Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 7.djvu/48

CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the position of Virginia in this crisis. To this end would it not be well for the conservative Union men of the city of New York to make a demonstration — a Northern movement of conciliation, concession and harmony? Coercion in any event is out of the question. A Union held together by the bayonet would be nothing better than a military despotism. Conciliation and harmony, through mutual Concessions, in a reconstruction of the fundamental law, between the North and South, will restore and perpetuate the Union contemplated by the fathers. So now that the conservative men of the South are moving, let the Union men of the North second their endeavors, and let New York, as in the matter of the com- promises of 1850, lead the way.

The following is from the New York Times of December 3, 1860: By common consent, moreover, the most prominent and tangible point of offense seems to be the legislation growing out of the fugitive slave law. Several of the Northern States have passed personal-liberty bills with the alleged intent to prevent the return of fugitive slaves to their masters. From Union men in every quarter of the South come up the most earnest appeals to the Northern States to repeal these laws. Such an act, we are assured, would have a powerful effect in disarming the disunion clamor in nearly all the Southern States and in promoting the prospects of a peaceful adjustment of all pending differences.

The next day, December 4th, the New York Times published another article; in which it said: Mr. Weed has stated his opinion of the crisis thus: 1. There is imminent danger of a dissolution of the Union. 2. The danger originated in the ambition and cupidity of men who desire a Southern despotism and in the fanatic zeal of the Northern abolitionists who seek the emancipation of slaves regardless of consequences. 3. The danger can only be averted by such moderation and forbearance as will draw out, strengthen and combine the Union sentiment of the whole country. Each of these statements will command general assent. The only question likely to arise relates to the practical measures by which the 'moderation and forbearance' can be displayed.

After Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, the Commercial, the leading Republican paper of Ohio, in March, 1861,