The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1867-02-20

As was TO have been expected, our enemies
have flooded the press with sketches and his
tories, in which all the ah aance of mere
trcious literature have been made use of, tc
glorify their own cause and its supporters, and
to blacken ours. But some Southern writer's
also, who preferred the pen to the sword OF
musket, have not been able to resist the tempt
alton to rush into print; and, accordingly
carping criticisms have been written by the
light of after events, and even histories of the
war attempted by persons VINO imagined thai
the dlstlnctness of their vision was enhanced
by distance from the scene of conflict and an
exemption from the disturbing elements Of
whlstling bullets and bursting shell. Perhars
other writers of the same class may follow
and various speculations be INDUCED in as tc
the cause of our disasters. AS for myself,
have not undertaken to speculate as to the
causes OF our failure, as [ have seen abundant
reason for it in the tremendous odds brought
against US. Having had some means of judg-
ing, | will, however, say that, in my opinion,
both President Davis and Generl Lee, in their
respective spheres, did all for the success OF
our cause which it was possible for mortal
men to do, and it is greattprivilege and COM
fort for me SO 10 believe and to have been able
to bring with me into exile a profound love
and yeneration for those great men.
In regard to my own services, all [ have to
say is, that [ have the consciousness of having
done my duty to my country, to the very best
of my ability, and whatever my fate, would
not exchange that consciousness for untold
millions. l have come into exile rather than
submit to the yoke of the oppressors of my
country; but have never thought of attrib-
utlng aught of blame or censure to those true
men who after having noby done their duty
in the dreadful struggle through which we
passed, now that 1t has gone against us, re-
main to share the misfortunes of their people,
and to aid and comfort them in their trials; on
the contrary, [ appreciate and honor their
motives. l have not sought refuge in another
land from insensbility TO the wrongs and
sufferings of my own country; but feel deeply
and continually for them, and could my life
secure the redemption of that country, as it
has been often risked, SO now it would be as
freely given for that object.
There were men born and nurtured in the
Southern States, and some of them in my
own State, who took sides with our enemies,
ard aided in d4sotajing and Illuminating tho
land of their own birth, aud Of the graves Of
their ancestors. Some Of them rose 10 high
positions in the United States army, and
others o high civil positions. | envy them
MOL their dearly bought prosperity. / had
rather be the LumbIest private soldier who
fought in tie ranks Of the Confederate army,
and now. manned and disabled, hobbies on
his crutchc5 from house 10 house, TO receive
his daily bread from the hands Of the grateful
women for wLosc homes he fought, than the
highos. of those Tenegades and traitors, Let
ohcm enjoy The advantages of their present
positions rs best they may for the deep and
bitter ezecgauOns Of an entire people now at
tend them, and an immortality Of infamy
awaits them
As for all The enemies who have oyorrun Or
aided in oy4ruang my country, there is 4
wide and impossible gulf between us, in which
ST. uc blood of slaughtered friends, COM
rades and countrymen, which all the waters
in the armament above and the seas beneath
cannot wash away. Those enemies have I'M
dertaken to render our cause odous and infa-
nous; and among other atrocities committed
by them in the effort to do so, an humble
subordinate, poor Wirz, has been selected as
a victim to a fendish spirit, and basely muir
dered, under an executive edct, founded on
the sentence of a yindictve and illegal tri-
bunal. Let them continue this sytem! they
are but erecting monuments to their own
eternal dishonor, and furnishing finger posts
to guide the historian in his researches. They
may employ the infamous Holt, with his ''Bu-
reau of Military Justice,'' to sacrifice other
victims on the affairs of their hatred, and pro-
vost marshals, and agents of the ''Freednlen' S
Bureau may riot in all the license of petty
tyranny, but our enemies can no more control
the verdict of impartial history than they can
escape that doom which awaits them at the
final Judgment.
During the war, slavery was used as a
catchword to arouse the passions OF tanatlcal
mob, ara to some extent the prejudlces of the
civiised world were excited against us; but
the war was not made on our part for slavery.
High dignitaries, in both church and state, IN
Old England, and puritans in New England,
had participated in the profits of trade, by
which the ignorant and barbarous natives of
Africa were brought from that country, and
sold into slavery in the American Colonies.
The generation in the Southern States which
defended their country in the late war, found
amongst LneLn, III ClFIliSeu anu ClllolltIllotu
condition, four million of the descendants OF
those degraded Africans. The Almighty
Creator of the Universe had stamped them,
indellibIy, with different color and an infe-
ror physical and mental organisation. He
had not done this from mere caprice or whm,
but for wise purposes. An amalsamallon Of
the races was in contravention of His designs,
or He would not have made them so different.
This immense number of people could not
have been transported back to the wilds from
which their ancestors were taken, or if they
could have been, it would have resulted In
their relapse into barbarism. Reason, COM
mon sense, true humanity to the black, as we'll
as the safety Of the white race, required that
the inferior race should be in state of subor-
dinaton. The condition of domestic slavery,
as it existed in the South, had not only resulted
in a great improvement in the moral and
physical condition Of the negro race, but had
furnished class Of laborers as happy and
contented as any in the world, if not more SO.
Their labor had not only developed the I'M
mense resources of the immediate country IN
which they were located, but was the main
source of the great prosperity Of the United
States, and furnished the means for the en-