Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1865-11-11

BALTIMORE L, MD.
VIE. PnLE.aRn,s LETrER.


election. declared his intention, on the occa-
sion Of Mr.. Clay's DEATH 10 vote for his cxecu-
tor The same spirit Of wisdom is exhibited
bv Mr.. Edward A. Pollard late editor Of the
Richmond Eramtaer, in a letter published not
long since in the New York NIc,rs. Having
devoted himself to the cause Of the Coufede-
1acy, during lis transient and imperfect life, he
is now in favor Of making an image of lis old
clothes and bowiug down before it in the com
placcncy Of mariyrdom. At the same time,
he admits. that mo sane man IN the south
entertains the idea Of further disuutng OF dis
paraging the authority Of the United Siatcs!'
But Mr.. Pollard is dissatisfied because the
people Of the South. being sane, and acqui-
escing in the admission which he himself pro
claims, are disposed to exhibit the sincerity Of
their acquiesccnce by their acts. Never, ac-
cording to the hieh-soued Pollard, have u
people ''f,llcn to such depths Of submission
10 such attitudes Of humiliation" at is re-
markable,' he says, THAT so few have been
found among the prominent men Of the South
willing to testify to the cause of the Confcd
eracy by the sacrifice of little trash of pro-
perry He even biames General Lee for
''risking his reputation in history by asking
pardOn." He sighs for :'thc usual exhibitions
of martyrdom' does Pollard. And yet he
is of opinion that no sane man disputes the
authority of the United States!
VIII nobody please to step forward and be a
martyr to please Pollard? He has already
written one history of the war, and may live
to write another. He calls upon those who
value the reputation of the South in history
to step up and be martyrs. VIII no one be
tempted by the prospect of a ''first rate puff
from Pollard, to obligc him in this way? Al
though ii would be ''insanty." according to
Pollard ''to dispute the authority of the United
States" yet, it is evident. he would regard it
as q noble kind Of insanity, and one that would
entite the victim Of it to be immortazcd on
the historic page,-pcnncd, of course, by
certain historian who shall he namcless.-
Those Southerncrs who accept from the Pres-
dent political pardon are according to Pol
lard, ''tckot-oflcavc men, probationary vaga-
bonds" &c. Meanwhile, whore is Pollard
himself? Why doesn't he do something to |
entitle him to casematc in Fortress Monroe? |
And Echo answers Why"
All this wild talk is quite unworthy man
who aspire& TO be a ''hiStorian, aud who
ought, therefore, 10 know something of his
tory. \ very little investigation would have
taught him that in every war Of decisive re
suits the parties engaged come out holding the
relations Of conquerors and conquercd and
that the latter having taken on themselves that
relation, are willing to submit thcmsely and !
their possessions TO the maguanimity and |
sense of justice of the former Those who |
aspire to be 'martyrs, may. if they choose !
keep fighting on until they are exterminated: |
but if they yield to necessity. and ucrcpt tie |
situation, they must accept the conditions it
involves, and not, with puerile querulousness. !
deplore the result Of the game on which they |
chose to venture.
A generous foe if fairly beaten, will submit |
gracefully if at all. He will not wIihe in |
impotent convulSions, or explode in malignant |
denunciations. 1t is to the non-combatants |
generally that such exhibitions are confined. |
The brave. experienced soldier knows what !
he would have expected of his adversary. had |
The latter been conquered instead Of conqueror; |
and he acts accordingly. These considerations |
may help Us to explain the course of the
leading public men of the South at This time
Mr.. Pollard says, in conclusion: The South
has to accommodate two facts: /. That !
slavery is abolished. p That, nevertheless,
the negro, as an inferior creature, is TO be |
kept in some state of infcriority.
Now il will at once occur to any man who |
uses his thoughts to think with, that if the |
negro is an inferior creature, it will require
no effort on our part to keep him such. 1t |
strikes us that Mr.. Pollard language is some !
what Pathological and redundant. He is not |
content with declaring that the negro is an in |
lerior creature, the assertion must be made to |
work its own tulhment by our keeping the in
feror creature aforesaid lin some state of in
ieriority!' In other words, in order TO guard |
against the negro's proving himself man, we |
must "keep' him beast!
From Mr.. Pollard use of the word "keep" |
it is evident that, however he NAV regard the !
black race as at present in a state of inferior |
ity, he is beset with nervous apprehensons |
lest, under the new order of things, they NAV |
rise to prove their equality with the whites
Therefore he is in faver of vigilant efforts and
vigorous laws for keeping them in ''some
state Of inferiority.''
We confess that we do not share in these APP
prehensions. On the contrary, we are so fully
persuaded of the inherent and permanent
superiority of the Caucasion race TO all others,
that we are in favor Of giving any other race,
whether copper-colored Or black, not only
fair field, but some taUor, that they may
prove if they can their capacity for improve
ment. When will men recognize the great
fact that the elevation Of any portion of the
human family is for the benefit of all? For
our own part we are quite willing to leave it
to the processes Of an over-ruIing Providence
to settle these questions of the inferiorty or
superiority Of races, without our undertaking
to force the particular solution to which we
may be inclined ''Be Just and fear not.
Since writing the foregoing we have fallen
upon the following paragraph in late ad
mirable brochure of Mr.. John p. Kennedy, of
this city,-entitled MIR. Ambrose Letters on
the Rebellion" The sentiment is sound and
in strict accordance with the views already
maintained. Mr.. Kennedy remarks:
~ regret to find that we have already
''begun to wrangle about the final disposition
"of the debris which the demolition of that in
'stitution slavery has left in the political
''ield. We are troubling ourselves with vain
disputes touching equality of races, dis
''tinctions of complexion, and settlement of
Suffrage. The Providence that has CON
Quoted slavery up to the day of its ex-
''tnction, | think, we may safely trust with
''the final adjustment of the consequences.
''To me, it seems to be corollary from the
'great fiat of that extinction, that the eman
''cipated slave shall rise, in proper and due
''progress of elevation, from his debasement
''up to the enjoyment of every faculty and
''every right he may prove himself able to
exercise; and that the only impedment
(Which may retard that progress will be found
sin the attempt to coerce or direct it, by the
''interpostion of the power of the National
government
'Nothing, it strikes me, can be more appro-
hot