The New York herald., 1864-09-26
The Anti-slav cry Element I'm the Presi-
denA TAI Campaign.

for the last three years and hall had IL
origin, as most great\ wars have had theirs In
difference of opinion u ION religious question
1t is simply the naturar~ and inevitable windin
up of what Mr.. Seward so well characterized
4 "the irrepressible conflict. For thirty year
and more the public raind h ad been kept agi
tated over the problem of the proper status
the negro, and debates as flea ce as any ina
attended religious dissensions IN tle oldei
times bad embittered the feelingst ;! the people
ol the Northern and Southern sectit rs toward
each other. Finally and logically 81 ne war
war on the most gigantic scole-wsT lnat Las
pat the resources OF the one side 10 the Sc yersst
test, and that has utterly ruined the other side.
And now what do we fad in regard 10 the
| question in disputes That it is almost entirely
lost sight Of, and no longer forms an issue OF
! peace or war Here we are in the midst OF a
| Presidential contest, more than usually ex
citing, more than usually important, on the
result of which the question of continuance of
| the war or Of a restoration of the old Union is
| supposed to depend; and yet the point Of dis
puse which produced the war-.he moral and
religious problem of slavery-has as little in
| iuencs on the public mind, and is as little
thought Of in connection with the great events
transpiring, as any of the theological dogmas
which set the faithful by the ears in the early
ages of Christianity.
| Nor IS this phenomenon so strange as it may
at first sight appear. 1t is nothing more than
repetition of history. The same thing has oc-
| Cured in connection with all the European
wars arising out of moral and religious ques-
tions. The religious dssensions introduced by
Luther, Calvin, Zuingluis, Hass and the old
reformers eliminated in the most protracsed
and destructive civil wars that ever cursed hu-
manity including the great thirty years war il
Germany. the war Of the Girondists in France
the Hussite war in Bohemia aud the civil wars
| in England and Scotland And now. after two
centuries and half spentin cutting each others
throats ."for the greater glory Of God" and to
decide the question as to the best way to
get to Heaven, the nations Of Europe lave
settled down into an almost perfect indifference
on the subject. tolerating all denominations of
Christians, however beretical their doctrines
may appear, and troubling themselves no more
as TO the distinction between coasubstantiation
! and transubstantiaton than if such hard words
and harder questions had never been invented
Even in Spain and Italy heretics may live in
comparative peace and it is only on rare occa.
sions, like the recent ones in Ireland, that any
disgraceful revival of the religious animosities
OF the olden times s witnessed.
Just so with ourselves. The beatifc state of
philosophic Indifference which Europe reached
after two and half centuries OF dssensions
and at least half century OF fierce war, on the
religious questions of those days we have
reached. after thirty years Of political wran-
Cling and three and half years of actual con-
fict, on the anti-slavery question. Who cares
for it now' Neither party in the Presidential
contest says word about it. Lincoln cares as
little about the negro as Mcclellan does.
Seward shows no more sympathy for him than
Vallandigham does. Grant does not seem to
attach any more Importance to his existence
than does Sherman, who in clearing Atlanta of
its population, gave the negroes their choice OF
either going South with thoir owners or rem
dering military service to the United States.
And, strangely enough, the same supreme in.
difference on the question of negro slavery
seems to prevail as completely 10 the rebel
as in the loyal States. The only real ques-
ton now is, that of united or of q divided
republic
And it is not on this side of the Atlantic
alone that this curious result is observable.
The public mind in Europe has undergone pre-.
cisely the came change The religious senti-
ment there adverse to slavery. If it has not
entirely disappeared, has been so toned down
as to lose all its offensive features II has sub
sided there just as it has done here, giving
place to feeling Of Indifference. There, as
here, the real question is now recognized to be
whether this republic is to be divided mp into
q multitude Of contemplate, petty, jarring
States, or whether II shall be rehabilitated in
all its territorial integrity. but with military
naval and industrial resources so wondrously
developed by the conflict as to make it the first
Power on the globe. The European nations
| are interested in that question, and will throw
all their influence in the scale against us. But
| we have an abiding faith in the genius OF the
| republic, and believe that we have successfully
passed the dangerous points in the terrible
| struggle for national existence. If the rebel
| lion is not yet virtually subdued. we are in a
fair way, with such armies and fleets as we pos.
sess Of soon seeing the national banner float,
bonored and respected over every league Of
the republic and on every highway OF com.
| merce. The religious question which produced
the war is passing away; but the effects OF the
war itself will have lasting and powerful in
| fuence on the nation and on the world
| GENERALS HOOKER AND PECK IN A PECK OF
| TROUBLE Public DOCUMENTS CALLED FOR
We publish in another column a card from
Major General Peck, which will command very
wide attention. In its statements are involved
the truth Of history, the reputation Of two
prominent officers, and the official action OF the
| Secretary OF War. General Peck claims, and