Obstacles May Retard, But They Cannot Long

A Restitution Of The Union Has Been Rendered Forever Impossible.

Nothing Fills Me With Deeper Sadness Than To See A Southern Man Apologizing For The Defense We Made Of Our Inheritance. Our Cause Was So Just, So Sacred, That Had I Known All That Has Come To Pass, Had I Known What Was To Be Inflicted Upon Me, All That My Country Was To Suffer, All That Our Posterity Was To Endure, I Would Do It All Over Again.

I Tried All In My Power To Avert This War. I Saw It Coming, For Twelve Years I Worked Night And Day To Prevent It, But I Could Not. The North Was Mad And Blind; It Would Not Let Us Govern Ourselves, And So The War Came, And Now It Must Go On Unless You Acknowledge Our Right To Self Government. We Are Not Fighting For Slavery. We Are Fighting For Independence.

African Slavery, As It Exists In The United States, Is A Moral, A Social, And A Political Blessing.

Truthfulness Is A Cornerstone In Character, And If It Be Not Firmly Laid In Youth, There Will Ever After Be A Weak Spot In The Foundation.