The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-02-08


ness cards inserted, can be accommodated by
eaying their orders at the Counting-room during
the day.
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fit he possible 10 bring about reunion of the
States, that great work can only be accomplished
by the people themselves. The politicians can do
nothing. Many of them, installing prejudice for
principle, and subordinating patriotism to the lust
for power, resoluely set their faces against any
and every proposition that has for its object the
restoration Of harmonious relations between the
opposing sections. The CRITTEYDEN plan-the
KELLOGG plan-the Border State resolutions-the
ADAMS proposition, each and all in turn they
have repudiated. Nothing will satisfy these radi-
cal Republicans but submission to the doctrines
which they have preached, and nothing would de-
light them more than to be clothed with authority
to ride rough-shod over the South. These men,
eXulting over a sectional victory and the
elevation of their candidate 10 the Presidency
by a minority of the popular VOTE vehe-
mently cry out ''No compromise !" and brand as
traitors all those who, in the free States, dare to
express themselves in favor of conciliatory meas
ures. Legislators of this stamp must be
taught to know their place. to feel that
they are the servants, and not the masters
of the people, and that they were elected, not
merely to represent local constituency but
that their functions embrace the interests of
all the citizens Of the UNITED STATES 1t is not for
them TO arroganuy presume to dictate what shall
be done, or what shall not be DONE in a crisis like
this; as if they were beings of superior intelligence,
and that they alone were possessed of the true
knowledge Of what is right, and of Judgment
and discretion TO which those who dissent from
their views can lay no claim. Mr.. EVERETT, in
recent letter written from Washington, in re-
Spouse to an invitation from citizens Of Boston,
asking him to be present at the great "Concia-
''tion meeting" which was held at Faneuil Hall
on Tuesday last, ventured upon half apology for
the opposition which many members from the free
States have manifested to every proposition that
had been brought forward in Congress. ''Politi-
zeal leaders, he wrote, 'however well disposed
care hampered by previous commttals, and con-
"troied by their associates What sort of polit-
zeal leaders are they who do not see that pledges
made IN the heat Of an exciting campaign
should be but as ropes of sand in the
presence of those higher and more impera-
tive obligations which it is incumbent upon
them to observe when the dissolution Of the Union
IS imminent and all true patriots are exertng
their utmost efforts to avert so dire calamity
"Controlled by their associates" then where is
their boosted independence; where their Wanted
adhesion to right and principle? Yet this is the
the stuff these radical Republicans are made of.
Their patriotism consists in obedience to the be-
hests Of small clique OF bigots and fana-
ties, and not being masters of their own
actions they are maniGstly incapable of
interpreting the law for Others Mr.. EVERETT
well remarks, that "there is no hope of relief from
political parties, which are potent for mischief,
but in the present extremity, powerlcss for
good, and that If reunion of the segregated
parts of the Confederacy is to be effected, it can
only be accomplished by the action of the people,
''the ultimate source of all power" Such move
ment must be initiated in the free States for it is
TO them that the slave States look for those
assurances, and those guarantees which they be-
lieve TO be Of vital Importance TO their domestic
peace and their material prosperity. 1t is only
now, however, that the people of the free States
are beginning TO appreciate the magnitude of
the danger, and to realize the fact that
the South is in earnest. Lulled into a
false security by the confident tone adopted
by their leaders, and impressed by them with the
belief that the storm would speedily blow over.
they have witnessed, with a sort of dreamy bewil-
derment, and as if it were merely visionary pa
geant, the solemn and deliberate separation of
seven States from the Union, and the recall of
their Senators and representatives in Congress.
At length, however, there are signs and tokens
that the really perilous state of affairs is beginning
to be understood With this clearer knowledge
1t Is evident that great change is taking place in
popular sentiment at the North which, if properly
fostered and encouraged, might yet be productive
Of the happiest results. In Boston and Sy-
racuse the abolitonists have encountered a
storm of opposition which has efectually pre-
vented them from indulging in their usual
diatribes. In the Western Reserve Of Ohio,
where tanatcism on the subject of slavery was once
as rampant as in the heart of New England, or in
Chester county, Pennsylvania, not only has fugi-
tive slave been returned to the custody of his
owner, but the latter was made the recipient OF
unwonted courtesies. From all the larger cities
in the free States, and from many of the rural dis
tricts, petitions containing many thousands Of sig
natures, have been sent to Congress in favor of
the CRITTENDEN, or some other compromise that
would tend to the restoration Of harmonious rela-
tons with the South. At the invitation of Vir-
ginia seventeen States have sent Commissioners to
the Peace Congress which is now in. session
at Washington, and the day following the opening
of this Congress, the people of Boston
held monster meeting at Faneui Hall
which received the sanction of the most in
huential men in the State, and at which res
olutions endorsing the CRITIENDEN compromise
were enthusiastically adopted. These utterances
afford some faint ground for hoping that an ad.
justment may yet 10 reached. 1t is true that
prompt action is necessary, whilst it is also true
that great masses move slowly. 1t is, neverthe-
less, better to cling, as long as possible to even
this slender thread rather than to yield hopeessly
to the conviction that the Union is permanently
dissolved.