ed by Calhoun
and his followers and maintained by Jefferson Davis and the civil
and military powers of the would-be Confederacy, and human slavery,
a growth of the ages, fostered by avarice, and a blot on our
civilization for two hundred and fifty years--were likewise overthrown
or destroyed; and the integrity of the Union of the States and the
majesty of the Constitution as a charter of organized liberty were
vindicated, and the American Republic, full-orbed, was perpetuated,
under one flag, and with one destiny.

The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, declaring that:
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall
exist within the United States or any place subject to its
jurisdiction"; submitted, February 1, 1865, by Congress to the
States for ratification, and proclaimed ratified December 18, 1865,
is but the inevitable decree of war, in the form of organic law,
resulting from the triumph of the Union arms, accomplished through
the bloody sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of devoted men,
together with the concurrent sufferings of yet other hundreds of
thousands of wounded and sick and the sorrows of disconsolate and
desolate millions more, superadded by billions in value of property
laid waste and other billions of treasure expended. Such, indeed,
was the penalty paid to eradicate the crime of the centuries--
_SLAVERY_.

Freedom was triumphant, and civilization moved higher.

( 1) _Memoirs of Sheridan_, vol. ii., pp. 175, 189.

( 2) This statement is taken from Lee's official report, though
Jefferson Davis, in his work, takes pains to viciously deny its
truth. _War Records_, vol. xlvi., Part I., p. 1265; _Battles and
Leaders_, etc., vol. iv., p. 724; _Rise and Fall of the Confederacy_,
vol. ii., pp. 668-76.

( 3) _Rise and Fall of the Confederacy_, Davis, vol. ii., p. 677.
I picked up at Danville a copy of this document at the press where
it had recently been printed.

( 4) _War Records_, vol. xlvi., Part III., p. 549.

( 5) _Ibid_., pp. 556, 610.

( 6) _Memoirs of Sheridan_, vol. ii., p. 187.

( 7) _War Records_., vol. xlvi., Part III., p. 576.

( 8) While riding along the face of the hills with Colonel Andrew
J. Smith of the division staff, to get a good view of the enemy's
position, I dispatched the Colonel to bring up and put a battery
in a designated position. He met and sent Major O. V. Tracey