The Lincoln County herald., 1868-12-10
trron tie Asgasta t0s.) Chronicle sad esntiasi.1
the WAR BETWEEN TnE STATES.
ny ALExANDER d. STEPHENS.

fnE WAR BETWEkM tine STATES.
ny ALExANDsa d. srEpnsNs.
We have jast risen from q perusAl ol
the great work Of Vice Presi isat Ste pheu.
|-THE WAR Between THE STATES --and
. mastery work it il. Indeed. a perusal
Of it has led " uuhesi sitatingly to the con.
clusion that It 10 one Of the grandfst pro
ductions Of the present or OF any othe'
aye and the friends Of Constitutions
liberty not merely in the States lately
known 40 Confederate States-but In the
North-and East.and West -and ia
every other land where friends Of Con-
stitu,ional liberty are found, owe tO Mr..
Stephens debt Of undying gratitude for
this mastery exposition OF that form ol
government established between the
States constituting tho United States oI
America. Only one volume Of this greet
work 10 Us yet given to the world and
the object Of its discussions is, FIRST, to
answer the question propounded to him
BY ono Of the characters introduced into
the book, how he--Mr. Stephens after
making what has been known u. his great
Union speech delivered before the Georgia
Legislature in November, 1860, against
secession, could 50 earnestly maintain the
cause Of the seceded States after they had
withdrawn IRON tho Union. But to on =.
swer this question, other great questions
come up for discussion aud settlement.
such US, where docs thu ciiiscnowe nlle
giance, and what is tho relation sustained
by the States TO the GENERAL Government
aud 10 one another?
A discussion Of these subjects led to
uu exposition Of the real causes OF the
war, aod u vindication Of the seeding
States IN the exercise OF their indubitable
right 10 withdraw from the compact Of
the Union, whenever, in their convictions
Of right, It was tLeir duty 60 to do. In
seeking for the causes which led 10 the
misiry struggle that so long und 50
dercely ragged upon this contincnt-a
struggle the consequences OF which will
descend to the latest generations Of men
MIR. Stephens, like u profound philos
opher, looks beyond tho immediate cir
cumstunces Of the times in which the con.
Aic' arose, to those great aniayonistic
sentiments and opinions respecting the
character Of the Government aud the re-
la,ion Of the States, which sentiments aud
opinions have, from the very adoption o.
the Constitution. divided the people Of the
land into two great, opposing parties. We
agrec with Mr.. Stevens in the sentiments
he expresses in the introduction to his
book, respecting the agency which slavery
had in originating that terrible struggle
Ho conclusivcIy shows that slavery, in
the abstruct-slavcry, per se--,hough it
has been made to play so prominent a
part in tho closing scenes cf tue drama.
was but an incident-a collateral II nc,
question upon which these antagonistic
principles, which had been in conflict from
the beginning on divers other questions,
were finally brought into actual aud active
collision with each other upon the field Of
batt.c. They ure superficial observers OF
the course Of things, and shallow readers
Of the past history Of our country and Of
tho opinions OF political parties, who
assume the postulate - that slavery was
the cause Of tie war. lie very properly
remarks upon this subject that, the op.
posing principles which produced these
results in physical action were Of very
different character from those assumed in
such q postulate. They lay in the organic
structure Of the Governments o. the
Unitcd States The conflict in principle
arose from different and opposing ideas
Us to the nature Of what is known as the
General Government. The contest was
between those who held it to be strictly
Federal in its character and those WHO
maintained that il was thoroughly Ma.
tionaf. 1t was a strife between the prin
ciples Of Federation on the one side and
Centralism on the other. Tho circum.
stances which attended the composition
Of history naturally led Mr.. Stephens to II
full aud thorough discussion OF these un
dcrlying sub stratum principles. His
history is unique in one particular, at the
present day; ut least US It respects works
Of history or discussions in philosophy. as
he adapts the dialogue or colloquiai form
in Advancing his views upon the subjects
which he discusses but this form, it mus,
be admitted, gives hfe and animation to
his discussions, and, by the Introduction ol
different characters into tn. debate, he j.
enabled to give kind Of individuality to
the different phases Of opinion entertained
by the different parties that have divided
The country. This form naturally har
monizcs, too, with the object 10 had in
colloquial style; even in ,reatiug Of &C
grave subject as the character Of Gov
ernn,ent, he has tho example Of those
great masters Of antiquity, Plato and
Cicero, and though he does not adopt thi.
form OF writing because Of their cxa mples,
yet, Us he remarks, it was enough for hiu
TO know that the plan adopted by hin
was not without we'll. established prsce
dents in other ages and other countries
Assum ng certain characters as repre-
sentatives Of the dividing par,ies Of tn
country, BY words which he puts into thei
mouth, he SETS forth tho principles o
those parties, and in responding thersto