Part 9 (2/2)

”How long before you would be ruined by the operations of the same cause?” inquired the individual at the side-table.

”Sir, we of the North hold the wealth of the country in our pockets.

They can't fight against our money--they can't do it, sir.”

”Your ancestors fought against money, and fought pa.s.sably well.”

”Yes, sir, for the great principles of human liberty.”

”Which these rebels believe they are fighting for. You have need of all your money to keep a respectable army in the field. These Southerners may have to fight in rags, as insurgents generally do: witness the struggle of your Revolution; but until you lay waste their corn-fields and drive off their cattle, they will have full stomachs, and that, after all, is the first consideration.”

”You are an alien, sir, a foreigner; you know nothing of our great inst.i.tutions; you know nothing of the wealth of the North, and the spirit of the people.”

”I see a great deal of bunting in the streets, and hear any quant.i.ty of declamation at your popular gatherings. But as I journeyed northward from New Orleans, I saw the same in the South--perhaps more of it.”

”And could not distinguish between the frenzy of treason and the enthusiasm of patriotism?”

”Not at all; except that treason seemed more earnest and unanimous.”

”You have seen with the eyes of an Englishman--of one hostile to our inst.i.tutions.”

”Oh, no; as a man of the world, a traveller, without prejudice or pa.s.sion, receiving impressions and noting them. I like your country; I like your people. I have observed foibles in the North and in the South, but there is an under-current of strong feeling and good sense which I have noted and admired. I think your quarrel is one of foibles--one conceived in the spirit of petulance, and about to be prosecuted in the spirit of exaltation. I believe the professed mutual hatred of the sections to be superficial, and that it could be cancelled. It is fostered by the bitterness of fanatics, a.s.sisted by a very natural disinclination on the part of the ma.s.ses to yield a disputed point. If hostilities should cease to-morrow, you would be better friends than ever.”

”But the principle, sir! The right of the thing, and the wrong of the thing! Can we parley with traitors? Can we negotiate with armed rebellion? Is it not our paramount duty to set at rest forever the doctrine of secession?”

”As a matter of policy, perhaps. But as a right, I doubt it. Your government I look upon as a mere agency appointed by contracting parties to transact certain affairs for their convenience. Should one or more of those contracting parties, sovereignties in themselves, hold it to their interest to transact their business without the a.s.sistance of an agent, I cannot perceive that the right can be denied by any provision of the contract. In your case, the employers have dismissed their agent, who seeks to reinstate the office by force of arms. As justly might my lawyer, when I no longer need his services, attempt to coerce me into a continuance of business relations, by invading my residence with a loaded pistol. The States, without extinguis.h.i.+ng their sovereignty, created the Federal Government; it is the child of State legislation, and now the child seeks to chastise and control the parent. The General Government can possess no inherent or self-created function; its power, its very existence, were granted for certain uses. As regards your State's connection with that Government, no other State has the right to interfere; but as for another State's connection with it, the power that made it can unmake.”

”So you would have the government quietly acquiesce in the robbery of public property, the occupation of Federal strongholds and the seizure of s.h.i.+ps and revenues in which they have but a share?”

”If, by the necessity of the case, the seceded States hold in their possession more than their share of public property, a division should be made by arbitration, as in other cases where a distribution of common property is required. It may have been a wrong and an insult to bombard Fort Sumter and haul down the Federal flag, but that does not establish a right on the part of the Federal Government to coerce the wrong-doing States into a union with the others. And that, I take it, is the avowed purpose of your administration.”

”Yes, and that purpose will be fulfilled. We have the money to do it, and we will do it, sir.”

A tall, thin gentleman, with a white cravat and a bilious complexion, approached the party from a different part of the room.

”It can't be done with money, Mr. Pursely,” said the new comer, ”Unless the great, the divine principle of universal human liberty is invoked.

An offended but merciful Providence has given the people this chance for redemption, in the opportunity to strike the shackle from the slave. I hold the war a blessing to the nation and to humanity, in that it will cleanse the land from its curse of slavery. It is an invitation from G.o.d to wipe away the record of our past tardiness and tolerance, by striking at the great sin with fire and sword. The blood of millions is nothing--the woe, the lamentation, the ruin of the land is nothing--the overthrow of the Union itself is nothing, if we can but win G.o.d's smile by setting a brand in the hand of the bondman to scourge his master. But a.s.suredly unless we arouse the slave to seize the torch and the dagger, and avenge the wrongs of his race, Providence will frown upon our efforts, and our arms will not prevail.”

A tall man in military undress replied with considerable emphasis:

”Then your black-coated gentry must fight their own battle. The people will not arm if abolition is to be the watchword. I for one will not strike a blow if it be not understood that the inst.i.tutions of the South shall be respected.”

”The government must be sustained, that is the point,” cried Mr.

Pursely. ”It matters little what becomes of the negro, but the government must be sustained. Otherwise, what security will there be for property, and what will become of trade?”

”Who thinks of trade or property at such a crisis?” interrupted an enthusiast, in figured trowsers and a gay cravat. ”Our beloved Union must and shall be preserved. The fabric that our fathers reared for us must not be allowed to crumble. We will prop it with our mangled bodies,” and he brushed a speck of dust from the fine broadcloth of his sleeve.

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