.

ation.
VOL.

I.-NO.

THURSDAY,

1.

CONTENTS.
THE WEEE.~...:...:. . . . . . . . . t . . . . . . . . 1 ! M~&I of the Seventh Regiment to Washton.
.._....._._...._......_......
..
Essepce of the.Reconstruction Ques- I A Strange Story.. . _.
4 I
tion _..,....,__......_...............
The Great Featival..
.
5. ~LITERATURE:
......... ..
Were the States ever Sovereign 0.. .
5 i LiteruryNotes............
ACaeeinPoiot . . . ..____._... .._....._.
RI Corlyle................................
The
Noble
School
of
Fiction.
_. _.
The Emperor and the Two Sous..
. 9I
_.
Some Reasons for Delay. _.
_. . . 9 ~ White8 Shakespeare.. _.
! M&hewAmold~ Essays., _. _.
Lord Brougham on the Qnality of
Mercy .._ _.
_. _.
10
The American
Struggle : Poetry.,
10 FIXE ARTS:
Critics and Criticism _.
_.
10 Fortieth Annnnl Exhibition of the
National Academy of Design..
Club Life...............................
12,

JOSEPH H. RICHARDS, PUBLISHER,

JULY

6, 1865.

spiracy with them to deceive the public.

$3 PER

ANNUM.

IIe avows more distinctly

the loyal
is than heretofore his motive in hastening reconstruction-that
14 men, who were compelled to bow and submit to the rebellion, may, now
that the rebellion is ended, stand equal to loyal men everywhere.

The

19
blacks and whites. It is
20 war has effected a twofold emancipation-of
21 absolutely necessary for South Carolina, before she can hope to r&urn
23
21 into the Union, to abolish slavery within her territory by legislature or

convention, and likewise to ratify the amendment of the United States

which abolishes and prohibits slavery everywhere. His
reluctance to establish or favor-for, on this point, his language is not
unmistakable-the
enfranchisement of the blacks, arises from a fear lest
the landed aristocracy con&l their vc&a to the prejudice of the poor
whites, whose freedom the President is anxious to confirm. He therefore leaves it to the States, or to that loyal minority in each which he
assumes to have constitutecl the State without intermission, to determine
the qualifications for suffrage. At the same time, as a democrat, he is
opposed to class legislation.:
Such, substantially, is the position now
occupied by our Chief Magistrate, though not, we may trust, unchangeably, except in respect of the doom of the slave system. The delegation,
in reply, could naturally but assent to the latter condition of restoration,
however unwelcome it might be. Their spokesman, Judge Frost, aclmitted that he and his associates, present and at home, had been cured of
t.hre& clelusions by the war : first, L(that slavery is an element of political
stren&h and moral power ; second, that the States Rights doctrine is
a sbimd one; and, third, that cotton is king. The people of South
Carolina, having been defeated and conquered, will acknowledge the
painful fact : already they have submitted to great sacrifices from their
fidelity to honor. Snd, continued the Judge, 6Lthe same good faith
which animated them in the contest will not be found wanting in their
pledge of loyal support to the Government.
If this assurance were not
enough, the delegate was willin g to acid : L(I suppose the oath of allegiance will be taken with as much unanimity in South Carolina as anywhere else. As this cannot possibly be doubted, we suppose the Palmetto gentry will not long be in lack of the Governor for whom they
applied.

26 Constitution,

130 NASSAU STREET, N. Y.

The Week.
THE WEEK has been singularly barren of exciting events. It is
curious to see, however, what a stimulus the return of peace has given
to political agitation.
As nothing is now dependent on the fortune of
war, orators and writers are entering the arena with a confidence which
they never displayed as long as their arguments and predictions were
liable to reversion or falsification at the hands of Lee or Grant.
-.
THE negros successin assuming a prominent position in the political
arena, seems to be in the inverse ratio of the earnestness with which it
is sought to suppress him and put him out of sight. Everybody is
heartily tired of discussing his condition and his rights, and yet little
else is talked about, and none talk about him so much as those who are
most convinced of his insignificance.
-THE news from Europe is unimportant, unless we except the doubt
which rest upon Napoleons course in regard to Mexico. The Nonitew
asserts that the present force in that country will not be increased, but
will be kept at its maximum.
The English papers borrow their chief
topic of discussion from this country, and declaim on the proper treatment of the subjugated rebels. Lord Brougham, whose advice we notice
in another column, lifts up his voice for clemency, and finds an echo,
we are told, in the Paris press. His lordships impertinence is imitated
by Historicus, the law-writer for the Times, who did us good service
in the piratical season. He undertakes to clefine for this country the
relation of the Government to its 1aLteenemies in arms, but manifestly
travels beyond his sphere. The question is one of American Constitutional law, to be decided here, and, we apprehend, with as little re.
spect to the authority of Historicus as if he were merely a crier in
court, instead of the able barrister that he is. He has an undeniable
right to his opinion, but to force it upon the Government of the United
States is to insult its capacity for determining the laws by which it
exists. (( Historicus has forgotten a similar ill-advised intrusion by
Earl Russell, at an earlier stage of the rebellion, when he ventured tc
inform Mr. Seward of the British Attorney-Generals opinion that this
Government had no right to suspendthe l&eas corpus. Our Secretary
rightly applied the snub direct to such gratuitous instruction.
The
argument drawn from expediency or humanity may fairly be offered tc
affect our disposal of Jeff. Davis and his compecrs,-for nothing that
concerns man anywhere is foreign to the rest of mankind, and international law is simply the product of a free exchange of opinion among
nations, which is neither to be deprecated nor avoid&,-but
every gov.
ernment must be presumed the best, and of course the ultimate, judge
of its own powers in dealing with its subjects.
IT is a marvel, said Cato, ( that a couple of soothsayers can look
at each other witho.ut a grin.; and President Johnson quotes this expression to a South Carolina delegation, in order to disclaim any con.

PRESIDENT JOIIXSON has given the finishing touch to the war by

abolishing all restrictions on trade East and West. But if some means
are not devised of protecting him from personal interviews with
office-seekers, pardon-seekers, delegations, and busybodies of both
sexes, they will make an end of him. It is lamentable that some way
cannot be hit on of sifting the Presidents business before it comes
before him. This is done to a certain extent with his letters, but the
men and women who want to see him reach him, chaff and all. The
easiest way of doing it would be to render access to him more difficult. Whether this could be arranged without raising doubts of his
L(democracy, we must leave it to others to determine. The presdnt
system, under which every-body can reach llim who takes the trouble to
$$I to Washington, if not suspected of designs on his life, ie anything
but democratic. For his time belongs to the whole nation. 9s matters
stand, it is largely consumed in attending to the affairs or listening to
the bad speeches of a few hundreds.
+.
FROM an Augusta. newspaper we have what purports to be an account of tlie peace conference at Fortress Monroe in January, by Alexander II. Stephens, one of the Southern commissioners on that occasion.
Except certain strictures upon Jefferson Davis for his conduct before and
after the colloquy, and certain professions of a genuine desire for peace
on the part of Mr. Stephens, there is little that is new in his narrative.
He tells, however, a capital story of President Lincoln, who, having at the
outset declared th? he cguld not consent to treat with the rebel authori-

The

Nation.

ties as such, was co&onted by Mr. Hunter with an historical precedent. / t he United States. The Attorney-Generals circular, we are glad to say,
This was the action of that constitutional ruler, Charles I., in treating e xpresses very fully the expectation of the Government that the colored
Mr. Lincolns rejoinder was character- Plopulation will prove in the not far distant fLlture intelligent and
with his rebellious parliament.
3~31 citizens.
istic : !Upon questions of history I must refer you to Jlr. Seward, for 11
he is posted in such things, and I clont profess to be bright. My only
C. J. FAULIIXER, who was United States Minister at Paris when the
Subsedistinct recollection of the matter is, that Charles lost his bend.
Far
broke out, is amongst those who have been pardoned, and we arc
P
quently, when the Constitutional Amendment just passed had suggested
S
orry
for it. It is but justice to the President to say that it was done in
the topic of emancipation, the President is reported to have said he
hoped slavery would be abolished by the people, within six Yeats at the f ulfilment of a promise made by Mr. Lincoln to Xr. Faulkners daughter.
farthest; and added that four hundred millions of dollars might be L more unworthy object there is not in the whole Sputh. He used his
offered as a compensation to the owners. Perhaps observing some in- 0lfficial position at Paris up to the day of his departuke in cliscrcditing
credulity at this statement, he continued : You would be surprised i ~1the eyes of the French Court the Government which he rcprcsentcd
were I to give you the names of those who favor that. The letter of- a.ncl to which he hacl sworn fidelity. If rebeilion be not an unpardonaMr. Greeley, since published, recommending this policy to the Presi- 1:)le crime, perfidy accompanied by perjury ought to be.
dent, makes it clear that he was one of the persons alluded to.
GENERAL TERRY has found it necessary to promulgate an order in
TBE Message of Gov. Pierpont to the Virginia legislature is remark- 1-Iis department forbidding combinations of the planters to keep down,
able for the instruction which that body receives in contemporaneous t he wages of labor, and to place restrictions on the movements and
history and the first principles of government. We decline to decide algrcements of the colored people with their employers. In addition to
between affronting the intelligence of the teacher and that of his t his, a newspaper has been suppressetl at Petersburg. and an arcrtissepupils. Only we must consider it a very strong argument against the : rnent has been sent to another at Richmond, both for the use of rcl,clresurrection of the Old Dominion, if its legislators need to be acquainted 1ious and disloyal language. The question at once suggests itself on
I,eading this, who is to look after the planters and the newspapers when
with the facts of secession, or to be told that
<The people of a State may be divided into two classes during a t,he State is handed over, as we may fairly expect it shortly will be, to
rebellion, the one class loyal, the other disloyal. The loyal are the true t t,lie (( loyal voters ?
and faithful to the government ; the disloyal are the unfaithful, andI
ROBERT DAIX OVEN addresses President Johnson a letter through
The loyal are entitled to
those in opposition to the government.
the protection of the government; the clisloyal are not entitled to the: t,he Tdww, on a somewhat neglected Constitutional issue. He shows
protection, but are subjects of the punishment denounced by the law: i t.hat by one of the original compromises of that. instrument, each
against t,hose who clisobey.
southern voter before the war possessed one-fifth more political power
We had supposed it equally true and manifest that the people of aL t;han his Northern fellow, in all Congressional or Presidential elections.
State may be dividecl into two classes, stylecl the good ancl the bad, re- ,l%s resulted from enlarging the basis of Southern representation by an
spectively. The good are those who heed the laws ; the bad are those Iddition to its free inhabitants of three-fifths of all other persons, to wit,
who evade or violate them. The goocl are entitled to the protection o f 1;he slaves. This palpable inequality was euclured l~ecanse it was
society ; the bad are not so entitled, but arc subjects of the penaltie: 3 $sanctioned by the Constitution.
Now that we have abolished slavery,
provided for their transgression, etc., etc., in this message-made-easyr 1Yie obligation to respect it ceases, ancl the wrong should terminate.
strain.
For, first, to withhold suffrage from the blacks is to leave them at the
1lnercy of those who have despoiled them in the past, ancl who still retain
TEE political campaign opens with the hot weather in Ohio, where : their old malice ; and, second, is to m&c their permanent disqunlificaL 1
Union State Convent,ion has met, selected a canclidate for Governor tion conducive to the political aggrandizement of the whites. AS
1
passed resolutions, heard speeches, and acljourned. Theenemies of thii 3 nought but freemen are left, the people of color are reckoned no longer
assembly hoped that it might be divided upon the questions of recon zt three-fifths but at five-fifths, so that, while as unrepresented as bcThe resolu
struction and negro suffrage. They were disappointed.
fore, they increase the reprcscntation of the whites by two-fifths of
tions were not dogmatic or even explicit in these particulars, but by in
their own number. Consequently, a white voter in any Southern State
ference were strongly in Favor of deliberation and equal justice in re whose population is about equally divided, is armed at the ballot-box
storing the rebellious districts to political existence. With considerabll e
with double the power of any voter at the North. Assuming, n-it11 ?rIr.
emphasis they enforced the necessity of reverting to the first principle 5 Owen, as a liberal estimate, that two-thirds of the whites are sufllcicntly
of our Government as set forth in the Declaration of Independence ; amI
loyal to be aclmitted to vote, ancl that the ravages of war have reduced
beyond this, it is difficult to see what ground the Convention could hav e
blacks and whites to numerical equality at the South, then each voter
taken, while Ohio herself is in neecl of the advice which they offer to th e
there will have, at a national election, three times the power of one at
nation at large. Gen. Schenck delivered very fully his views upon re:the North. This, says Mr. Owen, is dangerous and undemocratic ; and
construction, and was followecl by Senator Sherman, who spoke rathe r he proceecls to ask what kind of men are to be thus entrusted with such
to the resolutions than to the general topic. He applauded the cautioi II
extraordinary powers, citing Jefferson for the inevitable elfects of slaver!7
displayed by the Convention in avoiding a split, and contended tha t
upon the community in which it flourishes, Mrs. Iiembles description of
the issue which had been declinecl by them was to be taken up an,1
the poor whites, and his own observations while a member of the Freedsettled in due time, when victory could attend a united front. It i S
mens Commission. As for the right of determining the franchise, he
noteworthy that the gubernatorial nominee, Maj.-Gen. J. D. Cox, enter._
argues that it inheres in the right of the United States to pardon the
tains convictions that agree with the best interpretation of the resolulrebel States on condition-say,
for example, that thrre shall IX no more
tions of his party, ancl is comiected by marriage and friendship wit I1
slavery; and that no discrimination against color shall be allowed
the advocates of impartial legislation for black and white.
to affect civil rights.
If the first were neglected, it would involve a
second rebellion; if the second be, it will create an oligarchy on an
TKE President has been doing a very extensive business icpardons 7 extendecl scale, and prevent either harmony or permanent peace between
but, as it has been evident for a week or two past that there is not a ma n North and South. He concludes that though States hare in general a
in the South who is not ready to be pardoned at any moment, an d right to regulate suffrage for themselves, this matter is beyond their
take any steps that may be necessary for that purpose, the very salu- province : first, because the seceded States should begin ~7enoco,ancl not
tary precaution has been taken of requiring in each case a report from resume their olcl constitutions ; second, because the Federal safety is
the provisional governor of the State in which the applicant resides. imperilled, as it was by the existence of slavery.
upon (1) the probability of his proving a useful, peaceable citizen ir
future ; (2) the existence of any proceedings in confiscation against him
Jfn. JAY COOKEhas been seduced into authorship by his success as a
(5) and the possession or non-possession of his abandoned property 1~3 broker, and has written a pamphlet to prove that the national debt is a

The

Nation.

clear addition to the national capital. Considering the amount of non- help aclmiring the abundant resources of a free nation in the time of her
sense which has been written about national debts for the last hundred greatest trouble, ancl the tireless energy of the man who has directed
years, there is nothing very wonderful in this ; what is wonderful is thal them into their proper channels of feeding, clothin<g, arming, and transseveral of the morning papers, in spite of the pressure on their space. portation, so that no general in our armies has been able to complain ot
Mr. Cooke: i\Ir. Stantons ability to discharge his office, or his readiness to facilitate
should have thought his disquisition worth republishing.
success as a seller of Government bonds no more qualifies him to instruct , : the operations in any section of the field.
the public on the nature and uses of a national debt,, than success as an
TRE career of the late Rear-Admiral DuPont, up to the. outbreak of
engine-clriver would qualify a man to lecture on the nature of elastic
vapors. There is a very simple antidote for his really mischievous delu- the rebellion, was more creditable to himself than known to his counIn 1861 he had adsion. It consistsin remembering that what has been lent to the Gov- trymen. He began at twelve as a midshipman.
ernment during the war was really not the money, but the things that vanced to captain, and in April was in command of the Philadelphia
the money purchased-the powder, lead, iron, forage, and other stores, Navy Yard. I-Ie knew no clivided allegiance as an American, but ably
as well as the labor of a &lion of men, all of which have been destroyed, ancl promptly seconded the Government in its efforts to maintain its
He was destined to achieve his greatest renown at Port
and the national capital has therefore been diminished by the exact authority.
amount of their value. The individuals who supplied them hare lost Royal, by a naval exploit which exhibitecl prudence, daring, and originothing, but the community has-a distinction which Mr. Cooke has nality in rare proportions. After the conflict of the Monitor and Me?V%MChad rcrolutionizecl the building of war-vessels, Captain Du Pant
failed to perceive.
+.
was directed to conduct the first assault of iron-clads upon forts and
Where he, or rather his resources, failed, no other NCTHE
holders of Government bonds will be alarmed on hearing that land-batteries.
the New York .HwaZd has announced that it has not given up its ceeded, and Sumter, impregnable oceanward to the last, capitulated to
StiII tighter
laurels than those of
project with regard to the national debt, viz., that of paying it off by the shots which reduced Atlanta.
voluntary subscriptions.
We had hoped dhe money would be allowed courage and victory were won by DuPont along the coast of Carolina.
He claims the grateful remembrance of the nation for his humanity,
to lie a little longer.
which, as it showed itself in his intercourse with his subordinates, was
IN spite of the disproportionate
increase in the colored population of displayecl as sincerely towarcl the despised blacks with whom he came
the District of Columbia on account of the war, it is an instructive fact in contact personally or through his fleet. Hc protected them from
that the local demand for domestic and farm servants is greater than outrage on every occasion, dealt to them the same justice, accorcled to
the supply. One occasion of this is the long ago predicted drift of the them the same respect, as to other men ; and this in advance of public
freedmen toward their olcl homes in the South, very few being drawn in sentiment, ancl by marked exception to the behavior of most of our
the opposite direction.
Hence those Maryland farmers who votccl last commanders by sea and land. Hc was, in a worcl, a democratic genwinter to pay their hands $10 a month, without regard to the other tleman, having the graces derived from liis French descent, and the
party to the bargain, are now unable to obtain help at a much higher moral breadth of a believer in the republican institutions under which
figure ; and this experience may serve as a warning or a precedent to the he was educated to usefulness and fame. His death is saclly prcmnture,
still more close-fisted cultivators of Virginia, who think that the aclvan- whether we consider his three-score years or the wishes and anticipatages of free labor are to be purchased at half the rate just mentioned. tions of those who survive him.
The only class in the District whose prospects are not good, are the
women with families of dependent children, the fiathers being soldiers in
MAZZINI
writes to %Ir. Fisher, the London agent of the United
the Union army, or scattered none knows where in the South, or per- States Sanitary Commission, that this country has done more for the
haps no longer living.
These cases are numerous, are with difficulty cause of republicanism in four years than has been achieved in fifty by
provided for by employment, and were productive of infinite distress European discussion. He adds that her task has hitherto been selflast winter.
orgsnization-a
realizing within her own boundaries of the principle of
her existence. That established, by the abolition of slavery, a new
IN the two days review of our armies in Washington, it was noticed duty devolves upon her : she ceases to be merely Americnu, and
that the Western troops had a longer, more swinging gait than the becomes cosmopolitan. He would have her leacl in the progress of
Eastern, and that their beards had a strong disposition to redness. The mankind, and assist in the great battle that rages everywhere, between
report of the Secretary of War for the year 1864 furnishes some addi- Liberty and tyranny, equality and privilege.
The Italian patriot may
tional grounds of comparison for the study of the curious. Eleven count upon our support in the sense in which he invokes it. IIis appeal
States, of which, however, only three were strictly Western, kept statis- is not, as it has been construed in some quarters, for material aid-for
tics of their recruits, In height, Michigan excelled the rest, while Ohio ships, powder, bayonets, men, or armed intervention such as Kossuth
was sixth, and Minnesota ninth. Vermont, which stood second in this prayed for, and prayed in vain. Not less vain will be all similar
respect, was first in breadth of chest, her average measurement being a solicitations in the future. What Mazzini craves, however, is sure to be
Singularly enough for granted, and that is sympathy, encouragement, and all the aid that flown
little more than thirty-six inches at inspiration.
a mountainous region, one would suppose, New Hampshire was least from the conspicuous example of a successful, enduring republican
capacious in lungs, and eighth in respect of height ; but her northern society, consistent, above all, and true to its fundamental idea. WP
counties, which are most rugged, are least populous, ancl sent fewest hacl in the past a rapidity of development, an extraordinary though
men to the war. New York nucl Delaware furnished the shortest men, superficial prosperity, a degree of public intelligence, au orderly c-xl)and agreed upon the average-five feet five inches. The recruits from mission to law, and an apparent stability, that served the republicans
all sections between Nov. 1, 1863, and Nov. 1, 1864, amounted for of the Old World in good stead for nearly half a century, and helped
the land service to 650,769, and for the naval to 24,683. At the latter the South American republics into being. But these argunients were
date there were 102,000 colored troops enrolled, ancl perhaps this num- effectiveiy resisted in Europe by pointing to the contradiction of
ber remains substantially unchanged at the present time, none having slavery. Hereafter there will be no hollowness in the professions of this
been mustered out or being likely to be. The revenue derived from nation when it answers the cry of the struggling people in any land.
commutation was fifteen millions, against ten and a half for the previous The Union exists by, and in consequence for, the equal brotherhood
year. Of military telegraph there were G,500 miles in operation, and of of man. Republican propagandism is inseparable from a republican
this 78 miles submarine.
Half of the whole extent was constructed establishment.
during the war. A thousand persons have been constantly employed
in the telegraphic service, and during the year transmitted one million
WE
publish in another column a letter originally addressed to R.
eight hundred thousand messages. At a pinch, every second man in H. Dana, of Boston, on L(State Sovereignty, which is worthy of great
the army might have been mounted, for there were no less than 300,000 attention, both on account of its intrinsic value and the writers character
horses and mules, the former somewhat preponderating.
one cannot and standing. We regret that we are not at liberty to reveal his name.
,