CHAPTER XVII. HE REFUSES, AND IS AFTER PROPOSITIONS FOR THE RELEASE OF MR. DORR ON CON- THE leaders of the "law and order " party in Rhode Island have made repeated efforts to justify themselves in view of the people of the sister states, and various printed documents have been extensively circulated for that purpose; and it is obvious that many of the errors and mistakes that are found abroad with regard to this matter have arisen from such sources. It has been said that Mr. Dorr would not have been sent to the state prison even after sentence if he had consented to take an oath. The circumstances upon which that report is founded are simply these: During the trial and conviction of Mr. Dorr, disinterested men of all parties, at home and abroad, regarded the proceedings as extremely unjust; and before he was removed to the state prison, his persecutors heard with concern the loud murmurs. which arose against them from all quarters. They wished to screen themselves from the threatening indignation, and therefore devised the following scheme: Mr. Dorr's father was induced to petition the legislature for the liberation of his son, and a delegation of the "law and order" party visited Governor Dorr while he remained in prison at Newport, informed him of the said petition, and offered to advocate its passage on condition that he would engage to take an oath to support the existing constitution of that state. This overture was promptly rejected, and Mr. Dorr gave the gentlemen to understand that he would never take an oath to support a government which owed its existence to the power of the bayonet; he would not sacrifice his principles or his honor to save himself from a dungeon or a gibbet, and he desired no favors from a government the validity of which he did not acknowledge. The legislature being in session at the same time, a member of the Senate visited Mr. Dorr in prison in order to ascertain his determination with regard to the proposed overture. During that interview Mr. Dorr disclaimed all knowledge of any such petition on his part, and requested the honorable senator, in his name, "to protest against any action by the General Assembly upon said petition." That petition was, however, presented, but not acted upon. Whether those individuals who thus endeavored to operate upon Mr. Dorr could or could not have induced the General Assembly to pass the act which they proposed, it is impossible to say; but it is certain that no action was taken upon the subject at that time, and it is well known that he would never have consented to any such propositions if they had been made. The inconsistency of this manœuvre is apparent. An individual had been proved guilty, as his enemies said, of the most atrocious and abominable of all crimes, which implied a total moral depravity; and now they offer to set him at liberty if he will engage to support their cause. It was not the prisoner that these officious "law and order" men sought to relieve, but themselves and their own party. Public opinion had found them guilty of a great wrong, and they hoped to escape its impending sentence by casting away their victim. At the January session of the General Assembly, 1845, the subject was brought up again without the knowledge or consent of Mr. Dorr, and the following act passed. Thomas W. Dorr liberated on Condition of his taking the Oath of Allegiance to the State. January, 1845. Upon the petition of Sullivan Dorr and Lydia Dorr, his wife, praying for an act of amnesty,— Voted and resolved, That the prayer thereof be so far granted as that Thomas W. Dorr be liberated from his confinement in the state prison, upon his taking the following oath or affirmation : "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations; and that I will support the constitution and laws of this state and of the United States. So help me God. (Or, this affirmation I make and give upon the peril of the penalty of perjury.) Said oath or affirmation shall be administered by the clerk of the Supreme Court, sitting in any county in the state, or by one of the justices thereof in vacation, and be recorded upon the records of said court in the county in which the same is taken; and the warden of the state prison is hereby directed to furnish said Dorr with a copy of this resolution, and whenever he shall signify his desire to take said oath or affirmation, to attend said Dorr before said court or justice; and upon his taking said oath or affirmation, to discharge him accordingly. This act plainly showed that the same rancorous spirit with which Mr. Dorr had been persecuted still existed in all its bitterness; and it also showed that his enemies were desirous to compromise with public opinion, and purchase a pardon for themselves by pretending to grant one to Mr. Dorr. Every member of that legislature well knew that Mr. Dorr had once solemnly sworn to support the people's constitution; and now that body offered to release him if he would violate that oath. Now, when the government had deprived him of all his civil and political rights, and taken away his oath, as if in mockery, they call upon him to go before the same haughty and arbitrary tribunal which had, as he knew, unjustly doomed him to a felon's cell, and there swear allegiance to a government which had been established by force, in violation of the inherent and constitutional rights of the people at large. His enemies well knew that a compliance with that act would mar his spotless reputation, and clothe him with perpetual shame. With this mark upon their victim, he might go abroad to be despised and spurned by all men. His oath could never again be taken. By law he had already been deprived of all the rights and privileges of a citizen, or even a human being, and 23* nothing but a compliance with this act seemed necessary to complete his destruction. But those who composed that legislature were mistaken in their man. From a lofty moral eminence he looked down upon them with contempt. His conduct was governed by a high moral sense unknown to his enemies. He would not barter his conscience for his freedom or his life. He spurned the graceless overture, and, like Cato of old, gave his persecutors to understand that he disdained any boon which they had power to offer. Every where abroad the people applauded the heroic firmness of Mr. Dorr, and condemned the shameful tyranny of his persecutors. It was evident that a storm was gathering dark rolling clouds charged with indignant thunders appeared in the horizon and seemed to threaten with destruction the Rhode Island bastile. Under these circumstances it was thought prudent to liberate their victim, and, therefore, the General Assembly, on the 26th day of June, 1845, passed the following act : An Act to pardon certain Offences against the sovereign power of the State, and to quiet the Minds of the good Citizens thereof. SECTION 1. No person shall be hereafter prosecuted for any crime or offence which may have been committed against this state, and enumerated in the act entitled "An act in relation to offences against the sovereign power of the state," passed April 2, 1842; and every person who is under recognizance, indictment, or sentence for or on account of any such offence, shall be and is hereby discharged from such recognizance, |