The Portland daily press., 1872-04-16
luti-Slavery "reminiscences.

Harry Wilson. the junior Senator from Mas
...o,,,,sotts "a writing very fascinating book.
Indesd It NAV be doubted whether his fame
as a statesman, which is very great, may not
in the remote future be eclipsed by his repu-
tation as the faithful, impartial and wonder
fully industrious chronicler of the events that
led to the abolition Of slavery and the estab-
lishment of genuine Republic in the west
ern hemisphere. The first volume OF the
Rise and Fall of the Sldue Po,cer In America
only brings the remarkable story down 10 the
time of the admission of Texas as slave
State in 1s45: but that time is still fresh in
the memory of men who are not yet old. 1t
is not our present purpose to write review
of Senator Wilson'S book, but to call atten-
ton to the miraculous changes that have
taken place, all favorable to human liberty,
within the space of half an average human
life. 1t is startling to read in this volume
that no longer ago than 1912 s. s. Foster,
who is now living at Worcester, Mass, at no
very advanced age, honored by his townsmen
and countrymen as few men are fortunate
enough to be, was mobbed In the city of Port
land while attempting to make an Gnti-sla-
very speech. We have it from Mr.. Fosters
own lips that he yet suffers constantly from
injuries inflicted on that famous night, not
quite thirty years ago, when only the hero
ism of two women, who chung to him at the
peril of their lives, prevented his sharing in
Portland the fate that Lovejoy, whom Maine
is proud to claim as one of her children, suf-
fered in the West 1t is wonderful to find
Gen, Fessenden, Abby Kelly and other per
sons whose memory is gratefully cherished in
Maine. spoken of as winning distinction sim
ply by their opposition to the encroachments
of the slave power-an opposition that now
seems only the natural and necessary out
growth of any humane spirit 1t is hardly
credible that when, in 1S43, Hannibal Ham,
lin, then Democrat, was first elected to the
House, the noble stand he Immediately took
in favor of the right of petition, of which
John Quincy Adams was then the great
champion in the interest of the anti-slavery
cause, was hailed with delight by the "Old
; Man ELOQUENT" as strange but most graft
fying phenomenon. When Mr.. Hamlin had
closed his speech, Mr.. Adams, who had lis
tened with marked attention, crossed the hall
and offered his hand, with the remark:
sLght breaketh in the Eastr'
All this was hardly more than quarter of
a century ago. Since then the conflict has
eliminated, and the issue has been one
of the most suspicious ever evolved from
human strife No careful observer can feel
that it is just to forget that the tremendous
revolution is ,oholly due to that Republican
party whose fate Senators Trumbull and
Schurz regarded as of so little consequence
in their Cooper Institute speeches of Friday
night. When it began to do its work, slavery
had reached the eliminating point of its
influence. Now, When slavery and its conse-
quences have passed away, the opponents
of the Republican party are substantially the
same as they were in the beginning. Is it
reasonable to suppose that the questions of
to-day, moral or economical, can be treated
with more honesty, intelligence and prudence
by those who were utterly wrong about
slavery and human rights, than by those who