New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-07-21

N
lille Alabama. The Gossip Printing Company
This book purports TO be written from original
notes collated in the years 1S6l-65,' by the
author Its merit lies in the fact that IL Is d
genuine Southern chronicle of the Reoe!hon' VIII
ten altogether from Secessionlst point OF Nie"'
and exhibiting without the least restraint 'ic
Soutbern ideas beliefs and prejudiceS OF the
,eriod The author begins with the hring On
Fort Sumter. lie was in Washington Wieh ''o
war broke out and he describes NNluly V"c 'o
dition OF the capital at that crluc" no'"o.'"
The conviction that serious struggle was D07
n;ro had NOT as vet been reached by the majority
of the noliticians and lobbyists, who thoueho '''
at the worst there would be a few weeks oil us
.urbance and that then the trouble would some
how he settled by the ordinary political methods
A fs,y DAVIS after the Inauguration OF Lincoln MI
n. Icon went South and thenCeforth his lot WAS
cast with the Confederacy. lie deserves "e
nreparations for war, which most Of the Son'hcrh
States were slow TO enter upon ana the 'u'io"'
optimism of public opinion at the oouu"-" So
~ mind which. according to him, persisted loh5
after most communities would have ap'h"oHc"
all hone of a successful issue to the contest
Rut the most striking Characteristic of the Dook
ia it's faithfulness a reflection oil Una, "'''
Southern sentiment which almost up I" um 81"
render Of Lee refused TO admit the possibility Oh
sketched so exclusively from the southern poi"0
80 Wow that the close of the struggle appears
,o+ollu incompatible with the course OF the con-
Act For since almost every encounter Is hcie
ronresented as a Confederate victory, the paucI
finds il hard TO understand how. after 50 stea"N "
series of successes during four years uhe o'","
sbould have found il necessary 10 surrender III tHc
end II was for a considerable period Sou'I''n
axiom that one Confederate was equal 10 al lc'sV
five Yankees and il looks as though MI De lNo"
had cot ont 10 demonstrate the truth of this IN
despite of whatever contrary facts might gel Ill 'lc
wav of his hypothesis. He does indeed gener-
s1,, acknowledges at intervals, that the Federal
+roons tonight bravely, but this admission Is
1ogicallv necessary to his position, for OF what
.sact would be Southern bravery if the foes OF
the cause" were of stability IN war anu
combat? So it is allowed that the Northern
soldiers did their devoirS manfully' nut no maler
how we'll they stood 10 their guns they are repre-
sented as having nearly always been hurFd
hack or broken" or trampled under loot ny
the irresistible charges of the southern lhcs' MI
De Leon moreover, will admit only one goou
General in the Northern armies, and his name IS
Mcclellan Not that this judgment can pe con
sidered SURPRISING or indeed other than natural;
Tor from purely Southern point Of view Nc
Clellan certainly must be considered favoraolN'
inasmuch as he did less damage TO the Coniedcracy
than any Northern commander. His Pcnlnsuar
camnatpn was model of how not 10 do II. ana
the South had every reason for hoping and pray
ing that the conduct of the war might remain III
his hands.
II is probably owing to the same line of reason
ing that our ingenious author disapproVcS strongly
of General Grants course. General who thinks
of nothing but fighting: who is so ObtuSe as not
to know when he is beaten; who KEEPS pounding
away until he beats down all resistance, cannot
he an object of admiration 10 men who insist upon
believing that one Confederate is aS good as live
Yankees All this is amusing after so many years
but much more valuable are the writer's graphic
descriptions of social life in Richmond during
the war Here he is dealing with facts, not
theories and what his eyes see that he can repeat
with precision and spirit. Ii was no doubt a
irving time and especially for the women; but
the optimism which died so hard was really n
blessing to them, for it prevented them from
realizing the gravity of the situation, and caused
them to look upon their suferlngs ana prlVatIohs
as in a large measure temporary OF course when
heavy fighting began 10 thin the Confederate
ranks. and every report from the front carried
mourning into scores of homes, the point Of view
underwent a change. Yet even the presence Of
death ceases 10 be awful by use, and 10 the last
Richmond was able 10 amuse itself even whcn
the general lack of food gave the name OF staryd-
tons TO the social gatherings, at which the only
refreshment provided was pitcher OF James
River water.
One interesting Circumstance which has, we
think, not been fully brought ont before Is TIE
growth of intense hostility 10 the Notwithstanding
business at the South. The common and general
view always was that the Southern people hailed
the blockade runners their best friends but II
seems that this was not the case. The cargoes
brou in h hose sold
prices that the public came to regard all connected
with the traffic as associated in scheme Of plum
der and IL appears 10 have been suspected that
the authorities in charge of transportation were
in partnership with the blOckade-runners, for,
whereas the transportation of army supplies was
always delayed and mismanaged, 10 the loss and in
Jury Of the army, il was noted that any cargo
landed by blockade runner Was sure 70 be put
upon the market at Richmond with unfailing
rapidity. Mr.. De Leon has a good deal 60 say
concerning the harpes who made money ont of
the woes of the Confcdcracy, but it might console
him TO reflect that the North also had It's ghouls,
who fattened upon the swndling Of the Federal
armies. and who deliberately exposed scores OF
thousands of their patriotic countrymen T. suffer
ing disease and death in order 10 reap great
profit upon the contracts which they UNANIMOUSLY
violated in every vital particular. The south
was less pundcrcd than the North, though only
because it had less to steal but this kind II
scoundres all nations have with them in per
petuity, unhapply, and the Confedcracy could no
more hope to escape them than the Federal Gov
eminent
Mr. DcIeon has written volume which i de-
cidedly interesting. if for other reasons, prn-
cipally, than he seems TO DE aware Of No doubt
il is largely owing to the fact that he has written
from notes taken during the war that his gen
eral views wear 50 curiousy antique an aspect;
but he himself must be highly conservative, for
he does not anywhere hint on idea that the
opinions and conclusions Of the Rebellion ever
were over-colored mistaken. This is what
gives so odd an originality 10 his pages He