The Lincoln Myth (Cotton Malone 9)

“It’s real, Charles. Brother Salazar has proven that.”

“I’ll be interested in seeing that proof.”

“We have an opportunity to fulfill the prophecy. We can stand by the Constitution of the United States, as it was given by the inspiration of God.”

“And if that destroys all that He created?”

“Then so be it.”

“Study the second page.”

He stared through the next stiff plastic protector and saw a map.

“That’s where both the secret and the gold are hidden,” Snow said.

“But it tells us nothing.”

“Young apparently made the quest a challenge. I assume there’s a good reason for that. It seems you must find what Mr. Lincoln hid away to solve this puzzle.”

And he already knew exactly where to look.

“May I have these?”

Snow shook his head. “Not those. But I’ll provide copies.”

“You want me to go after it, don’t you?”

“I want you to pray on the proper course. Whatever answer Heaven provides, act upon it. That’s what I’ve done.”

NINETEEN

ATLANTA

STEPHANIE HAD FOUND ONLINE THE U.S. SUPREME COURT decision of Texas v. White, issued April 12, 1869.

The issue was simple.

Were $10 million of treasury bonds, transferred by Texas to private individuals after Texas seceded from the Union, valid? Everyone agreed that the transfer violated federal law, and happened at a time when Texas had declared itself no longer part of the Union, the former state setting up its own rules governing the transfer. So if Texas’ secession from the Union was legal, then the bonds were valid and worth their face value. If not, they were worthless. An elementary dispute that, at its heart, raised a monumental question.

Was secession allowed by the Constitution?

She again scanned the opinion, just as she and Edwin had done two hours ago. He was gone, due back in Washington for an evening engagement. They would meet again tomorrow. The relevant portion came about halfway through.

The union of the States never was a purely artificial and arbitrary relation. It began among the colonies, and grew out of common origin, mutual sympathies, kindred principles, similar interests, and geographical relations. It was confirmed and strengthened by the necessities of war, and received definite form, and character, and sanction from the Articles of Confederation. By these the union was solemnly declared to “be perpetual.” And when these Articles were found to be inadequate to the exigencies of the country, the Constitution was ordained “to form a more perfect Union.” It is difficult to convey the idea of indissoluble unity more clearly than by these words. What can be indissoluble if a perpetual union, made more perfect, is not?

When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration, or revocation, except through revolution, or through consent of the States.

The ordinance of secession, adopted by the convention and ratified by a majority of the citizens of Texas, and all the acts of her legislature intended to give effect to that ordinance, were absolutely null. They were utterly without operation in law. The obligations of the State, as a member of the Union, and of every citizen of the State, as a citizen of the United States, remained perfect and unimpaired. It certainly follows that the State did not cease to be a State, nor her citizens to be citizens of the Union. If this were otherwise, the State must have become foreign, and her citizens foreigners. The war must have ceased to be a war for the suppression of rebellion, and must have become a war for conquest and subjugation.

Which was precisely how the South viewed the conflict.

Not the War Between the States. Or the Civil War.

But the War of Northern Aggression.

Conquest and subjugation. Absolutely.

Southerners felt that then, and many still did today. Go southeast of Atlanta into central Georgia, as she’d done many times, and mention the name General William Tecumseh Sherman in the right places, to the right people, and they’d spit on the ground.

She’d never really given secession serious thought. After Lincoln’s time the issue was thought resolved. True, occasionally, there were rumblings in the press about some city, or county, or fringe faction who wanted out. Key West was famous for its Conch Republic. But nothing ever came of any of it.

Then she’d listened to Edwin. He wasn’t some lunatic trying to avoid taxes, or ignore a law he didn’t like, or just wanting to do as he pleased. He was the White House chief of staff.

And he was scared.

“This could become a real problem,” Davis said. “We were hoping that time had taken care of things. But we’ve received information indicating that this is not the case.”

“What could be so frightening?”

“Stephanie, we watch twenty-four-ho

ur news, listen to talk radio, read editorials. Information comes at us all day long. Everybody has an opinion on everything. Bloggers, journalists. Twitter feeds and Facebook posts have become authoritative sources. No one really pays attention anymore. We only scratch the surface, and that’s deemed enough.”

He pointed at a paragraph on the screen. From Texas v. White.

Which she read again.

Our conclusion therefore is, that Texas continued to be a State, and a State of the Union, notwithstanding the transactions to which we have referred. And this conclusion, in our judgment, is not in conflict with any act or declaration of any department of the National government, but entirely in accordance with the whole series of such acts and declarations since the first outbreak of the rebellion.

“The damn Supreme Court only scratched the surface,” Davis said. “They issued a political opinion, not a legal one. Its author, Chief Justice Salmon Chase, served in Lincoln’s cabinet. What was he going to say? The whole Civil War was unconstitutional? That secession was legal? And, by the way, 620,000 men died for nothing.”

“Isn’t that a bit melodramatic?”

“Not in the least. Texas v. White remains the definitive statement by the Supreme Court on the issue of secession. If a state tried to secede, any judge in the country would immediately hold that it’s unconstitutional based on Texas v. White.”

She knew that to be true.

“That opinion, though, was far from unanimous,” Davis said. “Three justices dissented.”

She stared again at the words on the screen.

And this conclusion, in our judgment, is not in conflict with any act or declaration of any department of the National government.

She heard again what Edwin had told her, ending with “What if we know something the Supreme Court in 1869 didn’t?”

What if, indeed.

TWENTY

DENMARK

MALONE DID NOT LIKE ANYTHING CASSIOPEIA HAD SAID.