The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-12-06


Under the above title, Mr.. j. 7. Trow-
bridge, in the December number OF the Atian-
tic Monthly, gives some thoughts on the prom
ise and the duties of the present time, which
are of peculiar force and vigor. Referring to
the recent election, the writer speaks OF that
ssfoegy and forlorn Second Tuesday OF No
vambern as the most memorable day of the
war, and says;
The first uprising of the nation, when its
existence was assaied, was truly sublime
spectacle. But the last uprising of the same,
to conArm with cool elaboration the judg-
ment which it pronounced in its heat, is a
spectacle of far higher moral sublimity. That
sudden, wild-fre blaze of patriotism, if it was
simply blaze, had long since had time to ex-
pire. The Red Sea we had passed through
was surely sufficient to quench any light name
kindled merely in the leaves and brushwoo9
Of our national character. The country nau
soon digest9d its hot cakes OF enthusiasm,
and came to the tougher article, Inc ossrlGn
diet of iron determination. we
have not made war from mere eDuintlon OF
spite, or as an experiment, or for any base and
temporary purpose put snis ms - wal lor hu-
deadly earnest. that the heart of the nation is
in il. and that this is no evanescent and tickle
heart the momentous Tuesday stands before
the world as the final proof.
Some clear, sharp touches of characterize
ton are devoted to the various classes CON-
posing the Opposition, which, though signally
defeated, still retains SO much of its power
and influence as to make it unwise to forget
or neglect it. The writer then goes on to
- Lo~, 1se
PEELED in various quarters by this war, for in
stance, that of our arrogant Southern breth-
rem that the Yankee, the dollar-worshipper,"
is not as prompt to fight for q principle as they
for power or property, or that having once re-
luctantly set his foot in gore it is possible for
him to draw back before his work is DONE
In the world abroad, also. recent events must
clear away some mists Of vision.
"The bubble of Republicanism, which was
to display such alacrity in bursting, is not the
childish thing it was deemed, but granitic,
with fiery, throbbing core; its outward form
no mere fiashy film, blown out of chimeras
and dreams, but creation from the solid
strata of human experience, upheaved here by
the birth-throes of new era;-
with inward fires and pain,
IL rose DnDple from tne PLAIN,
secure and enduring as Monadnock or Mount
Washington"
We have proved that we are nation equal
to the task of self-discipline and selfcontrol,
Ia new thing on this planet. Hitherto on the
stage Of history, kings and princes have been
the star actors; the people were nothing
But we have found that "Hamlet" does very
well with Hamlet left out. 1t place Of a
prince we will have principle. Persons are
of no account. The President is of no &C
count simply as man. Here, at last, HUI
manity has blossomed in race Of men caps-
BILE Of postponing persons to uses, and private
preferences to the public good, of subjectine
its widest sea of passions to the sense of jus
tice.
Recapitulating the duties which now de-
volve upon US, to defeat treason in the ie
annihilate its armies and destroy its power for.
ever, he says further:
"As for American slavery, it perishes from
the face OF the earth utterly. We have bad
enough Of the serpent which the young Re-
public warmed In its too kind bosom. Now
1t dies; there is no help for it; if you object
to the heel upon its head, and place your own
head there to shield it, God pity you, my
friend, for you will have need of more than
human pity! This war is to be brougntto a
triumphant close, and the cause of the war
extirpated, whether you like it or not. You
can accept destruction and ignominy with it,
or you may live to rejoice over the most glo-
rious victory and reform of the age; take
your choice; but understand, once for all,
that complaint is puerile, and expostulatiou
but an idle wind in the face of memorable
Fate. Shall we remember our martyred he
roes, our noble, our beloved, who have gone
down in this conflict, and sit gloomily con,
tent while the devouring monster survives
Is it nothing that they should have fallen, and
yet such wrong that the letters of the bond
man should fall? Is the claim of property in
man so sacred, and the blood of our brothers
so cheap? Have done with this heartless
cant-this prating about the constitutional
rights of traitors The
spirit of the Constitution we shall remember
and obey; but the sword Of justice, edge
with common sense, must cut its way through
everything else, to the very heart Of the re-
bellion."
The entire article which we have attempted
to condense, is admirable, and we only regret
that it is too long to be placed entire before
our readers