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 feelings 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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