The Oxford intelligencer., 1861-04-24

| ton, and which are interviewer with our inmost
convictions Reflect, for moment upon the
influence which the habitual beliefs Of men, who
really love and respect each other, unconscious
ly exert over them You have several different
p<igious denominations in your midst Suppose
the Episcopalians and Methodsts and Presbyte-
rians should appoint committee, TO attend the
next Baptist Association to be held IN this vi
cinity, for the purpose Of persuading their Bap'
tist brethren that immersion was an unscriptur-
al mode Of administering the rite OF baptism
Let that committee be composed, II you choose,
Of men who possess the warmest personal re-
gard of those to whom they are sent, and how
long do you suppose they would have toargue
the subject Of their mission before 'the Baptists
would be convinced that they were ia thcwrongs
Or, suppose that an Episcopalian and Presbytc-
rian, between whom the utmost kindliness of
feeling exists, should undertake to discuss the
question of church government, How long do
you think it would be before they would be like
ly to harmonize their conflicting views? And
il It is thus difficult for friends-for those who
love each other-for members Of the same com
munity-to cast off the shackles Of those opin
ions and prejudices which education and habit
have fastened upon their minds, what reasona-
BILE ground can there be for the expectation that
the members Of hostile communities, who have
long hated each other can be induced to lay
aside their peculiar and traditional beliefs, and
build up on this basis of mutual aversion, an
enduring supcrstructure of esteem and brother
ly regard' 49,.
We have been told also, that the people oil
the North, if we had remained in the Union,
would have relented, and done us justice, as
soon as they saw that we were in earnest, and
were convinced that we desired to cling to the
Union of our fathers Is that true? Have not
Virginia, Kentucky, and the other border slave
holding States, been almost madly although
hopelessly; clinging to the Union for many long
and weary months and yet up to this day,
what single-word of kindness or concession from
the North has fallen upon the cars of those con-
fiding States Not one. Not one.
The telegraph informs us that Lincoln has
called for 20 900 men, in order to carry out his
plan of subjugating the South. What he may
be able to effect with the aid of the military
power of the North, / cannot foretell what
NAV be the wishes of others on the subject
do not know but, come what may of calamity,
: | desire. for myself and children no other des
tiny than that which awaits these Confederate
slaveholding States. loud cheers) For sew
enty years have we been weighed down under {
af
enemies. For one, I am not disposed to tote
that intolerable weight any longer We hav,
separated, and trust that our separation vii
be permanent lApplause,)
1t has been but few weeks since certain
man left his home in Illinois for Washington
> in order to take possession of the Presidentla
chair, to which he had been elected by const
: tutonal majority Of the people of the U. States
i For time, as had been usual with his prcdC
!, cessors, he went upon. his journey openly, an
" the eyes of all the country were upon his move
u ments; but, at length, he suddenly and mystt
: riously vanished from the public gazc and aftel
= wards re-appcared in Washington daughter
:, The other day, as was coming up the Missi'
O' sippi on one Of your noble steamers, noticed
70 frequently, in the water before us, bird who's
q. conduct reminded me of that of Abraham Lii
AZ coin. As The steamer approached the bird, c.
. identity alarmed, would quickly disappear b
" meath the surface of the stream, afterwards ri
~ ing at a considerable distance from the sp
- where it had last been seen. They called tn
~ bird, | believe "the ddapper." Mr. Lincoln
al the first President OF the United States that
p, er initiated the didapper in his progress to Il
u seat of Government Oaughter.)s But the
~ were good reasons for his conduct. He W
afraid of the people; and he was right. II
- people, likewise, were afraid of him; and the
IN too. were right They knew and felt, that
: was the representative and instrument of a rec
" less and fanatical party, which had long be
= struggling to obtain the control Of the Cover
'ei ment in order that they might wicld its pow,
80 = to the destruction Of Southern interests. Mo-
w ing of good, and much of evil, was anticipat
"6 fYbm his administration of the Government
ca knew. full we'll that he had no title to the pl
w lie confidence So penetrated was the tin
~ wretch with sense of his deserts, that he e'
| caused a secret eAatnlhdllOu W Dc niduc VI
81 platform upon which he was inaugurated, on
morning of the 4th of March, and the plar
CIV were stealthily raised up for the purpose of
~, ,@ certaining that no ''infernal machine" was
'"s den underneath. | thank God that GeOrl
'uc and the other Confederate States had pas
une out of the Union before this deep, dark,
'"e damning hour had come. (Appause .rrls
,;~s ~ Another scene, and very different one, !
not long since presented on this continent
-. From his quiet home at Briarfeld, upon
~ Fbank of the majestic Mississippi, jefferson D.
was called to the Presidency Of the Confede
l...h r States. Setting out for Montgomery in the
r iinarv and public conveyances, his entire j
- - ney was performed in the open day. At e'
- - station along the route a happy, cOutented,
-, confiding people crowded around him to I
- their good wishes and congratulations He
- not afraid of them and be was right Nor '
they afraid Of him; and they, too, were Vi
They saw in him the defender, and not Chi
sailant, of their rights and liberties, and