Among others, the famous ordinance of 1787, for the government of the territory of the United States, north-west of the Ohio,' known as the North-western Territory, stands forth prominent." Although the words "slave" and "slavery" do not appear in the Federal Constitution, yet the institution is recognized there by fair implication, and the force of its provisions may not be evaded.' This was one of the important compromises which the framers found necessary in order to have the sanction of a requisite number of States for that instrument. There stand the clauses, impregnable against sophistry, and their force can only be shaken or destroyed by actual amendment of the Constitution, in prescribed form. But to the several States, power to abolish the institution from within their respective limits, was conceded; and in the course of years, several of the northern members of the Confederacy cast off the system by legislative enactments." In Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky, there has been wide-spread discontent with slavery, as a social and economical institution. The ethical features of the question seem to admit of little controversy. It is its material features-its relation to the material and social interests of our common country, in which are involved vast private pecuniary interests-that claim attention. In this view of the case, all of the perplexing lineaments of the question are to be seen. These should be discussed with candor and forbearance. Harshness of speech is not argument, and never produces conviction. Harshness of action is not manly, and irritates rather than convinces; and mutual recriminations, ungenerous expressions, and flippant censures, only tend to alienate the affections of those who ought to live as brothers, conceding to each other sincerity of feeling and honesty of motives. To us and our institutions the nations of the Old World, aspiring to be free, are looking with anxious hearts and straining eyes, as the main hope of freedom for the race. Let us be true to our mission as the ark-bearers of Human Liberty; and let each, in the spirit of true brotherly kindness, say to his neighbor, on all occasions-If thou hast a truth to utter, speak, and leave the result to God. We dare not attempt to lift the vail of the future, or predict the events of 1 Page 362. * In 1784, efforts were made in the Continental Congress to restrict slavery. A select committee was appointed, consisting of Thomas Jefferson (the author of the Declaration of Independence), as chairman, and Messrs. Chase of Maryland (one of the signers of the Declaration), and Howell of Rhode Island. They reported a plan for the government of the Western Territory, then including the whole region west of the old thirteen States, as far south as the thirty-first degree of north latitude, and em. bracing several of our present slave States. The plan contemplated the ultimate division of this territory into seventeen States, eight of them below the latitude of the present city of Louisville, in Kentucky. Among the rules for the government of that region, reported by Mr. Jefferson, was the following: "That after the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither slavery nor invol untary servitude in any of the said States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been convicted to be personally guilty." This clause was stricken out [April 19, 1784], on motion of Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, seconded by Mr. Read, of South Carolina. A majority of the States were against striking it out, but the Articles of Confederation required a vote of nine States to carry a proposition. See Journals of Congress. In the ordinance of 1787 [see page 362], this rule, omitting the words "after the year 1800 of the Christian era," was incorporated. ? See Federal Constitution, Supplement, No. VII. Vermont was the only State in which slavery never existed. to-morrow. Never was the human mind so active as now. There is a compar ative quiet in the political and social atmosphere of the nations, but it is only the calm before the storm. There are cruel wrongs to be redressed-fearful reckonings to be made; and in those days, the people of the United States will bear a conspicuous part as umpires. Here, on the verge of great events yet to be developed in the Old and New World, we pause in our wonderful story of the discovery,' settlement,' and colonization' of this beautiful land, and the establishment of one of the noblest Republics the world ever saw, covering with the broad ægis of its power, a territory as extensive as that of old Rome in her palmiest days, when she was mistress of the world. At the present we are engaged in the marvelous labor of founding new States, with a facility and power hitherto unknown. In our history, the nineteenth century will be distinguished as the era of the birth of mighty empires--empires brought forth in the wildernesses of a vast continent -at whose baptism, statesmen and gospel-bearers, brave soldiers and gentle women, stand as sponsors, while the children of the forest look on in sorrow, for the ring of the hammer upon every corner-stone of the structures of civilization, is the knell of their extinction. Over them the free eagle may perch, as the emblem of their former sovereignty; but the setting sun just above the peaks of the western hills, or over the billows of the Pacific, more truly symbolizes their present and their future. Let us not take special pride in the extent and physical grandeur of our beloved country, but endeavor to have our hearts and minds thoroughly penetrated with the glorious thoughts of Alcæus of Mytelene, who asked and answered "What constitutes a State? Not high-raised battlement, or labored mound, Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned; Where, laughing at the storms, rich navies ride; Not starred and spangled courts, Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. With powers as far above dull brutes endued, 1 Page 40. 2 Page 61. 3 Page 104. The territorial extent of our Republic is ten times as large as that of Great Britain and France combined; three times as large as the whole of France, Britain, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, and Denmark together; one and a half times as large as the Russian empire in Europe, and only one sixth less than the area covered by the sixty States and Empires of Europe. The entire area in 1853, was 2,983,153 square miles. The internal trade of the United States is of vast extent. Its value amounted in 1853 (Lake and Western River trade), to more than $560,000,000, in which about 11,000,000 of our people are directly or indirectly interested. According to the seventh enumeration of inhabitants of the United States, made in 1850, the total number was 23,191,876, of whom 19,553,068, are white people; 434,495, free colored; and 3,204,313 slaves. Taking the increase of population from 1840 to 1850, as a basis for calculation, we may safely conclude the population of the United States to be, at this time [December, 1856], about 28,000,000. The most accessible works, in which are given, in detail, the progress of political events in the United States, from the formation of the Constitution until the present time, are Hildreth's History of the United States, second series; and Williams's Statesman's Manual. The former closes with the year 1821; the latter is continued to the present year. In forest, brake, or den, As brutes excel cold rocks and brambles rude Men, who their duties know, But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain; And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain— These constitute a State." Or with the more subtle thoughts of our own Simms, of South Carolina, who wrote "The moral of the race is in the State, The secret germ for great development, Through countless generations:-all the hopes, * * * A State's the growth Of the great family of a thousand years, |