Nothing could be more fiendish, says the Richmond Whig, than the wiles by which the Administration sought to cover up their purpose, of war, and lull the South into inaction, while they were preparing to plunge the sword into our bosom. And nothing could be more cowardly than the falsehood behind which they now attempt to shelter themselves, that the war was begun by the South. It is the base and skulking device of men conscious of wrong and shrinking from the world’s judgment, But the South can afford to let that pass. It has neither the time nor the disposition to play at a game of dodge. It recognizes the existence of war and that a war not to determine whether its people shall own slaves, but whether they themselves shall be slaves. Upon this issue they will fight till the last drop of the old heroic blood is drained from the heart of the last survivor.
Nashville Union and American, Nashville, TN