Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/632

592 main not only as a monument of the wisdom, foresight and statesmanship of the men who constituted it, but an ever lasting refutation of the charges which have been brought against them.&quot; Mr. Stephens fully approved the peace policy proposed by the Confederate government, which was manifested by sending commissioners to Washington without delay Astounded by the treatment these eminent gentlemen received, he vigorously denounced the duplicity of Mr. Seward while declaring his opinion that Mr. Lincoln had been persuaded to change his original policy. The attempt to reinforce Sumter, in the light of the deception practiced on the commissioners, was pronounced by him &quot;atrocious&quot; and &quot;more than a declaration of war. It was an act of war itself. From the outset Mr. Stephens favored a vigorous prosecution of all diplomatic measures, and an active military preparation by the Confederacy. He and Mr. Davis were in happy accord as to the general purpose of the Confederacy so tersely expressed by the Confederate President on the reassembling of Congress in April, 1861, &quot;We seek no conquest, no aggrandizement, no concessions from the free States. All we ask is to be let alone—that none shall attempt our subjugations by arms. This we will and must resist to the direst extremity. The moment this pretention is abandoned the sword will drop from our hands, and we shall be ready to enter into treaties of amity and commerce mutually beneficial.

As the war progressed the Vice-President was often called upon to make addresses to the people at critical periods, in all of which he characterized the invasion of the South as an unjust war for conquest and subjugation, &quot;the responsibilities for all its sacrifices of blood and treasure resting on the Washington administration.&quot; Frankly declaring that the slavery institution as it existed at the start had its origin in European and American cupidity, and was not an unmitigated evil, he justified the Confederacy in protecting that species of property