An ugly year ended in backing before England, having, at
least, relative right on our side. Further, the ending year has revealed a
certain incapacity in the Republican party's leaders, at least its official
leaders, to administer the country and to grasp the events. If the new year
shall be only the continuation of the faults, the mistakes, and the
incapacities prevailing during 1861, then the worst is to be expected.
The lowest in moral degradation is an European defending
slavery here or in Europe. Such Europeans are far below the condemned
criminals. Still lower are such Europeans who become defenders of slavery after
having visited plantations, where, in the shape of wines and delicacies, they
tasted human blood, and then, hyenas-like, smacked their lips and thirsted for
more.
Always the same stories, lies, and humbugs concerning the
hundreds of thousands of rebels in Manassas. These lies are spread here in
Washington by the numerous secessionists — at large, by such ignoble sheets as
the New York Herald and Times; and McClellan seems to willingly swallow these
lies, as they justify his inaction and c——.
The city is more and more crowded with Jeremy Diddlers, with
lecturers, with sensation-seekers, all of them in advance discounting their
hero, and showing in broad light their gigantic stupidity. One of this motley
finds in McClellan a Norman chin, the other muscle, the third a brow for
laurels (of thistle I hope), another a square, military, heroic frame, another
firmness in lips, another an unfathomed depth in the eye, etc., etc. Never I
heard in Europe such balderdash. And the ladies—not the women and gentlewomen—are
worse than the men in thus stupefying themselves and those around them.
The thus called arbitrary acts of the government prove how
easily, on the plea of patriotic necessity, a people, nay, the public opinion,
submits to arbitrary rule. All this, servility included, explains the facility
with which, in former times, concentrated and concrete despotisms have been
established. Here every such arbitrary action is submitted to, because it
is so new, and because the people has the childish, naïve, but, to it, honorable
confidence, that the power entrusted by the people is used in the interest and
for the welfare of the people. But all the despots of all times and of all
nations said the same. However, in justice to Mr. Lincoln, he is pure, and has
no despotical longings, but he has around him some atomistic Torquemadas.
It will be very difficult to the coming generations to
believe that a people, a generation, who for half a century was outrunning the
time, who applied the steam and the electro-magnetic telegraph, that the same
people, when overrun by a terrible crisis, moved slowly, waited patiently, and
suffered from the mismanagement of its leaders. This is to be exclusively
explained by the youthful self-consciousness of an internal, inexhaustible
vital force, and by the child-like inexperience.
The Congress, that is, the majority, shows that it is aware
of the urgency of the case, and of the dangerous position of the country. But
still the best in Congress are chained, hampered by the formulas.
The good men in both the houses seem to be firmly decided
not to quietly stand by and assist in the murder of the nation by the
administrative and military incapacity. This was to be expected from such men
as Wade, Grimes, Chandler, Hale, Wilson, Sumner (too classical), and other
Republicans in the Senate, and from the numerous pure, radical Republicans in
the House.
Burnside's expedition is a sign of life. But all these
expeditions on the circumference, even if successful, will be fruitless if no
bold, decided movement is at once made at the centre, at the heart of the
rebellion. But McClellan, as his supporters say, matures his strategical plans.
O God! General Scott lost by strategy three-fourths of
the country's cause, and very probably by strategy McClellan will jeopardize
what remains of it.
Will this McClellan ever advance? If he lingers, he may find
only rats in Manassas. McClellan is ignorant of the great, unique rule for all
affairs and undertakings,—it is to throw the whole man in one thing at one
time. It is the same in the camp as in the study, for a captain as for a
lawyer, the savant, and the scholar.
It is to be regretted that some of the men truly and
thoroughly devoted to the cause of freedom and of humanity, mix with it such an
enormous quantity of personal, almost childish vanity, as to puzzle many minds
concerning the genuine nobleness of their devotion. It is to be regretted that
those otherwise so self-sacrificing patriots discount even their martyrdom and
persecutions, and credit them to their frivolous self-satisfaction.
Most of the thus-called well-informed Americans rather skim
over than thoroughly study history. Above all, it applies to the general
history of the Christian era, and of our great epoch (from the second half of
the 18th century). Most of the Americans are only very superficially familiar
with the history of continental Europe, or know it only by its contact
with the history of England. Many of them are more familiar with the classical
wars of Alexander, Hannibal, Cæsar, etc., than with those of Gustavus,
Frederick II., and even of Napoleon. Were it otherwise, strategy would
not to such an extent have taken hold of their brains.
Mr. Adams was terribly unhorsed during the Trent excitement
in England; he literally began to pack up his trunks, and asked a personal
advice from Lord John Russell.
What a devoted patriot this Sandford in Belgium is; he has
continual itchings in his hand to pay a higher price for
bad blankets that they may not fall into the hands of secesh agents; so with
cloth, so perhaps with arms. Oh, disinterested patriot!
Austria and Prussia whipped in by England and France, and at
the same time glad to have an occasion to take the airs of maritime powers.
Austria and Prussia sent their advice concerning the Trent affair. The kick of
asses at what they suppose to be the dying lion.
Austria and Prussia! Great heavens! Ask the prisons of both
those champions of violated rights how many better men than Slidell and Mason
groaned in them; and the conduct of those powers against the Poles in 1831! Was
it neutral or honest?
I am sure that Russia will behave well, and abstain from
coming forward with uncalled-for and humiliating advice. Russia is a true great
power, — a true friend, — and such noble behavior will be in harmony with the
character of Alexander II., and with the friendliness and clear perception of
events held by the Russian minister here. I hope that when the war is over the
West Point nursery will be reformed, and a general military organization
introduced, such a one as exists in Switzerland.
McClellan is a greater mistake than was even Scott.
McClellan knows not the ABC of military history of any nation or war, or he
would not keep this army so in camp. He would know that after recruits have
been roughly instructed in the rudiments of a drill, the next best instructor
is fighting. So it was in the thirty years' war; so in the American Revolution;
so in the first French revolutionary wars. Strategians, martinets, lost the
battles, or rather the campaigns, of Austerlitz, of Jena, etc. In 1813 German
rough levies fought almost before they were drilled, and at Bautzen French
recruits were victorious over Prussians, Russians, and Austrians. The secesh
fight with fresh levies, etc.
Numerous political intriguers surrounding McClellan are
busily laying tracks for him to the White House. What will Seward and Chase say
to it, and even old Abe, who himself dreams of re-election, or at least his
friends do it for him? All these candidates forget that the surest manner to
reach the White House is not to think of it—to forget oneself and to act.
It is amusing to find in European papers all the various
stories about Mr. Lincoln. There he is represented as a violent,
blood-thirsty revolutionaire, dragging the people after him. In this manner,
those European imbeciles are acquainted with American events, character, etc.
They cannot find out that in decision, in clear-sightedness and soundness of
judgment, the people are far ahead of Mr. Lincoln and of his spiritual or
constitutional conscience-keepers.
And the same imbeciles, if not canailes, speak
of a mob-rule over the President, etc. Some one ought to enlighten those French
and English supercilious ignorami that something like a mob only prevails in
such cities as New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore; and nine-tenths of such a
mob are mostly yet unwashed, unrepublicanized Europeans. The ninety-nine
one-hundredths of the freemen of the North are more orderly, more enlightened,
more lawabiding, and more moral than are the English lordlings, somebodies,
nobodies, and would-be somebodies. In the West, lynch-law, to be sure, is at
times used against brothels, bar-rooms, gambling-houses, and thieves. It would
be well to do the same in London, were it not that most of the lynch-lawed may
not belong to the people. If the European scribblers were not past any honest
impulse, they would know that the South is the generator and the congenial
region for the mob, the fillibusters, the revolver and the bowie-knife rule. In
the South the proportion of mobs to decency is the reverse of that prevailing
in the free States. The slavery gentleman is a
scarcely varnished savage, for whom the highest law is his reckless passion and
will.
If Jeff. Davis succeeds, he will be the founder of a new and
great slaveholding empire. His name will resound in after times; but history
will record his name as that of a curse to humanity.
And so Davis is making history and Lincoln is telling
stories. Beauregard gets inspired by the fumes of bivouacs; McClellan by the
fumes of flatterers. Beauregard frightens us, McClellan rocks his baby.
Beauregard shares the camp-fires of his soldiers; he sees them daily, knows
them, as it is said, one by one; McClellan lives comfortably in the city, and
appears only to the soldiers as the great Lama on special occasions.
Camp-fellowship inspired all the great captains and established the magnetic
current between the leader and the soldier.
McClellan organized a board of generals, arriving daily from
the camps, to discuss some new fancy army equipment. And Lincoln, Seward,
Blair, and all the tail of intriguers and imbeciles, still admire him. In no
other country would such a futile man be kept in command of troops opposed to a
deadly and skilful enemy.
For several weeks, McClellan and his chief of the staff
(such as he is) are sick in bed, and no one is ad interim appointed
to attend to the current affairs of our army of 600,000, having the enemy
before their nose. Oh human imbecility! No satirist could invent such things;
and if told, it would not be believed in Europe.
The McClellan-worship by the people at large is to be
explained by the firm, ardent will of the people to crush the rebels, and by
the general feeling of the necessity of a man for that purpose. Such is the
case with the true, confiding people in the country; but here, contractors,
martinets, and intriguers are the blowers of that worship. Lincoln is as is the
people at large; but a Seward, a Blair, a Herald, a Times, and their respective
and numerous tails, as for their motives, they are the reverse of Lincoln and
of the people.
Victories in Kentucky, beyond the circumference or the
direct action from here; they are obtained without strategy and by rough
levies. But this voice of events is not understood by the McClellan tross.
Change in the Cabinet: Stanton, a new man, not from the
parlor, and not from the hacks. His bulletin on the victory in Kentucky
inaugurated a new era. It is a voice that nobody hitherto uttered in America.
It is the awakening voice of the good genius of the people, almost as that
which awoke Lazarus. This Stanton is the people; I never saw him, but I hope he
is the man for the events; perhaps he may turn out to be my statesman.
I wish I could get convinced of the real superiority of
Fremont. It is true that he was treated badly and had natural and artificial
difficulties to over come; it is true that to him belongs the credit of having
started the construction of the mortar fleet; but likewise it is true that he
was, at the mildest, unsurpassingly reckless in contracts and expenditures, and
I shall never believe him a general. With all this, Fremont started a
great initiative at a time when McClellan and three-fourths of the generals of
his creation considered it a greater crime to strike at a gentleman slaveholder
than to strike at the Union.
The courtesies and hospitalities paid to Thurlow Weed by
English society are clamored here in various ways. These courtesies prove the
high breeding and the good-will of a part, at least, of the English aristocracy
and of English statesmen. I do not suppose that Thurlow Weed could ever have
been admitted in such society if he were travelling on his own merits as the
great lobbyist and politician. At the utmost, he would have been shown up as
a rara avis. But introduced to English society as the master
spirit of Mr. Seward, and as Seward's semi-official confidential agent, Thurlow
Weed was admitted, and even petted. But it is another question if this palming
of a Thurlow Weed upon the English high-toned statesmen increased their
consideration for Mr. Seward. Duke of Newcastle and others are not yet
softened, and refuse to be humbugged.
Whoever has the slightest knowledge of how affairs are
transacted, is well aware that the times of a personal diplomacy are almost
gone. The exceptions are very rare, very few, and the persons must be of other
might and intellectual mettle than a Sandford, Weed, or Hughes. Great affairs
are not conducted or decided by conversations, but by great interests.
Diplomatic agents, at the utmost, serve to keep their respective
governments informed about the run of events. Mr. Mercier does it for Louis
Napoleon; but Mr. Mercier's reports, however friendly they may be, cannot much
influence a man of such depth as Louis Napoleon, and to imagine that a Hughes will
be able to do it! I am ashamed of Mr. Seward; he proves by this
would-be-crotchety policy how little he knows of events and of men, and how he
undervalues Louis Napoleon. Such humbug missions are good to throw dirt in the
eyes of a Lincoln, a Chase, etc., but in Europe such things are sent to
Coventry. And Hughes to influence Spain! Oh! oh!
Dayton frets on account of the mission of Hughes. Dayton is
right. Generally Dayton shows a great deal of good sense, of good
comprehension, and a noble and independent character. He is not a flatterer,
not servile, and subservient to Mr. Seward, as are others Mr. Adams, Mr.
Sandford, and some few other diplomatic agents.
The active and acting abolitionists ought to concentrate all
their efforts to organize thoroughly and efficiently the district of Beaufort.
The success of a productive colony there would serve as a womb for the
emancipation at large.
Mr. Seward declares that he has given up meddling with
military affairs. For his own sake, and for the sake of the country, I ardently
wish it were so; but I shall never believe it.
The Investigating Committee has made the most thorough
disclosures of the thorough incapacity of McClellan; but the McClellan
men, Seward, Blair, etc., neutralize, stifle all the good which could accrue to
the country from these disclosures. And Lincoln is in their clutches. The
administration by its influence prevents the publication of the results of this
investigation, prevents the truth from coming to the people. Any hard name will
be too soft for such a moral prevarication.
McClellan is either as feeble as a reed, or a bad man.
The disorder around here is nameless. Banks compares it to
the time of the French Directory. Banks has no guns, no cavalry, and is in the
vanguard. He begs almost on his knees, and cannot get anything. And the country
pays a chief of the staff, and head of the staffers.
The time must come, although it be now seemingly distant,
that the people will awake from this lethargy; that it will perceive how much
of the noblest blood of the people, how much time and money, have been worse
than recklessly squandered. The people will find it out, and then they will ask
those Cains at the wheel an account of the innocent blood of Abel, the
country's son, the country's cause.
The defenders of, and the thus called moderate men on the
question of slavery, utter about it the old rubbish composed of the most
thorough ignorance and of disgusting fallacies, in relation to this pseudo
science, or rather lie, about races. More of it will come out
in the course of the Congressional discussions. Not one of them is aware that
independent science, that comparative anatomy, physiology, psychology,
anthropology, that philosophy of history altogether and thoroughly repudiate
all these superficially asserted, or tried-to-be-established, intrinsic
diversities and peculiarities of races. All these would-be axioms, theories,
are based on sand. In true science the question of race as represented by the
Southern school partisans of slavery, with Agassiz, the so-called professor of
Charleston by European savans, at their head, — that question is at the best an
illusive element, and endangers the accuracy of induction. As it presents
itself to the unprejudiced investigator, race is nothing more than the single
manifestation of anterior stages of existence, the aggregate expression of the
pre-historic vicissitudes of a people.
If those would-be knowing arguers on slavery, race, etc.,
were only aware of the fact that such people as the primitive Greeks, or the ancestors
of classical Greeks, that the ancestors of the Latins, that even the roving,
robbing ancestors of the Anglo Saxons, in some way or other, have been
anthropophagi, and worshipped fetishes; and even as thus called already
civilized, they sacrificed men to gods, could our great pro-slavers know all
this, they would be more decent in their ignorant assertions, and not, so
self-satisfied, strut about in their dark ignorance.
Those who are afraid that the freed negroes of the South
will run to the Northern free States, display an ignorance still greater than
the former. When the enslaved colored Americans in the South shall be all thoroughly
emancipated in that now cursed region, then they will remain in the, to them,
congenial climate, and in the favorable economical conditions of labor and of
existence: Not only those emancipated will not run North, but the colored
population from the free States, incited and stirred up by natural attractions,
will leave the North for the South, as small streamlets
and rivulets run into a large current or river.
The rebels extend on an immense bow, nearly one hundred
miles, from the lower to the upper Potomac. Our army, two to one, is on the
span of the arc, and we do nothing. A French sergeant would be better inspired
than is McClellan.
SOURCE: Adam Gurowski, Diary from March 4, 1861, to
November 12, 1862, pp. 137-50
