Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 1.
Frank Moore, Ed.

[184] slavery-propagandist Confederacy which has made Montgomery the seat of its malign power. War, to prevent such a catastrophe, rises to the dignity of virtue acceptable to God.

Again, after denouncing the capture of Fort Sumter as “an uncalled — for attack,” “an aggressive war on the Government and people of the United States,” it continues:

In maintaining itself against this aggressive war, and in punishing its authors, the National Government will receive the hearty and united support of all loyal and right-minded men. We abhor war in all its forms — but if it must come, it could never be met by the American people with a more determined resolution, or with a deeper consciousness of right, than when it comes in the hateful guise of secession, and slavery extension. Long has the Government forborne to act, lest it might provoke some hostile measure. Its endurance has been beyond all the precedents of history. It must now arouse in its hitherto slumbering might, and assert its determination to rule the country. Already are thousands flocking to its standard from every constitutional State. Its cause is as righteous as ever summoned a people to arms. On it, we need not say, depends the life of the country. It appeals with the fullest power to the deepest sentiments of every patriotic heart — to the proud recollections of our national past — to the priceless interests that lie enwrapped in our hitherto happy Republic — to the undying loyalty that clings to our glorious, but insulted flag — to the sympathies we cherish for oppressed and outraged humanity — to the pride we have taken in American civilization, and the faith we have kept in the capacities and destinies of American freedom.

The New York Chronicle says:

A single blow has cut the Gordian knot which the North has been so anxious to untie peacefully. The question is now as simple as it before was complicated. The life or death of the Government established by our fathers, is the mighty stake for which the game of war is henceforth to be played.

We want peace, we all want peace. We are willing to make many sacrifices — to forbear much, and suffer much, to obtain it, but there are some things we may not endure, and some sacrifices we may not make. Great principles have sometimes to pass through the fiery furnace, and we have only to accept whatever sacrifices that ordeal may bring; not vindictively, not in the spirit of revenge for real or fancied wrongs, but simply as a stern duty which, as loyal men, without being recreant to every sentiment of justice and Christian principle, we cannot ignore or evade.

There is but one feeling now through the North. It is for vigorous, energetic and decisive measures, not for aggressive warfare, for no one here contemplates or desires it, but because the best peace measure now is the exhibition of such strength on the part of the Government as will prevent further aggressive measures on the part of the South.

The Watchman and Reflector, of Boston, Mass., says:

We bitterly deplore the necessity of war. As Christian journalists we have counselled forbearance till it has ceased to be a virtue. We have hoped that our brethren of the South, while renouncing allegiance to the national Government, would refrain from any attack on its armed troops. But delay has only aggravated treason, forbearance has emboldened their movements, and civil war is now inevitable. There can be no doubt of the ultimate result. The North has ample resources of men and money. It has the undivided command of the sea for transportation of troops, and a network of railroads for conveyance of armies and provisions by land. If it were needful, a million of men could be mustered in the field in three months. The South is full of enthusiasm, and its people are chivalric and impetuous, but with few monetary resources, and no credit, and no navy, it must yield at length to superior force.

The North, too, we must believe, is in the right. It Will have on its side the sympathy of the civilized world, and. we may hope, also, the favor and protection of Almighty God. On Him we must wait in humble prayer and strong faith, and to him must we look for guidance and deliverance.