Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1861-06-26
Bishop Otey TO the Hon. VIM. II.

we subjoin:
have travelled oftener than l can count years
of nv life all over these south western States,
from Fort Towson to Tallahassee-from Vir-
ginia to Texas-and mingled freely with the peo-
pe under all the ordinary circumstances of so
cial intercourse | have had the best OppOrtuni-
ties to know them intimately, and think l un-
derstand their character thoroughly. tell you,
in all the soberness OF truth, that wherever the
invader shall attempt to pass the borders of these
States with hostile intent, he will be met by a
living wall of men, with brave hearts and hands
armed for the strife of death, more difficult to
pass than breastworks frowning with cannons and
bristling with bayonets, more numerous than
those which crowned the ramparts of Burgos.
Numbers may overcome and destroy these men,
but i'm nv conscience / declare, that Do not be-
lieve that the united strength of the North can
compel them to submission. You may kill
them, but as Cambronne is reported to have
replied, in behalf of the Old Guard, to the de-
mand for their surrender, on the bloody field
of Waterloo, They die they never surren-
der 7"
repeat that know this people; | know their
impetuous, their reckless daring. But know,
too, and Others who have fought by their sides
know also, that they can be true and steady as
veterans, when the occasion demands. Accus
toned from childhood to the handling of arms,
and practlced in their skillful use in the chase.
which frequently involves dangerous encounters
with formidable wild beasts, they acquire all the
readiness of attack and defence which marks the
veteran in war, and far more activity than he
possesses. 1t is not to be denied that the same
qualities of soldiership distinguish the troops of
the Northern States, where they have been train
ed in similar schools of hardy discipline. But
this admission suggests first and foremost, the
thought, by no means pleasing one to minds
which are set on peace, that an encounter be-
tween such troops must be proportionately more
destructive But be that as it may, the GOODNESS
and delberation with which our people are pre-
pairing for the conflict, may well surprise any one;
and knowing their temperament L do, may
add, their calmness fills me with amaZement.
They certainly inspire high hopes as to the final
result of this unfortunate difference disastrous
the realization of those hopes must be to any who,
with hostile tread, venture to violate the sanctty
of our soil
But suppose the contest eventuate otherwise
Let il be supposed that the whole picture of
threatened devastation and ruin be filled out in
the form of living reality; that young men
are slain in battle; that our old men, women and
children, take refuge in the caves and under the
rocks of the mountains; that our servants are set
free to roam lawless through the land, plunder
ing, burning, ravishing and destroying, with the
ferocity of unclaimed tigers; that the volume of
desoation has rolled like a wave of fire over the
whole South; and the wall of agony and the cry
Of despair ascended to heaven from every habita-
tion-and what then? Is this a consummation
which Christian statesman and patriot can be-
hold, with no emotion of sorrow and regret for
the share he has had in its accomplishment? Is
this the way by which you will bring back the
love and respect of the South? Is this the method
of procedure by which our Heavenly Father wins
back his erring children, and restores them to the
obedience of love and to his favorf Have you
subdued the people with whom YOU are contend.
ing by this terrible nfctonf by this awful vista
ton, before which the desolations of the Carnatc
and the atrocities Of Wyoming dwindle into min-
iatures, and pale in their enacted horrors? Will
you from these ruins reconstruct the Union
Will the children of the South who have escaped
butchery, grow up under any tuition you may in
stitute, dutifu and obedient subjects of Govern
ment whose foundations have been laid in the
blood of their slaughtered parents? Will you be
pleased to lay your finger upon the page of history
which records any such instance i'm the annals oi
the world? Will you after your work of subju-
CATION and Of vengeance is accomplished, will you
make provision for the four millions of Africa Z
children, whose ancestors your forefathers brought
over the sea- and when their labor on Northern
soil proved Improbable, they sold them to the
planters of the South. and for title gave special
warrantee of slavery that looked to no years OF
jubilee for released Will you put them to work
| the cotton fields and plantations which your
armies had laid wastel Will you occupy the
mansions of the owners, with your pious soldiers
who you have excited to murder, plumber and pill
lage, by such promises of reward we read OF
| in the DAYS of Barak and Deborah in Israel, "To
euery man ddmseI or tro," and then compel
them in return to send you the products of that
same soil and labor, on which your country has
so prospered, and so increased in wealth and
power during the last forty years?
Is this to be the destiny of the slaves your
armies have freed from bondage to be placed
under the supervisorship of Northern abolition
lists? 1t is to be hoped that you will at least
allow them, as freemen, to vote in choosing the
man under whom they will prefer to serve, as we
sometimes permit them slaves to elect their
| own master.
Sir, permit me to say here that have some
| few, very few of these people, made as far as /
can interpret the will of divine Providence, de
pendent on me for the care of their bodies and
souls, and hope you will not think feel an un.
reasonable anxiety, growing out of the patriarchia
character Of this institution it exists among Us
here, to know what disposition is to be made OF
them, when you shall have put an end to my
stewardship in regard to them. At present they
kneel with myself, wife and child, at the same
altar, morning and evening. Our meal come:
| out of the same barrel, our oil out of the same
cruise, our meat is boiled at the same time and il
the same pot; and our bread is baked in the same
oven. The same roof shelters us, and the same
blessed Lord 's-day dawn brings to us alike re
lease from our worldly occupations Every chilC
born in my house. whether white or black, ha.
been dedicated to Gods service in holy baptism
by the same forms, and when death has close,
their earthly pilgrimage, they have been com
mitted to the grave with the same solemn servic,
which the church prescribes alike for the maste
and the slave, the high and the low, the rich anC
the poor. Such offer as a sample of the prac
tice, which, SO far as | know, prevails general,
through this country. in families where Cod
name and word are honored. Will the Gov
ernment you propose to establish here do bette
for them? Will your subjugaton of the Sout
enlarge the measure of their happiness or increas
the number of their rational enjoyments an,
privilegesY / ask you, sir, to cast your eyes owe
these fair fields now beautiful with the living yer
dure of spring, waving with ripening grain an
smiling with the promise of the coming harvest
and then contemplate their changed appearance
as your own vivid imagination depict then
after they have been trampled and trodden dow
by battalions of contendng armies, and squad
rons of cavalry crushing to the battle"
When your armies shall have sacked our cite
and pillaged our homes Gf such be the decree @
, Heaven) and the wretched inhabitants heein
before your mercenary hirelings, shall leave al
to the havoc of war; when there remains no Ion
ger fortress to assault, battery to Storm O
an arm to lift up the standard of rebellion agains
+ your authority, you will then naturally ask tn
question what is to be done with this country
, Who is to possess and subdue it, and make
tributary to the benevolent purposes for whic
God intends itI The slaves are left-thcy are in
, capable of self government. Shall we leave it {
the unmtigated evils OF misrule, anarchy an
unbrded passionsY Or shall We sweep it wit
the besom of destruction, and abandon it to til
dominion, once more, of the wild beast, and t
. the recuperative energies of nature to luxuriai
, In primeval wilderness, and renew a virgin so
r for some future race? 1t might be we'll to as
i and answer these questions now, before the fea
ful work of destruction is begun. The America
, people, though impulsive, are also a reAectin
. race. For such work this they will surel
call their rulers to account. They will surely asl
= what have we gained, and like ancient Israe
!, under the remorse of punishment inflicted
\ the utmost and with vindictive vengeance upo
an offending brother, they will ask like them vii