Vallandigham Arrested

HARPER'S WEEKLY.

[MAY 30, 1863.

338

ONE DAY'S COMMAND.

THE plumed staff officer gallops Along the swaying line,

That shakes as, beaten by hailstones,

Shakes the loaded autumn vine;

And the earth beneath is reddened,

But not with the stain of wine.

The regular shock of a battery

The rattling tumult stuns;

And its steady thrill through the hill-side

Like a pulse beneath it runs;

The many are dead around it,

But the few still work the guns.

"Who commands this battery?"

And Crosby his clear, young eyes From the sliding gun-sights lifting

As the well-aimed death-bolt flies, "I command it to-day, Sir!"

With a steady voice replies.

Answers as heroes answer,

With modest words and few, Whose hearts and hands to duty Even in death are true,

Though its awful light is breaking
Full on their blenchless view.

The officer passes onward

With a less troubled eye,

The words and the look unshaken

Bid every wild doubt fly;

He knows that young commander

Is there to do or die.

To do and die; for the battle

And day of command are done,

While stands unmoved on the hill-side

Each shattered, blackened gun, And Crosby in death beside them

A deathless name has won.

HARPER'S WEEKLY.

SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1863.

"Scarcely any paper is doing so much for UNION and LIBERTY as Harper's Weekly."—Boston Commonwealth.

THE ARREST OF VALLANDIGHAM.

IT is known that Clement C. Vallandigham, late member of Congress from Dayton, Ohio, was lately arrested at his house by order of General Burnside, tried by court-martial, and convicted of inciting resistance to the Government in the prosecution of the war. And it is reported that he has been sentenced to imprisonment in a fortress during the war. The President enjoys the power of commuting or remitting this sentence altogether; and it is the unanimous hope of the loyal North that he will remit it.

For, whether the arrest of Vallandigham was or was not a wise step, there can be very little question but his imprisonment for months, and perhaps years, in a military fortress would make a martyr of him, and would rally to his side, for the sake of liberty and free speech, an immense number of sympathizers. It would probably make him Governor of Ohio, and would impart great strength to the rapidly-decaying Copperhead sentiment of the Northwest. Notwithstanding the new lessons taught by the war, and the new duties which it has devolved upon us, we have not yet learned to look with complacency on the methods which are familiar to Old World despotisms; and the spectacle of a man immured in a prison for opinion's or words' sake shocks our feelings and arouses our anger.

It is all very well to say, as General Burnside says in his noble and patriotic reply to the Cincinnati Court, that war involves a sacrifice of liberty, and that this man Vallandigham was a pernicious and malignant enemy of his country. This we all know, and if Vallandigham would go out of the country to the rebels or any where else, loyal people would heartily rejoice. But the question is not whether Vallandigham be a traitor, or whether war involve a suspension of individual rights: it is—shall we better ourselves and help the country by locking this man up in a fortress, instead of letting him prate his seditious trash to every one who will listen? To that question the reply must be in the negative.

The mistake which has all along been made in this war by the Government and many of its agents has been not trusting the people sufficiently. Arresting seditious talkers implies a fear that the people have not sense or strength of mind enough to resist the appeals of sedition; just as the suppression or retention for a time of intelligence of a defeat implies a doubt whether the people have courage enough to bear bad news. Let us assure Mr. Lincoln, and all in authority under him, that the people of the United States have quite courage enough to bear any amount of misfortunes, and quite sense enough to withstand any amount of seditious nonsense, be it uttered ever so glibly. The only effect thus far produced by such talkers as Vallandigham has been to kill off the Copperhead sentiment in the Northwest, to reduce Fernando Wood's party to a mere corporal's guard, and to render the names of the Copperhead leaders a by-word and a reproach among honest men.

Vallandigham was fast talking himself into the deepest political grave ever dug when Burnside resurrected him.

The people can be trusted to deal with traitors without any help from Washington, and those who suffer the penalty they inflict—ignominy and disgrace—never find sympathy any where. At the meeting held in this city on 18th to protest against Vallandigham's arrest not one leading man, not a single man who commands general esteem, or who carries the least weight, ventured to be present, and the performance was, on the whole, the most wretched of all the wretched fizzles that have ever been enacted in this city in the way of political meetings. Not but that every body, including the leaders of all parties, and the editors of all leading journals, regret the arrest. But Copperheadism has become so odious, and the doom of every sympathizer with treason so obvious, that not a single man who has any future to risk will jeopard it by placing himself on the record as even indirectly sympathizing with a Copperhead. So long as the people are thus firm in their loyalty it is surely superfluous for Government to interpose for their protection against traitors.

LAY REPRESENTATION IN THE
METHODIST E. CHURCH.

AN important convention of Methodist laymen met in this city on May 13th and 14th to devise means of securing a representation of the laity in the General Conference of their Church. About two hundred and thirty members were present, most of them delegates. Among the number were ex-Governor Wright of Indiana, Governor Cannon of Delaware, Hon. M. F. Odell of Brooklyn, Hon. James Bishop of New Jersey, President Allen, late of Girard College, Judge Bond of Baltimore, and other distinguished gentlemen. The West and Northwest were well represented. Large delegations were also present from Philadelphia and New York.

The last General Conference—a body which meets once in four years—declared its willingness to admit lay delegates, if their introduction should be desired by the people, and directed the sense of the laity to be ascertained by a popular vote. The vote was taken at an unpropitious time, shortly after the breaking out of the rebellion, and was, in consequence, exceedingly small. Out of nearly a million of members less than eighty thousand voted, about thirty thousand of the votes being for lay representation, and upward of forty thousand against.

Resolutions were adopted by the Convention asking for a representation of laymen in the General Conference equal to that of the ministers, declaring their unabated attachment to their Church, and their conviction that lay representation would give greater life and vigor to all the operations of Methodism. Speeches were made upon the resolutions by Messrs. Curran of Indiana, Cooke of Chicago, Ross, Hoyt, Nottingham, and Forrester of New York, Riddle of Delaware, Allen of Philadelphia, Bond of Baltimore, and others. Several ministers were invited to address the Convention, among them Bishop Simpson, who made an elaborate speech in favor of the lay movement.

The presence of so many well-known laymen, and of such ministers as Doctors Durbin, Stevens, Nadal, Hagany, Rev. R. M. Hatfield, and Bishop Simpson, is indicative of the strength which this important movement has already attained in the Methodist Church. It is supposed by many that the next General Conference, which meets at Philadelphia in May, 1864, will grant the concession asked for. Another Convention, to assemble concurrently with the General Conference, was appointed to meet in the same city on May 17, 1864. The laymen certainly show great zeal and determination in urging their suit, and no doubt will, in a short time, accomplish their object.

THE LOUNGER.

IMPORTANT NOTICE.

THE design of the seal upon the envelope, in which the following notice is sent to us, is curious and interesting. It represents a copperhead snake upside down, or reversed; a wingless wasp rampant; with the motto, "Private honor; public virtue; and the statute of Limitations."

The State Committee on the distribution of prizes for treason, rebellion, murder, and civil war, will meet upon the third day of June at such time and place as shall be hereafter announced. The Committee desire to offer a most fraternal and cordial welcome to all traitors; all members of lynching and vigilance committees; all superintendents of hanging, burning, quartering, and tearing by wild horses of Union men; all artificers in Union bone-work; and especially all murderers in cold blood of negroes; and to invite them respectfully to compete for the premiums, which will be adjusted by the following scale:

For a complete case of rebellion without cause, beginning by every kind of public and private dishonor, theft, fraud, and perjury; continued by terror, famine, and wholesale slaughter, involving the people in enormous loss of life and vast expense—either a restoration of the Union upon terms to be dictated by the authors of the rebellion, or separation with a view to reconstruction upon

terms to be made entirely agreeable to the same gentlemen.

For any equally great, causeless, and bloody insurrection hereafter, the same premium will be presented.

For any partial effort in resisting the laws by force—a partial modification of them at the option of the insurrectionists.

For single cases of complete disobedience and forcible defiance of the law—a public dinner at the expense of Government.

For single cases of successful a obstruction by fraud—a handsome bound copy of the statute of Limitations.

The Committee desire, in conclusion, to express the following fine sentiments:

We love anarchy. We will never willingly relinquish it. Its enemies are our enemies. To enforce the laws is unnatural. To punish people who steal our property and murder our fellow-citizens is fratricidal. The men in power are incompetent. What could be expected of people who turned out Buchanan? They are also fanatics. But we of the Committee, and Jeff Davis, and Robert Toombs are not in the least fanatical. They are also corrupt. Let us then hasten to recall Floyd, Cobb, and Plaquemine Slidell, the noblest Roman of them all; not forgetting, indeed, our worthy chairman, who has now for two years been wantonly and wickedly deprived of his rights in the Mayoralty of New York, and whose name, like that of our equally worthy secretary pro tem., is the synonym of purity, incorruptibility, and political honor.

In view of these great truths, and aside from all loyal and honorable men, we know that the public voice demands that we shall be put in high places. We want this voice to find expression and to be heeded, for we are extremely anxious to get in. We go for a vigorous grinding of our own axes. And while we would submit to nothing that can injure our individual chances of power or advantage, we will gladly go as far as we think will pay in the abandonment of national honor, faith, and glory.

F. W., Perpetual Chairman.

J. B., Secretary pro tem.

SOLDIERS AND SAINTS.

STONEWALL JACKSON was evidently a soldier born. He may have been a saint also. But there is no relation, as some seem to suppose, between the two. A soldier as we understand, when he is in actual service, perceives and acts instinctively. There are certain movements to be made, certain points to carry, certain results to achieve, and those things the soldier, whether a good man or a bad one, knows how to do and succeeds in doing. His skill, his coolness, his daring, his rapidity; do not depend upon his faith in his cause.

They are in his temperament. Thus, for whatever cause he might be fighting, and however much or little he might believe in it, and however religious or irreligious he might be, General McClellan, for instance, would be cautious, slow, and apprehensive. Kearny, in like manner, would have been always dashing, impetuous, enthusiastic.

Religious faith, purity of character, love of home and country, may make a man persistent and patient, but they do not make him a skillful soldier. Marlborough was the falsest of Englishmen, but he led the British arms to incessant and splendid victory. William III. was one of the noblest and truest and bravest of men, but military success eluded him. Lafayette loved France with all his heart. He was a good man but a poor soldier. Napoleon loved himself and France for his own glory, but he loosed the French eagles in every heaven. It would be very hard to show that Marlborough or Napoleon would have been better soldiers if they had been religious men. Cromwell was a great general, not because he was a strict Puritan and pietist, but because he had military genius. John Banyan was doubtless as sincerely pious as Cromwell; but he would hardly have saved England in the field.

Honesty is always admirable; but it is a two-edged sword. Philip II. was doubtless as honest as William of Orange; Servetus as honest as Calvin who burned him; Torquemada as honest as the Protestants he slaughtered. Let us respect honesty every where, but denounce and resist evil-doing. The honesty of a man who tries to destroy the foundation of civil society because its peaceful progress enlarges human liberty, is not so striking as his monstrous crime.

THE NEW SOLDIERS.

IN the Southwest ten colored regiments have been already formed, and General Thomas expects that ten more will be organized. General Butler had four such regiments in his command when he left Louisiana. General Banks is organizing a colored army corps. General Foster, in North Carolina, who was bitterly opposed to enrolling colored men, when he was caught in Washington armed three companies of them, and is now most anxious to have as many regiments as he can get. General Hunter, in South Carolina, whose colored force has seen service, commends them as hardy, brave, patient, and obedient. In the District of Columbia a regiment is forming. In Massachusetts there is one regiment ready, another is rapidly filling its ranks, and a most competent officer, General Wilde, has been designated to the command of a colored brigade which will probably rendezvous at Newbern.

These are the signs of the return of common sense to the nation, for there was a time, not very long ago, when, if there were any willingness to use the services of colored men at all, it was a general opinion that they must not be actual fighters. And yet great as is the stake of all of us in this war, it is peculiarly vital to the colored race, for it concerns their personal freedom and consequent social consideration, as well as their civil liberty. It was clear from the beginning of the rebellion that there could be but two classes of men in the

country, the loyal and disloyal—those who were willing to fight for, and those who meant to fight against, the Government. To undertake the creation of a third class, consisting of those who were individually and collectively quite as much interested in the result as we, was one of the many foolish theories in which we indulged. What could be more absurd than to hail with joy the assistance of foreigners, many of whom could not even speak our language, and who could not be supposed to understand even their own interest in the war, and reject with scorn the strong hands of men whose right to themselves and their children was to be settled by the struggle? The war is not the battle of any particular race, or color, or nativity, for the American people is the most eclectic under heaven. It is the fight of all the people loyal to a Government which secures equal rights, against their fellow-citizens who would overthrow both rights and guarantee, and plant a despotism of privilege upon the ruins.

We do not claim for the colored regiments bravery superior to that of other soldiers. All we ask is that they shall have as fair a chance as any. They may not be especially heroic; but since Bull Run, in which Americans, Germans, and Irish fled in promiscuous panic, we have learned that valor is to be tested only by long and various observation. One negro at Hilton Head, after he enlisted and the regiment was ordered to Florida, ran home and hid himself in the chimney. He was pulled out, went with the rest, and was so cool, brave, and effective in actual battle that he was promoted to a sergeancy on the field. It would be idle to sneer at German soldiers because the Eleventh Corps at Chancellorsville were called "Dutchmen," for Frederick the Great fought with German soldiers. And if in some great battle the same panic which has at times overcome all our soldiers should seize the colored ranks, we bespeak for them the charity which has protected all the others.

MORE PEACE.

THE gentlemen who have signed the call for a convention to arrange the terms upon which men in armed rebellion against the laws will consent to obey them, have put themselves in a position which for a time, at least, separates them from the sympathy of loyal men. They say: "We think that the effort to sustain the Union by force of arms in the hands of those who now direct time Government has proved a failure." To this statement they sign their names and call for peace. Their sagacity is committed to the assertion that the war is a failure. Their ambition can be gratified only by the justification of that assertion. If that is false they are wrong; and they are not likely to be trusted with power by their fellow-citizens. Now most of the names signed to the call are totally unknown, but of the few who are known not one can be supposed to wish to be put in the wrong. Our success in the field would show that the war was not a failure, and bring their words to shame. Consequently from this time forward they desire the defeat of our armies. Their cry for peace comes to just this—that they hope the enemy will succeed in slaughtering and driving back the Union soldiers; that the nation may be so utterly dispirited and disgraced that it will ask the rebels what they want, and beg them, for pity's sake, to take it!

No wonder that to such a call there is not a single name attached which carries the least weight, or inspires the slightest confidence in any part of the State.

CAVALRY.

A FRIEND returned from rebel captivity speaks of the use made of cavalry from the beginning in the rebel armies. The conscript infantry are surrounded by the mounted "gentlemen" of the South, who relentlessly cut down all stragglers from the ranks. The same cavalry have dashed into our lines, have even ridden round our armies, and left a feeling of uneasiness and dread. For some inexplicable reason we have been hitherto indifferent to that most valuable branch of the service.

But at last a series of magnificent and incisive cavalry thrusts info the very heart of the rebellion have disclosed its hollowness, and inspired universal terror and despair. They are inestimable not only for time work of cutting communications and destroying supplies, but for the revelation of the fact that behind the military crust of this rebellion there is little substance. The thinly populated section is at the mercy of these bold and broad forays. Not a spot is secure, not a family is safe. The war they have so wantonly and wickedly invoked lays its red hand upon every rebel household. In vain the "gentlemen" whip in the "white trash;" the laborers "whom capital ought to own;" the poor, starved, ignorant, deluded masses of the South. The "gentlemen" must bethink them of their own snug estates, of their own cherished families, within their lines, indeed, but no longer safe from the far-reaching hand of justice and of war. Those conscript masses will also learn that the people of the North are not what they have been painted. They are not savages because they are intelligent; they are not brutes because they believe in civil order; they are not cowards because they are free. But they will learn also that in war such men are terrible.

In this week's paper there are two remarkable pictures of cavalry attacks, by Thomas Nast and Charles Parsons. The irresistible torrent of horse and rider sweeps devastating across the land. Woe to those and eternal infamy who raised the flood-gates and let in desolation and death.

GIGNOUX'S PICTURE.

THE exhibition of Church's Cotopaxi at Goupil's rooms has closed, and Gignoux's Sunrise in the Alps is now to be seen there. It is by far the most important and successful work of his we have ever seen; and the subject is so pleasing, the treatment so thoughtful and skillful, that it can not fail of great popularity. (Next Page)