Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1861-02-20

churches nOmlnally the followers OF him VINO was +
meek and lowly of heart who when he reviled.
reviled not again when he suffered, he threat /
ened not We hear, with moments reverence,
perhaps, the teachings of his faith: blessed are
the mercifu for they shall obtain mercy. (
Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be 4
called the children of God" Whatsoever We
would that men should do unto you do We even
so to them" Or charity it may be, is the theme, |
that charity greater than faith or hope, which 1
'suffereth long and is kind; which is not easily
provoked, thnketh no evil, believeth all things, |
hopeth all things, endureth all things" We
listen We have brought to the temple the hom /
age of our presence the offering of our attention.
Are we Christians because of that? leave
there thy gift before before the altar, and go thy
way, first be reconciled to thy brother and then
come and offer thy gift
Is all this mpracticable abstraction, or sacred
teaching? Are these visionary theories, or rules
OF life?
have not forgotten, that there is no doctrine
so pure but that it may be urged to an extreme.
| need not be reminded, that when weak and
ignorant monarch, once sought to coerce his
Trans atlantic Colonies, and lost them by so doing,
| independence would not have been achieved had
| American subjects, meekly submitting to long
series of expressions, reiraned from an appeal 70
arms. But rule is not to be set aside, and its
excellence denied and its spirit violated because,
here and there, it may be necessary to make ex
ceptions to it.
/ admit, too, that in practical life, each irupor
tant case may be, in a measure, judged according
to its own peculiar aspect Let US, then, scruti-
nze the state of things before US, and see if
therein can be found aught to justify departure
from that code of morals which it is weakness or
hypocrisy first to acknowledge, and hen to des
pse and disObey.
| regard South Carolina, GeOrgia, Florida,
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, notv thstanding
their declarations as still, technically and legally
| speaking within the Union. | cherish hope,
though il may be cloudel with doubt, that they
will not irrevocably leave it. But the anom-
aous condition in which they stand can not very
long continue
Whether the connection between us and them
shall be finally severed or not depends, Ofcourse,
mainly upon this, whether the inhabitants fthese
States are united in their determination for sep
arate national existence or not.
! am not yet convinced that they are. We
have had satisfactory, not to say Official proof
of it, no popular vote by ballot to indicate the
true wishes of the masses.
If they are firmly united in such a determina-
ton, and persevere in it, not only can we not re
tain them. but ought no longer to desire it.
When millions of men deliberately, by solemn
declaration, combine for a common object, they
are no longer traitors or rebels. There can be a
band of five or fifty or FIVE hundred, but there is
They become revolutionsts. They are entitled
to this character in virtue of their numbers and
their unanimity, no matter whether the object for
which they combine be wise or foolish, legal or
Illegal; for indeed revolution usually consists in
opposition to existing laws. If, by concerted ac
ton, in bands of thousands called soldiers, they
resist constituted authorities, kill, seize property
even commit depredations, whatever the moral
turptude of these acts. those who perpetrate them
are not, in the eye of international law, guilty of
murder or of robbery; they are carrying on war.
Ii taken in the act, they cannot according to that
law, be considered traitors but only enemies;
they cannot be hanged or sent to the penientiary;
they must be treated as prisoners of war: that
question settledby George Washington in our
own revolution. Their acts are hostile, they are
not rebellious.
If, then, the millions inhabiting the seeding
States be united in their present object, or be-
come unanimous or nearly so in its favor, it is a
fragrant abuse of language to call them traitors.
The law of nations declares that they are not. The
world will unite in declaring that they are not.
! We may levy war against them enemies That
We have a right to do. We outrage civilization,
and forfeit all claim to the respect of mankind, if
we seek to do more
Say that we levy war. Let us bear well in
mind that it will be, not against five millions, but
against ten. The border and Middle States will
! not stand by and see US carry it on; they will
: join enemies.
But if we levy war against ten millions, who
are now our brethren to what purpose? To sub
e due revolted provinces2 We assume, then, that
we shall subdue them Let that presumption
e pass Let US imagine, Greek meeting Greek, }
after millions of lives shall have been sacrificed,
the country ravaged, industry ruined. commerce
/ destroyed, that we remain masters ofthe smoking
field, and succeed in conquering and reducing to
, Submission the PROSTATE and desolated South.
What does Republic want with conquered
! and wasted provinces, reduced to submission
: Like the disciples, invoking fire from Heaven,
we know not what spirit we are of.
e have here supposed that the slave States
unite to obtain a separate national independence.
But it, trust it may be, they not united in
any such i'll advised resolution if there be, as
believe there is, in each one of the seeding
n States, conservative party, more or less power
r full, not perhaps in the ascendancy ut this mo-
: ment, but which, as events develop themselves,
/ may become so, then the great, practical ques-
D ton which every lover OF his country, every
) friend of peace and Union,-which every good
: man will put to himself, is "What shall we do
to aid these, friends in the citadel struggling
h for the same objects as ourselves? ? How can we,
the most effectually, strengthen their hands, en-
courage their hearts
By words or acts of violence? B. threats ad-
: dressed to the States of which they citizensi
: Every rash word of defiance utteFe here, will
r fall on the hearts of these men like the kne OF
/. the Union.
It Do you doubt this? Make the case your own
It Say that We, in Indiana, divided alas in opin.
J. ion, as we are,) were to learn that the State OF
N our birth adoption, where lie our homes, where
e dwell our families, was treated with cOntumely
e and threatened, from without, with violence
: How soon, in such a case, would party feuds be
l. forgottenI How little, then, should stop tC
!, inquire by whose fault this violence was brought
i upon us. A sentiment of patriotism would over
It whelm every other consideration. Indiana would
d be- unit in vindication OF her honor in defense
: of her homes and her rights.
It There are feeble race of men who can be cowet
o and driven But we not belong to one of these
2 Nor do our brethren OF the South In them, as il
5 us the Anglo Saxon blood stirs, at the tones o
)f defiance That which we would not endure, ,shal
y we expect of them2
% We cannot, by any conceivable means, Ger
tainly draw from beneath the feet of SOutherI
/? friends Of the Union the last plank upon whcl
" they rally to the support of United Confed
e eracy, by placing before the States they nhabi
l. the alternative of coercion or submission.
/, Our first duty, then, to Southern brethren
e of the conservative party is, that we should ab
stain from every word or deed that may tend {,
ic irritate. But this is not enough. We owe then
r not forbearance only, but active aid. The borie
slave States are bestirrng themselves. Virginia
h has already stemmed the tide of disunion within
c, her own borders, and has been the first to invite
A. her sisters from the North as from the South, Il
$, family council. "Come now and let us reasoI
" together" she has said.
~ Is there to be no response to a spirit frank an
ne noble thatT Are we to stand sullenly, trucu
lenty and say There is nothing to reason about
I'd we have nothing to concede" Are the Commis
siOners from Virginia, and from our neghbo
n kentucky and the rest TO return home and declar
I'd to their constituents: "It is vain; all our offer
es are rejected; all terms of accommodation are re
fused" aAre the Border slave States, thus re
ne pulsed, TO join their seeding sisters, making tn
nd South unt,and quench.ng the last spark of hop
1n for united country?
so If such be the lamentable consummation tina
IT, is approaching, what will have brought it about
The behests of principle? the dictates of con
by scieneeg tenderness for the welfare of the African
a regard for the advantage of the white laborer
he any one sentiment of honor of humanity? an
5e one motive urra unritrht bolv9