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toward the other has been persistently South. '1 ins .uii.-iironiMn la, in their s
misrepresented lv cliques of U'ina-' cinl condition. Now m the North, social
rogues for purposes ic base as themselves.
Now before we harshly hlnnio Hit' South
lor these results, wo ought lo look euro-
', fully into the causes of the Kebcllion.
! i In resneel to these, we are ant to be led
into an erroi. We often regard the He
hellion as a mere conspiracy of a base ol
igarchy. That it was fomented to a great
extent by a clique of demagogues, who
made use of the discords then prevailing
to furl hoc their ambitious ends, we do not
attempt to deny. Hut to suppose that the
real cnu.se lay no deeper than in the
schemes of such men is an absurdity.
The Lost Cause on the contrary, hail no
trivial origin. Would the hall-fed, half
clothed and unpaid legions of the Con
fedrac.y have toiled manfully on through
fouryear.s of terrible lighting? Would the
South have suffered all the dcsolntinsr ef
feds or war? Would all this have hap.
pened simply because of an idea? Des
pite the conduct of Davis and his usso.
dates, we cannot believe litis.
Now an imposier, when prosperous,
may have gnat success, but when adver
sity comes, he is found wanting. So
it is with people, and the South, had it
believed its cause an imposture, would
not have been .so persistent or so self
denying. The principles for which it rose
in units were llrnily believed in by the
greater maso of the Southern whites of all
grades and conditions. We may consider
them misled, but we cannot justly accuse
mem ol insincerity. The world has been
prone to regard revolution as a virtue if
successful, but as a crime if suppressed.
We must go back to the very colonization
of our country if we would find the cans
cs of the Wat for Independence: in like
manner. p must K j,,,,.,. , ,hl. ))(lgiiu
t,r :f our national existence if we
would Ibid Hie eauses of u. inU. lLi..
Ion.
The causes ot oni uvil wai are to be
-ught lor i the antagonism between the
demur du N.,,,1. and the arist.u rath
equality pervaiU'd from iIip very begii'.
ning; lull the South was aristocratic fioin
Ihe outset. It recognized several grade
of free whites, and there were, at first, in
denied white servants as well as negro
slaves. The planters stood at"the head ot
the list. They were men of wealth, nil
lure and influence, and owned largo c
tales tilled by gangs of slaves. Tlic
boasted of a long line of ancestry, ami in
their hands they held the political on
trol of iho whole South, lk'low them
were other classes of whites by whom Hit
trades and professions were tilled. The
last of these were the poor whites, 'flu
class were lazy, shiftless and improvident,
yet such a condition was not wholly then
own fault. Southern aristocracy ilcmaii
ded the abasement of one class that an
oilier might have an undue prominence
The poor whiles were degraded lioni tin
outset and were kept so; not tjinmiirnlu
perhaps, yet none the less llrnily.
The last class were Ihe negro slave
Now an aristocracy implies the relation
of master and servant ; in oilier word,
that servitude of some sort must exist,
thai the leading class may possess high
cinl position, ease and luxury. The
American will never submit lo being en
.slaved himself, and the poor while scons
the idea no less than the Yankee. So the
planter, though he despised the negro,
nevertheless employed him. In a warm
climate, the negro is better adapted lm
work than Ihe while man; therefore, slav
ery grew in Ihe South and was defended
(Jotton, it has been truly said, vvnsaso
cial tyrant, whether it was ever king or
not. Thc planters were a well educated
class. Among them have appeared sow
of the most brilliant men of our roimlrv
Hut here, the bright part of the picture
ended. The poor white did not care fm
education, and the negro was denied n
The planters controlled everything, h.
causi their education and snehd dv
tagis irave tin m an immense influence
e