Let  us,  the  survivors,  however,  not  fail  to  do  credit  to  the
generous  credulity  which  could  not  understand  how,  in  viola-
tion of  the  compact  of  Union,  a  war  could  be  waged  against  the
States,  or  why  they  should  be  invaded  because  their  people  had
deemed  it  necessary  to  withdraw  from  an  association  which  had
failed  to  fulfill  the  ends  for  which  they  had  entered  into  it,
and  which,  having  been  broken  to  their  injury  by  the  other
parties,  had  ceased  to  be  binding  upon  them.  It  is  a  satisfac-
tion to  know  that  the  calamities  which  have  befallen  the
Southern  States  were  the  result  of  their  credulous  reliance  on
the  power  of  the  Constitution,  that,  if  it  failed  to  protect  their


1861]  THE  LUST   OF  EMPIRE.  229

rights,  it  would  at  least  suffice  to  prevent  an  attempt  at  coer-
cion, if,  in  the  last  resort,  they  peacefully  withdrew  from  the
Union.
When,  in  after  times,  the  passions  of  the  day  shall  have
subsided,  and  all  the  evidence  shall  have  been  collected  and
compared,  the  philosophical  inquirer,  who  asks  why  the  ma-
jority of  the  stronger  section  invaded  the  peaceful  homes  of
their  late  associates,  will  be  answered  by  History :  "  The  lust
of  empire  impelled  them  to  wage  against  their  weaker  neigh-
bors a  war  of  subjugation."


CHAPTEE    V.
Meeting  of  the  Provisional  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States. — Adoption  of  a  Pro-
visional  Constitution. — Election  of  President  and  Vice-President. — Notification
to  the  Author  of  his  Election. — His  Views  with  Regard  to  it. — Journey  to  Mont-
gomery.— Interview  with  Judge  Sharkey. — False  Reports  of  Speeches  on  the
Way. — Inaugural  Address. — Editor's  Note.
