rtant moral or political truth, there is always a
wholesome virtue that in some measure redeems the brutality and violence
which are the inseparable accompaniments of all wars, and which
peculiarly characterize the history of civil wars, in every age and
country. It is not merely the elevated and unselfish sentiment of
patriotism, as known in former ages, and expressed in the noble
sentiment, _dulce et decorum est pro patria mori_, which, engenders
lofty impulses and nourishes the rugged virtues of the soldier in the
heart; but the still higher sentiment of love for humanity and universal
freedom--a sentiment wholly unknown in what are called the heroic
ages--sanctifies the labors, the wounds, and the glorious death of the
martyrs who struggle and fall in such a contest. Men have often fought
and willingly died in the cause of their country, regardless of the
merits of the controversy between the opposing parties. There is a
certain manliness and devotion to others in this species of patriotism,
which commands respect and admiration; and this feeling of approbation
rises still higher when the cause of the nation is undeniably just, and
the self-sacrificing patriot is giving his life for the purchase of
liberty to his country. But the highest and noblest of all exhibitions
is that in which the sacrifice is made for the good of the race--for
principles in which all men are alike interested, and in which the
martyr can claim no peculiar advantage to himself or to his own branch
of the human family. The nation which accepts war for such a cause, and
wages it with all her means and energies, exhibits a moral grandeur
which, in spite of misfortune, has a saving power, capable of overcoming
and compensating all calamities, of whatever nature and extent. That
nation cannot be overthrown--not unless the laws of the Most High
himself can be subverted, and the right be made permanently to succumb
to the wrong. Let it be understood, however, that this assertion is made
only with reference to wars which are essentially defensive; for no
nation has the right to propagate even the best and noblest principles
by the power of the sword. In our case, it is true, other motives concur
in moving the nation to this tremendous struggle. Not merely the rights
and interests of an inferior, degraded, and suffering race appeal to our
humanity; but the unity and greatness of our country, its influence
abroad, and its success and prosperity at home,