Part 3
... The _Virginia_, that iron diadem of the South, whose thunders in Hampton Roads consumed the _Cumberland_, overcame the _Congress_, put to flight the Federal Navy, and achieved a victory, the novelty and grandeur of which convulsed the maritime nations of the world.
CHARLES COLCOCK JONES, JR.
Confederate Tribute to the Commander and Men of the _Cumberland_: "No ship was ever better handled, or more bravely fought."
VIRGINIUS NEWTON, C. S. N.
On Boarding the _Congress_:
Confusion, death, and pitiable suffering reigned supreme; and the horrors of war quenched the passion and enmity of months.
VIRGINIUS NEWTON, C. S. N.
Confederate Tribute to the Commanders of the _Minnesota_, _St. Lawrence_, and _Roanoke_, which vessels ran aground in flight from the terrible _Virginia_:
I take occasion to say that their character as officers of skill, experience, and bravery was well established at the time, and suffered no diminution then or thereafter.
VIRGINIUS NEWTON, C. S. N.
_Battle between the "Virginia" ("Merrimac") and Federal men-of-war, 1862_
March Ninth
BROOKE
The men who manned the _Monitor_ made a grand fight, and her commander upheld the best traditions of the American navy; but history must bear witness to the fact that, if not overmatched or defeated, she at least withdrew to shallow water, where the _Virginia_ could not follow her; and later, under the guns of Ft. Monroe, she declined the subsequent battle challenges of the refitted _Virginia_.
All honor to Capt. Worden and the _Virginia-inspired_ invention of the Swede; but "America's glory for Americans." Let all Americans honor the name of JOHN MERCER BROOKE, the inventor and designer of the first armored war vessel of the world.--Ed.
_Battle between the "Virginia" and the "Monitor," 1862_
March Tenth
AN AFTERTHOUGHT
"Say, Judge, ain't you the same man that told us before the war that we could whip the Yankees with pop-guns?"
"Yes," replied the stump-orator, with great presence of mind, "and we could, but, confound 'em, they wouldn't fight us that way."
March Eleventh
TWO VIEWS OF VIRGINIA
(The latter is taken from a witty parody on the original poem. Presented to a Virginia girl, it was indignantly tossed into the wastebasket. Later, however, she copied it and sent it around for the amusement of many--_in the family_!)
I. The days are never quite so long As in Virginia; Nor quite so filled with happy song As in Virginia; And when my time has come to die Just take me back and let me lie Close where the James goes rolling by, Down in Virginia.
II. Nowhere such storms obscure the sun As in Virginia; Nowhere so slow the railroads run, As in Virginia; And when my time has come to go Just take me there, because, you know, I'll longer live, I'll die so slow, Down in Virginia.
March Twelfth
A HUMOROUS VIEW OF "THE HUB"
For the native Bostonian there are three paths to glory. If his name be Quincy or Adams, nothing more is expected of him. His blue blood carries him through life with glory, and straight to heaven when he dies. Failing in the happy accident of birth, the candidate for Beacon Hill honors must write a book. This is easy. The man who can breathe Boston air and not write a book is either a fool or a phenomenon. One course remains to him should he miss fame in these lines. He must be a reformer.
SHERWOOD BONNER (_In Letters to Dixie_)
March Thirteenth
FIRST ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE NEW WORLD
Your gracious acceptance of the first fruits of my travels ... hath actuated both Will and Power to the finishing of this Peece: ... We had hoped, ere many years had turned about, to have presented you with a rich and wel-peopled Kingdom; from whence now, with my selfe, I onely bring this Composure, ... bred in the New-World, of the rudeness whereof it cannot but participate; especially having Warres and Tumults to bring it to light in stead of the Muses....
Your Majesties most humble Servant GEORGE SANDYS
From Dedication of Ovids's _Metamorphoses_, "English by George Sandys" at Henrico College, Virginia, 1621-1625. "Imprinted at London, 1626."
_George Sandys born at Bishopsthorpe, England, 1577_
March Fourteenth
Content to miss the prize of fame, If he some true heart's praise can claim, He lives in his own world of rhyme, The great world's ways forsaking; Cares not Parnassian heights to climb, But valley bypaths taking, Where even the daises in the sod, Like stars, show him the living God. CHARLES W. HUBNER (_The Minor Poet_)
_Thomas Hart Benton born, 1782_
March Fifteenth
Abhorrence of debt, public and private; dislike of banks, and love of hard money--love of justice and love of country, were ruling passions with Jackson; and of these he gave constant evidence in all the situations of his life.
THOMAS HART BENTON
_Andrew Jackson born, 1767_
_Battle of Guilford Courthouse, 1871_
_Through Mr. Justice Campbell of the Supreme Court, Secretary Seward promises the Confederate Commissioners that Fort Sumter would be speedily evacuated, 1861_
March Sixteenth
The great mind of Madison was one of the first to entertain distinctly the noble conception of two kinds of government, operating at one and the same time, upon the same individuals, harmonious with each other, but each supreme in its own sphere. Such is the fundamental conception of our partly Federal, partly National Government, which appears throughout the Virginia plan, as well as in the Constitution which grew out of it.
JOHN FISKE (Massachusetts)
_James Madison born, 1751_
March Seventeenth
"THE GALLANT PELHAM"--ROBERT E. LEE
Just as the Spring came laughing through the strife, With all its gorgeous cheer; In the bright April of historic life, Fell the great cannoneer....
We gazed and gazed upon that beauteous face, While round the lips and eyes, Couched in their marble slumber, flashed the grace Of a divine surprise. JAMES RYDER RANDALL
_Lieutenant-Colonel John Pelham killed at Kelly's Ford, Va., 1863_
_Roger Brooke Taney born, 1777_
March Eighteenth
John C. Calhoun, an honest man, the noblest work of God.
ANDREW JACKSON
He had the basis, the indispensable basis, of all high character, and that was unspotted integrity--unimpeached honor and character. If he had aspirations, they were high and honorable and noble. There was nothing grovelling or low, or meanly selfish that came near the head or the heart of Mr. Calhoun.
DANIEL WEBSTER (Massachusetts)
_John Caldwell Calhoun born, 1782_
March Nineteenth
Into the woods my Master went, Clean forspent, forspent. Into the woods my Master came, Forspent with love and shame. But the olives they were not blind to Him, The little gray leaves were kind to Him: The thorn-tree had a mind to Him When into the woods He came. SIDNEY LANIER (_A Ballad of Trees and the Master_)
March Twentieth
Out of the woods my Master went, And He was well content. Out of the woods my Master came, Content with death and shame. When Death and Shame would woo Him last, From under the trees they drew Him last: 'Twas on a tree they slew Him--last, When out of the woods He came. SIDNEY LANIER (_A Ballad of Trees and the Master_)
March Twenty-First
Those who dominated were intelligent, masterful, patriotic, loving home, kindred, state and country, dispensing a prodigal hospitality, limited only by the respectability and behavior of guests. Among girls, refinement, culture, modesty, purity and a becoming behavior were the characteristic traits; among boys, courtesy, courage, chivalry, respect to age, devotion to the weaker sex, scorning meanness, regarding dishonor and cowardice as ineffaceable stains.
J. L. M. CURRY (_The Old South_)
_General Joseph E. Johnston dies, 1891_
March Twenty-Second
Father Tabb's discernment was clear and touched by the purest fragrance of the muses. To Shelley, Coleridge, and Keats he was devoted. Poe he regarded as without a peer in modern literature, and was his uncompromising, inflexible champion.
HENRY E. SHEPHERD
_John Banister Tabb born, 1845_
March Twenty-Third
Come, Texas! send forth your brave Rangers, The heroes of battles untold-- Accustomed to trials and dangers, Come stand by your rights as of old; The deeds of your chivalrous daring Are writ on the Alamo's wall, A record which ruin is sparing-- Come forth to your country's loud call! V. E. W. VERNON
_Texas ratifies the Confederate Constitution, 1861_
March Twenty-Fourth
Adams, Giddings, and other Congressmen issued a public address, in March, 1843, declaring that the annexation of Texas would be "so injurious to the interests of the Northern States as not only inevitably to result in a dissolution of the Union, but fully to justify it."
HENRY A. WHITE
March Twenty-Fifth
Nor had Calvert planted English institutions in Maryland simply as he found them. He went back to a better time for freedom of action, and looked forward to a better time for freedom of thought. While as yet there was no spot in Christendom where religious belief was free, and when even the Commons of England had openly declared against toleration, he founded a community wherein no man was to be molested for his faith.
WILLIAM HAND BROWNE
_Landing of the Maryland colonists, St. Clement's Island, 1634_
March Twenty-Sixth
Dear God! what segment of the earth Can match the region of our birth! Though ice-beleaguered, rill on rill, Though scorched to deserts, hill on hill-- It is our native country still. Our native country, what a sound To make heart, brain, and blood rebound! JAMES RYDER RANDALL
March Twenty-Seventh
Jamestown and St. Mary's are both within the segment of a circle of comparatively small radius whose center is at the mouth of the Chesapeake. In this strategic region, the Jamestown experiment succeeded, after Raleigh's head had fallen on the block; the Revolution was fired by the eloquence of Patrick Henry, and was consummated at Yorktown; the War of 1812 was settled by the victories of North Point and McHenry; the crisis of the Civil War occurred; and seven Presidents of the United States were born.
ALLEN S. WILL
_Calvert's Colony lands at St. Mary's, 1634_
March Twenty-Eighth
Nor less resplendent is the light Of him, old South Carolina's star, Whose fiery soul was made by God To blaze amid the storms of war.... ORION T. DOZIER
_Wade Hampton born, 1818_
March Twenty-Ninth
A great event of this [Tyler's] administration was the Ashburton Treaty. This settled our northeast boundary for 200 miles and warded off the long impending war with England. In most histories the whole credit for this treaty is given to Daniel Webster. Of course this great man should not be robbed of any of his well-earned laurels; but the President is entitled to a share of the honor. Webster himself said: "It proceeded from step to step under the President's own immediate eye and correction." Moreover, it may be added that at one stage in the proceedings Lord Ashburton was about to give up and return to England; but President Tyler by his courtesy and suavity, conciliated him and induced him to go on with the negotiation.
J. LESSLIE HALL
_John Tyler born, 1790_
March Thirtieth
In discussing the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, Senator Hale warned Senator Toombs that the North would fight. The Georgian answered: "I believe nobody ever doubted that any portion of the United States would fight on a proper occasion.... There are courageous and honest men enough in both sections to fight. There is no question of courage involved. The people of both sections of the Union have illustrated their courage on too many battlefields to be questioned. They have shown their fighting qualities shoulder to shoulder whenever their country has called upon them; but that they may never come in contact with each other in a fratricidal war should be the ardent wish and earnest desire of every true man and honest patriot."
PLEASANT A. STOVALL
_Texas readmitted to the Union, 1870_
March Thirty-First
CALHOUN'S NATIONALISM
At the peace of 1815 the Government was $120,000,000 in debt; its revenues were small; its credit not great, and the effort to raise money by direct taxation brought it in conflict with the States.... Mr. Calhoun came forward and devised a tariff, which not only gave large revenues to the Government, but gave great protection to manufacturers. Mr. Calhoun received unmeasured abuse for his pains from the North, where the interests were then navigation, and Daniel Webster was the great apostle of free trade.... Under Mr. Calhoun's tariff the New England manufacturers prospered rapidly.... Success stimulated cupidity, and the "black tariff" of 1828 marked the growth of abuse.... It was then that Mr. Calhoun again stepped forth. He stated that the South had cheerfully paid the enormous burden of duties on imports when Northern manufactures were young and the Government weak; the manufacturers had become rich, and the Government strong--so strong that State rights were being merged into its overshadowing power; he therefore demanded a recognition of State rights, and an amelioration of those burdens that the South had so long borne.
THOMAS PRENTICE KETTELL (New York)
_John C. Calhoun dies, 1850_
April
The birds that sing in the leafy Spring, With the light of love on each glancing wing, Have lessons to last you the whole year through; For what is "Coo! coo! te weet tu whu!" But, properly rendered, "The wit to woo!" A wit that brings worship and wisdom too! Coo! coo! te weet tu whu-- The wit to woo--te weet tu whu!
The verb "to love," in the tongue of the dove, Heard noon and night in the cedar grove, Is very soon taught where the heart is true: For the wit to woo, and the wisdom too, Lie in the one sweet syllable, "Coo!" But echo me well, and you learn to woo-- Coo! coo! te weet tu whu-- The wit to woo--te weet tu whu! WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS
April First
Hidden no longer In moss-covered ledges, Starring the wayside, Under the hedges, Violet, Pimpernel, Flashing with dew, Daisy and Asphodel Blossom anew.
Down in the bosky dells Everywhere, Faintly their fairy bells Chime in the air. Thanks to the sunshine! Thanks to the showers! They come again, bloom again, Beautiful flowers! THEOPHILUS HUNTER HILL (_Author of the first book published under copyright of the Confederate Government_)
_Battle of Five Forks, Virginia, 1865_
April Second
At the critical moment A. P. Hill was always strongest. No wonder that both Lee and Jackson, when in the delirium of their last moments on earth, stood again to battle, and saw the fiery form of A. P. Hill leading his columns on.
HENRY KYD DOUGLAS
_A. P. Hill killed in front of Petersburg, 1865_
_Albert Pike dies, 1891_
April Third
THE SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA
French blood stained with glory the Lilies, While centuries marched to their grave; And over bold Scot and gay Irish The Thistle and Shamrock yet wave: Ours, ours be the noble Magnolia, That only on Southern soil grows, The Symbol of life everlasting:-- Dear to us as to England the Rose. ALBERT PIKE ("_Born in Boston; but an adopted and devoted son of Dixie_")
April Fourth
We are His witnesses; out of the dim Dark region of Death we have risen with Him. Back from our sepulchre rolleth the stone, And Spring, the bright Angel, sits smiling thereon. JOHN B. TABB ("_Easter Flowers_")
April Fifth
We are His witnesses. See, where He lay The snow that late bound us is folded away; And April, fair Magdalen, weeping anon, Stands flooded with light of the new-risen Sun! JOHN B. TABB ("_Easter Flowers_")
April Sixth
His character was lofty and pure, his presence and demeanor dignified and courteous, with the simplicity of a child; and he at once inspired the respect and gained the confidence of cultivated gentlemen and rugged frontiersmen.
GENERAL RICHARD TAYLOR
_Albert Sidney Johnston killed at Shiloh, 1862_
April Seventh
History tears down statues and monuments to attributes and deeds, unless those attributes have been devoted to some noble end, and those deeds done in a righteous cause.
COL. CHARLES MARSHALL
April Eighth
"GLORY STANDS BESIDE OUR GRIEF"
Because they fought in perfect faith, believing The cause they fought for was the just, the true; And had small hope of glittering gain receiving, While following, with standard high in view, Where led their single-hearted, dauntless chief: Therefore doth Glory stand beside our grief! VICTORIA ELIZABETH GITTINGS
_Louisiana admitted to the Union, 1812_
_Telegram from Secretary Seward confirming promise (March 15) as to Sumter, 1861_
April Ninth
An angel's heart, an angel's mouth, Not Homer's, could alone for me Hymn forth the great Confederate South, Virginia first, then Lee.
Oh, realm of tears! But let her bear This blazon to the end of time: No nation rose so white and fair, None fell so pure of crime. P. S. WORSLEY (England)
[From lines written on the fly-leaf of a translation of the Iliad, presented to General Lee by the Oxford scholar in 1866]
_Surrender of Lee at Appomattox, 1865_
April Tenth
Furl that Banner, for 'tis weary; Round its staff 'tis drooping dreary; Furl it, fold it, it is best; For there's not a man to wave it, And there's not a sword to save it, And there's not one left to lave it In the blood which heroes gave it; And its foes now scorn and brave it; Furl it, hide it, let it rest!
Furl that Banner! True, 'tis gory, Yet 'tis wreathed around with glory, And 'twill live in song and story, Though its folds are in the dust: For its fame on brightest pages, Penned by poets and by sages, Shall go sounding down the ages,-- Furl its folds though now we must. ABRAHAM J. RYAN (_The Conquered Banner_)
_Lee issues farewell address to his army, 1865_
_Leonidas Polk born, 1806_
April Eleventh
Man is so constituted--the immutable laws of our being are such--that to stifle the sentiment and extinguish the hallowed memories of a people is to destroy their manhood.
GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON
We had, I was satisfied, sacred principles to maintain and rights to defend for which we were in duty bound to do our best, even if we perished in the endeavor.
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE
We must forevermore consecrate in our hearts our old battle flag of the Southern Cross--not now as a political symbol, but as the consecrated emblem of an heroic epoch. The people that forgets its heroic dead is already dying at the heart, and we believe we shall be truer and better citizens of the United States if we are true to our past.
RANDOLPH H. MCKIM
April Twelfth
From this time a clear-cut issue was formulated and presented to the States and the people. The "firing upon the flag of the nation" was made the immediate pretext for aggressive measures against the Lower South. _As so heralded_, it served to inflame the hearts of thousands who, it seems, had not noticed or who had forgotten, as it is forgotten to-day, that this was not the first firing upon the Stars and Stripes. The flag had been fired upon from the coast of South Carolina as early as January 9, 1861, for the same reason as that which provoked attack upon it on April 12.
[From introduction to "The Battle of Baltimore," _The Sun_, April 9, 1911.]
_Fort Sumter fired on by Beauregard, 1861_
_North Carolina instructs her delegates to the Continental Congress to declare for independence, 1776_
_Henry Clay born, 1777_
April Thirteenth
The history of the world presents no parallel to the manner in which he wrote himself upon his own age, and subsequent ages, with his pen. He was no teacher like Plato; he was not a professional litterateur like Voltaire; he was not a mere maker of books like Carlyle; and yet he put his stamp indelibly upon the minds and hearts of English-speaking people during his own day and for all time to come.
THOMAS E. WATSON
_Thomas Jefferson born, 1743_
April Fourteenth
The fact is, the boys around here want watching, or they'll take something. A few days ago I heard they surrounded two of our best citizens because they were named Fort and Sumter. Most of them are so hot that they fairly siz when you pour water on them, and that's the way they make up their military companies here now--when a man applies to join the volunteers they sprinkle him, and if he sizzes they take him, and if he don't they don't!
MAJOR CHARLES H. SMITH (_Bill Arp_)
April Fifteenth
There was but one exception to the general grief too remarkable to be passed over in silence. Among the extreme Radicals in Congress, Mr. Lincoln's determined clemency and liberality towards the Southern people had made an impression so unfavorable that, though they were shocked at his murder, they did not, among themselves, conceal gratification that he was no longer in their way.
NICHOLAY AND HAY (_Life of Lincoln_)
FORESHADOWING RECONSTRUCTION
The Union League of America was organized in Cleveland, Ohio, during the war by friends of Thaddeus Stevens, the Radical leader of Congress. Its prime object was the confiscation of the property of the South. The chief obstacle to this program was Abraham Lincoln. Hence the first work of the League was to form a conspiracy against Lincoln and prevent his renomination for a second term.
E. W. R. EWING
_Abraham Lincoln dies, 1865_
_Federal Government issues a call for 75,000 volunteers, 1861_
April Sixteenth
I have only to say that the militia will not be furnished to the powers at Washington for any such use or purpose as they have in view. Your object is to subjugate the Southern States, and a requisition made upon me for such an object--an object, in my judgment, not within the purview of the constitution or the act of 1795--will not be complied with. You have chosen to inaugurate civil war, and having done so, we will meet it in a spirit as determined as the administration has exhibited towards the South.
GOVERNOR LETCHER (_Virginia_)
April Seventeenth
The scene [in the Virginia State Convention] is described as both solemn and affecting. One delegate, while speaking against the ordinance, broke down in incoherent sobs; another, who voted for it, wept like a child. The sentiment of the people had run ahead of their leaders.
S. C. MITCHELL
It may be safely asserted that but for the adoption by the Federal Government of the policy of coercion towards the Cotton States, Virginia would not have seceded.... She simply in the hour of danger and sacrifice held faithful to the principles which she had ofttimes declared and which have ever found sturdy defenders in every part of the Republic.
BEVERLEY B. MUNFORD
_Virginia secedes, 1861_
April Eighteenth
Tennessee will not furnish a single man for coercion, but 50,000 if necessary for the defense of our rights or those of our Southern brothers.