always the principal occupations of slaves, even in
those early stages of human progress when these classes were left at
home to till the soil, while the masters followed their ordinary
occupation of war. The same constitution of society at the present day
leaves the masters free, it is true, to engage in more humane and
elevated occupations, but not without an evident inclination or easy
adaptation for those bold and bad pursuits from which slavery originally
arose, and which it afterwards contributed so much to sustain and
prolong.

But, notwithstanding this natural inclination of slaveholders toward
commotion and war, it is not to be denied, on the other hand, that in
civil conflicts like ours, in which discordant opinions and important
local interests are involved, the issue of peace or war may to a great
extent be controlled by that party which has the right of the
controversy. Its conduct may be forbearing and conciliatory, or it may
be insulting and calculated to invite resistance. A magazine may be
dangerous in itself, for an accidental spark or an unintended friction
of apparently harmless substances may cause it to explode; but, at the
same time, the catastrophe may be brought on by the wilful folly of
those whose duty it is to provide the necessary precautions against
danger. The North has unquestionably been right in the contest on
slavery, as to all the moral and economical aspects of the question; and
generally, too, us to all the political principles involved. But has she
not been violent and abusive--so offensively obtruding into the local
affairs of the opposite section, as unnecessarily to arouse the angry
passions of the South, rather than to encourage the calm exercise of
reason? The answer to this question is by no means so obvious and easy
as may at first be supposed. The whole subject has been so complicated
with party movements, that it becomes impossible to follow the
ramifications of influence, and to determine what share individuals or
parties, on one side or the other, may have had in the responsibility
for the angry controversy, its aggravating incidents, and its general
results. This, however, is certain: the slaveholders have for many years
controlled the Democratic party, and that organization has held the
power of government in its hands during far the greater part of our
national existence. Important concessions have been made to their
interests, from time to time, during the whole peri