The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 60, October, 1862

The South has driven to the war its whole white population able to bear arms, and when that force is exhausted, at least two-thirds of the adult males of the North and the whole black population will still remain to sustain the Government, and births and emigration will soon fill the vacuum.

Let us place at the helm men of character and tried activity,—men of intelligence and forecast,—men who can appreciate the leaders of the South, reckless alike of property, character, and life, and the result cannot be doubtful.

The South is now commencing a new campaign, and is to confront a navy hourly improving, and an invulnerable fleet, armed with cannon more effective than any yet used in naval warfare. It is to encounter, with conscripts, a million of hardy volunteers, and to do this with its supplies reduced and its credit broken. It has but one reliance: a slave population of four millions, competent to maintain themselves, but incompetent to furnish to their masters a full supply of the coarsest food. While it furnishes a scanty supply, while it toils in the trenches, and feeds the horses of the cavalry, or drives the army-wagons, it is still an element of strength to the masters, and the question occurs, Shall the nation, now so severely taxed by the slaveholder, and compelled to pour forth its best blood like water to preserve its existence, remove this element of present and future strength by liberating the slave?

Can the slaveholder claim the preservation of slavery, when he relies upon it and uses it to aid him in destroying the Government? And if one-half of the population of the South is ready to sustain the Government, and to withdraw its aid from the foe, shall not the loyalist, whether white or black, be accepted and allowed the privileges of a citizen when he takes refuge under the national flag?

Can we expect future peace, unless we reduce to order lawless men, unless we draw them from the war-path by making labor and the arts of peace respected?

This is a momentous question which addresses itself to our nation at the present juncture. There are some who imagine that the negro, if liberated, would renew the scenes of San Domingo, and massacre the people of the South. But such has not been the case in the French and British Isles of the West Indies, although in those islands the proportion of the white population is far below that at the South. In the Cotton States the whites and the negroes are nearly equal in numbers; and if, in Jamaica, Barbadoes, Santa Cruz, and Martinique, the slaves, when liberated, have respected the rights of the masters, and recognized their title to the land, and have submitted to toil for moderate wages, where a handful of whites monopolized the soil, and demanded for it prices far beyond the value of the slave and land together, may we not well anticipate that the slave population, barely equal in number to the white population, trained to submission in a region where land is of little value, will, if liberated, continue to be a quiet and peaceful population?

There are some who predict that the negroes, if emancipated, will overrun the North and West. But why should they fly from the South to the cold winters and less genial climate of the North or West? It is servitude which degrades the negro; and if the stigma which he now bears is removed, why should he not cling to the region in which he was born and bred, and to which he is adapted by nature?

Should the institution of slavery survive the war into which we have been plunged by its adherents and propagators, we might well fear that our Northern and Western States would be overrun by the fugitives, who, having escaped during the war, would be disposed to place distance between themselves and their late masters, and to fly from the borders of States which would not hesitate to reduce them again to servitude; but if the institution itself should be terminated by the war, why should the free man be a fugitive from his home?

Our Western States are desirous to perpetuate in its purity the Anglo-Saxon blood, and would colonize the West with men raised under free institutions. They shrink from all contact with a race of bondmen. Our President, himself a Western man, proposes to colonize the free negro in Central America, and thriving colonies already exist on the coast of Africa. But why should we send from this country her millions of laborers? Is our land exhausted? Is there no room for the negro in the region where he lives? Has not the demand for sugar and cotton, for naval stores and timber, overtaken the supply? and has not the frank and truthful Mr. Spratt, of South Carolina, announced in the councils of that State, that the South must import more savages from Africa, to reclaim and improve its soil? Why, then, banish the well-trained laborer now on the spot?

Does not history apprise us how Spain suffered in her agriculture, and the arts of life declined, when the Moriscos were driven from her soil? how Belgium, the garden of Europe, decayed when Spanish intolerance banished to England the Protestant weavers and spinners, who laid the foundation of English opulence? how France retrograded when superstition exiled from her shores the industrious Huguenots? And are we to draw no light from history? Would we, at this moment, when our cotton-mills are closing their gates,—when the cotton-spinner of England appeals to the British minister for intervention,—when the weaver of Rouen demands the raw material of Louis Napoleon,—shall we, at a time when a single crop of cotton is worth, at current prices, nearly a thousand millions, or twice the debt contracted for the war,—impair our national strength by destroying the sources of supply? At least one crop has been lost, and this will for a term of years insure high prices. Are we to deprive our nation of these prices, and of the freights which would attend the shipments to Europe? Shall not cotton contribute to make good our losses, and to the progress of the nation?

Why is colonization necessary?

There is a belt of territory, now sparsely populated, and inhabited chiefly by negroes, extending from the Dismal Swamp to the Capes of Florida, and from these Capes to the Brazos,—generally level, and free from rocks and stones,—of the average width of nearly one hundred miles,—its area at least two hundred millions of acres,—competent to sustain forty millions of negroes, or ten times the number which now exist within the United States. Here are vast forests, unctuous with turpentine, annually producing pitch, tar, rosin, and ship-timber, with material for houses, boats, fuel, and lightwood, while the mossy drapery of the trees in suitable for pillows and cushions. Here is a soil which, with proper cultivation, can produce rice, corn, cotton, tobacco, and indigo, and is admirably adapted to the culture of the ground-nut and sweet potato. Here are rivers and inlets abounding in fish and shell-fish. Here is a climate, often fatal to the white, but suited to the negro. Here are no harsh winters or chilling snows. Along the coast we may rear black seamen for our Southern steamers,—cooks, stewards, and mariners for our West India voyages.

Has not Nature designed a black fringe for this coast? Has not the importation of the negro been designed by Providence to reclaim this coast, and to give his progeny permanent and appropriate homes? And, to use a favorite phrase of the South, does not Manifest Destiny point to this consummation? and why should the negro be exiled from these shores? Does he not cling like the white man to his native land? and are not his tastes, wishes, and attachments to be consulted,—a question so important to his race?

But it may be urged, that this is not public domain,—that it has been already appropriated, and is now the property of the Southern planter. But here is a public exigency, and the remedy should be proportioned to the exigency. The right of eminent domain should be exercised by the nation either directly after conquest, or through the States or Territories it may establish. By that right, in England and in most of our States, private property is taken for highways or railways. In New York it is thus appropriated for markets, hospitals, and other public purposes.

The land in question, if we deduct the sites of towns and villages and cities, as should be done, will not average in value three dollars per acre. Let it be valued at twice that price, and be charged with the interest of that price as a ground-rent to be paid by the settler. And if, in Barbadoes, the free negro has raised the value of land to three hundred dollars per acre, surely on this coast he can prosper upon land costing one-fiftieth part of the average price of that of Barbadoes.

If six dollars would not suffice, the land might be rated at an average value of ten dollars, and the settler charged with a quit-rent of half a dollar per acre, and allowed to convert his tenure into a fee-simple by the payment of the principal. The planter whose land should be appropriated would thus realize more than its value, and in great part the value of his slaves,—while the negro would secure at once a settled home, with an interest in the soil and the means of subsistence.

Is not this the true solution of the great problem?

If we can give to the negro a fixed tenure in the soil under the tutelage of the nation, he will soon have every incentive to exertion. With peace must come a continuous demand for all the produce of the South,—for cotton, tobacco, timber, and naval stores,—in exchange for which the negro would require at least threefold the amount of boots, shoes, clothing, and utensils which he at present consumes. Labor would then become honored and respected. Upon the uplands of the South the white man can toil effectively in the open air. In the warehouse and the workshop he can actually toil more hours during the year than in New York or New England, for his fingers will not there be benumbed by the intense cold of the North. When labor ceases to be degrading, the military school will give place to the academy, commerce will be honored, and a check be given to military aspirations; and should an insurrection again occur, the loyal population bordering the coast may be armed to resist alike insurrection at home and intervention from abroad, and unite with our navy in preserving the peace of the country.

THE BATTLE AUTUMN OF 1862

The flags of war like storm-birds fly,The charging trumpets blow;Yet rolls no thunder in the sky,No earthquake strives below.And, calm and patient, Nature keepsHer ancient promise well,Though o'er her bloom and greenness sweepsThe battle's breath of hell.And still she walks in golden hoursThrough harvest-happy farms,And still she wears her fruits and flowersLike jewels on her arms.What mean the gladness of the plain,This joy of eve and morn,The mirth that shakes the beard of grainAnd yellow locks of corn?Ah! eyes may well be full of tears,And hearts with hate are hot;But even-paced come round the years,And Nature changes not.She meets with smiles our bitter grief,With songs our groans of pain;She mocks with tint of flower and leafThe war-field's crimson stain.Still, in the cannon's pause, we hearHer sweet thanksgiving-psalm;Too near to God for doubt or fear,She shares the eternal calmShe knows the seed lies safe belowThe fires that blast and burn;For all the tears of blood we sowShe waits the rich return.She sees with clearer eye than oursThe good of suffering born,—The hearts that blossom like her flowersAnd ripen like her corn.Oh, give to us, in times like these,The vision of her eyes;And make her fields and fruited treesOur golden prophecies!Oh, give to us her finer ear!Above this stormy din,We, too, would hear the bells of cheerRing peace and freedom in!

REVIEWS AND LITERARY NOTICES

The Tabernacle: A Collection of Hymn-Tunes, Chants, Sentences, Motets, and Anthems, adapted to Public and Private Worship, and to the Use of Choirs, Singing-Schools, Musical Societies, and Conventions. Together with a Complete Treatise on the Principles of Musical Notation. By B.F. BAKER and W.O. PERKINS. Boston: Ticknor & Fields.

This thoroughly prepared book will prove of much service in those departments of musical study and practice for which it is intended. The style of church-music throughout the country has undergone material changes within the last five-and-twenty years. In the cities and larger towns, such societies as can afford the expense have established quartette choirs of trained vocalists, who deliver the hymns and anthems of the service to selections from the music of the great masters, which they are expected to render in a manner that shall be satisfactory to a taste educated and refined by the instruction of good teachers and the public performances of skilful musicians. In the country churches, the congregations still unite in the singing; or, where it has been the custom for those who could sing to "sit in the seats" and form a chorus choir, such custom still obtains. Some notion of city taste, however, has gone abroad in the country, and the choirs, although old-fashioned in their organization, are not quite content with the psalm-books of old time, and are constantly asking for something newer and better. A great many volumes have been published in order to supply this want, some of which have done good, while, if we say of others that they have done no harm, it is as much as they deserve.

A music-book for general use in churches which do not have quartette choirs and "classical" music must be prepared with care and good judgment. It must contain, of course, certain old standard tunes which seem justly destined to live in perpetual favor, and it must surround these with clusters of new tunes, which shall be as solid and correct in their harmony as the older, while their lightness and fluency of melody belong to the present day. There must be anthems and chants, and there must be a clear and thorough exposition of the elements of vocal music to help on the tyros who aspire to join the choir.

The work of which we are writing answers these requirements well. Its editors are practical men; they have not only taught music to city pupils, but they have conducted choirs and singing-schools, and have discovered the wants of ordinary singers by much experience in normal schools and musical conventions.

"The Tabernacle" contains the fruits of their observation and experience, and will be found to meet the requirements of many singers who have hitherto been unsatisfied. It commences with the rudiments of music and a glossary of technical terms, to which is appended a good collection of part-songs, especially prepared for social and festival occasions. Then follow the hymn-tunes, which are adapted not only to the ordinary metres, but also to all the irregular metres which are to be found in any collection of hymns which is known to be used in the country. Next come the chants and anthems: among these are arrangements from Mozart, Beethoven, Chapple, Rossini, (the "Inflammatus" from the "Stabat Mater"), Curschmann, (the celebrated trio, "Ti prego,") Lambillote, and other standard authors. Indices, remarkably full, and prepared upon an ingenious system, by which the metre and rhythm of every tune are indicated, conclude the volume.

We are confident that choristers will find "The Tabernacle" to be just such a book as they like to use in instructing and leading their choirs, and that choirs will consider it to be one of the books from which they are best pleased to sing.

The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, etc. Edited by FRANK MOORE, Author of "Diary of the American Revolution." New York: G.P. Putnam. Charles T. Evans, General Agent.

Three large volumes of this valuable record of the momentous events now transpiring on this continent have been published. The maps, diagrams, and portraits are excellent in their way. No fuller documentary history of the Great Rebellion could be desired; and as every detail is given from day-to-day's journals, the "Record" of Mr. Moore must always stand a comprehensive and accurate cyclopedia of the War. For the public and household library it is a work of sterling interest, for it gathers up every important fact connected with the struggle now pending, and presents it in a form easy to be examined. It begins as far back as December 17, 1860, and the third volume ends with the events of 1861.

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1

The original of the leaf copied on the next page was picked from such a pile.

2

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 498.

3

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 499.

4

Medical Statistics of the United States Army, 1839–54, p.625.

5

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army.

6

Ibid.

7

Traité de Géographie et de Statistique Médicales, Tom. II. p. 289.

8

Ibid. p. 286.

9

Traité de Géographie et de Statistique Médicales, Tom. II. p. 284.

10

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army.

11

Medical Statistics U.S. Army, 1839–54, p. 491, etc.

12

Observations on the Diseases of the Army, p. 51.

13

Ib., p. 53.

14

Observations on the Diseases of the Army, p. 59.

15

London Statistical Journal, Vol. XIX. p. 247.

16

Edmonds in London Lancet, Vol. XXXVI. p. 143.

17

Despatches.

18

Edmonds in London Lancet, Vol. XXXVI. p. 145.

19

Edmonds in London Lancet, Vol. XXXVI. p. 148.

20

Ib., p. 219.

21

Boudin, Traité de Géographie et de Statistique Médicales, Tom. II. p. 289, etc., quoted by him from Major Moltka.

22

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 524.

23

Medical Sketches, p. 39.

24

Ib., p. 204.

25

Ib., p. 66.

26

Medical Sketches, p. 119.

27

Ib., p. 199.

28

On Epidemics, p. 70.

29

United States Documents, 1814.

30

Ib., 1814.

31

Executive Documents, U.S., 1847–48, Vol. VII. p. 1013.

32

Ib., p. 1033.

33

Ib., p. 1185.

34

MS. Letter of Mr. Elliott, Actuary of the Sanitary Commission.

35

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 180.

36

Ib., 525.

37

Medical and Surgical History of the War in the East, Vol. II. p. 252.

38

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 377.

39

Medical Sketches, p. 246.

40

Medical Sketches, p. 66.

41

Boudin, Traité de Géographie et de Statistique Médicales, Tom. II., p. 289.

42

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 180.

43

Medical and Surgical History of the British Army in the East, Vol. II. p. 227.

44

British and Foreign Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. XXI.

45

MS. Letter of Mr. Elliott.

46

Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, Vol. VI. p.478, etc.

47

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 525.—Medical and Surgical History of the War in the East.

48

Calculated from the Eighteenth Registration Report.

49

Calculated from Twenty-First Report of Registrar General.

50

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 212. Colonel Tulloch.

51

Diseases of the Army, p. 50.

52

Despatches.

53

Boudin, Traité de Géographie et de Statistique Médicales, Tom. II. p. 289.

54

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 178.

55

Report of the Sanitary Commission.—Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 335.

56

Report of the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p 97.

57

Ib., p. 334.

58

Ib., p. 365.

59

Ib., p. 524.

60

Dr. Mann, Medical Sketches, p. 64.

61

Dr. Lovell, quoted by Mann, Medical Sketches, p. 119.

62

Mann, Medical Sketches, pp. 120, 121.

63

Ib., p. 78.

64

Ib., p. 92.

65

Ib., p. 124.

66

Ib., p. 204.

67

Executive Documents, U.S., 1848, Vol. VII. p. 1224.

68

Mann, Medical Sketches, p. 66.

69

Ib., p. 39.

70

p. 23.

71

Report of the Sanitary Commission, No. 41.

72

Report of the Sanitary Commission, No. 41.

73

Report of Barrack Commission, p. 160.

74

Report on the Sanitary Condition of the British Army, p. 439.

75

Dr Farr, in Journal of the London Statistical Society, Vol. XXIV. p. 472.

76

Ibid.

77

MS. Letter of Dr. Sutherland.

78

Section Dr. Farr, ubi supra.

79