it was hoped
to evade war, except by concessions vastly more disastrous than war
itself. War has no evil comparable in its effect on national character
to that of a craven submission to manifest wrong, the postponement of
moral to material interests. There is no prosperity so great as courage.
We do not believe that any amount of forbearance would have conciliated
the South so long as they thought us pusillanimous. The only way to
retain the Border States was by showing that we had the will and the
power to do without them. The little Bopeep policy of

"Let them alone, and they'll all come home
Wagging their tails behind them"

was certainly tried long enough with conspirators who had shown
unmistakably that they desired nothing so much as the continuance of
peace, especially when it was all on one side, and who would never have
given the Government the great advantage of being attacked in Fort
Sumter, had they not supposed they were dealing with men who could not
be cuffed into resistance. The lesson we have to teach, them now is,
that we are thoroughly and terribly in earnest. Mr. Stephens's theories
are to be put to a speedier and sterner test than he expected, and we
are to prove which is stronger,--an oligarchy built _on_ men, or a
commonwealth built _of_ them. Our structure is alive in every part with
defensive and recuperative energies; woe to theirs, if that vaunted
corner-stone which they believe patient and enduring as marble should
begin to writhe with intelligent life!

We have no doubt of the issue. We believe that the strongest battalions
are always on the side of God. The Southern army will be fighting for
Jefferson Davis, or at most for the liberty of self-misgovernment, while
we go forth for the defence of principles which alone make government
august and civil society possible. It is the very life of the nation
that is at stake. There is no question here of dynasties, races,
religions,--but simply whether we will consent to include in our Bill of
Rights--not merely as of equal validity with all other rights, whether
natural or acquired, but by its very nature transcending and abrogating
them all--the Right of Anarchy. We must convince men that treason
against the ballot-box is as dangerous as treason against a throne, and
that, if they play so desperate a game, they must stake their lives on
the hazard. The one lesson that remained for us to teach the political
theorists of the Old World was, t