[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. " )
Sin,—However the point be argued, it is plain that in all civil wars the Army has taken sides, generally dividing much as civilians did. Nothing else can be expected. Neither the soldiers who turned against James Stuart nor those who turned against Abraham Lincoln can be blamed if they acted on honest conviction as to national need at a great crisis. The verdict of History has been emphatic in favour of the Unionist cause in the United States, and I doubt not that it will be equally emphatic in favour of the Unionist cause in the United Kingdom. But Generals Lee and Jackson, with many others of the United States Army, thought otherwise. They not only refused to fight for the Government, but fought against it, and there is no stain on them as soldiers or as men. The same rule must apply to British soldiers who may, for conscience' sake, be forced to save the Flag from a party Administration which they believe to have betrayed it, as well as to be without title
to speak in the nation's name.—I am, Sir, &o., E. M.
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