The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-06-20
The Ideals Of The Confederacy

Webster's unabridged diction-
airy describes an ideal as a stan
dard of moral excellence. When
eleven Southern states formed
the COnfederacy. they expected
to maintain the ideals they had
cherished from time immemori-
al and which they had striven
to perfect. at times achieving
them in varying degrees across
the South. These eleven states
were different in thir ways. but
fought to keep their ideals of
reverence for God. personal
honor, absolute honesty. loyalty.
magnanimity or largeness of
spirit. devotion to duty. a sense
of chivalry, which included the
protection of women and chill
dren and the weak and unfortu-
nate. and finally, a courtesy that
extended to everyone. friend.
foe, and servant alike. All these
they had been developing from
the beginning of the colonies.
From early times the Southern
planter had courtesy and hos
pitality in his home. The planter
also had honor and love for the
land on which he lived. There
were those men. who did not
choose planting for a profess
sion, such as doctors, lawyers,
and soldiers that still chung to
the culture developed around the
plantation. Even those who
didn't know what a ten dollar
bill looked like still had the in
dividualism of the Southern
planter. The individualism in
volved an IDEAL of personal
honor, the control of their own
destiny. the maintaining of re-
spOnsibilities for those less for
tunate, and their own devotion
for good government through
law.
Ideals Fought For
From before the Revolution
into those years before the War
between the States, Thomas JEFF
ferson's ideal, based on that of
the ancient Greeks. was the
creation of a society of superior
individuals. The ideal had ap-
pealed to the Southerner, whose
three great loves, the law, the
classics. and the land, gave
them the bases for such a So
ciety.
One or more OF these ideals,
that were previously mentioned.
were found in every man fight
ing and leading the Confeder-
acy. This was what they were
fighting for. The thought of los
ing them drove these men onto
the battlefield.
Confederate President JEFF
ferson Davis was totally dedi-
Gated to the planters South, and
sincerely believed it to be a
Knighthood. There is an incident
that took place while Davis was
a senator in Washington be-
tween the Davises and Senator
Seward of New York. Mrs. Davis
asked the senator how he could
make those piteous appeals for
the Negro in Congress when
he was sure he didn't mean
them.
OiidoiidliiCO anu = III ! l / ii <,
Seward replied, II do not. but
these appeals. as you call them,
are potent to affect the rank and
file of the North"
Mrs. Davis, who was naturally
shocked. asked him if he never
spoke from conviction alone.
Never" Seward replied.
Mr.. Davis, who was recover
ing from an eye disease. raised
his blindfolded head and said in
angry tone, LAS God is my
Judge, l never spoke from any
other motive"
1t was this honesty that Presi-
dent Davis carried into the
White House of the Confederacy
and was an ideal that he strove
to maintain in his government.
Wade H m pit o n, of South
Carolina, became one of the most
dashing cavalry men the Con-
federacy had. Before the war.