Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-09-08
From the indianapolis Sentinel
Lettcr from tine Hon. -. w.
voorhees, TO BItgaGier General
taringtOn.

General Hen,y u. Ccgnagton, H,ltanaD-
oils, Hdicma:
SIR :-I our favor of the 10th Is at hand, |
in which am informel that certain letters !
belonging TO me havebeen stolen. You don't /
directly state whetheryou employed some /
one else, but inasmuchlas you have posses |
sion Of The stolen property, and ayow it a. |
il you had done something to be proud Of. !
You will of course not object to being con |
sidered as the principal in this act of petty
larceny and lock picking There are some
titles to distinction whith you claim, and
which are not, believe, generally conceded
to by the public No sne, however will
dispute your right to tbs.
You take great pains IN yonr communica-
ton to conveya false imnprcsSion in regard
to the circumstances uuaef which you ex-
amincd and purloined my private cores
pondence. La November, 1903, locked
my desks, my drawers. and my Office in the
usual manner, and left for W Washnrton City,
/ did not return to Terre Haute until the
10th of June, 1864
During my absence | authorized the
owner OF the property TO rent 1t aud take
charge Of my books aud papers. lie rented
it some time i'll the spring to IL man by the
name of Muzzy, and with mistaken conf
me to remain under his control. Here,
General, was your easy opportunity. ! was
nearly a thousand miles away, a political
enemy had possession Of my desks and
drawers, and all you had to.do was to play
the burglar art, prepare false keys, pick
my locks, and you at once had access to my
private, confidential correspondence, embra-
cling the period of seven years. / have ev-
cry reason to believe that you read 1t ALL
letter by letter. You took your time, and
like the furtive. thicying magpe. narrowly
inspected each line and word to. lind. ii
possible, some expression Of opinion which
your servile political creed holds to be dis
loval. There were many letters there from
cherished friends who are dead. There was
bundle also from my wife in regard to our
domestic affairs. If you have stolen these,
also. please return them. rs they can be of
no vauee except to the owner have heard
Of generous house-breakers and pick -pocL-
cts doing as much as that.
| confess to one very disagreeabc sensa-
ton in regard to this affair. 1t is the
thought that the evidence of long years OF
friendship and affection should he subjected
to the scrutiny of such an eye asyours.
You wear the uniform Of Brigadior
General, and believe you are Colonel III
the regular army. Do you imagine that
such an act as robblng private drawers, and
publishing private letters, will bring honor
to your rank in the estimation OF gentle
men? Have you ever read scrap OF his
tory here and there Do you know IL
what light the Shiny iniormer, the caves
dropcr, the pititul spy on the affairs OF do
mcstc and private life, have always bee'
regarded by honorable men? Did you eve
O,l (. bn oi 4 n iptnrQ
ries OF Ireland against Just such conduct 9
: yours If you have nott advise you to
} so, and you will there see yourself III mi
, ror as others see you at all times. TltI
Oates pretended to discover plots. conspi
acies and treason just az you pretend tina
t you are doing. He got rich at it, as | pre-
sumo You are doing. He sacrificed tn
lives Of many of the best citizens Of Eng
land. You may do the same in this cour
try BY your sensational falSehoods and reel,
less disregard Of the public peace. Blu
the parallel may go further. a healthy re
action took place, and Titus Oates, the plot
finder Of England, stood in the stocks AM
/ was pelted by the multitude His ear
were cropped close to his head; he wa
whipped at the tail of II cart dozen time
through the streets of London. These act
of vengeance against him were only expires
sive of the feelings which virtuous mankin,
everywhere entertains towards the wretcI
who turns universal witness against his tel
= low men--who, in times Of great public eX
element and trouble, seeks to aggravat
!, the public distress by pretending to find cy
: erybody guilty but himself and his own fol
lowers; who crawls into bed rooms, VIII
ransacks bureaus, who picks locks, and pil
= fers the private thoughts of friends lol
l have studied this great English iniorme
t as your example; would you not do well
study his fate? Popular deusi0nS do NJ
last always, and the day is even now at han
when your presence among gentleman WI
| be regarded as signal to cease convcrsatlo
1 for fear you will betray it-whcn your pre-
+ ence in Il room will cause its occupant to sC
cure every loose letter or paper that may y
: in sight for fear you steal it; and when you
5 presence in town will cause everybody
$ lock their Offices or remain in them to gual
/ against your approach.
r have been told that you have been otte
ordered to the field to meet the armed en-
r mics Of your country. | have formerly e.
/, pressed my surprise that You did not GO
/ You were educated, if | am not mistake
o at West Point, by the Government, and II
f. experience among army officers has bee
. that as a class they were men OF courag
+ high breeding and honor They have ge
h eraly esteemed it their duty to be in Il
!: front in time Of war; But all general rul
are proven by their exceptions, and you a
If the exception in this instance. | shall !
d longer wonder that you remain in Indian
d nor shall be surprised if upon another
:, vasion of our State, you are again put u
C der arrest and relieved Of your command.
i Your vocation is certainly not the sword.
You should lay it aside aS too honorable I
IS you to wear and in its place, as the emble
e of your calling, you should wear bunch
is false keys and II set Of burglars tools. n
it should you keep the uniform OF the soldl
IT any longer-its place should be suppld
is the usual DISCUSSES, talse-taces, Wigs, al
r gumelastc shoes, which night prowlers al
house breakers usually wear
But word or two General, in regard
e. the letters themselves. You have raked
e drag net over many years Of my private &C
ID resnondence. What did you get after
your baseness and all Your labor The !
suit will hardly pay you for the universal d
testation which will always clingto your co
duct Let us sec One of my trlen
n writes me that he fears that ourlibertics W
h be destroyed in the hands of those who a
M now in power. He predicts that Mr.. III
coin, aided by such willing instruments
y YOU, will attempt to raise n despotism
c. the ruins of the Republic His fears a
N his predictions thus expressed in June lSl
n. have been fully verified. He says peace
BE separation would have been better tn
is this. 1t is not for you to complain OF Su
le a sentiment, have heard you publicly
I la.