The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-14 00:00:00

our mother earth is hidden from the sight of her
children during more than half their natural lives,
but down into the sunny districts of. the palmetto,
where the reproductive powers of nature are at
work throughout the whole circle of the year, and
where the magnolia and the orange tree load the
atmosphere with perpetual fragrance. I know that
the mental and muscular energy of the North will
gradually give way, in obedience to the universal
law, to the amenities and seductions of the
climate ; but not until they shall have done
their work by waking up those sporofic dis-
tricts to the new life and the intense activities
of this earnest and enterprising age. Another
lesson which this law has taught is, that human
slavery, in some way or other, and at some stage or
other of its existence, is always calamitous to those
who maintain it. The justice of God is sure to
manifest itself, in some form of retribution, against
the injustice of man, even though it be through the
slow operation of what we call natural causes.
Wherever the subjugated elass,does all the work
and the governing class does none, wherever the
latter seeks to evade the universal sentence of earn-
ing our bread in the sweat of our faces, the former
must acquire a physical superiority, which, iu the
end, is sure to work out its own deliverance. We
have not waited for this tardy process of centuries.
Slavery with us has perished through the insensate
attempt of the masters to extend and perpetuate it
by destroying their own government. It has gone
down amid the clash of arms and the shock of battle ;
and the amendment to the Constitution just adopted
has confirmed and executed what the behests of war
had decreed. This great social revolution has been
accompanied by an equally great marvel. Slavery
has been abolished in Delaware and Kentucky by
the votes of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina ;
and those who were most earnest in defending and
seeking to extend it, have conquered their pre-
judices,' and are marching on, with the great army
of emancipators throughout the world, to the
majestic minstrelsy of universal freedom 1"
The General might have used the tide of conquest
in India as a still stronger illustration to show that
the course of military successes is always from
north to south in the northern hemisphere, from
frosts and snow to flowers and sunshine. From
time immemorial India has been the prey of northern
conquerors, and the fact that for the first time in the
long ages of its history the current has rolled back
from the plains of Bengal to the mountains of
Affghanistan gives an exception which fully proves
the rule, for it was a northern race that organised
and led this triumphant march of conquest in the
opposite direction. It is a striking fact that at each
advance northward by the British Vona Calcutta
a more vigorous and determined foe was met. Never
in the history of British India was the English
power so terribly shaken as when it came into con-
tact with the men of the Punjaub. Two terrible
campaigns and six pitched battles were fought with
the Seikhs, with varying success, before the conquest
of the Punjaub was achieved. The discomfitures
of Ferozeshah and Chillianwalla h were substituted
for the easy victory of Plassy, and it required all
the stubborn determination of theAuglo-Saxon race,
and an expenditure of blood which shocked the
nation, to make good their footing against the
Kalsa army, in the most northern province of the
Mogul's ancient empire.
We conclude our remarks with the closing words
of this distinguished officer's address :—" With this
readjustment of our social and political relations,
and after this triumphant exertion of our power of
self-preservation, new responsibilities devolve on us.
We must enjoy with greater moderation the bless-
ings and privileges which Providence has vouch-
safed to us. We must exert our power, if possible,
with increased forbearance, even for the assertion
of our undeniable rights. We must practise toward
all with whom we have relations, whether within or
without the pale of our political system, the most
strict and impartial justice. Since the days of the
Revolution, when ourfathers were led through seven
years of toil, and suffering, and peril, almost as
manifestly by the hand of God as the children of
Israel were-led through the wilderness, we never
have been so significantly admonished of our de-,
peudence on him, or have had so much cause to be
grateful for our deliverance from surrounding evils.
This sense of dependence, and this feeling of grati-
tude, must never be permitted to fade out of our.
minds or hearts. The altars of our religion and
our freedom must stand side by side, that their
fires may ascend in one common flame to Heaven.
Then shall we have reason to !rust that the blessing
of God, which has been with us and our fathers
under so many trials, will continue with us to the
end in our new career of prosperity and power."