Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/523

 Address Delivered by Governor Z. B. Vance. 511

from the damper inflicted on their enthusiasm by the anomalous spec- tacle of beholding men hunted down and tied to make them fight for freedom and independence !

Suffering^ and disappointment began to produce discontent at home. Little was done to allay this feeling. All eyes were turned to the army. The majority of our civic talent took service there, where, as a general thing, exultant politicians were buried without a corres- ponding resurrection of great generals. The civic talent which re- mained at home mistook, to a wonderful extent, the temper of our people in other respects. The Northern masses were kept up to war pitch by appeals for the preservation of the Union. It was a stirring war cry ; filled with the most sacred associations of our fathers and their great deeds, and attuned to the proudest glories, moral and physical, of the American citizen, We had no slogan half so thrill- ing. Our denunciation of abolition operated only upon the compara- tively few who reflected upon its consequences, and foresaw the evils of a violated Constitution. Seven-tenths of our people owned no slaves, and, to say the least of it, felt no great and enduring en- thusiasm for its preservation, especially when it seemed to them that it was in no danger. Our statesmen were not wise enough to put the issue on any other ground. In brief, it was not so arranged as that the causes of the war took hold upon the f)opular heart, and the real wonder is, that, sustained mainly by sectional pride and a manly, warlike spirit, the contest lasted so long as it did.

Again : When our currency depreciated so that it would not pay the Governrhent which issued it, a tithe law was enacted, seizing the people's goods by way of taxes, whilst their pockets were filled with the Government promises-to-pay. Then there came another law, exempting from militia duty those who owned a certain number of slaves — an exceeding injurious measure, for which no possible ad- vantage could atone. These sources oi discontent, added to much suflering at home, soon put matters beyond the remedial agency of the wisest statesmanship. Enthusiasm died out; confidence fled. Desertion began, and the deserter's place was filled by more con- scripts. The result was that not only were the discontent and suflfer- ing increased, but the just ratio between those who labor at home and those who serve in the field and consume was destroyed ; so that the larger the army became the weaker it grew — lacking the healthy strength of well-organized communities behind it. Since the forma- tion of States on the basis of civilization, and the barbarian tribes ceased to wage war by migrating into the territory of their enemies,