The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-04-28

expressed through the legally con
stituted government, he was, he
felt, bound in law, in honor and
in love to obey without doubt or
hesitation. This belief was the
handspring that kept the South
ern COnfederacy going. as it was
also the cornerstone of its cOnsti
tuition"
HIS FEARS CONCERNING THE
STRUGGLE.
As far as we have been able to
gather from persons acquainted
with Gen. Lee, it appears that he
was the only man at the South
who, at the commencement of
hOstilities, fully appreciated the
magnitude of the struggle that
the Southern people was entering
upon, and from the very com
mencement he entertained serious
forebodingS of disaster and fail
ure.
In the month of May. 1861, in
conversation with a distinguished
Confederate officer, he gave his
views of the conflict in the follow
ing grave and serious manner:
IL fear our people do not real
ize the magnitude of the struggle
they have entered upon, nor its
probable duration and the Sacri
fees it will impose upon them.
The United States government is
one of the most powerful upon
earth. | know the people and
the government we have to con.
tend with. In little while they
will be even more united than we
are. Their resources are almost
without limit They have a
thoroughly organized govern
ment, commanding the respect,
and to some extent, the heart of
the world. Their army is com
! plete in all of its details and ap.
| p0intmentS and will be command
ed by the foremost soldier of the
country, General Scott, whose de
! vOtion to the Union cause is at
tested 10y his drawing his sword
! against his native State.
"They also have a navy that in
a little while will blockade our
ports and cut us Off from all the
world. They have nearly all the
workshops and skilled artisans
of the country, and will draw up
on the resources of0ther countries
to supply any deficiency they may
fell. And above all, we shall
have to fight the preiudices Of the
world, because of the existence of
slavery in our country.
"Our enemy will have the ear
of other powers, while we cannot
be heard, and they will ue Shrewd
enough to make the war appear
to he merely a struggle on our
! part for the maintenance of Sla-
very, and we shall then be with,
out sympathy and most certainly
without material aid from other
powers.
"To meet all this we have a
government to form, an army to
raise, organize and equip, as best
we may. We are without treas
ury and without credit We have
no ships, few arms and few man
utacturerS. Our people are brave
and enthusiastic and will be
united Ill defence of a Just cause.
| believe we can succeed in eStab-
fishing our independence, if the
people can he made to compre
mend at the outset that to do so
they must endure "A longer war
and far greater privation than
dld our fathers in the Revolution
of 1776. We will not succeed
until the financial power of the
North is completely broken, and
this can occur only at the end OF
a long and bloody war. Many of
our people think it will soon be
over, that perhaps a single cam
palgn and one great battle will
end it. This is a fatal error and
must be corrected or we are
doomed.
"Above all, Virginians must
prepare for the worst. Our coun.
try is of wide extent and great
natural resources, but the con.
fiict will be mainly in Virginia.
She will become the Flanders of
America before this war is over.
and her people must be prepared
for this. If they resolve at once
to dedicate their lives and all
they possess to the cause of con.
StltutlOnal government and South.
ern independence, and to suffer
without yielding as no other peo.
pie have been called upon to suf
fer III modern times, we shall,
with the blessing of God, succeed
III the end; but when it will all
end, no man can fOrteell. wish
l could talk to every man, woman
and child i'll the State now and
Impress them with these views.D
This prophetic warning of Gen
Lee soon became widely known
and impressed the Southern PEG
pie with a more serious view OF