Mr. Vallandigham.
For this gentleman we have a great deal of respect. He has indeed put his views about the restoration of the Union and the termination of the rebellion — in a constitutional way — in a rather strong light to suit our tastes. But he has, nevertheless, declared that he believedthat war was not the way to restore it, and we believe that the war once suspended ends it finally, at least between the present parties on the present issue. We should not wonder if he thought so himself. Moreover, he has been bold and defiant in his opposition to the tyrannies of Lincoln and the objects and manner of the war. In this he has exhibited the spirit of manliness and independence that challenges admiration.
In deciding the question of what course we should pursue with regard to him, the personal considerations should be kindly and respectful. He, however, comes not as a refugee, and, it appears from the accounts of the scene of his introduction to our territory, not as one asking shelter and protection. On the contrary, he declared himself a citizen of the United States "and loyal to them." To our officers, on being as it were, shoved in at the door, he said, ‘"I am a citizen of the State of Ohio and of the United States. I am here by force and against my will. I, therefore, surrender myself to you as a prisoner of war. "’--This happened just inside the lines of General Bragg's army. It is plain that Mr. Vallandigham does not mean to embarrass our Government by making any appeal to it. Indeed, we think it plain that he would prefer that the Confederate authorities should send him back through Rosecrans's lines, in order that the Federal Government shall be forced to complete his case within it own territory — that his sentence and its penalty should be consummated in his own country among his own people. This would be good policy. The issue before the bar of public opinion in the United States could not be properly tried in any other way. In a distant land he would be probably lamented as among past things not to be retrieved or redressed; but in a Yankee prison he would be a case continued, agitated and debated for another decision, to which he certainly looks with better hope than to the Burnside Court- Martial. His return to his own country would 1st. Be a proper act of this Government to protect its own territory from being used as a penal colony by Lincoln; 2d. Agreeable to Mr. Vallandigham as the best mode of pressing his own case upon the people of the North for their verdict; and, 3d Prevent Lincoln from avoiding the issue which his outrageous and unconstitutional proceedings in the case has raised before the people of the United States.
