The Lesson of the hour.
There are those who regard this as the most dismal and discouraging period of the whole war. The minds of many are in consonance with the sombre aspect of nature.
The skies are overclouded, the trees are leafless, the birds are silent, the earth is frozen and seemingly lifeless.
We do not deny that this is a serious and even solemn crisis, and we will admit that not even in the gloomy days of
Fort Donelson and New Orleans were there as much grounds for grave and anxious feeling as now. But what are the causes of this solicitude?
They are to be found chiefly in ourselves.
It is not that the enemy has gained great military advantages; these calamities can be repaired.
It is not that our soldiers have lost their ancient courage; they are the same firm and faithful warriors who have on a hundred battle-fields borne the flag of the
South in victory and saved the freedom and independence of their country.
But, alas!
the harmony and mutual confidence that made us once a band of brothers have been rudely assailed, and the demon of discord seems to have full possession of the minds of some of our public men. There are those who seem more intent upon fastening the responsibility and odium of misfortunes upon this and that public agent than upon devising means of remedy and relief.
There are thousands in private life who, instead of devoting themselves body and soul to the salvation of their country, are absorbed in the pursuit of private gain, gambling wildly upon the deck of the storm-tost vessel, whilst the hurricane is howling fiercely through the shrouds and the roar of the breakers is in their ears.
These are the things, more than the power of the enemy, that fill the minds of active and reflecting men with sad and serious thoughts.
We have never been the indiscriminating eulogists of men in power, nor blind to faults and errors, which they have undoubtedly committed.
This journal was never, under the old Government, a party journal, and its ancient freedom from party associations is a feature in it which we do not propose to abandon.
But to err is human, and we are therefore disposed to make all allowances for the men at the head of our affairs, upon whom such responsibilities have been cast as never before fell to the lot of public men on this continent, and rarely upon public men in the history of the world.
The American Revolution was mere child's-play compared to the gigantic struggle which is being waged on this continent.
Its largest army would scarcely have formed the advance guard of one of our mighty hosts.--The combined military and naval power brought against it during the whole war by
Great Britain never equalled that which assailed the single town of
Vicksburg.
A nation has been born in a day, and, at the instant of its birth, it has been called upon to do the work of a giant.
When we consider the comparative strength of the two combatants at the beginning of this war, when we bear in mind not only the disproportion of population, and of military and naval armaments, but the deplorable deficiency of mechanical skill and labor in the
South, we are filled with amazement at the results which have been accomplished, and instead of despairing over the loss of so much of our territory, wonder, and thank a benignant
Providence, that any of it is left.
The people and the
Government of the
South have accomplished more in this war than any other people and Government mentioned in the annals of mankind.
If we had possessed the men and means, if our people had continued patriotic, and if our rulers had been infallible and never made mistakes, the war might perhaps have been ended two years ago. But who can say that, if it had thus ended, its fruits would not have been lost?
Who can say that we might not even now be considering the question of reconstruction?
If we had found the independence so promptly and easily obtained, it would have been the first instance in the history of the world where a nation which has obtained its independence with facility has not lost it as easily as it was procured.
We do not make these remarks to palliate the political and military blunders which have caused our misfortunes, but to suggest to our people that
Providence may have a beneficent design in protracting this struggle, and intend thereby to render our separation from the
North complete and eternal.
But, admitting that our Government has committed errors, are not these errors exceptional?
Are not its intentions patriotic?
Can we single out in our own minds any man who would have done better than
President Davis?
and who, even if he had avoided the errors which he has committed, might not have fallen into others of equal magnitude?
It is easy, after events have transpired, to show what ought to have been done.
But, if the Confederate Government has not the gift of foreknowledge as well as infallibility attributes which belong only to God, which of our other citizens can lay claim to these qualities?
And, if the
Government has been at fault, can the people show clean hands?
Are they blameless?
Have they preserved the purity and patriotism which animated them at the beginning of this struggle?--On the contrary, has not a universal madness for greed and gain seized upon the entire population?
Have not the cities run wild with speculation and extortion, and the farmers, once the proverb of disinterestedness and patriotism, demanded such enormous prices for their productions that the efficiency of the army and the welfare of the country have been both put in peril?
Who, who can raise his hands at this solemn hour, in all the broad limits of the country, and say he is blameless?
What class of confederates, but the army, can raise their hands to Heaven and say: Behold them!
There is no blood on these hands but the blood of the enemies of the country!
there is no pulsation in these hearts but that which beats for her welfare!
In the name of all that is good and holy, for the sake of our firesides and our liberties, let us banish the fell spirit of discord and stand by our country and our Government.
No earthly good, nothing but evil, misfortune, ruin, can come from criminations and recriminations.
The
North has hushed up its internal broils to support a man like
Lincoln, who is not the choice of a majority of his people, in the work of subjugating the
Confederacy.
Can we not support such a man as
Davis in the work of defending our hearths and homes?
If the wrong man is
President,
who put him there? Who elevated him unanimously?
Let us be charitable to the child of our own creation.
For our own part, with all his errors, we believe him one of the foremost men of the continent in administrative capacity, and no purer patriot lives.
No other man has as much interest as he in faithfully performing his duty.
Let us only exercise a generous confidence in him and each other, let Government and
people endeavor in the future to avoid the errors of the past, and the future will be as bright and cheerful, the winter of our discontent will pass away, and a glorious spring rejoice our hearts.
