The daily phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, November 19, 1865, Image 3
indeed, the main argument of those
who support the Federal cause. The
majority, they say, elected a presi?
den*, and the minority was bound to
acquiesce. How did Mr. Lincoln re?
spect this principle, when it appeared
advantageous to abandon it ? By
contriving a scheme of government
for the conquered States, in which a
minority so insignificant as one-tenth
was to represent and rule over the
majority of nine-tenths ! We say
nothing of the rights of neutrals,
formerly regarded in the United States
as so particularly sacred ; we pass
over the express clause of the Consti?
tution on the issuing of search war
rants, on delay in bringing to trial, on
the issuing of the writ of habeas cor?
pus, Sec. ; but there are two points
that cannot be omitted in reviewing
this subject-rebellion and secession.
It seems strange now-a-days to hear
of Mr. Lincoln as the advocate of re?
bellion, as its earnest advocate, on a
large scale or a small scale, whether
by the whole of a people or a part of
a people ; but here are his words, de?
livered in Congress when a member
of the House of Representatives :
"Any people, anywhere, being in?
clined and having the power, have
a right to rise up and shake oft' the
existing Government, and forma new
one that suits them better. This is a
most valuable, a most sacred right-a
right which we hope and believe is to
liberate the world. Nor is this right
confined to cases in which the whole
people of an existing Government
may choose to exercise it. Any por?
tion of such people that can, may
revolutionize and make their own of
so much of the territory as they in?
habit."* As the people of the North
now regard with affection the memory
of their late President, and treasure
up all his sayings, it may be well to
ponder on these words, not as a proof
of astounding inconsistency, but ns
an invitation to'consider whether a
people who have been educated in
such doctrines are to bc greatly
blamed for putting them in practice.
Mr. Lincoln changed his position
changed his views. It never occurred
to him when he held them that they
might come home to his own case.
But the scholar is to be judged, not
by tho altered position of the school?
master, but by the lesson he was
taught. And if the people of the
South desire a sanction and a warrant
for their action, none could be ima?
gined more cogent, moro exactly ap?
plicable to the case, or deserving of
more respect at the hands of the North
than these teachings of Mr. Lincoln.
We are not aware that he ever advo?
cated secession, but he did something
more than merely to advocate it. He
approved of, ratified and adopted se?
cession in the most pernicious form
in which it can ever occur-the only
form in which it is forbidden by the
Constitution. A part of the old State
of Virginia desired to secede from the
rest and continue with the Union.
The Constitution says, Article IV,
section 3, "but no new State shall be
formed or erected within the jurisdic?
tion of any other State." Mo words
can be clearer than these. In the
face of them Western Virginia was
permitted to secede, and this new
State was formed within the unques?
tioned jurisdiction of the parent State.
At that time it was in the highest de?
gree probable that the South would
acquire its independence. In this
view it was very important that the
frontier of Virginia should not extend,
as it did, to the Ohio River, into the
very heart of the North. To avoid
this danger it was thought politic to
cut oil' that portion of the State.
The risk at the time was no doubt
serious ; the object was of large im?
portance ; but motives of prudence
or advantage are no answer to the
plain fact that the disintegration of a
State, secession in its worst form, was
accepted and carried out by Mr. Lin?
coln, when it told in favor of the
North.
There is a subject that can never
be passed over in reviewing these
events-that of slavery. On this sub?
ject President Lincoln ever spoke
with honesty and candor. He made
no hypocritical pretension to other
principle in tin? matter than that of
using it as a means of saving the
Union. At the outset of the war he
referred to the' Chicago platform, on
which he was elected, in proof that
he had no authority to interfere with
shivery in the States, und he went
further, adding not only that ac bad
no right to interfere, but that lie had
no incl nation to do so. Shortly af?
terwards the federal Congress passed,
with his approval, an addition to the
Constitution, 3d March, 1861, which
ran thus : "That no ann ndment shall
Le made to the Constitution which
will authorize or give Congress power
to abolish or interfere within any
'r2th January, isis,
State with the domestic institutions
thereof, inchiding that of persons
held to labor or servitude by the laws
of said State. In the rapid progress
of events and growth of passion this
amendment, though passed by Con?
gress, was not sent to the States for
ratification, and therefore fell to thc
ground. It is, however, on record,
to show the readiness of the Federal
Congress to debar itself forever from
any pretence to interfere with slavery
in the States, and this, whilst
persons in this country were loudly
asserting that it was to destroy slavery
that the war was waged. An amend?
ment has recently been passed, the
reverse of the foregoing, and declar?
ing the abolition of slavery. It has
not yet been ratified, we believe, by
the requisite number of States, and
if ratified, will be a plain breach of
the Federal compact, which reserved
to the representative States all powers
not delegated to the Government.
This amendment would be in direct
conflict with the body of the instru?
ment, or rather with a prior amend?
ment, No. 10. Soon after the date
we have named, thc negro question
was presented in an entirely new
phase. The Federal generals, find?
ing at that early period some difficul
! ty in appropriating what their own
laws held to be private property, in
j vented an escape from this dilemma
byT declaring the poor negro "contra?
band of war." Thus tho growth of
this virtue, which Mr. Beecher would
have us to believe is nurtured by
bloodshed, proceeded so far as to raise
the negro from his former condition
into that ol a contraband commo?
dity.
Thc next remarkable step in the
progress of the anti-slavery movement
j was Mr. Lincoln's proposal to get rid
I of the difficulty by shipping tho race
away to foreign parts. He selected c
district in Central America for thc
purpose, assuming that its Govern?
ment would make no difficulty in
the matter; indeed, apparently deem
ing it superfluous to consult then
about it. This strange scheme .foi
dealing with four millions of people
was actually set in motion, but, a<
might have been expected, came t<
nothing. About this time appeared
the famous letter to Horace Greeley
in winch, with perfect candor, Mr
Lincoln stated that he would free th<
negroes, or some of the negroes, OJ
none of the negroes, according as ht
found that, by freeing them, o]
some of them, or none of them
he could save the Union. Nothing
could bc more explicit-nothing mon
honest tahn this-nor any more diree
denial of the shallow pretence thu
the object of the war was to giv<
liberty to the slave. Then followec
the. famous slave-proclamation whiel
he was persuaded to issue against hi
own judgment; for but a fortnigh
before, it will be remembered that h<
told a dep: .tation who urged it upoi
him, that t would be as futile as "th
Pope's B !1 against a comet." So i
has proved. It failed to incite a ser
vile insurrection, the only way ii
which it could possibly produce ;
practical result; nor is there reason t<
believe that a single negro was free?
by it who would not have been equal!
freed by the action of the Federn
armies without it. As a war measure
nothing could be more reprehensibl
than to adopt such a means of fight
ing an enemy-any enemy-and thes
were of the same kin; as a matter c
moral principle, nothing more incoi
sistent, for it prohibited thc sin t
the enemy and permitted it to th
ally. It made right and wrong
matter of geographical convenience
for certain count ies of Louisiana wei
to retain the system, wdiilst the rei
were denied it; and more than this,
retained slavery where there wi
power to end it, and it pretended t
sweep it away where there was n
power to touch it. On this subjec
as with the others already considere<
we find constant verification of tl
remark of Wendell Phillips, that M
Lincoln, as a ruler, wits "a man wit!
out a back-bone." There is an cntii
absence of fixed principle or persis
ent action; nothing but getting alor
with the affairs of the day no
; yielding to the pressure on this sid
and now on the other; adopting i
great principle without reversing i
advocating in theory that rebelli<
which he resisted in practice, ai
accepting in practice that secessi?
which he denounced in theory.
We have pointed out what appi a
to us the deplorable original err
of employing the sword as a means
maintaining a Union. Another soi
followed it. The basis of the Fed
ral action, as alleged, was the heb
that a loyal party existed in the Sont
held dowii in terror by a minority
violent men who had obtained "coi
maud of the situation." That sind
party did exist was true; but it v\
still more eleni-that the edge of t
sword would destroy it. In the re?
bellion of these States, when colonies,
there was at first a large party of
loyalists; but it vanished in the ex?
citement of war. There was ample
evidence that this would be the effect
now, for the decision to shed blood at
once drove the loyal border States
over to the opposite ranks. But ad?
mitting the theory of a loyal party
a large portion of the Southern peo?
ple sound at heart but under restraint
-it was then imperative that the war
should be conducted as an act of calm
judicial necessity, and so as to pro?
duce the smallest possible amount of
exasperation or abiding hate. It has
been contracted in a manner exactly
thc reverse of this. ?MJ war of modern
times has been urged in a spirit BO
bitter, so unsparing, so ungenerous.
The sinking of stone fleets to destroy
harbors; the bombarding of dwelling
houses with Greek fire; thc cutting of
levees to inundate great districts and
drown the inhabitants; thc shooting
of prisoners, on more than one occa
sior, in cold blood; the official in?
sulting of women and of clergymen;
thc avowed attempts to destroy by
famine; thc burning of mills, farm?
houses, barns; the plunder of private
property-these, apart from those in?
cidents of individual outrage wliich
ever accompany invading armies,
have made memorable the names of
Butler, Turchin. Pope, Sheridan,
Blenker, Hunter, Milroy, McNeill, as
a band of generals, of all human
beings the least fitted to restore a
fraternal Union. It is plain that Mr.
Lincoln was not personally responsi?
ble for these things; it is probable
that in his own breast he deplored
them. But they are part of the his?
tory of his rule, nor did he disavow
and forbid them. Some of the gene?
rals named, were discarded on failure
I in the field; but wc know of no case,
even one so revolting as thc murder;
of Palmyra, where punishment wai
visited on the crime. "Wo pass . fron
this irksome criticism. Such reflec
tions are little heeded in the hour o:
triumph; but the exaggerated ant
fulsome tone of much that has beer
written invites some expression o:
independent thought. There are those
whose recent admiration of Southon
valor is now exchanged for admiratioi
of Northern success. All have not the
power to mould their views of righ
afiel wrong, so as to sympathize nov
with those who are expected to win
and now with those who prove to bi
the winners.
The death of Mr. Lincoln was ii
itself a sufficient calamity to th
world, occurring at a time when th?
kindly qualities of the man, and th'
experience of affairs he had acquired
would have been of inestimable value
That calamity is greatly increased b;
calling to his place one even less fittee
for it by education or knowledge, am
without the redeeming personal quail
ties of hispredecessor. That Mr. John
son is a man of considerable naturi
ability we cannot doubt, for withou
it no man could have worked his wa
from the condition of a journeyma
tailor to the position he held at th
outbreak of thc war. But there ar
many kinds of ability; and there i
one kind which has usually been re
gardetl in tho North as by no mear
beneficial to the country-that of tb
professional politician, the man \vh
adopts politics as a trade to live b
anti thrive by. Such \v;ts the occupi
tion of Mr. Johnson, and it was sin
cessful under these circumstances. I
the South, although universal suffrag
prevails, the lead in political affairs
usually taken by men of educatio
and leisure, who, as in this countr
are in the habit of thus employir
their time, not as a money-makir
trade, but as an elevated pursui
Hence, as a rule, the leading men i
Ute country are to be found in tl
political ranks. But there are exec
t ional districts. Tennessee, one
the younger States, contains a ve:
mixed population, and a great propc
tion of small farmers, who are usual
men of extreme prejudice and narri
education. These, from their nm
ber, could always swamp the educate
classes; and with such a constituenc
ne> man was more likely to succei
than Andrew Johnson. Wit i t
energy necessary to go through t
work, views and habits suited to the
own, and unlimited command
words, he gradually attained all t
honors ami emoluments their ve>i
could confer. He was an ardent e
fender of slavery, and a slave-own
himself to the extent of his means
believer in "manifest destiny;" ar
in the mielst ed' complete democrae
something more than a democrat,
remarkable specimen of the orate
by which he convinced the intellect
i his constituents may be? found in t
j New York World, of the 18th
April. We forbear to give the* quo
tion. And what judgment is; to
formed by the speeches he has n>;i
^---?-?
so frequently since his elevation?
They ring the changes in three notes
-first, the boast of being a plebian;
secondly, the malediction of all trai?
tors; thirdly, the disparagement of
mercy. Was ever such a creed pre?
sented to the world? Wc have sought
in vain for one noble sentiment, for
one generous emotion, for the faintest
trace of a recollection that he ruled
over thc sons of rebels, that his own
position was the fruit of rebellion,
that the first and great President he
had to follow had been a traitor.
When it was the business of the
statesman to pour oil upon the trou?
bled waters, the cry is for vengeance,
confiscation, blood.
It has been said that this war was a
struggle between aristocracy and de?
mocracy, in which the latter has tri?
umphed. No delusion could well be
greater than to speak of the South as
an aristocratic country. Air. Lincoln
and Mr. Johnson, both Southern men,
are they to be termed aristocrats? It
is very true that men of property and
refinement in the South have usually
a conservative spirit; but as regards
the country at large and its institu?
tions, what more utterly democratic?
The State Constitutions are such as
no Chartist could improve upon. Vote
by ballot, universal suffrage, payment
j of members, shorL terras of office,
1 popular election even of judges-are
these the features of aristocracy? It
seems to bc unknown or forgotten
that the South was the leader in the
downward course of democratic pro?
gress, and that Thomas Jefferson wai
a. Southerner. Believers in demo
cracy ought surely to lovo the country
for his sake. If the embodiment if
to be sought of what is invidiously
represented as the aristocratic spirit,
it would not bo found amongst the
planters of the South, who lead ai
home the simple lives of country gen
tlemen, but amongst the millionaires
of thc North, where alone are th?
purple and fine linen, the luxury anc
extravagance, the exclusiveness anc
self-esteem regarded as the character
istics of the aristocrat. Thc doctrine
of State Rights has indeed been stout
ly maintained in the South, but no
as part of an aristocratic, nay, express
ly as part of the democratic creed
State Rights are the only protectioi
against the abuse of the central power
level them, and one man wields powe
over a continent, and commands it
resources, who is irresponsible fo
four years, and whom there would b
nothing to restrain but the strengt!
of private individuals, equal to that o
so many grains of sand. We hav
seen in this war that the momen
State Rights were disregarded, ever
barrier set up by the Constitution
went down with them. It is as th
bulwark of defence against despoti
power and infringements of the Con
stilution, that the people of the Soutl
have clung to State Eights. Thi
contest was, therefore, no conflict c
political principles, but, as Earl Ru.'
sell described it, a struggle for indi
pendence on the one side and fo
empire on the other. If, indeed, thi
were in reality a triumph of donn
cracy, then democracy must bc sorel
in need of something on which t
plume itself, when it is thought to h
a matter of pride and glorificatio
that it has enabled twenty-two mi
lions of people to overcome five mi
lions of the same race.
The question naturally arises, win
caused the failure of this great o fib:
of the South to possess a Covernmei
of its own? The principal cause
indeed obvious enough-the gre;
superiority of the North in numbe:
and resources. If we add to the fri
States the four slave States that fo
lowed their lead, under more or le
compulsion-Delaware, Marylam
Missouri and Kentucky-andtcfthe:
the districts at Federal command fro
an (?arly period of the war, say hi
of Tennessee and Louisiana and
third of Virginia, we have a popul
tion, by the census of 1860, of 23,48i
7:22 on the Federal side. This hav
under the rule of the Conf?d?ral
7,662,325. Here the disparity of nm
hers is enormous. On examinatio
it will be found even grouter than
appears; for these are the numbers
the entire population, and that of t
South il. eluded rather more th
three millions out of the fonrmillio
of negroes who appear in the censi
Now, although these displayed i
markable fidelity, and maintained t
whole Southern people in food
their labor, still it is clear that t
ranks of the Southern army wen;
have been better lilied if the win
population had supplied recruits. A
the Federals had great advantages
addition to superiority in numbe
Their command of naval force, pr:
tically exclusive, was soon felt in
country intersected bj great rive
Looking back to the cally stages
the war, it seems doubtful whetl
they could have made ?ny progri
without this advantage. The fleet
was of invaluable service as a means
of movement, and on two occasions
saved an army from ruin-that of
Grant at Shiloh, and that of McClel?
lan on the James tliver. There was,?
too, that special weapon, the block?
ade, which caused the disorganization
of the Confederate finances, and pre^
vented the importation of munitions
of war, except at so much cost and
with so much irregularity as to coro
pel manufactures to be established
when every mau was required to meei,
the superior numbers of the enemy
And whilst a great immigration from
Europe into the North recruited its
armies or filled the place of recruits^
the South was entirely cut off fiona
this resource. If the attempt be made
to estimate the value of all these de?
ments, it will appear that the odds^
against which thc South has main?
tained this contest, were in effect not'
less than five to one. There was alse>>
a great contrast in the effects of ffic
war on the two people. The North,
with its ports open, with California,
supplying gold, and petroleum stimu?
lating speculation, soon discovered IE*
thc war a mine of sudden wealth
Those who guided thc current of pub?
lic opinion grew rapidly rici?, ?rr
patriotism and profit went togetis$rr-_
? Thc vast expenditure of the G*jen>
ment create d a lucrative ssarket^tha
! railroads flourished with, t?ie transport
of troops and stores; the creation of
currency had the effect for the time
of tho creation ?? so much wealth?
and never was known n p^??AaPf such
prosperity and exhilaration, fir
utry, a war will be maintainecT''
I 1 vigor by which every one be?
ll : he is making a fortune. In the
South, there was thc reverse of all
this. With its commerce sealed up;
at times in dread of actual famine,
(by which, indeed, it was ultimately
reduced;) with districts one after tho
other devastated by the enemy; cut
off from all the comforts, of which,
in such a climate, some are necessa?
ries of life-tho whole history- is a
record of suffering and endurance, of
ruin to many, privation to ali.
It was expected generally that when
the day of need drew nigh, the Con?
federate Government would arm the
negroes, and thus reduce the disparity
of force. There does not appear tc?
have been, latterly, any strong oppo?
sition to the step on thc part of the
people, but the Government-th warted,
we believe, by the Congress-delayed
until it too late. Out of three
millions of negroes, one hundred and
fifty thousand might have been spared
and brought into thc field : and con -
sideringhow evenly thc balance hung
in the early campaign of 1 tat year, it
can hardly be doubted tb it this addi?
tion would have turned the scale ii*
favor of the South. From the first,
its rulers ought to have seen, as it wac;
seen in Europe, that separation from
the Union must needs be fatal to
slavery. Whether or not war might
destroy it in the conflict of arms, ii
was certain that independence would,
be fatal by bringing it into direct col?
lision with the civilized world. Slavery
is essentially a colonial system ; and
within the Union the South held very,
much the position of a region for thc
growth of colonial products-cotton,
tobacco, sugar, rice; and its commer?
cial interests were, as we have shown
before, systematically sacrificed U?
the selfish policy of the North. Bus
when the Southern people desired te
emerge from this state, and to take
the position of an independent power,
it should have1 been seen that this
change involved another change: A
nationality would require a metropo?
lis, a literature, a substantial middle
class ; it would attract immigrants,
enterprise and capital from Europe..
J int every one of these would be an
anti-shivery element ; and against
these at home, with thc hostile
opinion of Europe in front, and the
whole weight of tile North upon thc
flank, it was mere self-delusion te?
imagine that such a system could ber
maintained. The great majority of
the Southern people had no interest
what? vcr in shivery ; many of the
best men of the South were opposed
to the system ; indeed, thc first Secre?
tary ar War, in the Cabinet of .letter
son Davis. General Randolph, waa
well known as an abolitionist
Throughout the history of the United
States, the ablest opponents of slavery,,
such as Thomas Jefferson and Henry.
Clay, and its most rancorous foes.,
suchas Brownlow and Helper, havo
ull been Southern men. Hud it even .
been phiced before' the Southern!
people that either slavery e>r i.utle>
pendence must be abandonee?, then
cannot be a doubt what the choic&
would have been.
Slavery was doubtless the reoiuause
why the independence of tin-South
was not recognized by the Enropeara
po wei's, when the great effort e>f thse
[('nut in nerf on Sixth Page J,