Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-02-07
CABLE REVIEWED.
wRArrHEsoUTH FoUG8TFoR


that it is not true al " we Of the South"
went to war in 1861 without justly
knowing what we did il for, for which
we thank Mr.. Mckay. We wish to
addth II Mr.. Cable chooses thus to
condemn himself, we beg to be excused
from sharing his confession. We are
very sure that, unlike him, we did
know what we were about. In a later
number Of the Century Magazine he re-
plies to Mr.. Mckay, and his reply
makes matters infinitely worse. lie
thinks the reserved rights Of the States
were a "quibble;" and even il, for
arguments sake, we concede that there
was right Of protecting them in the
last resort by secession, the main
question, because the moral one, lies
behiRd--.for chat the pretended right
was exercised? Mr.. Cable thinks 1t
was really for Si0r0y, which he now
thinks, like all the rest Of mankind,
altogether wicked and abOminable; so
that, even If we had a right, we were
making a wicked use of that right.
And here he advises US all not TO ven
ture on the folly OF asserting the right
Of secession again, unless we wish all
the smart people TO think us as near to
senility as Mr.. Jefferson Davis. And
every time he says his prayers he
thanks God for not letting us succeed,
although We we're rescued from the
GROWING woe Of success at the cost Of
the blood and anguish Of hundreds and
thousands Of our noblest and best. Be-
cause our Confederacy, when independ-
ent, would have been so miserable
failure, our success would have been
our ruin. So Mr.. Cable, like a good
child, thanks our conquerors for whip
ping the folly and haughtiness out Of
him, although with whips dipped in
hell-fre. Still, after all this, he can
be as proud Of having been staunch
Confederate as the rest Of US
Now, all this is as astonishing for its
misapprehension of facts as for its con-
fusion of reasoning. IT was with pecu-
liar pain that we saw southern man go
out Of his way to offer a gibe against
Mr.. Davis, patriot now in misfortune,
for having striyen to defend oar rights
constitutional lawyer and statesman
of mastery ability, whose history, if
read. convinces every one capable of
dispassionate understanding Of his argu-
ment. Had Brother Cable studied that
history with that capacity he would
have learned that the right he called
"quibble " was regarded as the grand
hulwark Of the peoples liberty by the
fathers Of the country as much IN the
North as in the South was unques-
tiouably left in possession Of the States
by their intent in the Constitution, and
has been asserted most seriously by
every section and every school Of poll
lies in turn, as by secession New Eng
and in 1914.
Nr. Cable is the first southern man
We have ever met with who seems not
to have grasped the plain distinction
between the occasion Of an effect and
its cause. lie is the only southern man
we ever heard Of who thought slavery
was the cause of our resistance; all
the rest, from the peasant up to the
statesman, knew that slavery was but
the circumstance of the attack which
furnished the incidental occasion Of our
resistance, while its moving cause was
the desire to preserve a vital right to
equality and liberty for ourselves and
u. IL A Mr
astounding mistake, we wished that he
had witnessed the clear definition of
this plain distinction which we saw
given in the first public meeting we
ever attesded in the Confederacy by a
poor peasant youth little above lout
in intelligence. A captain Of yolun-
unteers was asking for recruits; one
and another Of the country youth
were going forward to enroll them
selves. when on a bench near us we
saw this by.play. The young man,
blushing and trembling with embar-
rasment, was half rising to go forward.
\ coarse, sensual old man, known for
his slavery to the bottle, sitting beside
him, was pulling him down by the skirt
Of his coat, saying, with an oath
Don't be a fool; sit still; you have
got no niggers to fight for" The yonng
lnan at last, firmly pushing his hands
awav, rose and said: % know that;
but have got to fight to keep the YAM
KEGS from making a niger Of me-"
lie saw clearly what, it seems, our au-
thor has never seen. So, all the way
up to the other extreme Of the social
scale, the southern judgment was
equally clear. General K. &. Lee saw
the same thing when he, the owner of
hundreds of bOndsmen, said he would
cheerfully surrender every one to pre-
serve peace, were that the real issue to
be settled.
let us endeavor, for the thousandth
time. to make the real cause of south
ern resistance clear to Mr.. Cable. AS
soon as the North was sure Of numcr-
ical majority it had taken this deter
mined ground Southern States shall
not hare equal franchises IL the tcicr-
alton. And the reason why they shall
not is that they are comparatively un-
worthy Of them alongside Of US. They
shall not hare equal franchises, because
hey are dcbdSed by a sin.
Now, could any one except pre-
destined slave and born dolt fail to see
that acquiescence in such inequality,
on such ground, must mean despotism
and slavery for us and our children?
Would not oppression inevitably follow
the contempt? We had but to listen
TO such satanic libels as Mr.. Summers
- Barbarism Of Slavery" to know
what such bonds OF federation
as that meant. But when the south
ern States, applying the most
moderate and the minimum means of
defence possible in their case, calmly
said: Well, then, if we are unworthy
to federate with you as equals, let us
freely surrender the contested fran
chises and quietly retire, so as to save
our liberty, if we must lose these
rights. The imperious answer was;
No. Neither shall you be equals in
the Coz partnership nor shall you retire.
You shall stay in as interiors, to be