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 Major-General Stephen D. Ramseur. 219

spread of Christianity and the growth of enlightenment, will probably continue until time shall be no more. In the war between the States there was but little of malice, of vengefulness and vindictiveness. As to its origin there is little probability of our agreeing, so long as it is insisted that the North fought chiefly for the eradication of slavery and the South for its perpetuation. At the formation of this government

SLAVERY

existed in every State. New England, which ultimately became the principal theatre of free-soilism and abolition agitation, was at one time more interested in the slave trade than any other section of our country. It is not mere speculation that prompts us to declare that had her soil and climate been adapted to the cultivation and produc- tion of the chief staples of the South, she would have recognized it as a great outrage to have been compelled to relinquish so profitable an institution without her free consent. By prospective enactments our Northern friends gradually abolished slavery, and large numbers of their slaves were sent South and sold. The money arising from such sales was carried North, invested in manufactories, ships and brick walls. Their section prospered, and we rejoice in their pros- perity as a part of our common country. In an address delivered by Mr. Evarts before the New England Society he said that, the Puritan believed in every man attending to his own business, but he believed- every man's business was his own. There is a great deal of truth portrayed in this sportive suggestion. Having profitably escaped from this "great iniquity," their restless intellectuality early prompted them to express their abhorrence of slavery. The great body of the American people really cared very little about this institution, or, at least, if they deprecated its existence they recognized it as a matter of local legislation, for which they were not directly responsible ; there- fore, the question of its abolition for over half a century made but little headway, and only became a potential element of discord, when it was discovered that its agitation would have the effect of securing the ascendency of one of the great political parties of the country. As slavery only obtained in the minor section of the Union its agita- tion, on sectional grounds, ultimately had the effect of promoting a crisis, which enabled ambitious and aspiring politicians to inflame the passions of their followers, until they were prepared to see their country plunged into a war, which the border States, led by Virginia, did all that lay in their power to avert. Recognizing the weakness