CAMP ON BIG BLACK,
18 miles from
Vicksburg,
Aug. 3, 1863
Dear Brother:
You and I may differ in our premises, but will agree in our
conclusions. A government resting immediately on the caprice of a people is too
unstable to last. The will of the people is the ultimate appeal, but the
Constitution, laws of Congress, and regulations of the executive departments
subject to the decisions of the Supreme Court are the laws which all must obey
without stopping to inquire why. All must
obey. Government, that is, the executive, having no discretion but to execute
the law, must be to that extent despotic. If this be our Government, it is the “best
on earth” — but if the people of localities can bias and twist the law or
execution of it to suit their local prejudices, then our Government is the
worst on earth. If you look back only two years, you will see the application.
There are about six millions of men in this country all thinking themselves
sovereign and qualified to govern. Some thirty-four governors of States who
feel like petty kings, and about ten thousand editors who presume to dictate to
generals, presidents, and cabinets. I treat all these as nothing, but when a
case arises I simply ask: Where is the law? Supposing the pilot of a ship
should steer his vessel according to the opinion of every fellow who watched
the clouds above or the currents below, where would his ship land? No, the
pilot has before him a little needle; he watches that, and he never errs. So if
we make that our simple code, the law of the land must and shall be executed;
no matter what the consequences, we cannot err. Hundreds and thousands may
honestly differ as to what the law should be, but it is rarely the case; but
all men of ordinary understanding can tell what the law is. We have for years
been drifting towards an unadulterated democracy or demagogism, and its signs
were manifest in Mob Laws and Vigilance Committees all over our country. And
States and towns and mere squads of men took upon themselves to set aside the
Constitution and laws of Congress and substitute therefor their own opinions. I
saw it, and tried to resist it in California, but always the General Government
yielded to the pressure. I say that our Government, judged by its conduct as a
whole, paved the way for rebellion. The South that lived on slavery saw the
United States yield to abolition pressure at the North, to pro-slavery pressure
at the South, to the miners of California, the rowdies of Baltimore, and to the
people everywhere. They paved the way to this rebellion. The people of the
South were assured that, so far from resisting an attempt to set up an
independent Government of homogeneous interests, the United States would give
in and yield. They appealed to precedents, and proved it, and I confess I had
seen so much of it that I doubted whether our Government would not yield to the
pressure, and die a natural death. But I confess my agreeable surprise. Though
full of corruption and base materials, our country is a majestic one, full of
natural wealth and good people. They have risen not in full majesty, but enough
to give all hopes of vitality. Our progress has been as rapid as any
philosopher could ask. The resources of the land in money, in men, in
provisions, in forage, and in intelligence, has surprised us all, and we have
had as much success as could be hoped for. The Mississippi is now ours, not by
commission but by right, by the right of manly power. . . . No great interest
in our land has risen superior to Government, and I deem it fortunate that no
man has risen to dictate terms to all. Better as it is. Lincoln is but the last
of the old school Presidents, the index (mathematically) of one stage of our
national existence. . . . Our Government should become a machine,
self-regulating, independent of the man. . . .
As to the press of America, it is a shame and a reproach to
a civilized people. . . . I begin to feel a high opinion of myself that I am
their butt; I shall begin to suspect myself of being in a decline when a
compliment appears in type. I know in what estimation I am held by my press, —
those who have been with me all the time, — and they are capable to judge, from
private to major-generals. I saw a move to bring Grant and myself East. No they
don't. . . .
We will be in Mobile in October and Georgia by Christmas if
required. . . .
I see much of the people here — men of heretofore high
repute. The fall of Vicksburg has had a powerful effect. They are subjugated. I
even am amazed at the effect; we are actually feeding the people. . . .
Grant and wife visited me in camp yesterday. I have the handsomest
camp I ever saw, and should really be glad to have visitors come down. I don't
think a shot will be fired at a boat till Jeff Davis can call his friends about
him and agree upon the next campaign. I want recruits and conscripts, and shall
be all ready in October.
As ever, your
brother,
W. T. SHERMAN.
SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The
Sherman letters: correspondence between General and Senator Sherman from 1837
to 1891, p. 211-3
