Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-05-31
|NTERPRETS THE WAR
BETWEEN THE STATES
Rev. George w. Mcdaniel, D. D., in
Sermon, Says Negro Was Not
Cause OF War.
WAS MERELY AN INCIDENT
Statesmen Of North We're Not Seek.
Ing to Abolish Slavery, but to Pre-.
serve Unton-South Held Union
Was One Of Consent.

ing 10 Abolish Slavery, but to Pre-.
serve Unfon-South Held Union
Was One Of Consent,
An Interpretation of tho War Be-
tween the States" was the theme OF
the sermon OF Rev. George W. Nc
Daniel D. D., pastor OF the First Ban
fist Church. yesterday. The text was
Psalm XVI. 10: Surely the wrath of
man shall praise thee" the preacher
taking tho ground that the divine nur-
pose and will are in some way carried
out In the great wars OF the world.
He said that every one of the nations
at war In Europe to-day thinks II is
right In Its reasons for going to war.
ASK a Servian. Russian, an English
man or representative of any OF the
other nations. and he will put the
blame for the war on some other ma
ton than his own
lt IL Is 80 hard to get men to agree
on the real reasons behind the Euro
pean conflict" said Dr. McDanicl ";t
Is easier to understand why men could
honestly differ about the causes OF
the war between the States. I-ookinr
hack from a distance Of hfty wears
tne underlying causes OF the war seem
palmer than they did fifty years ago.
AND hfty years from now the causes
of the European war will likewise
stand out in clearer outline"
Inc war between the States was
distinctly not war OF conquest. said
Or. Mcdaniel. Neither the South nor
INC North was fighting to get more
territory. nor was the South fEhtha
TO carry slavery into more States, for
the bred Scott decision holding that
a slave was mere property settled
that. And 1t was not a racial war
as Is tho war in Europe to-day, when
hatred, and when Pan-Slavism and
Pan-Germanism threaten to prevail in
Europe according to the nationality
OF the observer.
WAR IN WHICH BROTHER WAS
ARRAfED AGAINST BROTHER
1t was war of fratricidal strife,
war in which brother was arrayed
against brother. And it was a war of
principle. The negro was not the
cause, but only an incident. Eirhtv
per cent OF the Confederate soldiers
owned no slaves and they were not
hshtins in order that the right to own
slaves might be maintained. The
statesmen OF the North did not con-
cetve OF the war as being waged on
the part OF the North with the pur
pose of freeing the slaves William
Lloyd Garrison and few fre-eaters
Ike him kindled the fires of abolition
But statesmen like Abraham Lincoln
neid mat the war was being waged
10 preserve the Union. The South held
that the Union was one of consent
ana not OF force, that the States were
the creators and not the creatures; the
North that the Union formed nv the
States was Intended to be perpetual,
.naI sovereignty is unit and cannot
ne divided, that the right OF the pres
ervation OF the Union was inherent.
even though the Constitution did not
specify 1t In so many words. that the
Union and liberty as Lincoln said are
inseparable.
Daniel. was to solidfy the South.
From the Potomac to the tawny waters
OF the Rio Grande the South is one In
memory, one in sentiment and one in
aspiration.
Another effect of the war wa, the
watched the experiment of the new
republic with skepticism, and pre-
dicted that 1T would fall. But 1t stood
the strain. The Union is one and in
dissoluble.
The war enriched the South with
heroic deeds and illustrious names.
These are the heritage Of our children.
and they ought to sweeten the bitter
ness OF the defeat of the Confederate
soldiers The greatest work on a mill
tary subject was written by an Eng
iishman, Colonel Henderson, and 1t was
about Stonewall Jackson. When Lord
Wolseley of England came to this coun-
try and saw and talked with Robert E.
Lee he went back to England and de-
clared that Lee was the grandest speci-
men Of the Anglo Saxon race. These
are our jewels, match them II you
can"
HOUSTON PAPER GIVES HIGH
II
In the course of his sermon DR.. Nc
Daniel read portions OF an editorial
from the Houston Chronicle in part as
follows:
Historic Richmond. Heroic Rich
mond! She Is covered with glory as
with a garment and filled with holy
memories even as her air is filled with
perfume OF rose and apple bloom when
touched by the tender kisses of spring
time.
There have dwelt in that historic
city Tor two centuries and more, and
there dwell there yet the highest types
or humanity the world ever, saw, and
the pilgrims to that Mecca in June
VIII be the guests OF a people with
whom courtesy Is a creed and hospital
ity is religion.
Merit is not measured there by any
monetary standard. Breeding and not
bullion. gentle blood and not gilt
edged bonds are the test and standard
OF social worth there and devotion
to the death. less memories which clus-
ter above fallen but glorious and
Elorited cause. is the very vital breath
OF great people.
They have wrought since April O.
1865. work OF rehabilitation and re-
demption without a parallel in the
annals OF human achievement
They have held unseduced to the
political faith once delivered to the
fathers. and have lifted their mother
State out OF the valley OF oppression
and poverty and suffering to the
heaven kissed heights OF prosperity and
power. and amid trials and sufrerings
and the battle with grim. gaunt pow
erty have kept alive on the affairs OF
their hearts the flame OF devotion to
that cause for which they fought"