The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1865-09-20
The New Weapon of the South.
With new wars come new weapons

With new wars come new weapons
4 Theicash of arms is hushed in the South
the measured tramp Of marching columns
! no longer shakes the earth; shot and shell
no longer hiirtle through the air, or furroN
/. IN the seattle war is over. Guns are mute
and swords rest in their scabbards; bayo
nets no longer glitter in the sun, aud banner;
/ droop 10 their abiding places. The first
phase Of the war is over.
4 What next? Z
4 What does the second phase show us? i
shows us that more remorseless war car
be carried on under the white banner o.
peace than under the black flag ofexterm
l nation. 1t shows us the anomalous "mag
nanimity" that spares life and crushes out
hope and heart; that holds back its hand
from The work Of destruction, and bardens
/. its heart to the voice of justice; that leaves
nnscathed the bodies of lis victims, and
with q refinement Of cruelty fastens upon
the mind aud wrings the sensitive spirit with
a torture so exquisite that extinction would
be welcomed as a boon. Ii shows US a
| fierce and furious conflict raging 10 the
| midst Of an apparent peace; it shows US, on
| blooaless battle fields, opposing ideas and
! principles striving for mastery; it shows US
| the commencement OF struggle in which
Force is not an element, which, numbers
cannot decide, aud in which material re-
sources Of no avail. a struggle In which
soul, not sinew, win be of account keen
wits, not sharp swords, ultimately trilmph.
| ant.
This is The second phrase of the war, this
The form it has now. assumed, these are the
forces that now come into play. Intellect,
Character and Will, the three great powers,
will determine the issue.
We. would not be supposed TO say that
L they were inactive during the war; that
they had no hand il shaping and continu-
ling that struggle. Very far from i. We
know it owed its grandeur, its intensity and
lis persistency to them but we know that
in war brute force and material resources,
like the sword of Bsennus, can turn the
scale. But we know, also, that in the pres
ent coalition Of things, brute force aud ma
terial resources must daily depreciate in
supremacy. Things must right themselves
and Will, as certainly as water at:alns its.
leyel-if we but watt; "Hlind will rule and
muscle yieid" in the long run, and prepon-i
derance of popnlation be more than over
balanced by the mental superiority Of the.
people.
With. new wars come new weapons.
The keen and subtle intellect Of the
South will open for it the path the sword
coald not clear; its buoyant, elastic spirit
will tide it over the present trouble, and its
patient endurance aud teHacity of purpose
will be toits enemies as the upper and
neither mistones. We have 70 fear of the
result in an encounter of minds, war of
intelects; there the race is to the swift and
The battle to the strong. The dead weight
OF animated matter can have no effect on
the issue Of such a struggle; all depends upon
the internal resources OF the coinbatants,
aud therefore we feel sure Of the result, and
free 10 discount certain triumph in advance.
The heart and brain Of the linton has
ever been located down South, and ithas
often seemed to ssttat a vague, unacknowlI
edged consciousness of this lact animated
the North in its fierce struggle to hold and
retain that section in its grasp; that it clung
TO it not only as the source Of wealth, but
the source OF intellectual power. The g-cat
men Of the Union, the statesmen and l,ading
minds of the Republic, have been, generally
speaking, Southern men;Ithey brought the
country up 10 its present position; they
shaped its policy, they directed It's course,
they preserved its integrity; they possess,
ia an eminent degree, that greatest of all
faculties in q people. constructiveness, or
the ability to held up, coupled with the
power Of compaeting and holding together.
Added to this, they possess what we may
call the snb-creative power of drawing forth
ard developing the resources ola country.
and the conservatism that shrinks from wild
experiments and holds fast to that which
is good. The North has proved itself des-
tructiye in 10 ordinary degree; it has ND
rooted, all the ancient landmarks and time
honored principles of the country, and
RACED the very foundations Of the Constitu-|
tionIlself. But by SO doing, il has crea-
ted a state Of things that it is incompetent
TO deal with;its occupation is gone and BOW
is the opportunity of the South, That the
Southern people will rise to the greatness
of the opportunity, 10 one can doubt who
understand their character. tits to them
We look for the restoration Of constitutional
freedom, for it is only through their instrl,-
mentality that the Northern Democracy
can be purified Of the political heresies into
which they have fallen since the advent oil
the Republican party to power. Already
the masses Of the couptry are rousiug toll
The work before them, they are glrdiog1
themselves for the battle. the battle of in
tellect, the battle of principle, the battle of
right against might, and in the front rank
in their accustomed, their hono.ed place
q