Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 16.djvu/244

 238 Southern Historical Society Papers.

of the Revolution, of 1812, and of 1846, were plucked on fields of carnage by Southern soldiers, while the whole people of the South rendered the homage of patriotic hearts to the glories of the Ameri- can Union. That it might be perpetual was the fervent wish of every Southern soul It was in large measure the work of Southern minds and hands. The Declaration of Independence itself was the offspring of Southern intellect. Southern valor contributed largely to main- tain it. The Constitution was, in a great degree, the work of South- ern men. Southern statesmen shaped and moulded the policy of the government, and the whole South felt just pride in the triumphs of the Union, so largely their own. It was not until the mournful conviction forced itself on the great Southern soul, reluctant to accept it at last, that this Union of States, created by the conjoint efforts of South and North, was about to be employed as an engine to destroy the South, that affection and reverence for it were weakened, and a determination made to abandon the Union and save the Constitution; and when the Union was abandoned by the Southern people, they immediately formed a union of their own, and built it upon the Con- stitution they had so long revered.

They thus evinced, unmistakably that Union was desirable, and that the Constitution was acceptable, and among the first acts of the Con- federate government, thus formed, was to try to establish terms of friendship with the United States, thus showing that no hostility was felt to the people, or to the government of the United Slates.

A calm retrospect of the history of the United States affords just grounds for wonder that the sectional controversy, which culminated in attempted separation and war, was not terminated in their favor by the Southern States in the day of their power. The philosophic historian of the future, who, from the lofty eminence of truth, far removed from the impure atmosphere of prejudice and hate, by the clear light of the collected facts of history, shall view the course of events in the United States, will discover and record the solemn truth, that a reverential love for the Constitution and the Union, alike formed by our fathers, caused the people of the South to cling to the Union to their own peril, with a fatal delay ; and that when a sense of danger proved stronger than sentiment it was too late. It was in the power of the South to have established a separate government, and assumed the guardianship of its own peculiar interests, for years after it became manifest that this alternativoor despoilment would be forced upon it. As the Southern States had borne a full part in achieving American independence, and formed the Constitution and