The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-08-13

speak Tor them IN future years What thu
House of Representatives did not choose to rec
olhhehd, Tue people, We paesume, may constitu'
siohaily and without any such recommendation
do and adopt themselves, and the contemplated
measure will be ali the more effective and en-
during IN Its bcnetcent results, for having ema-
mated directly from the peoplt-neithera INTO
tame tmd'y by the myth of legislative wisdom
nor beguled into virtual surrender OF theiI
rights, by the weak and wayerng policy oi
their chosen lawmakers. 1t is lor the people,
now, through the legitimate channels of author
lty and power, TO say, whether the demon Oh
slavery Shall continue to blight and curse the
land, or whether il shall not utterly perish, even
before the hydra of rebellion has breathed its
last Let this alternative be the unalterable de-
cree of the nation
Again, if the President has withheld his sig
nature from bill which seemed TO point to the
entire abolition of slavery by the States still
wholly or partially in rebellion, it is more than
probable that coming events will justify his pol
icy. and that ere long, the loyal people--who
alone now legally hold slayes-will spontaneous
ly and gladly rid themselves of this hateful in
cubus on all social progress and prosperity Ii
IS well that the prerogatives of the chief mag
{ istrate be not stretched too far. Centralized
power-power vested in an individual having
/ the confidence of a nation and approaching
I even to The autocratc-is, for all war purposes,
I the most convenient, and practically the most
effective; but it is well for a republic - and es-
peclally for conjunction and union of repub-
lics-to beware of sanctioning the exercise and
extension of prerogatives in time of war, which
might work injurously in time of peace. We
/ know with what noble and patriotic dsdain the
immortal " hashington rejected and resented ey-
/ cry attempt TO assimilate the government of
4 the United States to an absolute or even a limi-
ted monarchy; and posterity and impartial his
\ tory--if history shall ever be impartial = will
! probably vindcate the cause of our chief mag
istrate in this and other instances, as indicating
/ determination 10 maintain, not only the in
{ tegrty of the Union, but-in subordinaton TO
this - the sovereignty of the States. 1t will
probably be seen, at no distant day, that evils
have thus been anticipated and prevented,
which might have wrought much internal mis-
chief and involved us in external difficulties less
easily surmcuntable than even the gigantic re-
bellion now in process of reduction. We all re-
joice that military necessity once enabled our
President consttutionally to decree the emanci-
patton of by far the largest portion of the
Southern slaves. Such necessities, however,
are of rare occurrence, and-in their absence
it is well to guard jealously the limits and re-
straints which the Constitution has imposed
alike on Congressional legislation and the exec
ntiye authority of the chief magistrate. 1t is
not the least OF Abraham Lincoln qualifications
for The high Office which, in times difficult, he
has so well sustained that be fears oath
that he asserts and exercises no prerogatives but
those conferred upon him by the constitution CT
his country and that, when Congress tempted
him TO forestal the action of States reclaimed to
their allegiance, he chose to leave il to the loyal
citizens OF those states to put the final stroke TO
the policy of universal liberation, and to bar
forever the revival of q system fraught with
such incalculable misery to the oppressor and
oppressed, and now filling our entire land with
mourning, lamentation, and woe. In all these
movements, your preacher thinks he can per-
ceive the hand of God SO ordering human
minds and passing events, as TO prevent the
eXigencies of state of war from crcumseribing
the li.erties of the people in the time of peace.
These liberties will be all the more precious, for
having been thus providentally preserved Leg
islation will not here, as in some other eoun-
tries, he compelled 10 retrace its steps-to abro-
gate in peace what was decreed in war - thus
endangering public tranquility by acollision al
most inevitable betwixt the tenacity of govern
mental power and the spirit of popular freedom
To have ayertsd this great calamity by absti-
nence from needless encroachment on the rights
of onr respective states, will not certainly be
the least OF the posthumous, if not eontempo-
raneous honors with which a grateful country
viii eventually crown the name of Abraham
Lincoln.
Yet whilst human instrumentality is thus rec
ognized, we are here to-day to mingle with our
confessions and petitions, thanksgiving to Him
who has sie hearts Of all men In his hand, and
who has graciously guarded the liberties of our
country from the extremes of arbitrary rule and
anarehieal disorder-the Scylia and Charybdis
of voluntary governments. Betwixt these, our
ship of state has, by the favor of Providence,
steeret majestically forward-and soon coming,
as we believe she will, into smoother seas and
under a serener sky, she will be found, however
temporarily chafed and disarranged, yet sound
in all her parts, and in all things wellappointed
for voyage Of centuries to come.
?. That varieties of opinion as to men and
measures should exist in free land, is but the
tta4f Isat~rf q
other evidences of Gods good will towards US
as people. we must notice the remarkable har-
mony of sentiment and purpose as TO the prose-
cution of this war, until provision be made for
the utter extinction of human servitude in the
land, and the absolute integrity and perpetuity
of the federal Union. II is easy TO imagine a
very different condition of affars-a division of
opinion and feeling so extensive and so active as
to embr0il us in strife and make the New England
and Northwestern States the counterpart of the
ensanguined aud desolated South. Here covert
treason has been compelled TO speak in under
tones, as 10 the alleged impolicy of putting
down an armed rebellion, and attempting the
overthrow of the nefarious and cruel system
that gave Il birth. "Violence has not been
heard in our streets-wasting nor destruction in
our borders" Though habitations innumerable
have become houses of mourning, and countless
hearts have bed for the loss Of those they loved,
disatiection has not been permitted TO shake the
cause, or TO repress or even to check the pat
rlotic resolution TO finish what was, indeed
reluctantly begun, but has thus far been brought
successfully onward 10 its destined issue. 'If
God had meantto destroy us he would not have
Showed us such things as these lie would not
have discovered and destroyed in the bud those
Vaccinations which have, from time TO time, at
tempted the distraction and disturbance of the
North. He would not have diiased through all
our armies that spirit of heroic patriotism that
despises and denouDces the tricks Of treacherous
civilians, which, if successful, would have eindef-
nitely postponed the triumph OF loyalty and the
tranqullization of the whole land. He would
not have inspired all classes of our citizens with
acourageous hope which refuses to despair of
the republic, even in the darkest day = which
bears patiently such temporary reverses as
are always Incident to war-and which stead
lily contemplates as the certain issue of all sacr-
fees made and suaerngs endured for such an
end, the overthrow of the rebellion and the estab
/ lishment and perpetuation of our national unity
under the segis OF a constitution SO amended as
10 be for ever free even from the suspected stain
\ of completely with human thraldon. In the
midst of deserved wrath, God has thus remem-
bered mercy. He has kept the people of the free
4 States from the hideous evils and enormties of
internal armed strife, and in the third year Of a
war which has cost SO much OF treasure, and
Of blood more precious than any treasure, still
keeps alive the purpose of persistence III the
H "~+N Va B@teeAfth5 "a 0hA lhstiAu-
tions which they know how to value and which
are worthyof all that has been done, endured,
and sacrificed in their behalf
5. Divine goodness has thus uscounteryailed our
guilt. May It also constrain us TO repent and
10 iorsake, as people, every evil way, and
thus to hold ourselves in moral readiness for
the season of repose which we now gratefully
I and hopefully anticipate. That season will
bring with il responsibilities and duties of its
own. Statesmen, legislators, rulers and citizens
at large-wieldlng at will the right of suffrage
( will then need degree of wisdom vastly su-
perior even 10 that demanded by the conduct Of
our interneeine war. Human deprayity flows
in different channels. The virus of moral cor
ruption assumes innumerable phases of deyel-
opment. Long after, if not ever after, the re-
bellion ceases, caution, oircumspecti0n, energy
and tact will be indispensable for the preserya-
tion of our liberties-and, more than all these,