hands. Years upon years have
been found necessary to induce the masses to consider, much less adopt,
schemes for their own advantage. A government of numbers, then, is not
one of virtue or intelligence, but of force, intangible, irresistible,
irresponsible--resembling that of Caesar depicted by the great historian,
which, covering the earth as a pall, reduced all to a common level of
abject servitude. For many years scarce a descendant of the colonial
gentry in the Eastern States has been elected to public office. To-day
they have no existence even as a social force and example. Under the
baleful influence of negro suffrage it is impossible to foretell the
destiny of the South. Small wonder that pure democracies have ever
proved ready to exchange "Demos" for some other tyrant.

Occasional visits for inspection were made to Mobile, where Maury was
strengthening his defenses. On the east side of the bay, Blakeley and
Spanish Fort were progressing steadily, as I held that the enemy would
attack there, tempted by his possession of Pensacola and Fort Morgan.
Although this opinion was justified in the end, hope may have had some
influence in its formation; for we could meet attack from that quarter
better than from the west, which, indeed, would have speedily driven us
from the place. The loss of the Mobile and Ohio railway would have
necessitated the withdrawal of the garrison across the bay, a difficult
operation, if pressed by superior force.

The Confederate Congress had enacted that negro troops, captured, should
be restored to their owners. We had several hundreds of such, taken by
Forrest in Tennessee, whose owners could not be reached; and they were
put to work on the fortifications at Mobile, rather for the purpose of
giving them healthy employment than for the value of the work. I made it
a point to visit their camps and inspect the quantity and quality of
their food, always found to be satisfactory. On one occasion, while so
engaged, a fine-looking negro, who seemed to be leader among his
comrades, approached me and said: "Thank you, Massa General, they give
us plenty of good victuals; but how you like our work?" I replied that
they had worked very well. "If you will give us guns we will fight for
these works, too. We would rather fight for our own white folks than for
strangers." And, doubtless, this was true. In their dealings with the
negro the white men of the South should ever remember that no instance
of out