The daily phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, November 19, 1865, Image 2
rm mun wm\x
? From London Quarterly !iet:ie>c, July, '65.]
?Close of thc American War.
JLRTTCILE IV.-1. Exodus of tite Western
Nations. By Lord Bury. London,
HUGS.
2L Col. Fiddler's History of the Ame?
rican War. London, ISO").
3. Campaigns in Virginia, Maryland,
-itc. ?fcc. By Capt. C. C. Chesney,
SL E., ic, VoL IL London, 1865.
Lord Bury, having held an official
position in Canada, and acquired a
personal interest in the affairs of the
New World, is led by a natural train
of thought to the birth and infancy of
the communities which have grown so
rapidly into their present importance.
<Gxeat would be the intercst]and value
?f the work-if such we possessed
fcbat could teach us how Europe was
pt*Triled; trace the gradual divergence
of ate jpresent races under local influ?
ences; tell us whence came the parent
bribes; and how, with a common tone
of thought prevailing, language be?
came so diversified. America has the
-advantage over the other continents
in knowing its history from the root.
That history is usually presented to
ws in fragments. Lord Bury, in the
?work before us, gives us the benefit of
? ?lear and comprehensive view of the
whole of the great movement across
the Atlantic. And though at no one
r?nae did there occur so great a migra
- ?kH? -as to amount to au "exodus,"
?^fcill the movement has, upon the
?hole, fagtasferred to the New World
iarge masse? of the population of
Europe. Considering the taste for
historical composition so prevalent in
. these days with the New England
"Writers,"Si -seems strange that it should
remain for nn English author to give
the complete history of the peopling
. -if 'America. But to each writer on
* ?he spot, the part of his own people
?tanda disconnected from the rest,
- -arith its separate life and special inte?
rests: ih.isjea?i?\r for one at a distance
fc&f " reduce to accurate perspective
?e-mitries equi-distant from himself.
?tor? Bury has undertaken this task
-of bringing all into the same field of
wiew, thus adding a work to our lito
?saturc which is as a chart of the world
rvo one who before bad but disjointed
.?slaps of its divisions. Unfortunately,
feihe works appears at a time when all
-ssrho interest themselves in the affairs
of America are absorbed in the events
occurring from day to day. The
i-?torm is, indeed, over now, but the
Troves have not yet gone down; and
the. mind is not yet in a mood for
*:*J.in study. As this agitation sub
rsides, attention will be drawn to Ame
vricau history, which has hithei .o been
?regarded in this country with marked
indifference. Out of this indifference,
-we have been thoroughly aroused.
Students will seek to trace their waj
2^ack to the original eadses of the tre?
mendous events which have recently
.occurred; and the European historian.
varhG had hitherto allotted a span
.chapter to America, will have to assigr
.to it in future a prominent place ir
the world's affairs. It might hav<
Sbf.ex in anticipation of such probabh
?carrent of thought that Lord Bury ha:
provided this valuable store-house o
?a*fcr, the fruit of long labor and rc
asear ch, placed before us in a spirit o
philosophical inquiry, and clothed ii
terse and animated language.
?Colonel Fletcher's "Hiitory of th
American War" lea is us to remark
tluit in our opinion, a consideraba
period of time must elapse before tin
<somplete history of this great stmg
.?le can be written. A civil war, be
youd all others, involves pol?tica
?questions, and in this instance tin
{federal system of government ren
*Jers these unusually complex. Tb
cessation of the struggle will be fol
'loved by a deluge of biographies
memoirs, reports; and these will huv
So be laboriously collated, winuowe<
of their chaff, and reduced to mate
rials for the historian. Nor is it pos
s?ble as yet to command that culm vio\
of the whole field which shall do ful
justice to both sections of the Union
Sene.e, the only history that can ye
i*e written is that of the militar
events, a very important part, but ne
ibo whole of the subject. Such
record Col. Fletcher gives us, clear!
narrated, singularly dispassionate, an
foll of interest. It adds greatly t
the value of the work that its authc
WAS an eye-witness to the most re
m ark able campaign of tho war, whicl
unfortunately, the first volume of th
work leaves unfinished. The liej
volume will probably rescue the repi
talion of McClellan from the oblivio
into which it has fallen in the rapi
whirl of events. As a soldier, Co
Fletcher naturally endeavors to d
justice to one who, though now ni
popular, may claim to have twit
rseaeued the cause of the North fro)
.
ruin, and who at all times had two
I enemies to fight-thc Govermnrnt. <>t
Richmond and his own. As no repu
; talion has fallen so mach, probably
I none will recover so greatly as that of
JicClellan, when excitement calms
down and tho success of other leaders
. ceases to dazzle the judgment. It is
I easy to contrast his slow and over?
cautious steps with the dashing career
i of a Sherman; but McClellan's army
! iras of other material. He came into
j play after thc great disaster of Bull
? Run, and was incessantly thwarted
und paralyzed by that interference of
I amateurs at Washington which this
j volume so strikingly relates. This,
j the army of the West and in thc emd
j that of Grant, wholly escaped. On
recalling now the great advantages
gained by the North in thc fall of
Fort Donelson, New Orleans, Norfolk
j and the occupation of many points on
! the coast, as well as in Tennessee, the
j heart of the country-the idea occurs
ia closing the volume that a more
! correct estimate might have been
! formed of the probable termination
j of the ?struggle than that which was
I generally adopted in this country.
; But thc- continuation of the work will
i describe those brilliant feats of the
j Southern Generals-of Leo, Stono
j wall Jackson. Beauregard, Stuart
j and that firm endurance and heroic
\ self-sacrifice of thc people which ex
torted the admiration of Europe, and
j rendered it hard to believe that so
indo and difficult a country, defended
j wita such resolution und military
genius, could ever be brought under
subjection.
Now that we hear such loud denun?
ciations of rebellion, and reiterated
assortions that treason is the "black?
est of crimes," it is almost with a feel?
ing of surprise that we peruse this
record of the calm and constitutional
manner in which the Southern people
oroeceded to form a Government and
..ito themselves into a confederacy,
ach State, through its Legislature,
passed an act or law which summoned
a convention of its people, the direct
organ of its sovereignty, and by this
convention its severance from the
Union was decreed. In the. older
States, the form adopted was simply
the repeal of the original ordinance
of a like convention, which had at?
tached them to the Union. The same
formalities were used in dissolving the
tie which had been used in contract?
ing it. Nothing can be imagined
moro opposed to our ideas of rebel?
lions leaders or an insurgent body.
And in framing a Constitution, the
object plainly aimed at was to retain
every valuable principle of the old
ono whilst rectifying the defects which
experience had pointed out. Thus,
though in all the main features the
old and thc new arc identical, that of
the South made the Presidential term
six. years, and precluded re-election
an improvement of the utmost value.
Hie scandalous abuse of dismissing
all officials, down to tho village
postmaster, on each accession of a
now President, was practically ren?
dered impossible. It is strange that
ministerial responsibility should not
have been ordained, for this seems to
ns an absolutely essential feature in
constitutional government; but here,
where change might have been de?
sirable, the traditions of the Union
prevailed. One remarkable fact is the
open avowal-for the first time in any
i constitution-of the principles of free
trade-in the express prohibition of
duties for the purpose of protection.
These principles are indeed to bc
found in the Federal Constitution;
but not being in express terms, they
! have been evaded in practico, until
the United States now offer the
grossest instance in existence of a
spirit of monopoly and a partial fiscal
law.
They who are familiar with the
literature of the war, should they
chance not to have seen the Southern
Constitution, would expect to find the
preservation of slavery at the head
and front of it. They would be sur?
prised to find how little it says upon
the subject. It is true, it was framed
bj' slave-owners, but so was that of
tho Union. The writers, who appear
to Lave enjoyed a peculiar pleasure in
terming the South a "slave power,"
have forgotten that the model rcpub
? lie was also a "slave power;" nay,
that the North was a slave power
throughout the whole of the war, for
toits close there were slaveholding
States within the loyal band. Nor is
there here a single provision for the
protection of slavery which does not
exist also in the Federal Constitution.
It is true, this of the South forbids
"the passing of any law impairing
j or denying the right of property in
nepn-o slaves;*' but neither could any
j such law be passed by the Federal
Congress under its Constitution. Th?
same inability existed, and in both
cases, for the same reason-that th?
subject was beyond the scope of Fede
ral action, and belonged exclusively
+o th?t o* tho Stete. But there is
nothing in the Southern Constitution
that would have precluded any of its
States from emancipating its negro
population by the act of its own Le?
gislature. The principle which stopped
the interference of thc central go?
vernment told both ways. The Rich?
mond Congress could not interfere to
free thc slaves, but it was equally
powerless to prevent their being freed.
Hence all that has been said of slavery
being tho "corner stone" of the
Southern power is mere windy decla?
mation. Thc metaphor was, indeed,
used by Mr. Stephens, but not as it is
invariably and erroneously quoted.
Ho was replying to the very absurd
dogma of tho Declaration of Inde?
pendence, that "all men are created
equal;" and asserted that, on the con?
trary, inequality is the law of nature,
and that the inferiority of one race to
another was thc corner-stone of the
system. But whatever Mr. Stephens
might say or mean, nothing could
well bc more absurd than to fix upon
many millions of people, the great
majority of whom had nothing to do
with slavery, the sentence or the
epithet of a speaker expressing his
individual view, on his sole responsi?
bility. The use to which the epithet
has been put is no less illogical. The
corner-stone of the Southern Confe?
deracy was obviously its Constitution.
With it, there existed a Confederacy;
without it, none. Here was the base
on which rested the whole fabric ns a
political power. Now, when we see
that this Constitution permitted any
one, every one, of the States to abo?
lish slavery, we shall set? the absurdity
of terming that the corner-stone of
an edifice whic h could be removed at
any time at pleasure, without detri?
ment to the structure. ?
In the perspicuous account given by
Colonel Fletcher of McClellan's re?
markable and ill-fated campaign, we
are struck with the treatment he re?
ceived at the hands of Mr. Lincoln,
to which bis failure may be largely
attributed. Had it been the object to
render success impossible, it could
hardly have been better pursued. No
sooner had McClellan left. Washing?
ton, than the President commenced a
series of measures unparalleled in
their way. Nay, even before this,
and without consulting his Command
er-in-Chief, it appears that he issued
positive orders for the movement of
thc troops which enforced the abor?
tive advance on Manassas-a failure
that threw a sinister influence over
the campaign. During that advance i
McClellan learnt by the columns of a
newspaper, and without the slightest
previous intimation, that he was re- I
duced from the command-in-chief to |
that of thc forces around him. This j
step withdrew from his control the
troops in the valley of the Shenandoah,
which formed au important part of
his combinations. It was followed
by the withdrawal, in a similar man?
ner, of another body of ten thousand
men, under Blenker. The next step
was to place beyond his control the
very base of his own operations, Fort
Monroe, reducing his resources by
another ten thousand men. Finally, |
the entire army corps of McDowell, j
whose co-oporation was vital to tho
plan of the campaign, was suddenly
withdrawn from his orders. The
wonder is that any general so treated :
should not haw: resinded in despair.
Colonel Fletcher observes :
"Ignorant of military, and indeed
of most other mattera of which a j
knowledge is expected from men in
high position, weak in character, and i
consequently obstinate, Mr. Lincoln j
was singularly unfitted for the station I
of life he was called upon to fill. His j
very character for honesty was a mis- ;
fortune, as it afforded a sort of conn- ?
toi poise to his defects, and led men ;
to suppose th.it his straightforward
dealing in private life would be car?
ried ont in his public acts. He pro- j
fessed, and probably hud, a sincere
regard for General M cClellan ; but
when no longer under his personal
influence, was easily led by the peo?
ple around him, and acted in a way
that little became the ruler of a great
country, and which his most lenient
critics must allow had the appearance
of duplicity."
The lamentable death of Mr. Lin?
coln, so tragic, so piteous in every
detail-horror at the atrocity, and
apprehension of the ills that ma}' flow
from it-combined to produce the
strong feelings of indignation and
sympathy winch have been expressed
in this country. For a time it was pro
por to yield to a current of feeling,
thc generous impulse of human
nature. And inc?eed, no man ever
played a part of the first impor?
tance in history who so little merited
such a death. No ruh r in possession
of despotic power was ever so com?
pletely the reverse of a tyrant. The
very evenki it-s.ses and defects of Iii?
character were of a nature to disarm
pciouiini resentment. No mun wita
ever less stern, less haughty, less
cruel, less vindictive. Industrious,
pains-taking, domestic, full of quaint
good humor, striving -with limited
knowledge or capacity to do what
seemed best at the moment, thrust
into the midst of difficulties almost
beyond the grasp of human intellect,
he struggled on-as he termed it in
his homely language, "pegging away"
-until the world saw that under an
uncouth exterior there was a large
fund of shrewd sense and mother-wit,
with an entire absence of malice. A i
instinctive sense of this led all to
shudder at his fate. He was au un?
tutored child of nature, and the man?
ner of his death seemed an outrage
on nature, on mankind. But now,
that expression has been fully given
to these feelings, we must not permit
truth to ba sacrificed. As President
of the United States, the rule of Abra?
ham Lincoln stands wholly apart from
personal qualities, good or bad. That
rule is proper matter for criticism,
and must stand a keener test than
that of sentiment. Respect is net to
be paid to the memory of the dead by
fulsome praise or falsification of his?
tory. Unfortunately, it is a proverb?
ial expression, "to lie like an epitaph ;"
but no such license may be used
where great principles and the des?
tinies of millions of people are at
stake.
President Lincoln was another ex?
ample of that deplorable role, long
enforced by the exigencies of tho
Union, which practically excludes all
able and eminent men from the Pre?
sidential office. Mr. Seward, the pro?
per chief of the Republican party,
was passed over, ns in other times
Clay, Webster and Calhoun. To
prevent a disruption of the party, it
was necessary to nominate a person
unknown even by name to the infi?
nite majority of the American people.
Mr. Lincoln was therefore chosen as
usual, not by virtue of his eminence',
but by virtue of not being eminent.
He was by birth a Southern man, a
Kentuckian ; his wife was also South?
ern, some of her relatives being on
the Confederate side throughout the
war. He entered upon office uncon?
trolled by a popular decision. If,
indeed, it might be said that any
leaning of the public mind could be
detected, the majority in the North
appeared lo have reconciled them?
selves to a peaceful separation, and
leading politicians, such as Mr. Se?
ward and Mr. Everett, had expressed
their abhorrence of the idea of shed?
ding their brothers' blood. The Cot?
ton States had seceded, but the groat
Border States, with Virginia at their
head, clung anxiously to the Union.
The history of the United States af?
forded a valuable guide in this emer?
gency. The Union had been broken
up before, peacefully. Two of the
States were out of it for quite two
years, at the end of which thur, find?
ing their isolated condition intolera?
ble, they re-entered the fold. Now,
SO long as the Border States remained
with the Union, it was hardly possible
for the Cotton States to iona an an?
tagonistic power that could endure.
Not only the vast resources of the
North, but the greatest of their own
sister States wotdd have been against
them, Had a statesman been in office
at Washington he would probably
have spoken thus : "I hold that your
action is wholly wrong. I believe
you have no warrant for it in the
Constitution, no just cause in any
fact that has occurred. Try the ex?
periment, however, if you are resolved
to do so. It has been tried by North
Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas, who
found it not to answer. Meantime I
must take sue1! measures for self-pro?
tection as judgment may direct ; but
unless attacked I will not lift one
finger to shed thc blood of my fellow
citizens.'' Had this course been
taken, it eau hardly be doubted that
thc Union would have been restored
in lunch less time, without bloodshed,
und with trilling cost. For at first
there existed a Union party, a minor?
ity, but still an imporant party in
every Cotton State but one. That
party would have had not only the
North, but the whole influence of the
Border States to support it. Any
one may see what this war would have
been without the people of Virginia.
Now Virgini". would have been on
the other side. Hence th . Cotton
States would not only have been void
of the necessary resources for an in?
dependent position, but would have
bei n u divided people. This division
would have widened into dissension,
increasing day by day ; for thc ex?
citement of the hour would have been
followed by a reaction, and by disap
pointment at the results. Thc cou,t
of a separat** Government and mili?
tary force would have compelled tax?
ation, hitherto unknown. Th?- fed?
eral Government, without going to
war, iniglit easily have caused the
heavy cost of an armed peace, and it
had the power to place very irksome
restraints on the commerce and cor?
respondence of the country. Thus
the Union party, although originally
a minority, would have grown daily
under such influences, and probably
in less than the four years which have
gone by, would have become a major?
ity, and have brought back the States
into the Union. The policy which
might have produced these results
was the oaky ono permissible under
the Constitution. It grants no power
to coerce a State, and such power was
excluded advisedly, on the reasoning
of Madison-that it would be mon?
strous to provide for the maintenance
by force of a Union that was based on
free will. The coercion thus excluded
by the founders of the Union. Mr.
Lincoln resolved to employ, lt was
an error disastrous to the country.
For not only was there a simple way
to attain the end desired, but the use
of force for the purpose was destruc?
tive of the very object sought. By
force it was quite possible to conquer
the South, but not to restore a Union.
To apply thc name of a Union to the
relations that exist between Russia
and Poland, would be ludicrous ; .such
are now the relations of North and
South. Between sentient beings union
implies a joint, a mutual action that
can only proceed from accordance of
will. The same principle holds good
with great communities. And when
one section has conquered another
section of the same people, slain the
dower of its manhood, devastated its
soil, nad stands amidst thc ruin it has
made, in the triumph of superior
power, this eau only be called the
restoration of a uniou by substituting
the sound for the true sense of the
words.
And when Mr. Lincoln made this
deplorable error, hov,- did he carry
out the policy which he had chosen y
By sending back the deputation that
waited upon him from the Border
States, with an answer so offensive as
to force upon them the decision to
leave the Union. By calling out 75,
000 men for three months, exhibiting
an ignorance of thc magnitude and
resource's of the country he proposed
to coerce, such as hardly could have
been found in Europe. By fitting
out a secret expedition in New York
to reinforce Fort Sumter, although an
understanding of honor existed with
the Commissioners whom the South
had sent to Washington, that no
change should be made in the status
quo. But there is matter more grave
even than this. The reason assigned
by Mr. Lincoln for deciding on the
invasion of the Southern States was
the oath he had taken to maintain the
Constitution. But the President does
not take any oath to maintain the
Union. He went on to do what his
oath did not compel, and to break
what that oath enjoined. To main?
tain the Constitution required him to
maintain those great rights--freedom
of person, of speech, of the press
which it expressly guarantees, and
wdiich his Government trampled upon
without any real necessity and with?
out the smallest concern. If so ter?
rible a means as the sword must needs
be employed under a stern sense of
duty, that duty plainly required that
he who proceeded to destroy the fives
of others for an alleged breach of law
should himself maintain that law with
thc most scrupulous care. Now. there
is hardly one great principle of that
Constitution-nay more, we cannot
recall any one great political principle
avowed and cherished in America,
whether within or outside of the Con?
stitution-which was not violated by
Mr. Lincoln's Government.
The Declaration of Independence,
for instance, announced in sonorous
terms that governments "derive their
just powers from the ' unsent of the
governed." What an illustration of
this, to force a detested government
upon a people who refuse their con?
sent. Again, that same document,
which is read every 4th of -Tidy, in or?
der to inculcate these principles, goo.-,
on to teach the world that whenever
any form of government becomes de?
structive of certain ends (one of them
being the pursuit of happiness, ) "it
is the right of the people to alter or
abolish lt, and to institute a new
government, laying its foundation
on such principles, and organizing its
power in such form us to them shall
seem most likely to effect their safety
and happiness." These are brave
words, and this is precis.dy what the
people of the South proceeded to do.
Alas, tin; principles that are so lofty
and virtuous when they tell in our
favor, how black and wicked they be?
come when the enemy bas them on
his side ! If there be any one princi?
ple thoroughly established in the
North, as the rule of political action,
it is that the majority shall govern
and the minority submit. This is,