CHAPTER XLV

When the smoke had lifted from the field of the Black Battalions,Lee stood in Richmond before a secret meeting of the leaders of theConfederacy. Jefferson Davis presided. The meeting was called by requestof the Commander. He had an important announcement to make.
Facing the anxious group gathered around the Cabinet table he spoke¹ withunusual emphasis:
"Gentlemen, the end is in sight unless I can have more men. So long asI can burrow² underground my half-clothed and half-starved soldiers willhold Grant at bay. I may hold him until next spring. Not longer. TheNorth is using negro troops. They have enrolled³ nearly two hundredthousand. Their man power counts. We can arm our negroes to meet them.
They will fight under the leadership of their masters. I speak as amathematician and a soldier. I do not discuss the sentimental⁵ side. Imust have men and I must have them before spring or your cause is lost."Robert Toombs of Georgia leaped to his feet. His words came slowly,throbbing with emotion.
"Any suggestion from General Lee deserves the immediate⁶ attention ofthis Government. He speaks to-night as an engineer and mathematician⁴. Hehas told us the worst. It was his duty. I honor him for it.
"But I differ with him. He can see but one angle of this question. Heis a soldier in field. It is our duty to see both the soldier's and thestatesman's point of view. And our cause is not so desperate as thescience of engineering and mathematics would tell us.
"The war of the revolution was won by Washington in spite ofmathematics. The odds⁷ were all against him. We have our chance. This waris now in its fourth year. The outlook seems dark in Richmond. It isdarker in Washington. What have they accomplished⁸ in these years ofblood and tears? Nothing. Not a slave has been freed. Not a question atissue has found its solution. The millions of the North are in despairand they are crying for peace--peace at any price. The Presidentialelection is but a few weeks off. They have nominated Abraham Lincolnagain for President. They had to, although he is the most unpopular manwho ever sat in the White House. All the mistakes, all the agony, allthe horrors of this war, they have unjustly heaped on his droopingshoulders.
"McClellan is his opponent _on a peace platform_.
"The Republican Party is split as ours was before the war. John C.
Fremont is running on the Radical⁹ ticket against Lincoln. Unless amiracle happens General George B. McClellan will be elected the nextPresident. If he is, the war ends in a draw.
"It's a fair chance. We can take it.
"But our chance of success is not the real question before us. It isa bigger one. The question before you is bigger than the South. Itis bigger than the Republic. It is bigger than the Continent. It mayinvolve the future of civilization.
"The employment of these negro troops, clothed in the uniform of theunion, marks the lowest tide mud to which its citizenship¹⁰ has ever sunk.
The profoundest word in history is _race_. The ancestral soul of apeople rules its destiny. What is the ancestral soul of the negro? Themeasurement of the skull¹¹ of the Egyptian is exactly the shape and sizeof six thousand years ago. Has the negro moved upward? This republicwas born of the soul of a race of pioneer white freemen who settled ourcontinent and built an altar within its Forest Cathedral to Liberty andProgress. In the record of man has a negro ever dreamed this dream?
"The Roman Republic fell and Rome became a degenerate¹² Empire. Why?
Because of the lowering of her racial stock by slaves. The declineof the Roman spirit was due to a mixture of races. The flower of hermanhood died on her far-flung battle lines. Slaves and degenerates¹³ athome bred her future citizens.
"Have we also placed our feet on the path of oblivion? History islittered with the wrecks¹⁴ of civilization. And always the secret is foundin racial degeneracy--the lowering of the standard of racial values.
Civilization is a name--an effect. Race is the cause. If a racemaintains its soul, it must remain itself and it must breed its best.
Race is the result of thousands of years of this selection. One drop ofnegro blood makes a negro. The inferior can always blot¹⁵ out the superiorif granted equality.
"This uniform is the first step toward racial oblivion for the whiteman in America. It is the first step toward equality. A people of halfbreeds have no soul. They are always ungovernable. The negro is thelowest species of man. Through Slavery he has been disciplined into thefamily of humanity. We cannot yet grant him equality. Abraham Lincolnwho has consented to arm these blacks against us has himself said:
_"'There is a physical difference between the white and black raceswhich will forever forbid them living together on terms of political orsocial equality.'_"How can he prevent social and political equality once these black menare clothed with the dignity of the uniform of a Nation? He has declaredhis intention of colonizing¹⁶ the negro race. General Lee also holds thisas the solution. If Slavery falls, it _is_ the _only_ solution.
"In the meantime we hold fast to the faith within us. Dare to arm anegro, drill and teach him to kill white men, and we are traitors¹⁷ tocountry, traitors to humanity, traitors to civilization. Robert E. Leehimself is the supreme¹⁸ contradiction of the sentimental mush involved inthe dogma of equality. His genius and character is a racial product.
"The man in gray stands for two things, Reverence¹⁹ for Law and the RacialSupremacy of the White Man.
"If we must clothe negroes in gray to save the Confederacy, let it godown in blood and ashes. We'll stand for this. And hand our ideal downto our children. If defeat shall come, we may yet live to save theRepublic. We hold a message for Humanity."There was no further discussion. The South chose death before racialtreason.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

3 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

5 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

7 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

8 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

9 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

10 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

11 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

12 degenerate   

v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者

参考例句：

• He didn't let riches and luxury make him degenerate.他不因财富和奢华而自甘堕落。
• Will too much freedom make them degenerate?太多的自由会令他们堕落吗？

13 degenerates   

衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Liberty often degenerates into lawlessness. 自由常常变质为无法无天。
• Her health degenerates rapidly. 她的健康状况迅速恶化。

14 wrecks   

n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉

参考例句：

• The shores are strewn with wrecks. 海岸上满布失事船只的残骸。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• My next care was to get together the wrecks of my fortune. 第二件我所关心的事就是集聚破产后的余财。 来自辞典例句

15 blot   

vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍

参考例句：

• That new factory is a blot on the landscape.那新建的工厂破坏了此地的景色。
• The crime he committed is a blot on his record.他犯的罪是他的履历中的一个污点。

16 colonizing   

v.开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地( colonize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The art of colonizing is no exception to the rule. 殖民的芸术是� 有特例的。 来自互联网
• A Lesson for Other Colonizing Nations. 其它殖民国家学习的教训。 来自互联网

17 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

18 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

19 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。