"Yes, Dear Sir, I differed with him on most of the principles and politics of those years, yet he showed his grit when the nation's trial came after Fort Sumter, and I saw his will. He'd sworn an oath to protect the constitution and maintain the Union. That was his charge and he was faithful to that task withal.
"Dear Sir, in truth, once Lincoln called for troops and indicated his willingness to put the south's secession down by force, the dreams of a southern independent nation was a lunatic's distorted fantasy. It could not stand. I knew that. I knew the politics and wealth of both sections. Sir, they had 100,000 factories to our 20,000, $189 million in bank deposits to our $47 million and over 18 million people to our fewer than 6 million whites.
"Moral righteousness, vast industrial strength, vast agricultural production, and millions of dollars are hard to thwart with romantic chivalry, bales of cotton, and illusions of cultural superiority. Over 18 million people were pitted against five and a half. Never!
"When Lincoln called for troops, I was borne down into the terrible current that was sweeping through the country. I leapt into the flow and joined with my people-against my personal interest or security. You saw the accounting of my wealth, sir, in 1860…$30,000. Actually that was a bit low. What did you figure that would convert to in this time, two to four million dollars?"
I smiled meekly and nodded.
"Well, be it what it would...long gone in the terrible current. I stood with my people and they sent me to the Confederate Congress, where I served a two-year term. My colleagues there recognized my service in Washington on the Rules Committee of the old Congress and appointed me chair of the Rules Committee in Richmond. I made every effort to see that the proceedings reflected constitutional standards, and I was not afraid to point it out if deliberations were out of order. I also did my share in curbing the waste of what little financial resources we possessed."
Needing to contribute, I interrupted him, "I read those records, you know, The Proceedings of the Confederate Congress." He looked doubtful-or perhaps surprised- at my statement. "Oh, yes, sir," I continued, "in old yellowed books, un-circulated for over twenty years, maybe fifty years, from the Middle Tennessee State University library up in Murfreesboro." I took a bit of pleasure in that jab about the books being unused for fifty years.
"I even made a chart of the pages that cited your speaking, motions, resolutions, and committee assignments and notes on what was recorded. I especially liked your objection to Virginia's Alexander R. Boteler's proposed motto for the Confederate States of America." I smiled and hesitated so as to frame how I was to say what I wanted to say.