Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-12-21
WHOLE NO. 1875


The radical press admits with exultati0n, that
Mr.. Linco,n's so-eailcd proclamation of amnesty
renders reunion impossible until slavery shall
have been abolished We we're not prepared for
this bold confession OF truth, and therefore sub
mitted iis irieutabe demonstration To the public;
but the prompt avowal, By fhe organs Of the Ad-
ministration of the tratorous intelt of the proc
smation, has caused labor 20 be superoga-
tory, Let us now CONSIDER this ukAse un-
der other aspects and reflect upon the effect il
may produce with the Southern people.
Had 0ur former social commercial and politi-
ealTelations with the South been so superficial
as 60 have given no insight into their popular
characteristics the events of the war must have
given ample evidence that The Southerners are
brave. resolute, proud. ami tenaeioos of those
things which they consider points OF honor. Their
valor IN the held, Their ivrlituue under pryaton,
and The stern hxedness OF purpose which they
have exhibited as well in the hour of defeat as Of
victory, makes it imperative for us, as sensible
beings, 10 accord them equality with our
selves in regard TO those personal attributes
which impei men 90 stand by each other in
the hour OF trlai. The radicals themselves
could hardly wish them 10 be an ungenerous and
cowardly race, for, although they evidently IN
tend TO close the doors Of our political house
they must have some recollection ofthe relations
that once existed and some respect for the asso-
Citations of the past. Now, let the North, in snp-
the wrong exchange positions with the South. so
far as concerns the danger of ineurring the pen
atty of treason. While any means of resistance
remained, while there was o crust of bread TO
sustain life, with strength enough 10
WELD q weapon and a weapon to be welded,
would any Northerner that esteems himself an
honorable man accept an amnesty whose proyi-
sions would consign to the scaffold his compan-
ion in arms, the chieftain who had shared with
..~f& Il -.
his brother, his father perhaps, and the public
officers whom his suffrage had elevated TO the po-
sition that exempted them from pardon? Yet in
accepting the terms of the amnesty the South
ern people would sign the death warrants Of
all their field dofficers-oftheir commanders, some
of whom they aevere and love with an intense
devotion-of their officials, whom they desired
to accept the post of danger and responsibility,
and, in many cases OF their kindred and bosom
friends If StonewaIl jackson lived, what man
of those whom be so often led along the embat-
tied plain, of those whom he had cheered in the
hospital and cared for with unwearying solici-
tude amid the vicissitudes of war; of those whom
he prayed for while they slept upon the eve Of
battle, and who was TO them a hero and an idol
what man of them, except some merccnary
craven that would sell his soul 10 purchase his
body's safety, would accept pardon whose price
was that leaders bloOdi Does any Northern
citizen, with heart and human instincts, beliere
that the Confederate army in Virginia would
surrender Robert Lee to the gallows, to pay with
his life, devoted to their cause, the ransom Of
their own existencel Mr.. Lincoln must have
forgotten that he dealt with the descendants of
men who fought for independence with halters
about their necks, and fought none the less un-
! fiicnhingly. If the Ameucans who unmur-
muring endured hunger and cold amid the
SHOWS of Valley Forge, had in their dark hour
betrayed Washington to the mercies Of King
George, then might we have supposed that
Americans of this day would seal their bond of
safety with the blood of their comrades and COM
manders. Whether their cause be good or bad,
whether they bepatriOts or traitors, whether they
are strong in hope or feeble with despondency,
they have at least in their veins the same un-
treacherous blood that ennobles the people of the
North--together they resolved to tread the burn
ing plowshare, together they will pass the ordeal
| We do not think that Mr.. Lincoln's estimate
| of his countrymen is so low, nor that such base
misgiyings peryaded his brain, that he issued
that amnesty with a hope of its acceptance. He
desired TO ordain by proclamation either disunion
or the extinction of slavery and the amnesty was
his pretext. In that, he succeeded. The North
cannot now fail TO understand that under the
present Administration the Union cannot be re-
stored except upon the condition of abolition.
"War Democracy" has not even phantom light
to guide it. There can be but two political part
les: that which supports the Administration sup
ports war for disunion; that which opposes the
Administration opposes the war.