History of the United States from the earliest discovery of America to the end of 1902 . 61 the party hitherto in power. Lincoln hadfailed of a popular majority by a Houses of Congress were against himat the time of his election, and, but for theabsence of southern members, they would,it is likely, have continued so through hisentire term. It was the Souths bad logicon these points which gave the war Demo-crats their excellent plea for drawing swordon the northern side. But even supposing secession technicallyjustifiable, how strange that it should havebeen judged rational, pruden
History of the United States from the earliest discovery of America to the end of 1902 . 61 the party hitherto in power. Lincoln hadfailed of a popular majority by a Houses of Congress were against himat the time of his election, and, but for theabsence of southern members, they would,it is likely, have continued so through hisentire term. It was the Souths bad logicon these points which gave the war Demo-crats their excellent plea for drawing swordon the northern side. But even supposing secession technicallyjustifiable, how strange that it should havebeen judged rational, prudent, or in thelong run best for the South itself. Couldaught but frenzy have so drowned inAmericans the memories of bur great past;or launched them upon a course that musthave ended by Mexicanizing this nation,wresting from it the lead in freedomsmarch, and crushing out, in the breast ofstruggling patriotism the world over, allhope of government by and for the people !The South ought at least to have spareditself. Either its alleged horror at theadvance of central-sovereignty sentiment. James a photograph by Brady. I86i] CAUSES OF THE WAR 303 at the North was sheer pretence, or itshould have been certain that this sectionwould not hesitate, as Buchanan so illogi-cally did, to coerce rebellious state-bodies. If the North believed the total-ity of the nation to be the paramountauthority, Lincoln would surely imitateJackson instead of Buchanan, and in doingso he would not seek military support invain. Quite as sure, too, must the final resulthave appeared from the census of 1850, hadpeople been calm enough to read this. Bythat census the free States had a populationfifty per cent, above the population of theslave states, slaves included, and the dis-parity was rapidly increasing. Their wealthwas even more preponderant, being, slavesapart, nearly one hundred per cent, thelarger. Their merchant tonnage was fivetimes the greater—even young inland Ohioout-doing old South
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