Sacred Principles

I have been trying to keep up with something great that has been happening in the state of Mississippi. The citizens there have been working very hard to get the 89,000 signatures needed to begin the process of amending their state constitution to define personhood as beginning at conception. They are fighting for the unalienable rights of the unborn children in that state. It has been inspiring and convicting, to me to read how the Lord is honoring the work that is being done there and the sacrifices that many have made to travel the state to get the signatures needed. I read this first quote from Gen. Lee and thought it was very fitting. These men were fighting for liberty, justice and truth at a different time in history and in a different way, but nevertheless these quotes are about the duty of the people, when they see the need, to fight for what is right no matter what the outcome.

A day or two before the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, General Lee said this to General Pendleton:

“... I have never believed we could, against the gigantic combination for our subjugation, make good in the long run our independence unless foreign powers should, directly or indirectly, assist us... But such considerations really made with me no difference. We had, I was satisfied, sacred principles to maintain and rights to defend, for which we were in duty bound to do our best, even if we perished in the endeavour.”

From Recollections and Letters of General Lee by his son, Robert E. Lee Jr..

Jefferson Davis, in his ‘second’ inaugural address, had this to say:

“...It was to be expected, when we entered upon this war, that it would expose our people to sacrifices, and cost them much both of money and blood. But we knew the value of the object for which we struggled, and understood the nature of the war in which we were engaged. Nothing could be so bad as failure, and any sacrifice would be cheap as the price of success in such a contest.
But the picture has its lights as well as its shadows. This great strife has awakened in the people the highest emotions and qualities of the human soul. It is cultivating feelings of patriotism, virtue and courage. Instances of self-sacrifice and of generous devotion to the noble cause for which we are contending are rife throughout the land. Never has a people evinced a more determined spirit than that now animating men, women, and children in every part of our country. Upon the first call, the men fly to arms; and wives and mothers send their husbands and sons to battle without a murmur of regret.
It was, perhaps, in the ordination of Providence that we were to be taught the value of our liberties by the price which we pay for them.”

From Jefferson Davis and the World’s Tribute to His Memory-Memorial Volume 1890 by John W. Jones.

Here is a link to the Personhood Mississippi site.