otism grew in the hearts of each, and held us together as a
nation for about eighty years; but the subordinate antagonism,
tortured by its unnatural alliance during all those years, now in
turn strikes also for independence. Predominance, precedence,
pre-eminence, might have satisfied it for a time; but, from the
nature of our institutions, that was impossible. It encroached at
every point, and was generally rewarded for its self-assertion;
but it was inherently and constitutionally subordinate, and must
have remained so forever in the federation of the United States.
It struck for independence, and it did well! It did all it could
do, if it would not die inanely. One must always admire that
instinct of the grub which leads it to weave its own
winding-sheet, and lie down fearlessly in its sepulcher,
preparatory to its resurrection as a butterfly; but immeasurably
more to be admired is the calculating courage of men who are
ready to stake their all upon any issue--even upon one so
mistaken, so false, so partial to one class and so unjust to
another, as the cause of the slave-holders. Every earnest purpose
must have its own baptism of blessings.

We, the inheritors of a sublime truth, have been grievously
wanting in faith in our heritage!--wanting in aim and purpose to
maintain its integrity! No wonder the land is still washed with
tears of the widowed and fatherless, and that stricken mothers
refuse to be comforted. Give us a living principle to die for.
"Make this a war for emancipation!" cries anti-slavery England,
"and our sympathies will be with you!" They demand much; but,
that demand granted, it yet falls infinitely below the real point
at issue. It is immeasurably short of the great conflict which we
are actually waging. It is one phase of it,--the most acute
phase, undoubtedly; but not, therefore, the broadest and most
momentous one. Slavery was the peculiar institution of the South;
but we, as a nation, have an incomparably greater peculiar
institution of our own. The one is only peculiarly exceptional to
our general policy; the other is essentially and organically at
war with it. It is the only thing which pointedly distinguishes
us from a dozen other nations. The consent of the governed is the
sole, legitimate authority of any govern