apt to be a tolerably exact
exponent of the merits of his constituency, and we must look for relief
to the general improvement of our people in morals, manners, and
culture. We doubt if the freedmen would send worse members to Congress
than some in whose election merchants and bankers and even doctors of
divinity have been accomplices.

With the end of the war the real trial of our statesmanship, our
patriotism, and our patience will begin. The passions excited by it
will, no doubt, subside in due time, but meanwhile it behooves the
party in possession of the government to conciliate patriotic men of
all shades of opinion by a liberal, manly and unpartisan policy.
Republicans must learn to acknowledge that all criticisms of their
measures have not been dictated by passion or disloyalty, that many
moderate and honest men, many enlightened ones, have really found
reason for apprehension in certain arbitrary stretches of authority,
nay, may even have been opposed to the war itself, without being in
love with slavery, and without deserving to be called Copperheads. Many
have doubted the wisdom of our financial policy, without being
unpatriotic. It is precisely this class, dispassionate and moderate in
their opinions, whose help we shall need in healing the wounds of war
and giving equanimity to our counsels. We hope to see a course of
action entered upon which shall draw them to its support. In peace,
governments cannot, as in war, find strength in the enthusiasm and even
the passions of the people, but must seek it in the approval of their
judgment and convictions. During war, all the measures of the dominant
party have a certain tincture of patriotism; declamation serves very
well the purposes of eloquence, and fervor of persuasion passes muster
as reason; but in peaceful times everything must come back to a
specific standard, and stand or fall on its own merits. Our faith is
not unmixed with apprehension when we think of the immediate future,
yet it is an abiding faith nevertheless; and with the experience of the
last four years to sustain us, we are willing to believe almost
anything good of the American people, and to say with the saint,
_Credimus quia impossibile est_. We see no good reason why, if we
use our victory with the moderation becoming men who profess themselves
capable of self-government, conceding all that can be conceded without
danger to the great principle which has been at stake, the North and
the Sou