equal;' but in the only practical sense of free or
self-government, which, in its very nature, can only rest upon the
virtue and intelligence of its subjects, men cannot be regarded as
'created' until they are made whole or complete in the crowning
intelligence and virtue of the loftiest human attributes. But as
government, of whatever kind, follows the laws of the human mind, is
first a germ, then a growth, and then a fruitage--shoot, blade, and
ear--our Government can only realize this greatness and perfection
(unlimited intelligence and virtue) in its matured or organic state;
when the declared principles of its form shall have become livingly
combined or organized in institutions of unlimited excellence and
power--institutions that will perpetually embody and express the exalted
human force that inspired them. That our Government has thus far failed
to exhibit such completeness, only argues that it has heretofore been in
a formative condition--a condition of laborious trial, tuition, and
growth, fitting it to realize ultimately its fullness, wherein it will
stand related to previous conditions as the grand, symmetric beauty of
the ear of grain stands related to its various formative states.

If now our Government is, as we fondly hope, approaching its third
degree, its matured condition, with a race of dependent children
emerging from the lowest condition, that of chattel slavery, it is plain
enough what the relation of these people and the Government should be.
They are simply minors, subjects of the Government, but not a part of
the Government. The right of suffrage is not to be extended to them,
because, from the nature and spirit of the Government, they are
necessarily excluded from the _highest_ prerogatives of citizenship.
Their education and whole training are to proceed with a view to their
becoming ultimately a function in the government.

If the principles thus stated amount to a _science_ of government--and
we unhesitatingly aver that they do--then it is clear enough that
self-government--the highest form--does by no means necessitate, under
all conditions, _universal_ suffrage. In truth, its orderly development
strictly forbids it. A government, founded and only healthily operated
on virtue and intelligence, must apply itself studiously to develop
these conditions in its subjects; thus, and only thus, may these
subjects become a part of the governmental power in its full, harmonious
development. Self-go