The inaugural of Mr. Lincoln is received here with much disfavor. When the first few telegraphic installments of it appeared on the bulletin boards and shortly after upon narrow slips of paper, headed "Extra," the most intense curiosity was manifested by all classes to learn what had fallen from the lips of the man who was about to assume the Presidential chair--to read and know the authoritative announcement of the policy of the incoming Administration, so obnoxious to the South. I have heard but one construction of Mr. Lincoln's declaration of his intention to "hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the duty and imposts." It is regarded, if not as a declaration of war, as at least the expression of a determination to coerce the seceding States into compliance with the demands of the Federal Government. There is no wisdom in attempting to disguise the fact that any effort to carry out this policy will meet with the stern and unyielding resistance of Virginia. This is what the State has unceasingly remonstrated and counseled against, and what her Union-loving men have fondly hoped would not be attempted. The Secessionists now point the finger and tauntingly say to them, "We told you so." They hail the outspeaking of Mr. Lincoln not only as the fulfillment of their predictions, but as the sure precursor of speedy steps on the part of the authorities at Washington which will make Virginia a unit and precipitate her out of the Union, and along with her all the Southern Border States. The Union men are ominously silent. That they are deeply disappointed in the avowal of the President, and that even they now regard the hour for some decisive step on the part of Virginia as near at hand, is no longer denied. There is but little doubt now that henceforth the Secessionists, who a few short days ago were but a small minority, will have things pretty much their own way. The friends of the Union who have hitherto been hopeful of good results can no longer say, "Wait until the Ides of March." The day is past, and though the sun of nature never shone brighter, yet in the political sky a dark cloud gathered over Virginia. The position of the Border States is now regarded as a most embarrassing one. Unlike the Cotton States, they stand face to face with the dangers that threaten them, and men who are not for blindly fleeing from the ills of the present to those which they know not of, are almost at a dead loss for a suggestion as to what course should be pursued for their future welfare and for the warding off the calamities which now seem to be almost inevitable.
Whether Virginia will go with the North or the South, in the event of a final and irreparable dissolution, has never been a serious question with any man or party of men, though she has patiently and dispassionately looked on the progress of events and shown but little sympathy for one section, and little hostility toward the other. But the question is seriously asked: Will Virginia join the Southern Confederacy, or will she call a Convention of Border Southern States, and unite with them in the formation of a Central Government?
Throughout Kentucky and Tennessee, the Union feeling is very strong. The predominant expression is, "No doubt the South has been imposed upon; but we, and not the Gulf States, are the chief sufferers. Where Mississippi and Alabama lose one slave, we lose a hundred. But we don't believe in secession as a remedy; it is jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. We have too much at stake to be precipitated into any such movement, except as a last resort." One of the strongest Union papers in the State remarks that Slavery, like female virtue, is not a matter to be discussed. Whoever raises a question about it is its enemy, and takes a course which will weaken it, and tend to its ultimate destruction. Hence, it argues, the Secessionists are the worst adversaries of our institution, because they are provoking discussions in regard to it.
The people realize that the only safety for Slavery is in the Union--that the moment it becomes isolated from the Free States, it must stand alone, against the public opinion of the whole world. And, beyond these considerations of interest, the Kentuckians and Tennesseeans are a patriotic people, justly proud of their great dead, whose lives were devoted to the service of their whole country. Old men ask anxiously if there is no hope of adjustment, and allude, with broken voices, to the possibility of a permanent dissolution.
Still, there is a good deal of disunion feeling, particularly in Western Tennessee. It costs something, here, to be a Union man; and too much honor cannot be awarded to the brave men who are breasting the storm. They are combating strong popular prejudices. They are denounced as submissionists and cowards; and no people in the country are so sensitive as those of the South to the charge of cowardice. They are engaged in a bitter struggle; and whatever can be done with honor by the party now coming into power to hold up their hands, should certainly be done.
What spectacle is this country to present within the next year? Where shall we be politically in the year 1862? These questions are of the gravest import, not to be passed over simply because they are disagreeable. Serious troubles threaten us, and it is cowardly to look away from them and take no thought whither they are likely to lead us.
Before last November threats of disunion were common enough, but no one supposed they were anything more than electioneering tricks. Indeed, so frequently had these threats been made before, that no one had any reason to regard them as of any practical importance. They were accordingly received either with indifference, or with mirthful remarks; and the general opinion seemed to be that the South could not be forced out of the Union. It was argued by those who cared to argue at all about it, that the very existence of Slavery depended upon the Union, that no Slave State would dare to have Canada carried down to its borders; that slave insurrections would occur as soon as the heavy hand of the Federal Government was withdrawn from the institution; and that the dread of John Brown raids would alone prove sufficient to keep the Slave States in the Union. It would seem now that great ignorance prevailed at the North as to the real situation of the Slave States. At all events, we reckoned too rapidly and accepted possible ultimate results as immediate effects. The Slave States which lie most remote from the Free, have earnestly, boldly, successfully seceded, and established a Confederacy founded upon Slavery. They have framed a Constitution, established a de facto government, assumed an attitude of armed hostility toward the United States, and are at this moment making demands more befitting conquerors than rebels. Two tiers of Slave States lie between them and the Free States, and those intermediate States are disaffected towards the Union and act as allies to the seceded States. The actual condition of things is pretty much as if one of three partners should be robbing the firm of its property, while a second should hold the largest proprietor and threaten him with death in case he resisted. The Slave States which still remain in the Union, with two or three exceptions, will be ready to leave it as soon as their end of shielding the seceders shall be accomplished, unless they can compel the people of the Free States to adopt such degrading and revolting amendments to the Constitution as shall be acceptable to all the Slave States. It is true that the Union party, so called, is uppermost in the Slave States which have not seceded; but it is about the same sort of a Union party as that lately existing in Georgia. If, say these Union States, you coerce the seceded States we will take up arms against you, and quit the Union. If you do not adopt amendments to the Constitution, we will consent to let you number us still as States of the Union. But if you venture to assert any right, even to your own money, in the new Confederacy, or if you plead that you settled your views on Slavery last November, and can take no steps to make the Constitution abhorrent to your consciences and destructive to your interests, we shall instantly leave your Union, and, if need be, meet you in the field of battle.
Such is the tone of the Union Slave States, or rather of the Union party in those States; and the day is not distant when they will meet in Convention and dictate terms to the people and the Government of the United States which must either be accepted or rejected. The time is fast approaching when even Gov. Seward must declare how far he is willing to go for the Union; and he must respond not in empty declaration, but in plain, practical language--not in the abstract, but in the concrete.
We hope the position assumed will be a proud and manly one; we cannot believe it will be a tame submission. But to refuse to submit to degrading terms will not be a mere matter of form. It may either involve us in a war, or compel us to treat with the Slave States as a sovereign nation. The way, and we fear the only way, of preventing a war, as the alternative of submission, or a treaty, is to be fully prepared for it. Unless we desire to see Mr. Lincoln a fugitive from Washington, with Gov. Seward at his heels, we must be prepared either to yield up everything in the way of political principle, or to acknowledge the Southern Confederacy, or to protect the seat of Government against all comers. Assuming that we shall neither acknowledge the Black Republic, nor submit to the demands of its allies, we cannot too urgently appeal to the Administration to prepare to meet force with force, and maintain the honor and independence of the United States at all hazards. It is foolish to attempt now to shape public policy to suit the Border Slave States. If free goods are to be allowed to enter the Slave States, why is it not better to give up the contest, divide the Territories, the Army and Navy, and make the best terms we can with Jeff. Davis?
But the future is, under God, in our own keeping. It is our duty to prepare for it; and if our means are insufficient to meet its demands, it is the duty of the President to call an extra session of Congress and ask for all the means required. There are too many elements of discord in our political system to render it safe to doubt that war can be avoided by any other means than being prepared for it. The price we are now required to pay to keep the Border Slave States is sufficiently monstrous to make us expect yet greater exactions. If we show a disposition to pay that price, viz: no coercion, no collecting the revenue, no holding of our fortifications, and all kinds of concessions on the Slavery question, it will not be long before we are warned by Virginia not to enlist another man, not to put in commission another ship, not to concentrate another regiment, under the penalty of another stampede of the Slave Border States. If, then, we have, or expect to have, anything that can be called a Government, now is the time for decided, energetic, effective action. But if we intend a deplorable series of back-outs and crawfishing, the sooner we acknowledge the Southern Confederacy, and try to make terms with it, the better for all concerned.
How much longer are we Americans to submit to the arrogant demands of a few hot- headed rebels? Has not the Government the power, the law, and the right on its side? Then why should that Government's property be given up to conciliate the ambitious views of a few advocates of disunion? Is the North to make all the concessions and the South none? Is the Union of so much more benefit to the North than to the South as to force these concessions? No; let us retain what we have, and if the South is not content with the Government as it now exists, why, force the South to obey those laws to which their wiser and nobler ancestors agreed.
Where have we a precedent for such a course as that which has been pursued by the American Government? Our property taken from us under our very eyes, and no attempt made for its defense or reprisal. Our people are maltreated and abused; our laws disregarded, and our very flag, of which we have no long been justly proud, cast under foot and trod upon. What would have been the result had such insults been offered to us by a foreign foe? Have any of the rulers of England or any other country given over their power because a few unruly subjects demanded it? Why should the lawfully elected ruler of these United States allow that any malcontents (no matter how many or how few they may be) should refuse to recognize him?
At one time my predilections leaned toward the South, and I still believe "Slavery to be a necessary evil," nevertheless I feel that is to compel them to deliver up their ill gotten spoils and to obey the law; to do this I am now, and ever will be, ready to sacrifice my all.
Note: This is an excerpt from a longer article.
Stanley County, N.C., March 20, 1861
I occasionally meet with The Tribune, and am proud that the friends of universal freedom have in it so able a champion. You have long since noticed the result of the election in this State. The majority of Union men sent to the Convention is about two to one over the Secessionists, but the Convention itself was also defeated.
The vote for a Convention in this State cannot be regarded as a test of the strength of the Secessionists--for I know hundreds of good Union men who blindly voted for a Convention, thinking that such a body would have the effect of strengthening the Union. The truth is, you Northern people over-estimate the strength of the Secessionists in this State. You have more friends here than you are aware of. The Tribune is called incendiary, yet everybody knows that as a newspaper it has no equal in America. I am glad to see that it is not what I used to suppose it was. I always heard, before seeing it, that it aimed to subvert the Constitution, and was anxious to see the Union dissolved; but those who read it and know how devotedly it is attached not only to the Union but to the Constitution.
The vote in this county was 800 against a Convention to about 87 for it. So you see how we stand. The truth is, our people generally like the Northern States, with their peculiar political sentiments, better than they do the States south of us. We don't want to go with the Cotton States. We think we should then become hewers of wood and drawers of water for them. The truth is, these Cotton States don't want any of the Border States to join them, except to acquire a respectable military force, to preserve them from danger. We have to find a market for our flour and corn in South Carolina, and if the General Government should recognize the independence of that sham and feeble concern, I don't know what we should do.
If the Tribune was allowed to be freely taken in this State, I know of hundreds who would subscribe for it. There are many such in this county, but in Randolph and Guilford Counties it would exceed in circulation all others.
I hope that the new Administration will act up to the Inaugural. If so, all will be well. North Carolina is true to the Union as our fathers made it, and has no idea of abandoning it to join a Government which will be wholly shaped toward perpetuating Slavery.