ART. V. THE WAR.

1. The Causes of the American Civil War. A Letter to the London Times. By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY, LL. D., D. C. L., Author of "The Rise of the Dutch Republic' " and "History of the United Netherlands." New York: James G. Gregory. 1861. 2. The Rebellion Record; a Diary of American Events, 1860–61. Edited by FRANK Moore, &c., &c. New York: G. P. Putnam.

WHEN, in the year of our Lord 79, the people of Campania saw that memorable pine-tree cloud ascending from Vesuvius, black with smoke, glittering with flashes of lightning, it came as a great surprise. The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, the little villages which nestled on the side of the mountain, were astonished out of their tranquil repose by an unexpected terror. It was difficult to realize the greatness of the catastrophe. The family of the rich Diomedes thought themselves safe in the cellars of their Pompeian villa; Diomedes himself thought he should have time, before he fled, to gather up some gold; the elder Pliny conceived that he might safely sail across the bay into the very centre of the peril for the sake of scientific information; the younger Pliny continued to read his Livy at Misenum amid the increasing tumult of the mountain and tremblings of the earth. Yet there were warnings which preceded the catastrophe. The old lava of previous eruptions lay everywhere under their feet. The mountain had been moaning, and earthquakes during many previous days had given significant indications of some approaching phenomenon.

So it has been with the people of the United States. The first shot fired at Fort Sumter was an alarm-gun, rousing the whole land to war. The news of that impious sacrilege, of that audacious attack on the dear old flag, flew along a hundred wires, and the people of nineteen States rushed to arms. Then was seen the greatest phenomenon of modern history,— the most unwarlike of nations, in the course of a few months, becoming the most military people in the world. The gage of battle, thrown down by "the venerable Edward Ruffin of Virginia," when he fired that fatal shot, has been taken up

by half a million of soldiers. Raw militia are changed in a few weeks into veterans. Men who never fired a gun lead a charge against a battery of rifled cannon. Men just taken from their shops and ploughs stand still, like old soldiers, to be battered with stones or mowed down with grape. Boys, fresh from their books, go into battle with the coolness of the bronzed old moustache who has seen fifty fights. The whole population of the North has flung itself, with, the immense energy born of freedom, into this war. Seventy-five thousand men are called for for three months, and one hundred and fifty thousand offer to go. One hundred and fifty thousand are called for for three years, and three hundred thousand offer to go. The agents of the different regiments go to Washington to urge, by all available influence, that they shall be accepted. Twice as many companies are formed, equipped, and drilled, as can possibly be put to service. They support themselves while waiting to be taken into the army. Their officers spend all their money in providing them with the bare necessaries of life. The streets of our cities, so lately ignorant of all military sights, now echo, early and late, with the measured tread of marching men, are draped with the stripes and stars, are musical with the fife and bugle. Those who do not enlist enter drill-clubs, so as to be ready to enlist by and by. The intense activity created by free institutions, the whole energy of intellect and will of the whole Northern people, have been poured into this work of war. We may say that the whole capital of the nation, in money, men, intellect, time, has been invested in this struggle. All parties disappear. A few months ago we seemed hopelessly disunited; now the unanimity of the people is almost entire.

Nor is the unanimity of the North more striking than its celerity. The red cross of Roderic Dhu sped rapidly through Highland valleys, and over Highland mountains, summoning the clans to battle. Rapidly flashed the signal fires from headland to headland along the coast of England, rousing county after county, as the Spanish Armada came in sight upon the horizon. But the fastest foot of man and horse, the most rapid succession of beacon fires, are lazy messengers when compared with the lightning sparks which flashed the news of the attack

on Fort Sumter over a hundred wires, on the 12th of April, 1861. In the course of a few hours the news spread over fifteen degrees of latitude and fifty of longitude. The change produced in human transactions by the combination of the railroad and electric telegraph appeared very signally on this occasion. Fort Sumter was surrendered on Saturday, April 13th. On Monday, April 15th, appeared the President's proclamation, calling for 75,000 men. The fact (by telegraph) reached Boston the same day, and Governor Andrew's requisition went before night into the country towns, calling for the Sixth Regiment to come to Boston, and then go to Washington. Through that Monday night the messengers went from house to house, summoning the men, and on the next morning (Tuesday, 16th) many of the companies were marching in the cold rain through the streets of Boston. On Friday, April 19th, the regiment went through Baltimore into Washington, leaving dead on the cruel pavements of the inhospitable city the protomartyrs of the new Revolution. The promptness of Massachusetts and of her Governor electrified the other States, and saved Washington.

And now that we find ourselves at once plunged into this struggle, and the plough of industry beaten into the sword of war, there are several questions which we must ask concerning it, for our own satisfaction and that of others. As Christians we must ask, "Is it right, and is it necessary to fight?" As students of philosophy and history, we must inquire into the causes and the consequences of this war. And as patriots we all wish to know what ought to be thought, said, and done in order to end the struggle in the right way. On each point we wish to suggest a few thoughts. First comes the Ethical question, which concerns the justice of the war; next the Historical question, which relates to the causes and tendencies of the war; and lastly, the Patriotic question, which regards our own hopes, fears, and duties as Americans in reference to it.

I. The Ethical question about the war. Why are we fighting? What is this war for? How can it be justified on any Christian grounds? What have become of all our peace principles? Can we, as Christians, consent to the war, encourage it, or take part in it?

VOL. LXXI. 5TH S. VOL. IX. NO. I.

9

If all wars are wrong, if it is never justifiable to fight for defence of the lives, freedom, safety, of those most dear to us, or in defence of the cause of justice and humanity, — then, of course, the present war, as waged by the North, is wrong. But that all wars are wrong can only be maintained on the principle of non-resistance. For if it is right for an individual to take life in self-defence, it is, a fortiori, more right for a nation to take life in defending itself. If it is right to enforce the laws, to imprison criminals, to use physical force in preserving the peace, then the use of force is not wrong. And if, in using physical force for all these purposes, we may inflict injury on a small scale, and to a small extent, there is no objection, as far as the principle is concerned, in using it on a large scale, when the necessity comes.

We believe that our Peace Societies did at one time attempt to find some middle way between non-resistance on the one side, and conceding the justice of wars of self-defence on the other. But the attempt seemed to us then unsuccessful. He who is not willing to admit that some wars are right, ought, if he would be consistent, to be a non-resistant.

But neither have we been able, at any time, to accept the doctrines of non-resistance. Forcible resistance to evil is a duty we owe to the evil-doer, no less than to ourselves. All men need chastisement, restraint, resistance. We are all better for being resisted when we are doing wrong. Part of our moral discipline comes from the chastisement we suffering we endure, in consequence of our sins. If men did not suffer continually when they do wrong, if they were not constantly resisted, and terribly resisted, by God's laws and man's instincts, the world would become a Pandemonium, and life a curse.

receive, the

"Still," it is said, "Christianity forbids resistance to evil; commands us to submit to injuries. The whole power of the Gospel is in love. It overcomes evil with good. It teaches us to forgive seventy times seven. It is a doctrine of good-will to men, and peace on earth. The Gospel of Christ knows

nothing of war."

To this we reply, that the Gospel, as opposed to the law, only works by love, -never by force. never by force. And when the law is

fulfilled in the Gospel, all forcible resistance to evil will cease. But Christ does not destroy the law. It remains, and works by its own methods, until it is fulfilled in the Gospel. The law restrains evil by force from going to too great excess, until the day when it can be overcome by good.

"Serene will be our day and bright,

And happy will our nature be,

When Love is an unerring light

And joy its own security ";

but till that day comes, the methods of law must continue, being more and more purified and elevated by the spirit of the Gospel.

We are not now discussing the question of non-resistance, or we should have much more to say. We merely suggest our position, and do not argue it. For our present purpose, this is enough.

If, then, some wars are right, the question recurs, Is this war right? Is it right for the people to support their government in putting down by force this rebellion? Would it not have been a more Christian way to have let the rebels go in peace? Ought we not to have consented to their trying their experiment of Secession?

If the people of seven States, or if the people of all the Slave States had, by decided majorities and with a free ballot-box, decided to leave the Union, and had asked leave to go out, peaceably and by the proper forms, leave might have been granted. According to the theory of our government, the people of the United States, and of any particular State, have a right to alter their form of government whenever they choose. But they must alter it in the legitimate way. By adopting the Federal Constitution, they have entered into a solemn compact with the people of the United States, which they have no right to violate. When a contract is made, it must be fulfilled until it can be legally made void.

But, instead of asking for a peaceable and orderly separation, with the consent of the other States, the seceding States attempted violently and forcibly to dissolve the Union. They did not ask for a Convention of all the States to give them leave to go, and to fix the conditions of their secession. They