Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-03-01
To abraham lincoln, President Of the United

LETTER IL
To abraham Lincoln President Of the United
Suites.
RESPECTED SIR: I'm my first letter endeavored
to show that the only legitimate object OF the
pending IS the integrity of the nation as con
stituted BY the Constitution of the United States.
i shall now attempt 10 point out some OF the con
sequences 70 be apprehended from making il a
the fundamental principles of the Const-
tuition.
Let il never be forgotten that we are one PEG
pie and one nation only 50 far as the Constitution
makes us one. OUTSIDE vi tia; bond We are thir
" four peoples and thirty four nations none of
which have any more right To interfere with the
local laws and Institutions of the rest than with
the laws and institutions OF China and Brazil
The people OF the States have right, under the
Constitution. 10 defend their local laws aud insti
tutiOns by arms. If necessary and it is the duty
OF the United States to uphold and aid them in
the attempt A war confined to such AN object
would not be rebellion, even though the United
States were the aggress0r. just SD far
therefore, the pending war may be
waged against Southern Institutions, the
Southernefs in arms will cease to be
rebels, and the \ Ortherners in arms will become
in truth what they are now falsely charged with
being-the wantOn ASSISTANTS of Southern rights
Let me not be misunderstood. Thus far tile war
has been confined to an enforcement of the Con
stitutOn and the laws of the United States, and
in their armed resistance the SOutherners are uI-
quaIIned and unmtlgated rebels. But let the
United States abandon this firm and safe plat
form; let them announce that the is hereaf
ter to be waged against the constitutional laws
AMI Institutions of the Southern States, and they
will measurably relieve the traitors from the
odium OF causeess rebellion, will give to their
cause n color of right, and will nerve their arms
for more desperate resistance. Then, indeed
Al.
ecuted. not for the purpose OF maintaining the
Constitution, but in subyersiOn of its fundamental
principles.
Such position would be attended with mis-
chevous, not fatal consequences, both ut home
and abroad 1t would parayze many "a Northern
patriot, who would give his life Tor the Union
mot because he loves Southern Institutions, but
because he holds sacred the principles OF the
Constitution. and deems their preservation essen
tial To the maintenance of order and law, as well
in the North the South.
All intelligent men know that republic as ex-
tensive as The United St,tes. embracing such a
variety of climates, productions Institutions.
opinions aud interests can not exist under one
consolidated Government aud at the same time
allow the highest practicable degree OF liberty to
all is parts Hence il Is that every true friend of
liberty revolts from the idea of an attack on that
fundamental principle OF the Constitution which
things which pertain TO it, local aff,irs. In.the
sub,erson of that principle he sees nothing in
prospect but cluster of hostile republics like
those OF Greece, wasting each other IN continual
wars: or n great empire Ike that of Rome in
which liberty shall be crushed under the iron rule
OF an artIstocratlc Senate or usurping Cesar.
With such prospect before him. how can any
true friend of liberty sustain, with confident hone
and unhagging enthusiasm, the prosecution of
this WARP
But the paralysis which Abandonment of the
Constitution would produce in many a Northern
arm would not be It's only effect Ii would, in an
equal degree nerve many Southern arm and
array IN active hostility nlany a southern friend
of the Union lt would enable the rebels 70 saw
that the North Is attempting TO subvert the con
st,tutIoual rights which the South i fighting 10
maiutsju. IL would. in the eyes of the world.
mitigate the crime of rebellion by enabling the
rebels 10 assert. with some plausihiiiy that there
was a conspiracy ia the North against their con
StitntiOnsl rights Ii would enable them 10 say
To- Great Britain and France that the North a.
well n the South had abandoned the C1nstitu-
ton which made them one Ieople. and become
equally revolutionary shat the one WIS a much
entitled TO be considered and aCku0N ledrei a
separate and independent people a tie other
Bat il ! said that slavery Il the cause OF the
rebellion. and. therefore. it should be extermIna
ted. The assertion Is but remotely and partially
true. and. i far a. il i true. by means iusti
teS the conclusion. II the mere existence of
slavery were sufficient To produce rebellion, the
Constitution wOuld never have been formed: or
having been formed. il would not have lived to
three score years aud ten. III slavery were OF
itself sufficient make rebels. then all
SHAREHOLDERS would be rebels. 80 far i this from
the truth that the most considerable among them
look upon the Consti luton and the Union a. the
only outside protection which that institution has
In their view and in that of all disinterestei men
IN other States. that feature Of the Constitution
which guarantees the return of fugitves from la
Dor. commends il % tire cOrtiil and persevering
support Of all masters WhO have 10 object in
view beyond security in their lawful rights No
such International regulation exists elsewhere In
the civIllzei world. and it, maintenance ought
upon every principle Of sound reasoning. ID have
made Shareholders the last to give up tile Consti-
tu,ion. In tins view slavery was a bond of union
80 far as the masters were concerned rather than
element of dissolution. Aud il is in this view
thar certain men in the North have denounced
the Constitution an league with he'll "
Ia another letter | viii endeavOr 10 point out
the true causes OF the rebellion and how lar
slavery has iosterei them. | si.all also attempt
To show that the wurme>t friends OF emanc pa
tio.i ought to DC satisfied with the progress their
principles are mixing through the mainess OF
slave owners and the growing necessities OF the
peoding oontiiet. Amos kfNDALL