ted in the least) of their countrymen to continue a
detested alliance, to respect a contract which they wish to break at any
price? Is it possible to imagine that after two or three years of
fighting and misery, conquerors and conquered can be made to live
harmoniously together? Can a country two or three times the size of
France be subjugated? Would there not always be bloodshed between the
parties? Separation is perhaps a misfortune, but now it is an
irreparable one. Let us grant that the North has law, the letter and
spirit of the Constitution on her side; there always remains an
indisputable point--the South wishes to govern itself. You have no right
to crush a people that defends itself so valiantly. Give it up!

If we were less enervated by the luxury of modern life and by the
idleness of a long peace, if there still lingered in our hearts some
remnant of that patriotism which, in 1792, urged our forefathers to the
banks of the Rhine, the answer would be simple; to-day I fear it will
not be understood. If the south of France should revolt to-morrow and
demand a separation; if Alsace and Lorraine should wish to withdraw,
what would be, I will not say our right only, but our duty? Would we
count voices to see if a third or a half of the French had a right to
destroy our nationality, to annihilate France, to break up the glorious
heritage our sires bought for us with their blood? No! we would shoulder
our muskets and march. Woe to the man who does not feel his country to
be sacred, and that it is a noble act to defend it, even at the price of
extreme misery and every danger!

'America is not like France; it is a confederation, not a nation.' Who
says this? It is the South, and to justify its faults; the North asserts
the contrary, and for two years she has declared, by numberless
sacrifices, that the Americans are one people, and that no one shall
divide their country. This is a grand and noble sentiment, and if
anything astonishes me, it is that France can witness this patriotism
unmoved. Is not love of country the crowning virtue of the Frenchman?

What is this South, and whence does it derive this right of secession it
proclaims so loudly? Is it a conquered nation which resumes its
independence, as Lombardy has done? Is it a distinct race which will not
continue an oppressive alliance? No! it is a number of colonies,
established on the territory of the Union by American hands. Take a map
of the United States. Ex