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1860
PASTORAL LETTER, To the Clergy and People in the P.E. Church, of the Diocese of Mississippi:
DEAR BRETHREN: I rejoice to see that our worthy Governor, in view of the present alarming condition of our country, has, by proclamation, appointed the 31st day of the present month as a day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer. In doing this, he has only anticipated, by a few hours, that which, during my recent absence, I had determined to bring to your serious attention, so soon as I should reach my home. And well may we humble ourselves before our Heavenly Father, and ask His counsel, in this trying hour of our national existence; for never, since the formation of our Federal Compact, has so dark a cloud obscured the prospects of our people. But a few years since, surrounded as we were by the manifold and countless blessings which a gracious God permitted us to enjoy, it might with truth be said, "He hath not dealt with so any nation." Now, though a restless and ruthless spirit of fanaticism, the various sections of our beloved country are arrayed in hostile attitude against each other, and we look around with amazement, as well as sorrow, upon a deranged currency, the destruction of public credit, the depreciation of property, the depression of every kind of business, the suspension of all public enterprises, the obstruction of trade and commerce, and we see a large portion of our citizens with arms in their hands, demanding a severance of those federal ties which have hitherto bound us together as one people. It would not become me, in this place, to enter into detail of the causes which have led to this state of general agitation and alarm. But, whilst I forbear to view the present state of our country with a politician's eye, I cannot as a member of an injured and suffering community, deny that there is good cause both for alarm and complaint, in that portion of our land in which our lot has been cast. In addition to many previous assaults upon our rights, as secured to us by our excellent Constitution, our fellow-citizens of the North and West have recently, by their suffrages, inaugurated a policy which, though in conformity with the forms of the Constitution, is supposed by many to endanger our lives and our liberties, as well as our property, and to threaten us with all the horrors of civil war. In view of these past acts of unjust interference with our domestic and social institutions, and the prospect of further injury and insult, the spirit of our Southern people is rising like the spirit of one man, to proclaim the utter futility of all further argument, or compromise, or attempts at conciliation, and to resolve that self-preservation, no less than patriotism and honor, demands a prompt and decisive remedy for these existing evils. Whether that remedy is to be found in a full and hearty concession of our just demands on the part of our aggressors, or in the establishment among us of a separate, independent, national government, it is for our fellow-citizens, through their constituted Representatives, soon to decide. And Oh! how momentous a decision will that be! Who can foretell the good or the evil which it may entail upon us? What Christian or patriot but looks with painful anxiety to the result? The dismemberment of a great nation is a thing that cannot be regarded but in the most serious light. I will not, therefore, withhold, on this occasion, the expression of my hearty desire that an overruling Providence may yet, in its wisdom and goodness, devise the means of keeping us a united people. My fears, however, I must confess, prevail over my hopes. The restless, insubordinate, and overbearing spirit of Puritanism, still raging in our public councils, as well as among a large portion of our people, furnishes excuse, if it does not fully justify our fellow-citizens in pronouncing, with almost one voice, that our differences are irreconcilable. May He who can turn the hearts of men as he turns the rivers in their course, so overrule the wills and affections of all parties, as may be best for our good and His glory.
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