The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-31 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EV EINIA G, A UGUST 81, 1865.

ence with your religious duties from whatever quar-
ter it might come." But, in the face of the restora-
tion of the government of the United States, the
bishop expresses his willingness that the prayer for
the President shall be used " as soon as the military
rule shall cease to be exercised over us." "To use
that prayer at present," continues the bishop,
" would be equivalent to wishing the success and
continuance of a domination which, even in its
mildest form, is repugnant to the spirit of any
people." There is nothing objectionable in this lan-
guage, for the Cabinet does not desire to keep a
military government in any State a day longer than
is necessary. The States have only to obey their
Provisional Governors—and let it be remembered
that the nominees of the inhabitants were appointed
by Mr. Johnson in nearly all cases—and to hold
loyal conventions, and there will be no necessity for
military power. But Bishop Green goes on to state
his opinion that the Northern and Southern Churches
should remain distinct organisations. He refuses to
return to the old bond of union.

So, too, the Bishop of Georgia has announced
that before he could consent to attend the conven-
tion he must be assured the North will pursue a cer-
tain line of conduct. "I was not anxious," he writes
to a journal, "to be myself the first to submit my-
self to the yoke which had been prepared for me."
The four Southern bishops who died during the war
must have their memories guarded. " The reputa-
tion of the dead is in our keeping, and we can fra-
ternise with nobody who would willingly disturb
their ashes." He continues in a passage so expres-
sive of what is held to be the Southern view, that it
is desirable to quote the larger part of it :
" You wonder, in your letter, that the Bishop of Georgia
did not lead the way in such action as the Bishop of Texas
has taken. It is very easy for you, sitting in the midst of
plenty, with everything nourishing about you, with the
world fawning upon you because of success, with a future
seemingly as bright as prosperity can make it, to wonder at
our backwardness in acknowledging the blessings of peace
and reunion ; but the case is very different with us whose
homes are desolate, whose friends and relatives and chil-
dren are utterly impoverished, whose social order is totally
subverted, whose future is dark and almost hopeless. I can
humble myself under the mighty hand of God, and I can
call my people to patience and endurance, but even through
grace I can do no more. Ido not mean to complain. We
entered upon this struggle, .which was irrepressible and
forced upon us, after having counted the cost ; but I should
be a hypocrite if I came forward with any smile upoa my
face and said that I rejoiced in it. I do not rejoice in it;
but I have taken the oath of allegiance, and mean to keep
it, and I have advised my people to take it and be good
citizens, and above all to do the best for the poor unfortu-
nate negroes, whose future is dark and miserable beyond
conception. Already are they perishing by thousands, and
the whole race will now go out before civilisation (so
called) and competition, as the Indians are doing. We can
survive the change, and one day flourish again, but not
they ; their fate is sealed ; and the edict of Puritanism has
already gone forth, If you cannot and will not work you
must die.' The furthest I can go in behalf of these fana-
tics is to cry ' Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do.' I cannot write any more now. My heart
is too full. If I have erred, and can be shown my error, I
shall be ready, by the grace of God, to humble myself and
acknowledge my sin ; but until then 1 wish all my words
and deeds to be 'before all Israel and before the sun.' I am
afraid of only one judge, and He is the judge of the con-
queror as well as the conquered. Success, with Him, is not
the measure of right and reward."
It is impossible not to respect such sentiments as
these ; but it is likewise painfully impossible not to
perceive with what new and grave dangers they
menace the people. " This," cry the enemies of
the South, " this comes of the President's clemency
policy. This is the result of forgiving too easily.
We ought to have punished them with the traitor's
fate, instead of offering to lend them money to re-
pair their railroads and bridges and bring their pro-
duce- to market." Language like that of Bishop
Elliott is only beat into fresh bullets to be aimed at
the heart of the South. We do not find Gen. Lee
thus adding oil to the flames of passion. Does he
feel the loss of his cause less than Bishop Elliott?
It cannot be ; but the great leader of the Southern
armies is silent. If he cannot do good he will not
do harm. To all who write to him his advice is said
to be the same—" Return to your homes ; till your
land ; obey the Government. lam your comman-
der no more." There is not less dignity in this
language than in Bishop Elliott's, but it has the ad-
ditional merit of being harmless. The effect of the
bishop's words is shown in the changing tone of the
Northern press. It has, for the most part, been
urging the Government to strive its utmost to recall
the South. It now utters cries of warning. Until
very lately, it has constantly recommended Northern
merchants to aid the South ; now it advises theni to
beware of traitors. If this goes on, in what fresh
calamity will it end? " None can be so infatuated,"
says a writer in a Northern journal which has hither-
to advocated a policy of full, and complete amnesty
and forgiveness, " as to suppose that the Union will
continue to look lightly upon that incendiary malice
which seeks to reopen old wounds and provoke, or
perhaps undertake, another national assassination."
In fact, a change is passing over Northern opinion
and feeling. The time may come when all who are
instrumental in producing that change, however
slight their share of the work may be, will have rea-
golf to keenly regret their folly.
It rDay be asked, " Did, then, the North expect
the South to give up all that it had fought for
without a murmur ? Do they ask Southern men
to sing praises to the conqueror while they put on
his chains ?" This is what is sometimes said,
but it is only said by persons who forget the
position which the South made for itself, and
misjudge the position which the North is now
anxious to see it assume. In the first place, it is
not asked to wear chains ; there is no talk of the
conqueror. What is said to the Southern men gene-
rally is pretty much what a Northern said to a
Southern General the other day—" You made a
gallant fight of it, and we only beat you by supe-
rior numbers." And, with regard to expecting the
South to yield without a murmur, it is of little con-
sequence what anybody " expected." What we
know is that unless the South tills its fields it will
continue to starve ; that unless it makes the best of
its land, Northern emigrants will do so instead.
There are some people who are always arguing over
again the causes of this war, as if hungry men could
be filled by that process. The South fought as long
as it could stand, and when it fell its mischievous
friends stood over it and said, " You are not beaten.
Only lie still down there, and your foe will soon be
obliged to give in." They keep repeating this yet.
The consequence is that pressure is being brought
to bear upon Mr. Johnson to take a harsher course
with the Southern States. The South has not a
monopoly of the quality of forgiveness. Has the
North suffered no wrong ? Were the treachery of
Buchanan's Cabinet, the robbery of the national
stores, and the precipitancy of a bloody war—were
these all nothing? Are there no desolated homes
in these States ? The Bishop of Georgia should in-
quire of his brethren here, and learn.
Whether the attempts of the Government to re-
organise the South prove successful or not, there
was no wise course before Mr. Johnson but to
make the experiment. He has followed closely in the
steps of Mr. Lincoln, who had evidently planned
exactly such a scheme as the one adopted by -the
present Administration. In two proclamations
issued by Mr. Lincoln in 1863, in his last Presi-
dential Message, and in the speech concerning the
reconstruction of Louisiana, made only a short time
before his assassination, he exactly marked out the
course which Mr. Johnson and his advisers have
since pursued. The Government, therefore, is en-
titled to the credit of having done all that the
wisdom of those who know the country best can
suggest. It is necessary to ascertain whether
the South can be trusted or not. If Southern
leaders or Southern sympathisers are anxious
to make the experiment a failure, they may easily
Co so, only they ought to be prepared to offer some-
thing better. The Government may be attempting
an impossibility in endeavouring to bring back the
South into the Union, without ruining every South-
ern man. So much the worse for the South if it is
wrong, for it will be very easy for it to alter its
plans, and Southern land will still be included within
the former Union, whatever may become if thpse
whq once occupied that land.
The State egiwpfion of Mississippi has just in-
troduced several ordinances which 4e.Serve notice.
One ratifies all judicial proceedings and !Rate laws
which have taken place or been enacted during
thn war ; another prohibits the Legislature from
impozing any oiyjj cliobility or punishment on, any