The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-03-14
FRIDAY EvEN'G. MARCH IA. 1873
Reply 10 "The Truth"


sition little too broadly in saying that
the ordinance Of secession was "the work
of intimidation in Virginia. for this
language. without qualification, might inn
ply that it was the sole work. This we
did not intend to assert. We were speak
ing of the immediate cause, and had we
used the proper qualifying adjective to
express our meaning at the time, perhaps
"The Truth" and ourself would not
have been so widely at variance in our
statements as we now are.
Our correspondent agrees with us that
decided majority of the convention which
finally passed the ordinance of secession,
were opposed to the " secession corolary "
as drawn from the doctrines of the strict
constructionists." He takes no issue with us
in regard to the demonstration" that was
made upon the Executive Mansion, and
about the State House in which the con-
vention held its sttings with closed
DOORS" at the time the ordinance of seces-
sion was under consideration. A majority
Of that body were Unlonists, and agreed
with Governor Letcher that :" secession
was the first step to war;" With it, they
knew war would come without it, they
thought war might be averted ; and they
struggled hard and long against the current
Of events that threatened war, and war
only.
We wish to stand by the truth of his
tory to extenuate nothing to set down
nothing in Enthusiastically nothing to the
detriment of the truth of history. But we
cannot accept the facts as given by " The
Truth /" without many grains of salt. The
fact was, and the truth of history is, that
the proclamation of President Lincoln was
not the precipitating cause of secession in
this state or any other. There had been a
little precipitating cause" in South Car
DINA just before the issuing of that proc
lamation which everybody understood
the meaning Of, not only in
Virginia, but in every other state. The
Secessionsts of the South understood it as
well as the Unionists. They knew that it
necessitated one of two thngs-such a
proclamation as President Lincoln issued,
or pusillanimous surrender by the fede-
eral government Of the nations honor,
the nations flag, and the nations life.
South Carolina and the other seeded
states had opened fire on federal fort,
on the national flag, and on American
shipping. The thunders of Confederate
artillery were to be silenced, then, or the
people Of the states which had not seeded
were to sink down into an abysm
of shame and infamy from which there
could have been no political resurrection
in this life or the life to come. The
secession Confederacy had not simply
declared war-they had opened a1ar-actu-
ally commenced hostilities. This the
Unionists in the Virginia convention knew,
and still, according to " The Truth" they
adhered to the cause Of the Union. What
precipitated them, then? Was it the proc
lamation of Persistent Lincoln, which the
firing on Fort Sumter rendered an impera-
tive necessity? Not unless the majority of
that convention were fools of twenty-five
carats. For did they suppose, or could "The
Truth" have supposed, for the millionth
part Of a minute, that the federal govern
ment could permit the high acts of treason
and the actual levying of war by South
Carolina, or any other state, to go unchas.
tised for single hour beyond the time me-
cessary to administer chastisement? IF
they did. then 6 The Truth and the con-
vention both must have been stark mad or
clean daft of their senses.
The fact was, the convention in this city
either passed the ordinance of secession in
entire sympathy with the secessonists of
South Carolina, or else under intimidation,
as we alleged in our article. There is no
other horn to the dilemma, and could have
been none other at that time. The first
blow had been struck. The stripes and
stars had been defiantly shot down by
Confederate cannon. The walls of an Ame-
iican fort had been ruthlessly battered
down by the same cannon. Prisoners of
war had been taken, and defiance at every
breath hurled in the teeth Of twenty mil
lions of people. Did the convention
assembled here in 1861, suppose that these
twenty millions of people would get down
on their knees and beg of South Carolina
to come back into the Union, after that
No, not man Of them. Such depth of
humiliation was never yet reached by
nation Of absolute towards.
How idle, then, for THE Truth" to as
sert that the Virginia convention passed
its ordinance of secession because the
North didn't drain this cup of ignominy
and shame to the dregs! That will never
do, Mr.. TRUTH" as an allegation to 90
into history. 1t would reflect infinite dis.
credit upon Virginia, and blot her es-
cutcheon with too damnng stain for the
centuries to wipe out. Frankly ad-
nit, then, one of two thngs-that
Virginia seeded because she was in sym.
patty with secession, or that her conven-
ton, held here in 1861, were ntimidated,
by the demonstration made on the Capitol
grounds, into passing the ordinance Of