The State of the Country [pp. 132-146]

THE STATE OF THE COUNTRY.
heroes strewed the earth with their bleeding bodies. For them,
in vain has our country been made a vast charnel house, and
the blood of the braves crimsoned a thousand fields of battle.
Ah, if they could but realize the agony of the South, "if that
their breasts be made of penetrable stuff," they would be touch ed. Tears would run down the cheeks of the most iron-heart ed. Look at that most unhappy South, beaten in battle, devas tated by terrible armies, whose march was lit up by the flames
of burning dwellings, the personal property of the South almost
annihilated, the servile class raised suddenly to freedom and
equality, the labor of the country paralyzed, the source of in come dried up, wealth extinguishedcl, poverty universal, the
frame-work of society disjointed, the youth of the country de stroyed in battle, widows and orphans, tears and lamentations
everyvwhiere. And all incurred for failure. Everything pre cious in national life, everything dear in domestic life, sacrificed
to the avenging Nemesis. Surely, to every true and noble
heart, to all of heroic mould, the condition of the South appeals
irresistibly for sympathy. But there are coarse natures which
do not harbor these generous emotions, and this is one of the
present difficulties of the South. In this sublunary world we
have to deal with men of the earth. The South must make
her account of all this, and learn to endu.re, as the unfortunate
must always do.
In considering, as we have done, the adverse influences
which bar the doors of the capitol to the approach of the South,
without undertaking to predict the final result of Congressional
action, we may at least venture to express an apprehension that
the decision will be delayed some time. Delay, in cases where
one is called upon to do the disagreeable, is haltf a victory. The
Republicans will certainly have this victory.
In following the course of events in Congress, we are struck
with two leading ideas, the fruits of Republicanism. One is
negro equality, culminating in negro suffrage; the other is the
introduction of a new principle in American Taxation, viz:
Export Duties.
This negro question opens a vast field of thiought for the
statesman or the philasopher. It is one of those momentous
questions, that should be considered in all its relations with
entire freedom from prejudice or passion, with a simple desire
to arrive at the truth, and to find the best possible solution for
the difficulties that environ us. That the enfranchised blacks
of the South should be treated with the greatest possible kindness, that every reasonable effort should be made to alleviate
their condition, to elevate them in the scale of civilization,
to educate them for their new situation, to throw around them
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