Men Who Are Not Argumentative
Perceive At Once That They Are True.
A part cannot be greater than
the whole.
I think it is plain that the remnant of the Union was bound to take
up arms against those States which had illegally torn themselves
off from her; and if so, she could only do so with such weapons as
were at her hand. The United States army had never been numerous
or well appointed; and of such officers and equipments as it
possessed, the more valuable part was in the hands of the
Southerners. It was clear enough that she was ill provided, and
that in going to war she was undertaking a work as to which she had
still to learn many of the rudiments. But Englishmen should be the
last to twit her with such ignorance. It is not yet ten years
since we were all boasting that swords and guns were useless
things, and that military expenditure might be cut down to any
minimum figure that an economizing Chancellor of the Exchequer
could name. Since that we have extemporized two if not three
armies. There are our volunteers at home; and the army which holds
India can hardly be considered as one with that which is to
maintain our prestige in Europe and the West. We made some natural
blunders in the Crimea, but in making those blunders we taught
ourselves the trade. It is the misfortune of the Northern States
that they must learn these lessons in fighting their own
countrymen. In the course of our history we have suffered the same
calamity more than once. The Round-heads, who beat the Cavaliers
and created English liberty, made themselves soldiers on the bodies
of their countrymen. But England was not ruined by that civil war;
nor was she ruined by those which preceded it. From out of these
she came forth stronger than she entered them - stronger, better,
and more fit for a great destiny in the history of nations. The
Northern States had nearly five hundred thousand men under arms
when the winter of 1861 commenced, and for that enormous multitude
all commissariat requirements were well supplied. Camps and
barracks sprang up through the country as though by magic.
Clothing was obtained with a rapidity that has I think, never been
equaled. The country had not been prepared for the fabrication of
arms, and yet arms were put into the men's hands almost as quickly
as the regiments could be mustered. The eighteen millions of the
Northern States lent themselves to the effort as one man. Each
State gave the best it had to give. Newspapers were as rabid
against each other as ever, but no newspaper could live which did
not support the war. "The South has rebelled against the law, and
the law shall be supported." This has been the cry and the
heartfelt feeling of all men; and it is a feeling which cannot but
inspire respect.
We have heard much of the tyranny of the present government of the
United States, and of the tyranny also of the people.
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