Daily national Republican., 1865-12-29
LETTER FROM SOLOMON AFTER.


far a. Wilmington new light broke upon
my mind. Then for the first time clearly
apprehendsd the great fact that the war is
over. 1 had left Washington at my leisure;
had made no secret Of my intention so TO
doi I asked nobody for pass. Yet had
been writing for the REPUBLICAN somo
months, and this paper has the name Of dis.
cussing public affairs with some degree Of
freedom. Yet 1 had walked the streets Of
Washington without fear; and I went away
because wanted to, and not because I was
afraid to remain. It was not always so.
have some reoollections that in the win
ter Of 1852 there was somewhere in Wash.
ington q censor-whether an actual human
being, or half human and half something
else-occupying q throne in Mr.. sNrDER's
not, though incline to the belief that the
censor was n mysterious and porvading es'
sence, emanating from the Divinity which
shaped the rough.hewn ends Of war. But Of
whatever nation he, she or II was, l was
made to feel his, her or its power. was
one Of the victims, and from my own expe-
rience know at least this Of the censor
what the heather says of his God, what Mr..
CHoArE said of the late Chief Justice-I
knew that he was ugly, but felt that he
was great.
Profoundly impressed with that sensation,
is 1t wonderful that whom little bird-with
q rather full face, and q moustache, by the
way-acw into the barber-shop at willard's,
md then and thore, by certain signs, words,
and tokens, communicated the rather fright.
full intelligence that all my sins were discov-
cred, that my indiscretions in the use of pens,
ink, and paper were well known, and that
moreover, even then, the gates Of Fort Nc
Henry yawned for the reception of a new vic.
tina companion for the Esculapius who
then occupied the position Of special CORE
spondent Of the New York Herald at that
interesting centre-in tho person Of one so
humble rs myself-is 1t remarkable, ask,
that my mind turned instinctively and in
simultaneously to the consideration of the
lines Of retreat through the Jerseys? Cor
tainly it was not; for, to one Of nervous tenn.
permanent, Fort McHenry has few charms. So
I took counsel Of my prejudices and few
good friends. But what need to speak Of the
explorations of q new route to Now York,
which followed, or to say more than that 1
was more content when two thousand miles
intervened between the censor and myself,
and when, amid tho orange groves of the
South, thought Of that dreadful being no
longer as q horrid reality, but only as 4
nightmare which haunted the seat Of Gov
ernment.
Yes, whom remember that escaped, and
contrast IL with the late occasion when / left
Washington, as any other elderly gentleman
might leave any other city, felt for the
first time the full force of all the proclama-
tions which have been issued from the Ex-
ecutive Mansion these six months just gone.
The war is over; the censor has passed Mr..
SNrDER's Office forever; let US attend to the
things which mako for peace.
And, speaking of these, my mind is just
now called to the contest going on in Tonnes.
see-which has appeared in every other STATE
in the South, and upon which great proper
tion of the politicians Of che South seem dis
posed to take issue with the President. The
quostion which settled the Presidents way to
the path of restoration seems easy, which,
decided another way, will tend but to estab-
lish base for renewed operations against
the integrity of the Government. mean,
Of course, the question whether the whole
ha al han ha
represented by the State Legislatures!
A population, non-voting and unrepre.
sented, is dangerous in proportion to its num-
bers its intelligence, and its cohesiveness
But population non-voting, but represent
ed, is dangerous under all circumstances; and
1t is difficult to understand how Govern
ment established upon such basis, can for
a moment be considered republican in form
it certainly is not in substance.
From 1903 to lS45 the progress Of that
portion of the Louisiana purchase which was
created into the State of that name, was
steadily toward q complete democratic re-
public. The convention Of the year last
named did its work thoroughly, and estab.
lished a form Of government which might
well excite the admiration and the emulation
Of the older Commonwealths. The great city
of New Orleans was increasing with wonder
full rapidity in wealth, in culture, in stabil-
ity, and in political power, and It was exer-
cising the same liberalizing influence upon
the surrounding country that ST. Louis was
welding over Missouri. But the progress of
the course of events which was rapidly bring
ing on a contest between two form Of ciyiliEa-
tion in the heart of the State, was ARRESTED
when in 1852 the spirit of speculation,
which made the constitution of AS, had
been bound in chains, formed a union with
the slave power which had already begun
to look with dread upon the advancing
strides which another social order was max
ing in the commercial districts; and under
the mpnipulations of BENJAMIN and SLIpELL
this schemefor turning a Republican Gov.
ernment into an oligarchy was so far sue.
cessful that in 1851 the State was handed
over, bound hand and foot, to the demon of
secession. The men Of the city sold their
birthright for mess Of pottage. To the end
that some aspirations might be continued,
and others established, they bartered away
their most sacred rights the "total popula-
tion basis" of representation was adopted;
and the intelligent, enterprising citizens of
the matronolis hecamo the YaRaala of the