St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1861-07-11
From the Atlantic Monthly, Cor Jul
THE ORDEAL BY BATTLE.

Virginia, which began by volunteer
ing as pcaccmaker in our civil troub-
les, seems likely to end by being their
battle-ground as Mr.. Pickwick, in.
terfcring between the beliigcrcnt rival
editors, only brought upon his own
head the united concussion Of their
carpct.bags. The Gulf States, with
profusc courtesies for the Old Domin.
ion, consented to shift the scene of ac-
tion farther North. The Southern
Confcderacy has talked about paying
Richmond the compliment" Of select
ing it for the scat Of government -
as if bully, about to be lynched in
his own house by the crowd, should
compliment his next door neighbor by
climbing in at his window. 1t is very
pleasant to have hospitablc friend /;
but it is counting on his hospitality
rather too strongly, when you make
choice Of his apartments to be tarrcd
and fcathcrcd in.
Thus fades the fancy of an indie
pendent neutrality" for the Old Do
minion. 1t ought to fade for ncu-
trality is a crime, where ones moth
cr's life is at stake and the Border
theory of independence only reminds
one of Pitts definition of an indcpen-
dent statesman, "a statesman not to
be depended on How sad has been
the decline of Virginia ! How strange,
that in 1890, of ten American post-of-
fees yielding more than a thousand
dollars annually. that stately old com
monwcalth held five Now, ga pow
crty-stricken State" by confession of
her own newspapers beleagured,
blockaded, with no imports but hun
cry and moncylcss soldiers, and no
exports save fugitivcs of all colors,-
what has she to hope from the present
warfare Elsewhere riches have
wings in Virginia, they are yet more
transitory, having legs. Two hund.
red million dollars worth of her prop.
erty has become unsalcablc, if not
worthless, within two months. She
has but two great staples tobacco
to send North, and slaves to send
South. The slaves at present so only
to the wrong points of the compass,
at rates remuncrativc to themselves
alone /; and the tobaccotrade for this
season, will not even end in smoke.
But that which is now the condition
of Virginia must ultimately be the
condition of the other seeding States.
The tide of Secession has already
turned, and such tides never turn
twice. The conspirators in Maryland
and Missouri had but one opportunity,
and it was lost with it also went the
whole cause Of the Scccssionists.
For one week the North shuddered.
knowing the defenceless condition of
Washington. Now no Northern man
shudders, except those whose South
ern female cousins have not yet found
refuge with the household gods of
the eminent Senator from Texas.
The man who ever doubted that the
first gun fred by the insurgents would
instantly unite the nation against
them knew as little Of the American
people as if he were the editor of the
London Times There is no chem
ical solvent like gunpowder. Even
the Mexican War, utterly opposed
to the moral convictions of the ma
jority Of Northern men, swept them
away in such current that the
very party which opposed it could find
no path to the Presidency but for its
chief hero. Had the present outbreak
occurred far less favorably than it has,
had the discretion of Mr.. Lincoln been
much less, or that of Mr.. Davis much
greater, still the unanimity would
have been merely a question of time,
and the danger Of Washington would
have rcconciled all minor feuds. The
Democratic party would inevitably
have embraced the war when once
declared Douglas would have made