Concord, May 26, 1861.
My Dear Bridge,
— . . . The war, strange to say, has had a beneficial effect upon my spirits,
which were flagging wofully before it broke out. But it was delightful to share
in the heroic sentiment of the time, and to feel that I had a country, — a
consciousness which seemed to make me young again. One thing as regards this
matter I regret, and one thing I am glad of. The regrettable thing is that I am
too old to shoulder a musket myself, and the joyful thing is that Julian is too
young. He drills constantly with a company of lads, and means to enlist as soon
as he reaches the minimum age. But I trust we shall either be victorious or
vanquished before that time. Meantime, though I approve the war as much as any
man, I don't quite understand what we are fighting for, or what definite result
can be expected. If we pummel the South ever so hard, they will love us none
the better for it; and even if we subjugate them, our next step should be to
cut them adrift. If we are fighting for the annihilation of slavery, to be sure
it may be a wise object, and offer a tangible result, and the only one which is
consistent with a future union between North and South. A continuance of the
war would soon make this plain to us, and we should see the expediency of
preparing our black brethren for future citizenship by allowing them to fight
for their own liberties, and educating them through heroic influences. Whatever
happens next, I must say that I rejoice that the old Union is smashed. We never
were one people, and never really had a country since the Constitution was
formed. . . .
Nath. Hawthorne
SOURCE: Julian Hawthorne,
Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Wife:
A Biography, Vol. 2, p. 276-7
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