Volume II Part 62 (2/2)

”Some county judges style themselves the King's servants, a style which sounds harshly in my ears, inasmuch as the being a servant implies obedience to the orders of the master, and such judges might possibly think that, in the present situation of American affairs, my charge is inconsistent with my duty to the King. But for my part, in my judicial character, I know no master but the law; I am a servant, not to the King, but to the Const.i.tution.” ... In the course of his charge, he quotes a ”learned judge” as saying: ”Every new tribunal erected for the decision of facts, without the intervention of a jury, is a step toward aristocracy, the most oppressive of absolute governments; and it is therefore a duty which every man owes to his country, his friends, his posterity, and himself, to maintain to the utmost of his power this valuable Const.i.tution in all its rights, to restore it to its ancient dignity, if at all impaired; to amend it wherever it is defective, and, above all, to guard with the most jealous circ.u.mspection against the introduction of new and arbitrary methods of trial, which, under a variety of plausible pretenses, may in time perceptibly undermine this best preservative of English liberty.”--(”American Archives,” Fourth Series, vol. i, pp. 959, 960.)]

CONCLUSION.

My first object in this work was to prove, by historical authority, that each of the States, as sovereign parties to the compact of Union, had the reserved power to secede from it whenever it should be found not to answer the ends for which it was established. If this has been done, it follows that the war was, on the part of the United States Government, one of aggression and usurpation, and, on the part of the South, was for the defense of an inherent, unalienable right.

My next purpose was to show, by the gallantry and devotion of the Southern people, in their unequal struggle, how thorough was their conviction of the justice of their cause; that, by their humanity to the wounded and captives, they proved themselves the worthy descendants of chivalric sires, and fit to be free; and that, in every case, as when our army invaded Pennsylvania, by their respect for private rights, their morality and observance of the laws of civilized war, they are ent.i.tled to the confidence and regard of mankind.

The want of s.p.a.ce has compelled me to omit a notice of many n.o.ble deeds, both of heroic men and women. The roll of honor, merely, would fill more than the pages allotted to this work. To others, who can say _cuncta quorum vidi_, I must leave the pleasant task of paying the tribute due to their a.s.sociate patriots.

In a.s.serting the right of secession, it has not been my wish to incite to its exercise: I recognize the fact that the war showed it to be impracticable, but this did not prove it to be wrong; and, now that it may not be again attempted, and that the Union may promote the general welfare, it is needful that the truth, the whole truth, should be known, so that crimination and recrimination may for ever cease, and then, on the basis of fraternity and faithful regard for the rights of the States, there may be written on the arch of the Union, _Esto perpetua_.

Note.--The publishers are responsible for the orthography of these volumes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map of Yorktown & Williamsburg, Virginia]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map of Operations in Kentucky and Tennessee]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map of Battle of Gettysburg]

INDEX TO VOL. II.

_Abandonment of the Peninsula_, recommended by General J. E.

Johnston, 86; a defensive position nearer to Richmond proposed, 86; the question discussed in a conference of officers, 87; plan of General Johnston, 87; concentration of all troops, 87; objections, 87; not adopted, 87; measures determined on, 87.

ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY, Secretary of State, correspondence with the British Secretary of State relative to the deportation of slaves in war, 8, 9; on the restoration of slaves captured in war, 163; says private property, including slaves, can not be taken by the usages of war, 170.

_Agents of the State of New York_ to take the vote of her soldiers at the Presidential election, 492; seized with the votes and locked up in prison by the orders of the Government of the United States, 492; the description of the imprisonment, 493.

_Aggressions_, the authors of, having acquired power, were eager for the spoils of victory, 160; the series of, about to be consummated, 182.

_Alabama_, the cruiser, her condition when leaving Liverpool, 250.

_Alarm at Was.h.i.+ngton_, created by the operations of Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, 105.

ALDRICH, Judge A. P., arrested, 741; removed by a military officer, 744.

ANDERSON, General G. B., in command at Sharpsburg, 336.

ANDERSON, General J. R., placed in observation before General McDowell be fore Fredericksburg, 101.

ANDERSON, General R. H., in command at Sharpsburg, 336.

_Andersonville_, occasion for its selection for the confinement of prisoners of war, 596; its location, 596; preparations, 596; treatment, 597.

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