The Continental Monthly, Vol 6, No 5, November 1864: Devoted To Literature And National PolicyVarious
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol 6, No 5, November 1864: Devoted To Literature And National Policy
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
'You cannot conciliate the South if you guarantee to them ultimate
success; and the experience of the present war proves their success
is inevitable if you fling the compulsory labor of millions of
black men into their side of the scale. Will you give our enemies
such military advantages as insure success, and then depend on
coaxing, flattery, and concession to get them back into the Union?
Abandon all the posts now garrisoned by black men, take two hundred
thousand men from our side and put them in the battle field or corn
field against us, and we would be compelled to abandon the war in
three weeks.
'We have to hold territory in inclement and sickly places; where
are the Democrats to do this? It was a free fight, and the field
was open to the war Democrats to put down this rebellion by
fighting against both master and slave, long before the present
policy was inaugurated.
'There have been men base enough to propose to me to return to
slavery the black warriors of Port Hudson and Olustee, and thus win
the respect of the masters they fought. Should I do so, I should
deserve to be damned in time and eternity. Come what will, I will
keep my faith with friend and foe. My enemies pretend I am now
carrying on this war for the sole purpose of abolition. So long as
I am President, it shall be carried on for the sole purpose of
restoring the Union. But no human power can subdue this rebellion
without the use of the emancipation policy, and every other policy
calculated to weaken the moral and physical forces of the
rebellion.
'Freedom has given us two hundred thousand men raised on Southern
soil. It will give us more yet. Just so much it has subtracted from
the enemy; and instead of alienating the South, there are now
evidences of a fraternal feeling growing up between our men and the
rank and file of the rebel soldiers. Let my enemies prove to the
country that the destruction of slavery is not necessary to a
restoration of the Union. I will abide the issue.'
Surely these are words of exceeding good sense. They are full of a
feeling of the speaker's responsibility to God and his country; and the
man who cares not for his responsibility to God, may well be distrusted
by his country. Is he who speaks these words of patriotism a tyrant and
usurper? Are not the words convincing proof that President Lincoln is
honest and faithful and capable? And if he thus meets those three
requirements of Jefferson's comprehensive formula, let us not refuse the
language of the platform: 'That we have full confidence in his
determination to carry these and all other constitutional measures
essential to the salvation of the country into full and complete
effect.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account