"Thank God it is over at last!" concluded the elder lady; "and oh, may
He, in His great goodness and mercy, spare us a repetition of it. Oh, the
untold horrors of civil war--strife among brethren who should know nothing
but love for each other--none can imagine but those who have passed
through them! There was fault on both sides, as there always is when
people quarrel. And what has been gained? Immense loss of property, and of
far more precious lives, an exchange of ease and luxury for a hard
struggle with poverty."
"But it is over, dear mother, and the North will help the South to
recuperate," said Lucy. "Phil says so, and I've heard it from others too;
just as soon as the struggle ended, people were saying, 'Now they have
given up, the Union is safe, and we're sorry for them and will do all we
can to help them; for they are our own people.'"
"Yes, I have been most agreeably surprised at the kind feeling here," her
mother answered; "nobody has had a hard word to say of us, so far as I
have been able to learn; and I have seen nothing like exultation over a
fallen foe; but on the contrary there seems a desire to lend us a helping
hand and set us on our feet again."
"Indeed, mother, I assure you that is so," said Sophie.
"And all through the war," added Lucy, "there was but little hard feeling
towards the people of the South; 'deceived and betrayed by their leaders,
they are more to be pitied than blamed,' was the opinion commonly
expressed by those who stood by the government.
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