February 23, 1861; The New York Herald
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Feb. 14, 1861.
The little capital of Alabama, hitherto merely the radiating point from which State politics warmed into ardor over questions of local importance, has now become a focal point of interest to the whole nation. When the present times shall have become historic, Montgomery will be read of as the scene of one of the most wonderful revolutions – wonderful alike whether it be peaceful or bloody – that the world has ever witnessed; and whilst the continuation of secret sessions of the Congress prevents much of interest from being chronicled in the contemporaneous history of the times, still the press, the great political barometer of the world, should record faithfully the stages of the storm. The intense excitement which has heretofore pervaded the people has subsided, and the prevailing feeling seems to be much of that satisfaction which is expressed in Scriptural phrase as that a man child is born into the world.’
The election of Davis and Stephens, and the adoption of the old constitution with such wondrous unanimity, have proved an earnest of serious patriotism which has calmed all apprehension. The people who for several days crowded around the closed doors of the Congress have now gone home satisfied. Nothing can be more gratifying to the patriot’s heart than the simple confidence which all classes have in the present disposers of their destinies. They feel that the great trail is passed, the mental conflict over with, and the mere carnal war which is at their door they welcome as nothing in comparison with what they have suffered. The man who has struggled through a family quarrel, or suffered under the necessities of resenting an insult from a friend, can believe the truth of this statement. Even the poor negroes, so alive to every sympathy with their masters, seem to have caught this contagion of the general satisfaction, and while they know that some great change has taken place, they find they are in the same boat with their natural protectors, and are glad that they are no longer the scapegoats for the sins of others. I do not make this assertion gratuitously; for now, God knows, we have but little interest in influencing Northern opinion.
I am told that the strict system of patrols are now to a great extent discontinued, to the great satisfaction of poor Sambo; and I know it to be a fact that masters and slaves feel more kindly towards each other – that there is now no apprehension of insurrections; that the masters are more lenient and the negroes more humble and affectionate than ever.
I am informed that the Governor of this State has received a letter from a man on a plantation, who says he has been drilling sixty of his master’s men on moonlight nights and Sundays, and with his master’s permission is now ready to go to Fort Morgan and do all he can for his master against damned buckram abolitionists who have done so much to cut off Sam’s privileges.
To indicate the feeling among the whites, I need but mention the fact that Joel E. Mathews, a planter in Cataba, has presented the State with $15,000 and the labor of 200 negroes, whenever they are called for. The same gentleman is now serving the State as Auditor of Military Accounts free of cost, although the salary of the office is $2,500. The best men in the State are offering to serve in lucrative offices without charge, and several members of the State Convention have refused to take anything for their services. The ladies of this city made 1,800 sand bags, and the ladies of Marion an equal number, and there has scarcely been a company uniformed for some time but that fair hands have cut out and made their uniforms without cost. Yet these are all contributions. ‘God save the mark. Men who believe it know little about revolutions. The companies now in the field are the pick and flower of the land. One company from Barbour, now en route for Pensacola, enlisted for twelve months, number among their ranks as privates Hon. J. I. Pugh, late member of Congress; E. C. Bullock, Senator from that county, and Hon. John Cochrane, a prominent candidate for Governor – all three the brightest and ablest minds of the State. Scarcely a man but belongs either to some company, begging for marching orders, or to some one of the ‘Home Guard’companies, of men over forty five. And yet men talk of coercion; but I will leave you to draw your own inferences.
Many beautiful designs for the flag and seal have been proposed. Those most favorably received bear some relationship and resemblance to the stars and stripes, and are as follows: – 1. A red ground, bound with white and blue, with a blue cross in the centre, with the seven stars emblazoned thereon. 2. A striped bunting, with the same device extending entirely across the length and breadth of the flag. 3. The same as the old flag, with the colors reversed – i.e., blue stripes and a red union, with the stars arranged in a crescent form.
The seal proposed by some is a cotton bale, with the Bible, the foundation of our institution, open thereon, with a sword and scales crossed thereon. The gray eagle is spoken of as the heraldic emblem of the new confederacy. But nothing is known as to which receives the sanction of the committee.
Whatever be the flag, the people feel assured it will be simple and appropriate and such a one as they will feel pleasure in dying under if necessary.