The Union Record of Hon. Joshua Hill of Georgia

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Excerpt from The Union Record of Hon. Joshua Hill of Georgia: A Letter in Reply to His Enemies It so happened that I had been warned - and that, not in a dream, but with my eyes and ears open, at least one week before the first meeting of the legislature - that a shrewd and knowing politician predicted the election of Alexander H. Stephens and Herschel V. Johnson as Senators. I never forgot the prophecy, nor ceased entirely to look for its fulfilment. It at least broke my fall, and, I think, made James Johnson's descent easier. Speaking of prophets, gentlemen, hereafter commend me to this political diviner. You cannot make less of it than a curious coincidence. Some, to whom this fortune-telling had been communicated, and who may be too appreciative of a jest, regarded the animated contest between Messrs. Gartrell and Peeples as the best joke of the session. It reminded old turfmen of a gallantly contested four-mile race, with broken heats , and the cheers of the crowd, as the fleet steeds came, neck-and-neck, thundering down the last quarter-stretch, were almost audible. But the gallant contestants were, in the end, reminded of that beautiful Scriptural aphorism, "the race is not to the swift." They both ran well, and each was nigh the goal, but it was never intended (at least so thought fatalists and predestinarians) that either should win. You attack my pretensions to loyalty to the Government of the United States, and demand, with an air of triumph, "What is the plea of loyalty set up by Mr. Hill?" You then proceed to contrast my poor efforts to save the Union to the Herculean labors of Mr. Stephens to preserve it, and succeed in convincing yourselves that Mr. Stephens has the better record. I never doubted its suiting you better, nor questioned that Jefferson Davis' record pleases many of you better still. Mr. Davis is entitled to all the credit that attaches to unflinching devotion to a cause that he consented to embrace and defend. Had I loved the cause, I could but have honored his constancy and determination. I never regarded the cause and the South as synonymous. I could not look upon the rebellion with favor when I felt that it was absolute ruin to the South and a curse upon my whole country. It is surely no fault of mine that gentlemen should refuse to read my reported speeches and published letters. Had they done so they would now remember the uniformity of sentiment pervading them, and their ardent nationality. This is characteristic of all I said or wrote during my public service. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.