Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-12-01
The Oath.

Let us look little further at the oath which
citizens of the loyal States. arrested and impris-
Oned by order of the Secretary of War or some
underlng of that officer, and "honorabv dis
charged" by the same authority, are compelled to
take the condition OF such honorable dis
charge" We suboin the oath in FULL
Il, -, do solemnly swear that will sup
port. protect and defend, the Constitution and
Government of the United States against all en-
emies, either domestic or foreign, and that will
bear true faith, allegiance and loyalty TO the
same; any ordinance, resolution or law of any
State convention or Legislature % the contrary.
notwithstanding; and, further, that do this with
the full determination, pledge and purpose. with
out any mental reservation or evasion whatso-
ever; and, further. that will neither enter any Of
the States in instruction against the author
ity of the Federal Government, nor hold any cor
respOndence whatever with them. with any
person in them, during the present rebellion, with
out permission of the Secretary of War; and that
l will, I'D all things, depOrt myself good and
loyal citizen of the United States and that will
not, at any future time, commence cause any
action or suit against the officers of any LOYAL
State, or of the United States, for causing my
arrest or Imprisonment, so help me God"
There IS OF course nothing Objectionable in the
simple oath of allegiance. Every good citizen
stands ready to take that provided the circum-
l
not impugn his loyalty. The objection to it in
the of a citizen arrested without cause. held
contrary to law. and "honorably discharged
without trial. is, that the requirement to take it
does impugn his LOYALTY. The smallest repara-
ton which the Government could make for the
wrong done the citizen. in his arbitrary illegal
and causeless arrest and Imprisonment. would be
his honorable discharge without any conditions
whatever. But, as is seen, t is not alone the
Of he,
take. His loyalty is still further impugned by
the requirement that he shall swear that he takes
the oath without mental reservation or evasion.
and that he will not hold communication with
the rebels Nor is this all The most shameless
insult and outrage are added to the grossest in
jury by the requirement, as a condition of his
release from arbitrary, Illegal and causeless i'm
prisonment that he shall swear that "he will not,
at any future time, commence or cause anv ac-
ton sui iagainst the officers of any loyal State,
or of the United States for causing his arrest OF
imprisonment. so help him God"
| If, in the annals of despotsm, in the old world
or the new, there be anything which exces the
infamy of this despotism. we are not familiar
with it,
There is now confined in Fort Warren a citizen
Of Philadelphia, named William d. Winder.
whose Imprisonment is Of more than years du-
ration; the responsibility for whose arrest was,
cuOItll dllcT u Dtctl ultuc dltclnDJtu 10 Ut
shuffied off by both the Secretary of War and the
Secretary of State; who is confessedly guilty of
no offense; against whose loyalty no truthful al
legation has been nor can be made; who has been
persistently denied trial; TO prevent writ of
habeas corpus, issued by Judge of the Supreme
Court of the United States. reaching whom. the
keeper of Fort Warren has shut himself up within
the walls of that bastile-this citizen of Pha-
delphia, we say. is still confined in Fort Warren
solely because he refuses to take this oath. His
honorable discharge" has been offered to him
on the condition that he would take it. He is
held for no other reason than that he will not
take il. He is held for other reason than that
he will not. by the remotest implication, impugn
his own loyalty and because he will not surrender
any redress which the law gives him for the great
and unprovoked wrongs which have been done
HIM
Never there martyr in more glorious
cause. Nobody knows what suffering is inflicted
upon him to compel him to take this oath. for he
is injured deeply in the recesses of the Federal
bastile in the harbor of boston that no sound of
his voice is heard save by his fellow prisoners and
solitary keeper He may yield OF the alterna
tives of ruined health and compliance. he may
at last accept the latter. But we do not believe
t. And If he shall not. woe. woe to his tyrants
when outraged justice shall, by and by. overtake
them.-ChicagO Times.