Republican Herald

THE AMNESTY REPORT

We had intended to have made some farther remarks on Dr. Goddard's amnesty report at the recent session of the legislature, but the "Goddard party" having been reduced to so few (only eight members standing by him) and so insignificant in number that we shall spare ourselves the trouble. If there is any man living in this world to be envied, that man is Thomas Wilson Dorr. We mean no flattery to him or his parents, they know us better, when we say his name now stands first and foremost in the ranks of the living in this country; and should he now die, his memory will be revered in coming ages, as much so as the Russells and Sydneys in the political, or as Cranmers or Rogers in the religious world. Dorr has now gained one great victory over the enemies of equal rights—a victory for which the Democracy not only of this Union, but of the whole world, will thank him, for the friends of equal rights everywhere will reap its fruits. He has been unconditionally released from a loathsome prison, without the least sacrifice or compromise of principle on his part. Unlawfully and arbitrarily convicted by a packed jury and prejudiced Court—dragged from the county where his supposed offence was committed and cast into a den of Algerines, where his conviction by previous arrangements had been made sure, he has gone through the ordeal thus far unscathed and without faltering and without fear; and now like the Eagle on the top of the mountain, he is, thank God, beyond the reach of the malignant shots of his enemies. There is yet another field of glory now before him—RESTORATION TO HIS RIGHTS. But the pathway to victory to this, is comparatively easy.—Not that coward pathway pointed out in the act of liberation—we had rather follow him to the grave, a convict, than see him take this course—but through the BALLOT BOX and the suffrages of a free people! "Swear allegiance," is indeed! and that too before the Court that tried and condemned him! As well might you expect the wayfaring traveller to thank the robber for stripping him of his all! As well might you expect the bleeding sacrifice "bound to the horns of the altar" to manifest signs of joy at the sacrificial knife.—Swear allegiance, indeed! Nor have the legislature gained any credit by the act they have passed. Had they passed an act with a clause restoring him to his rights, they might have claimed some credit for magnanimity. But now it is apparent that what they did, was extorted. They were afraid to keep him in prison any longer: and taking counsel of their fears they have placed themselves in a worse position, if possible, than they were before. But besides this, had they restored him to his rights, such an act would have abated his suit before the Supreme Court of the United States, and so have saved, not only their credit, but a large amount of money which Mr. Whipple, although very modest in his charges, will require for his professional services in the defence of the State. Such an act would have abated the suit as quickly as the death of the prisoner; and unless we have been incorrectly informed, some of the Algerine leaders were advised from high authority to pass an act of full pardon, and never "let that case come up for argument and decision before that Court." But the act they did pass, shows that the Algerines permitted their bitterness of feeling towards Gov. Dorr to overcome their better judgment. But if such were the fact with regard to the majority of the Algerine party, what shall we say to the poor "Goddard clique," the ne plus ultra of Algerine perfection. We can not say they took counsel of their fears. No. Like Milton's Satan, after his expulsion from heaven, they can stand up and exclaim, "What though the field be lost—all is not lost—the unconquerable will." Yes, no fear; and we might add, no humanity will ever conquer the "will" of that clique. Encased in hatred, as in a coat of mail, it is impervious to the demands of justice or suffering innocence. It had rather see Dorr die by inches, in that loathsome prison from which he has just been taken, than the discomfiture of that "no quarter" party—a party that would not only crush the principles of civil liberty, but commit all manner of outrages on persons and property, and then by a process of "sublimated" legislation, declare that unless the persons injured should sue out legal process "within thirty days," they should be forever barred of their legal claim for damages.—But we must stop for the present.