The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 59, September, 1862: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and PoliticsVarious
History
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 59, September, 1862: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
American periodicals
"But," say the serene thinkers and scholars whom the rogues use as
mouthpieces, "our object is simply to defend the Constitution. We do not
believe that the Government has any of the so-called 'rights of war'
against the rebels. If Jefferson Davis has committed the crime of
treason, he has the same right to be tried by a jury of the district in
which his alleged crime was committed that a murderer has to be tried by
a similar jury. We know that Mr. Davis, in case the rebellion is
crushed, will not only be triumphantly acquitted, but will be sent to
Congress as Senator from Mississippi. This is mortifying in itself, but
it still is a beautiful illustration of the merits of our admirable
system of government. It enables the South to play successfully the
transparent game of 'Heads I win, tails you lose,' and so far must be
reckoned bad. But this evil is counterbalanced by so many blessings,
that nobody but a miserable Abolitionist will think of objecting to the
arrangement. We, on the whole, agree with the traitors, whose designs we
lazily aid, in thinking that Jeff. Davis and Charles Sumner are equally
guilty, in a fair estimate of the causes of our present misfortunes.
Hang both, we say; and we say it with an inward confidence that neither
will be hanged, if the true principles of the Constitution be carried
out."
The political rogues and the class of honest men we have referred to
are, therefore, practically associated in one party to oppose the
present Government. The rogues lead; the honest men follow. If this new
party succeeds, we shall have the worst party in power that the country
has ever known. Buchanan as President, and Floyd as Secretary of War,
were bad enough. But Buchanan and Floyd had no large army to command, no
immense material of war to direct. As far as they could, they worked
mischief, and mischief only. But their means were limited. The
Administration which will succeed that of Abraham Lincoln will have
under its control one of the largest and ablest armies and navies in the
world. Every general and every admiral will be compelled to obey the
orders of the Administration. If the Administration be in the hands of
secret traitors, the immense military and naval power of the country
will be used for its own destruction. A compromise will be patched up
with the Rebel States. The leaders of the rebellion will be invited back
to their old seats of power. A united South combined with a Pro-slavery
faction in the North will rule the nation. And all this enormous evil
will be caused by the simplicity of honest men in falling into the trap
set for them by traitors and rogues.
REVIEWS AND LITERARY NOTICES.
_The Tariff-Question, considered in Regard to the Policy of England and
the Interests of the United States; with Statistical, and Comparative
Tables_. By ERASTUS B. BIGELOW. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. 4to.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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