NEW YORK, April 29, 1861
. . . The humiliating
condition to which Southern insolence and ruffianism have reduced us has preyed
upon me greatly. I never wished to be young again until now, and, old as I am,
I would have volunteered with any adequate number to go down and force a way
through Baltimore, by laying it in ruins, if it could have been done in no
other way. It was no disgrace to have the lawful authority of the country
fallen upon by a mob, for that might happen under the strongest government. It
is an indelible one to have allowed the mob to keep up the obstruction for
days, between every part of the country and the capital of it. If it is not
soon wiped out I shall be ashamed to own that I am an American.
The course which
has been pursued by the South has changed all my feelings towards them. If they
had taken the ground, that they had a right to secede if such was the clear and
express will of the people, and maintained the right like honest men, I, for
one, would have said, “Go, you shall have what fairly belongs to you” — but to
buccaneers I would give no answer except from the mouth of the cannon.1
Out of all this
evil great good will come. The Northern States will be more united, the
principle of unlicensed democracy will be checked, our vainglorious boasting
will be silenced, and the practical acknowledgment that Cotton is King will no
more be heard. I firmly believe that the substantial and permanent prosperity
of the North was secured by the first gun that was fired at Fort Sumpter, and
the rapid decline of the South will date from the same event. I rejoice to find
that Massachusetts has come up so nobly to the rescue
_______________
1 In connection with this strong expression of feeling, it
is pleasant to be allowed to present the testimony of a lady whose relations
with different parts of the country, as well as her high standing in society,
and refined estimate of the demands of good breeding, entitle her words to be
accepted and highly valued. In a note written after Mr. Cogswell's death, Mrs.
Gilpin of Philadelphia speaks of “His information on all subjects of
conversation so correct and extended, and his manners so mild and unobtrusive,
with great delicacy of feeling for others. This,” she goes on to say, “I
particularly observed during the war, as he was often my guest during that
unfortunate period, when, from the peculiarity of my own position, Southern ladies
and gentlemen were often with us. No word
ever escaped his lips to wound the feelings of any, and at the same time he
was known to be firm in his own opinion. He avoided argument or heated discussion
on the merits of the war question, and gave to all around him a beautiful
example of forbearance, with the most kindly feeling for those whom I knew he thought
in the wrong.”
SOURCE: Anna Eliot Ticknor, Editor, Life of Joseph Green Cogswell as Sketched in His Letters, p. 286-7
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