re
presents and opinions of Judge
Dougins. Let mwSsi-b premise that _wo would
attach no undue height to the opinions of
any one man, nor reject a truth because of
the sourdS'from which it is elucidated. It is
the theory of our government that every man
most think for himself, and weigh'every
principle by its merits as it is presented ,to
his mind. But it is only reasonable .fithaf
where differences arise, greater credit should
be given to the opinions of a professor than
to those of a novice, the motive to veracity
being equal. Locke says—“ How many men
have, ho other grounds for their tenets than
the supposed honest or loifirning, or number,
of those of the same profession. As if honest
or bookish men could not err,-or truth were
to be established by the vote of the multitude;
yet this with most men serves the turn.
There is not an opinion so absurd which a
man may not receive upon this ground.
There is no error to be named, which has not
had its professors ; and a .man shall never
want crooked paths to walk in, if he thinks
he is in the right way whenever he has the
footsteps of others to follow.” _
There has boon np American statesman
for whbsa political opinions we have a more
profound respect; in whoso honesty of purpose
and.iptggrity °f yo}Had 'mote confi
dence, and valued
more highly than that of Stephen A. Dougins.
Our opportunities for learning his personal
views upon the political topics of the day, to
near the close Qf.hisjifo, by intimate associa
tion and confidential personal relations, wore
second to those of but very few ;■ yet we never
accepted 'his theories as dogmas, or his
opinions as laws, simply because they
wore his, but wo believe that ,we hold
no opinion to-day upon political matters
which ho would not fully endorse: and have
uttered , no political sentiment which ho
would not cordially approve. The same may
bo said of llicliardson, Pugh, Cox, Allen, and
all who wore nearest and dearest to him in
life, now denounced as “ secessionists" and
“ traitors” by the party which is claiming
his opinions as its exclusive property, and by
the dirty horde of political hucksters who arp
trading upon his fame with the abolitionists,
his life-long defamers, for place and profit!
Upon what act-or declaration of Mr. Doug
las do these abolitionists, or the so-called
“war democrats" of’the present day, base
their claim to his endorsement? It is only
by garbling his speeches or wrenching sentenc
es fiom the text and omitting the concurrent
facts that they can establish the color.of such
claims, and by the perversion of his senti
ments they attempt to delude those “ who
have nd other ground for their tenets” than
the professions of one in whom they have so
much confidence as in Mr. Douglas. Ho
■never endorsed one material tenet of.the pres
ent abolition or “ Union party,” to his dying
day; but on the contrary he to"the last
warned against and denounced the very
principles Which are now held as tests by
that party. He advocated no war but a war
of defence—to defend the President in the
constitutional discharge of his official,duties,
to defend the capitol from threatened attack,
and above all to defend the constitution and
laws. Ho had previously declared as his
solemn conviction—” War is dissolution.”
In his speech in the Senate, January 3d, 1861,
he said:
“ No man will go further than I to main
tain the just authority of the government, to
preserve the Union, to put down insurrection,
and to enforce the laws. : I would use all the
powers conferred by the constitution for this
purpose. But in the performance of these
important and delicate duties, it must bo
borne in mind that those powers must only he
used, and such measures employed as are au
thorized by the constitution and laws.”
In his last speech in the Senate, March 15,
1861, he said :•
“ Sir, the President cannot use the army or
the nayy, or the militia, for any purpose not
authorized by law; and then it must bo
done in the manner, and only in tile manner
prescribed by law.”
Again on March 25th, he continued :
“Is it wise to make oiir people _ believe
that the President has lawful authority to do
that which the constitution and laws forbid ?
Is it wiso to doludo them into tlio belief that
tho party just assuming power is going to
do that which the constitution dons not per
mit ? Is it belittling of this government
to say that the administrators of this govern
ment have no right to violate the constitution
and laws of the country ? Sir, our boast
is, that wo live under a government of laws ;
that tho President and all.in authority under
him are authorized to do that which the law
provides, and nothing more.” ,
Apropos to this, in the Senate, on llmrs
day, March 7th, 1001, in doUning a former
spcoob, ho said:
“ I did say that if Mr. Lincoln should bo
elected President, according to tho constitu
tional fprms, he must bo inaugurated ; and
dnder my constitutional duty,"l would sustain
him in tho exercise of all tho legitimate duties
of the station. I then said, if lifter he was
elected, he should violate tho constitution of
tho country, and commit orim'os against the
laws of the land, I would be for punishing
him according to the laws ; and if it was the
penalty under the constitution to hang him, I
would hang him bigherthan Hamm.”
Let the unconditional supporters of thq ad
ministration mark the distinction between
Mr. Douglas and themselves- in this. He
would mete out to the President the just punish
ment for a violation of bis constitutional obli
gations ; the republicans in Congress, in di
rect violation of the express letter of the con
stitution, pass an ex post Jacio act of indem
nity to the President for notorious nnd re
pented violations of the- constitution, and all
the party endorse tho act and rule out
of their party all who do not.
In response to a serenade at Washington,
in December, 1860, Douglas defined how far
he would sustain the President;
“ So long as ho observes his oath of office
by seeing that the laws are faithfully execut
ed, ho should be supported in all consti
tutional measures by all patriotic men, and
if he disregards his oath, violates tho con
stitution, makes war upon the rights of any
man, or upon any section, he should he held
to the strictest accountability provided in the
constitution."
So far from Mr Douglas havingcountcnanced
any disregard of tho constitution, bis last
words, when he was about to bid farewell to
his country, and the world, wore;
“ Tell my children io love and uphold the
constitution,”
On the question of tho unconstitutibnality of
any interference either by the President,
Congress, or the army, .with slavery in
the southern states, the position of Douglas
was clear and explicit. He hoped to see the
wttr conducted ujion strict war principles,
against rebels in arms, and . not perverted to
une ,of : animosity to wreak vengeance, incen
diarism, insurrection nnd debauchery .upon -
helpless innocence, or in barbarous devasta
tion. * . .
Addressing the Illinois Legislature, April
25ih, 18G1, he emphatically said :
“ I can-,' appeal to them with confidence
that I have never pandered to the prejudice,
or passion of my section against the minority
section of this Union ; and I will say.to you
now, with all frankness and in all sincerity,
that I will never sanction nor acquiesce
in any warfare whatever upon the constitu
tional rights, or domestic institutions of the
southern states. [Applause.] Oh the con
trary] if there was antattempt to invade
these rights—to stir up servile insurrrection
among their people— l would rush io their
rescue, and interpose with whatever of strength
I might possess to defend them from such a
calamity. [Applanso.]” ’ • ' ,
In the speech, at the serenade above
referred to, lie spoke of slavery, andtho duty
of the Government: ~
“ The vexed question-of slavery existed
when our fathers framed the cohtitution, as
well as now, and if wo could only carry out
the principles upon which they'made the
government, we can preserve the Union, and
transmit it toourlatestposterity. The federal
government must never interfere with the
questiotvof slavery anywhere, except to per- 1
form its constitutional obligation of returning
fugitives.”
Are these-declarations, which are among
his last on earth] anything like the spirit, of
the resolutions endorsed by some of the pro
fessed “Douglas democrats” in the-Legisla
ture in favor of emancipation,' the support of
which Is made a part test ? Again, in the
Senate, January 2d, 1801, he said:
“ The most obnoxious sentiments I ever at
tributed to the republican party, and that not
in the south, but in northern Illinois, and in
the strongholds of abolitionism, was that they
intended to exorcise tho" powers .of the feder
al government with a view to the ultimate
extinction ofslavery in the southern states.”
At that early day his keen perception evi
dently discerned that which all now see.
Douglas said, in the last speech of bis ,lifo,
at Chicago:
“We must hot invade constitutional rights.
The innocent must riot suffer, nor.wpmen and
children be the victims. Savages must not
bo let loose; But while I sanction no war
fare,upon the rights of others, I will implore
my countrymen not to lay down their arms
until our own rights are recognized.”
Again, in another version of the same
speech, he says:
“Wo must not forget that we are Christians,
and that the war must be.waged in a Chris
tian spirit—not agairisttho rights of a people
—riot against the rights of women and chil
dren. Say that you will section no war bn
rights, and say that never will you lay down
your arms until those which you cloirn as
your own aro recognized. We are born un
der the constitution of the United States, and
its provisions are our birthright. Then, bo
prepared to enforce the inalienable rights
which it confers."
“ Sanction no war on rights 1” This would
be hold by all republican authorities at
the present time as treasonable language,
and many a man has found himself an unwil
ling inmate of Fort Lafayette for a less
offense against what is now called “ the gov
ernment.”
It was through fear that his motives might
ha misunderstood that ho used the following
language in the speech to the Illinois Legis
lature, April 25 th:
“ The first duty of an American citizen, or
of a citizen of any constitutional government,
is obedience to the constitution and laws
of his country. [Applause.] I have no ap
prehension that atiy man in Illinois, brheyond
the limits of our o\vn beloved state, will mis
construe or misunderstand ray motive. So
far as any of the partisan questions are con
cerned, I stand in equal, irreconcilable and
undying opposition both to the republicans
and the secessionists.” [Applause.]
The last letter which Mr. Douglas over
dictated was addressed to Virgil Hiokox,
Chairman of the Illinois democratic state
central committee, in which ho said :
“ I am neither the supporter of the parti
san policy, nor the apologist for the errors of
the administration. My previous relations
to them remained unchanged; but I trust,
the time will never come when I shall not b‘e
willing to make any needful sacrifice of per
sonal feeling and party policy for the honor
and integrity of my country."
' Is this anything like the “ no-party" pre
tention upon which some of his professed
followers havo joined a party which uncon
ditionally endorsed the republican policy as
carried out by Congress and the administra
tion ?
'Vhile Mr. Douglas lived, lie know of the
war only as one of self-defense, and there
was no evidence on record that it would be
perverted from the object for which it was
declared. Mr. Lincoln had said in his inau
gural address:
“ I declare that I have no purpose, direct
ly or indirectly, to interfere with the insti
tion of slavery in the states where it exists;
that I Believe I have no lawpcl rigiit to do
so, and have no inclination to do so.”
The House of Repieaentativca had voted,
without u dissenting voice, this avowal:
Resolved, That neither Congress nor the
people, or governments of the non-slaveholding
: States have a constitutional right to legislate
upon, dr interfere with slavery in any slave
holding Slates-of the Union.’’. ..
. These avowals covered tW whole case-of
interference with slavery, and no one could
then have supposed that either the President,
or Congress, could ever in honor to them
selves, give the lie to' their own declarations.
So iar from Douglas endorsed the
policy of the republican patty in relation to
the war, he was directly opposed,- to it- _ Ho
said that “ war was disunion, final and irre
vocable ho thought that the .parly had re
fused compromise, and insisted on' war for
the purpose of either destroying, slavery on
the Union. In a letter written to-CharlesH.
TLanpluer, editor of the Illinois State Register,
.in March, 1801, he informs his friend:
“The fact can no longer be disguised, that
many of the llepublican Senators desire war
and disunion wider the pretext of saving the
Union. They wish to got rid of the southern
Senators, in order to have a majority in the
Senate to confirm the appointments; and
many of them think they can hold a perma
nent republican ascendency in the .northern
states, but not in the whole Union, For par
tisan reasons, therefore, they are anxiotis to
dissolve the Union,'if it canhe done' without
making them responsible before the people
Ho was bitterly opposed to insurrection,
such as is invited by the emancipation proc
lamation, and thought that it wouldoyer bo
a consequence of “ republican
He thought those guilty of inciting insurrec
tions .to be “ murderers and traitors.”
The following resolution, in relation to the
Harper’s Ferry insurrection, by-.the .
democratic state convention of Illinois; Jam
4th, 1860, was writtenby Douglas: •
“ Resolved, That the Harper’s Ferry out
rago was the natural consequence, and logical ’
result of the doctrines and teachings of the:
republican party, as explained and enforced
in their platforms, partisan presses, books
and pamphlets, and in the speeches, of their
leaders, in and out of Congress ; and for this
reason an honest and law abiding people
should riot be satisfied ;with the disavowal or
disapproval by the ' republican leaders of
John Brown’s acts, unless they repudi
ate tiio doctrines and teachings which pro
duced those murderous crimes, and denounce
all persons who profess to sympathize with
murderers and traitors, lamenting their fate,
and venerating their memory as martyrs,
who lost their lives in a just and holy cause;”
. All of these “sympathizers, with murderers ‘
and traitors” ore now.respeotod members, of
the republican party, and many of them hold
ing high positions ■ under government.. An
instance of this dame- under our, own ■ obser- -
vat ion. A public meeting held in a, northern
city on the. day of the execution'.of . John
Brown passed resolutions of sympathy:, with
his purposes and condolonoe with his friends.
The members or the committee which repor
ted these resolutions all received federal ap-,
pointmonts from Mr. Lincoln; and this is
but one of thousands of similar casoB._ .What
man of ordiriary self-respect, holding the
opinions of Mr. consent to pot
with a partyin. whiohe “ sympathizers .with
murderers and traitors” whore the leaders?
Who] upon* reading the evidences, can for
a moment suppose that if Douglas was now
living :he would endorse the policy of the
republican party for conducting the war.?—
Who can think that he would sustain a prin
ciple which holds the constitutions and laws,
the inalienable rights of individuals and of
States, all. which had heretofore been held
dear, and.which render life valuable, must
sink and bo destroyed before the omnipotent
will and sovereign power of Abraham Lin
coln? There will be but little cause of-sur
prise that he who thinks this, should also
think that the best way of restoring a revolt
ing people to an harmonious Union, .will be
through confiscation, emancipation and ser-„
vile insurrection; ‘
Mr. Dougins endorsed the war, not because
he thought the policy of itsiinception was
right, but because, when his country was
involved, to a patriot there was no other
alternative, lie then, thought it his duty to
sustain the government in its constitutional
efforts at selfproservation. Tho war, he in
sisted, should bo waged for no other purpose
than of preserving the Union arid Constitution
against the evils of secession. I , He was fora
war against wronc/s, and not against rights ;
.Ho advised his countrymen to abandon
party, to sustain tho government against
traitors, but never advised the abaridonment
of tho democratic organization in the Civil
policy; much less did he advise them to join
the republican orgnnizntiori and oridorse its
policy. That man who joined what is colled
the “ Union administration party,” under the
pretence of being an adherent of Mr. Doug
las or a representative of his views, can only
be a fool or a knave.
The Writ of Habeas Corptfs.
A Republican Judge’s Opinion.
The Milwaukee News publishes in full the
opinion of Judge Pnipe, of the supremo Court
of Wisconsin, in the Kemp habeas corpus case,
which was also the opinion of the whole
court. The opinion is able, and the conclu
sions arrived at are briefly stated as follows:
1. The government,of the United States is
invested with full power by the Federal Con
stitution to prosecute war, and there is BO
war-power outside the Constitution.
2, Only the.people,' through their ropre
sontativos in Congress, can suspend the writ
of habeas corpus, .
3. The President can execute' the laws only
by such moans as the Constitution and th#
laws themselves have given him power to em
ploy-
4. A military commander may declare mar
tial law in districts which are the actual thea
tre of war, where hostile armies are mot for
the purpose of destruction, or in insurrectiona
ry districts where domestic violence and dis
cord have effectually displaced the civil au
thorities—but not elsewhere.
5. Courts Martial are courts of limited and
inferior jurisdiction, and .have no jurisdiction
to try any persons' except such as are by law
amendable to such trial.
G. The legislative is the political depart
ment of the government, and When the writ
qlhcbeas corpus is not suspended by Congress,
the Executive has no political power to im
prison the people.
Judge Paine moreover declares that ho
should consider the establishment of the doc
trine that the President possesses illimitable
power over the land by a declaration pt mar
tial law, "as a'calamity little if any less to
he deplored than the success of the rebellion ,”
It must be remembered that the Court is en
tirely composed of gentlemen who woreeleotod
as Republicans. Onr readers have not over- * 3
looked the fact, that wherever these questions
have earns before a fair and responsible tri
bunal the decision has invariably been in fa
‘vor of the position assumed by the Democratic
jiarty.
no; 40.