t distinction or any merit, feeling only that he was in the
line of duty to self, country, and God. He fought for a principle, and
needed neither driving nor urging, but was eager and determined to
fight. He was not a politic man, but a man under fervent feeling,
forgetful of the possibilities and calamities of war, pressing his
claims to the rights of humanity.

The Confederate soldier was a monomaniac for four years. His mania was,
the independence of the Confederates States of America, secured by force
of arms.

The Confederate soldier was a venerable old man, a youth, a child, a
preacher, a farmer, merchant, student, statesman, orator, father,
brother, husband, son,--the wonder of the world, the terror of his foes!

If the peace of this country can only be preserved by forgetting the
Confederate soldier's deeds and his claims upon the South, the blessing
is too dearly bought. We have sworn to be grateful to him. Dying, his
head pillowed on the bosom of his mother, Virginia, he heard that his
name would be honored.

When we fill up, hurriedly, the bloody chasm opened by war, we should be
careful that we do not bury therein many noble deeds, some tender
memories, some grand examples, and some hearty promises washed with
tears.

The following letter, written by an aged father to his only son, then a
mere boy, who had volunteered as an infantry soldier and was already in
the field, is an appropriate conclusion to this chapter; showing
admirably well the kind of inspiration which went from Southern homes to
Southern soldiers:--

AT HOME, _July 17, 1861_.

MY DEAR SON,--It may have seemed strange to you that a
professing Christian father so freely gave you, a Christian son, to
enlist in the volunteer service. My reason was that I regarded this
as a _purely defensive war_. Not only did the Southern Confederacy
propose to adjust the pending difficulties by peaceful and equitable
negotiations, but Virginia used again and again the most earnest and
noble efforts to prevent a resort to the sword. These overtures
having been proudly spurned, and our beloved South having been
threatened with invasion and subjugation, it seemed to me that
nothing was left us but stern resistance, or abject submission, to
unconstitutional power. A brave and generous people could not for a
moment hesitate between such alternatives. A war in defense of our
homes and firesides, of our wives and child