of Constitutional liberty, and of local self government—or, as Mr. Davis puts it, "the rights of their sires won in the Revolution, the State sovereignty, freedom and independence, which were left to us, as an inheritance, and to their posterity forever." This definition, a distinguished Massachusetts writer says, is "the whole case, and not only a statement, but a complete justification of the Confederate cause, to all who are acquainted with the origin and character of the American Union."
Yes, we repeat, this is our country, and of it, we would say, with Virginia's dead Laureate at the Yorktown celebration:
"Give us back the ties of Yorktown,
Perish all the modern hates.
Let us stand together, brothers,
In defiance of the Fates,
For the safety of the Union
Is the safety of the States."
At Appomattox, the Confederate flag was furled, and we are content to let it stay so forever. There is enough of glory and sacrifice encircled in its folds, not only to enshrine it in our hearts forever; but the very trump of fame must be silenced when it ceases to proclaim the splendid achievements over which that flag floated.
BATTLE-FIELD, NOT A FORUM.
But Appomattox was not a Judicial forum; it was only a battlefield, a test of physical force, where the starving remnant of the Army of Northern Virginia, "wearied with victory," surrendered to "overwhelming numbers and resources." We make no appeal from that judgment, on the issue of force. But when we see the victors in that contest, meeting year by year and using the superior means at their command, to publish to the world, that they were right and that we were wrong in that contest, saying that we were "Rebels" and "traitors," in defending our homes and firesides against their cruel invasion, that we had no legal right to withdraw from the Union, when we only asked to be let alone, and charge that we brought on that war; we say, when these, and other wicked and false charges are brought against us from year to year, and the attempt is systema--
