Miss Lou's expression made at least one
thing clear--she was emancipated and had taken her destiny into her
own hands.
Mrs. Whately felt that she must turn the tables at once, and so
remarked, "It seems to me that the whole force of your argument
tells against the North. You are bent upon conquering the South and
making it think as you do."
"Oh, no. Here the law of self-preservation comes in. If the South
can secede, so can the East and the West. New York City can secede
from the State. We should have no country. There could be no
national life. Would England accept the doctrine of secession, and
permit any part of her dominions to set up for themselves when they
chose? I know you are about to say that is just what our fathers
did. Yes, but old mother England did not say, 'Go, my children, God
bless you!' Nor would she say it now to any other region over which
floats her flag. Of course, if you whip us, we shall have to submit,
just as England did. What government has helplessly sucked its
thumbs when certain portions of the territory over which it had
jurisdiction defied its power? We are called Goths and Vandals, but
that is absurd.
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