The
Lincoln journals labor with untiring assiduity to maintain the long ago exploded falsehood of a Union party in the
South as if it were the most manifest and undeniable truth.
They say there is a powerful Union feeling even in the heart of Secessia, and that all that is necessary to developed it is the presence of Federal troops.
They undertake to draw a distinction between the
Southern Government and the
Southern people, and profess to believe that a large Union element exists among the masses, but is kept down under a reign of terror.
Whether they believe what they say we do not pretend to decide.
It is safe, as a general rule, to conclude that they employ language only to deceive, but there is such a thing among habitual story-tellers as repeating a falsehood so often that they actually believe it themselves.
It may be so with the oft-repeated assertion that the old Union is still dear to the hearts of a large number of the
Southern people.
But there never was a more palpable and libellous, falsehood.
That, up to the period of
Lincoln's proclamation, a majority of the people of
Virginia and of the other border States was in favor of the
Union, and determined to stand by it as long as they could with honor, no one denies.
But, when that despot drew the sword, the Union party in the whole
South ceased to exist, and the infernal malignity with which this war has been waged, has put the resurrection of Unionism beyond the reach of possibility.
That party which stood by the old Union to the last has contributed as promptly and as largely to fill the ranks of our armies as the original advocates of secession; they have been foremost in the fight for independence, and they will be the last to surrender.
If ever there was a war of the people, a war in which the
Government is but a mere agent and instrument of the people's will, it is the war of self-defence now waged by the
Southern States.
The people, in fact, have been ahead of their Government in perseverance and energy; the people have raised the armies, furnished the means, and made the sacrifices, which have thus far been followed by such extraordinary results.
What evidence of deep devotion to the cause could they give which they have not given?
The Northern journals constantly pretend that the
South outnumbers them upon every battle-field, so that whilst the
Federal armies number six hundred thousand men, they have feared for six months to make an advance in any direction.
If this be true, how can they pretend that the great heart of the
Southern people is not in this war?
Our armies are made up of volunteers, and of volunteers who rushed with the loftiest enthusiasm to arms.
There has been no compulsion, no conscription.
Mothers have gladly given their sons, wives their husbands, and if there were weapons enough, the whole population would be in arms.
A vast amount of the clothing and supplies of the army have been the free will offerings of the
Southern people.
Women have given the very blankets from their beds to shelter our brave soldiers; the needles of the women have been as busy as the bayonets of our troops.
There is not a church nor a family altar in the
South which has not every day and every night sent up earnest prayers for the success of our cause.
Nor is it our own Government which has shown by the suspension of the
habeas corpus, and the violation of every political and civil right of the citizen, that it had reason to doubt the loyalty of the people.
That has been left to the despotism at
Washington, which can only retain its power by converting the citizens of the free States into slaves, and by keeping up large standing armies in those slave States which are still bound to the
Union by the compulsion of cold steel.
That is the only Union now left, and the only Union which can ever exist again between North and South.
Subjugation, and not Union, is all that the
Lincoln despotism itself expects.
And in eternal resistance to that despotism the
South will battle, till there is no longer a man within her borders capable of defending his country and his liberty.
