Year: 1861




ance but the men who were the first TO dictate
this golden rule, have been the first to violate it.
Some scOlding tongues it is not in the power OF
gods or men to silence; and some chronic grum-
blers are proof even against the prudence which
adversely generally teaches to all. Thus, we find
o certain atrablllous Boston misrepresentation,
perhaps, it is not necessary to name-attributiDg
all our woes to the inpatient philanthropy Of
" silly enthusiasts" 1t is hardly pretended that
Slavery is not an evil The argument is that it
is q good evil-that it is an evil which must be
respected, codded, and extenuated-that it is an
evil about which many fine things may be said
and, above all, that it is an evil which it will DO
perfectly proper to attack tomorrow, but which
it would be highly reprehensible to attack to-day.
This view of any subject less serious would be
amusing. This reversal of all ordinary moral
rules by which the burden of defense is trans
ferred from the dock to the bench has bad NO
parallel since Esop's wolf charged the lamb with
rolling the stream. We are to forget all the his-
tory and all the philosophy of the subject.
We are to forget that during the last half
century many Of the freest denouncers of
Slavery have themselves been shareholders.
We are to forget, although no social interest
has received such liberal concessions, yet that
none has been so continually exactiDg. For
nine.tentbs of the Anti.Slavery agitation, Slavery
is itself responsible. 1t has given US no peace
1t has been satisfied by no compromise. The
policy of the Government has been changed fifty
times to eoncillate it, and it has stlll remained
dlsl yal. There have been questions of territory,
and there have been questions of tariff; and in
respect Of either, the South has had substantially
its own way. Yet it bas still been discontented
and quarresome; still jealous of Northern pros
perlty and blind to the causes Of that poverty
which re have not charged upon it, but about
which its newspapers and public men have always
been indecorously pratiug. The restlessness OF
wronp-doing has continually haunted it; and like
all criminals it has sought to make one crime
cover another. Secession, though now exhibitel |
upon larger scale, is no new thing. Virtually,
il was Secession to violate the United States
mails; to defy the authority Of the Federal
Courts. as in the case Of South Carolina, in the
matter of coIored seamen; to spit upon the Con-
stituton by withholding the protection Of the
State to citizens Of the United States. The
audacity of passion which has so often disturbed
the serenity Of the Senate, had by no means
schooled itself TO silence before toe election Of a
Republican President; but for years it has dis
turbed del beraton aud sought to bride debate.
But Slavery was not content with this A great
party which for term after term secured the
Government, this institution claimed to hold IN
fee .smple-dictat ug its nominations, coloriug its
policy and controlling its leaders. This could not
forever last. The crisis came IN the Charleston
Convention and tue Democratic party, weary of
a life of yassalage aud of bond service without
consideration, struck for its liberty aud died Ia
the struggle, leaving Slavery without an organ
lied defense in the Northern States. Was this
the fault of the Republican party' Did not
rather these reckless aud passionate men strip
themselves Of alliance, and themselves throw
away friends in the hour of utmost need


But even these aggressions and this iugfattude
still left the Slave States with many scattered
but powerful supporters in the North-newspa-
pers ready to say anything for peace. clergyInen





still with faith in speedy return Of the good
old kuee-crooking, lck-spittIe times. All these
Secession has either silenced or rendered too
contemplate for hearing All these the Seced-
ing South has thrown away. Now, we say that
this exhibits q iatuity for which no opposition
can be blamed. We will suppose, for the sake
of the argument, that the Seeding States had
acaulesced in the election Of Mr.. Lincoln, not
cordially, for that would have been too much to
expect but with sullen and watcbiul imper-
turbability, varied only by an occasional oath
or an episodcal assault. Is there any one who
tbiuks that slave property would not at this mo-
ment have been as safe as ever, aud infinitely
safer than it now is that the Constitution
would not still have retained the general respect
of Congressional relying upon the honor OF the
North, which never, under the utmost tempta-
ton, had failed them, these now traitorous States
might not have preserved at least their old pros
perity, and might not have secured all the peace
which so bad a social system permitted IL
there any one who knows the love and rever-
epce of the North for the Union, who doubts
this


But this would not have been pleasant to the
sore souls of handful Of Catillnes-of men bred
to the love of irresponsible power upon the plan
tatiou and restive under the control even Of the
Constitution itself This would not have suited
the purposes of course natures trained to violence
and uuaccustomed to reason. The great academy
of tyranny spawned its graduates, and they were
ripe for treason from the egg. They could kill,
they could burn, and they could pluuder-and
what other qualifications does patriot desire :
And Il Ia an Institution mOuldnc nuch men as