The Fall of the Confederacy. 533 
Mr. Stephens, who afterwards became Vice-President of 
the Confederacy, vehemently opposed secession, and Gene- 
rals Lee and Jackson reluctantly submitted to it. But it is 
not our purpose to pursue this topic. Undoubtedly the 
revolution was a surprise, but it does not therefore follow that 
it was premature. That, however, isan important point. 
Was the revolution well timed or untimely? Granting that 
Mr. Lincoln was a Sectional President, and that his election 
was a danger to the South so imminent as to necessitate a 
dissolution of the Union, was immediate secession expe- 
dient? We reply that it was inexpedient. We contend that 
the revolution was untimely, and that its chances of suc- 
cess were materially impaired by precipitate action. 
The South was not prepared for revolution. We do not 
refer to preparations for war, for in this respect it may be 
argued that the North was also unprepared. It was of 
greater consequence that the people were not morally ready 
for revolution. They had suffered no practical wrong. 
The consequence is that the revolution lacked the peculiar 
power of endurance that is incident to revolutions. The 
Southern people did their best for the Confederacy, but 
more would have been done if the revolution had been in- 
stigated by the sting of actual grievance. There is vast 
' difference between fighting for a government and fighting 
to vindicate rights and to defend assailed liberty. Hence 
too, the revolution that was invoked to support the Con- 
federacy, died before the Confederacy. If there had been 
an actual wrong to resent the revolution would have sur- 
vived the fall of Richmond, and the surrender of the Con- 
federate army, and the last ditch would indeed have been 
contested. 
Great would have been the gain of waiting. Was the 
election of Mr. Lincoln to prove harmless? Then there 
was no need for secession. Was Mr. Lincoln to strike at 
the rights of the South? Then the first blow would have 
nerved every Southern arm to defend the threatened right. 
This precipitancy had a disastrous effect on the conduct 
of affairs. It led to the revolution being treated asa consti- 
tutional movement. A revolution was formally declared, 
and formally accomplished, but it pleased the Confederate 
Administration not only to misrepresent the character of 
the movement, but they shewed by all their acts that they 
believed the fiction that they published. It was solemnly 
averred, that the formation of a Southern Confederacy was 
not an act of revolution. The Southern States had just en- 
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