such rash haste to destroy. Only the leaders of the Rebellion can hope
to gain anything by so perilous an expedient; for Slavery has become
with them a secondary consideration,--no doubt Mr. Davis is sincere in
asserting this,--and they are now ready to sacrifice it to their private
ambition. They are in the position of men who, driven to extremity, will
give up everything else in order to preserve their power, and their
necks with it. But let us indulge in no useless apprehensions on this
point. Such a proposition, seriously entertained by the Richmond
Government, is of itself the strongest evidence we could have of the
exhaustion of their resources. Every other means has failed, and this is
their last resort. We are reminded of that vivid description, in one of
Cooper's novels, of an Indian in his canoe drawn into the rapids of
Niagara and swept over the falls,--who, in his wild efforts to save
himself, continued _paddling in the air_ even after he had passed the
verge of the cataract. So the Confederate craft has reached the brink of
destruction, and we may now look to see some frantic paddling in their
air. Or shall we liken it to Milton's bad angel, flying to his new
empire, but dropping into an unexpected "vast vacuity"?

"Fluttering his pennons vain, plumb down he drops
Ten thousand fathom deep, and to this hour
Down had been falling, had not by ill chance
This strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud
Instinct with fire and nitre hurried him
As many miles aloft."

That "ill chance" has been averted by the last election; and no such
"tumultuous cloud" will gather again, to bear up the lost Anarch, if we
courageously act our part. The danger now is from our own weakness, not
from the enemy's strength.

A great and most important work still remains for us. It is not enough
to perform simply the external and obvious duties of the hour. What we
would insist on here is the internal and moral work to be done. Men have
never yet given full credit to the power of an idea. With faith, ye
shall remove mountains. A pebble of truth, in the hand of the
shepherd-boy of Israel, is mightier to prevail than the spear like a
weaver's beam. How long were the little band of Abolitionists despised!
But they were the cutwater of the national ship. With their
revolutionary idea, so opposed to the universal prejudice, they
succeeded at last in moving the entire country, just as one cog-wheel
set against another