XLIII
Conclusion
The crisis arose and thus was precipitated Virginia's secession. To many of her people it came as a long hoped for event. They rejoiced that Virginia was now to enter upon a more inspiring career untrammelled by associates divergent in sentiments and hostile in interests. They hailed the rise of the Southern Confederacy as a new nation born into the world, and with eager hearts looked forward to a future which should bring to the people of Virginia and the South a measure of self-government, peace and prosperity they had never known before.
To the majority, however, of the Virginia people the event came as one long dreaded and much to be deplored. They met it with a firm adherence to the principles so often declared, but with profound regret that the occasion had arisen which rendered their assertion imperative.
The pathos no less than the determination which marked the hour may be read in the contemporary utterances of her foremost men.
VIRGINIANS DEPLORE DISUNION
Her Governor, John Letcher, in his message to the General Assembly, January 1861, said:
"Surely no people have been blessed as we have been, and it is melancholy to think that all is now about to be sacrificed on the Altar of Passion. If the judgments of men were consulted, if the admonitions of their consciences were respected, the Union would yet be saved from overthrow."
Three months later, however, in response to the call for Virginia's quota of troops, he wrote to the authorities at Washington: "You have chosen to inaugurate civil war; and, having done so, we will meet you in a spirit as determined as the Administration has exhibited toward the South."