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February, 1861.     DOUGLASS' MONTHLY.     415
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admission of two new States which should include them, reserving the right to effect subdivisions of them whenever necessary into several convenient States ; but I do not find that such reservation could be constitutionally made.

Without them, the ulterior embarrassments which would result from the hasty incorporation of States of such vast extent and various interests and character, would outweigh all the immediate advantages of such a measure.  But if the measure were practicable, I should prefer a different course, namely when the eccentric movements of secession and disunion shall have ended, in whatever form that end may come, and the angry excitements of the hour shall have subsided, and calmness once more shall have resumed its accustomed sway over the public mind, then, and not till then--one, two, or three years hence--I should cheerfully advise a convention of the people, to be assembled in pursuance of the Constitution, to consider and decide whether any, and what, amendments of the organic national law ought to be made.

A Republican now--as I have heretofore been a member of other parties existing in my day--I nevertheless hold and cherish, as I have always done, the principle that this Government exists in its present form only by the consent of the governed, and that it is as necessary as it is wise to resort to the people for revisions of the organic law when the troubles and dangers of the State certainly transcend the powers delegated by it to the public authorities.

Nor ought the suggestion to excite surprise.  Government in any form is a machine; this is the most complex one that the mind of man has ever invented, or the hand of man has ever framed.  Perfect as it is, it ought to be expected that it will, at least as often as once in a century, require some modification to adapt it to the changes of society and alterations of empire.

Fourthly--I hold myself ready now, as always heretofore, to vote for any properly-guarded laws which shall be deemed necessary to prevent mutual invasions of States by citizens of other States, and punish those who shall aid and abet them.

Fifthly--Notwithstanding the arguments of the gallant Senator from Oregon, (Gen. Lane,) I remain of the opinion that physical bonds, such as highways, railroads, rivers, and canals, are vastly more powerful for holding civil communities together than any mere covenants though written on parchment or engraved on iron.  I remain, therefore, constant to my purpose to secure, if possible, the construction of two Pacific railways, one of which shall connect the ports around the mouths of the Mississippi, and the other the towns on the Missouri and the Lakes, with the harbors on our western coast.

If in the expression of these views, I have not proposed what is desired or expected by many others, they will do me the justice to believe that I am as far from having suggested what in many respects would have been in harmony with cherished convictions of my own.  I learned early from Jefferson, that in political affairs we cannot always do what seems to us absolutely best.  Those with whom we must necessarily act, entertaining different views, have the power and the right of carrying them into practice.  We must be content to lead when we can, and to follow when we cannot lead ; and if we cannot at any time do for our country all the good that we would wish, we must be satisfied with doing for her all the good that we can.

Having submitted my own opinions on this great crisis, it remains only to say that I shall cheerfully lend to the Government my best support in whatever prudent, yet energetic efforts it shall make to preserve the public peace, and to maintain and preserve the Union ; advising, only, that it practice as far as possible the utmost moderation, forbearance and conciliation.

And now, Mr. President, what are the auspices of the country ?  I know that we are in the midst of alarms, and somewhat exposed to
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accidents unavoidable in season of tempestuous passions.  We already have disorder, and violence has begun.  I know not to what extend it may go.  Still, my faith in the Constitution and in the Union abides, because my faith in the wisdom and virtue of the American people remains unshaken.  Coolness, calmness, and resolution, are the elements of their character.

They have been temporarily displaced, but they are reappearing.  Soon enough, I trust, it will be seen that sedition and violence are only local and temporary, and that loyalty and affection to the Union are the natural sentiments of the whole country.  Whatever dangers there shall be, there will be the determination to meet them; whatever sacrifices, private or public, shall be needful for the Union, they will be made.  I feel sure that the hour has not come for this great Nation to fall.

This people, which has been studying to become wiser and better as it has grown older, is not perverse or wicked enough to deserve so dreadful and severe a punishment as dissolution.  This Union has not yet accomplished what good for mankind was manifestly designed by Him who appoints the seasons, and prescribes the duties of States and Empires.  No, sir ; if we were cast down by faction to-day, it would rise again and reappear in all its majestic proportions to-morrow.

It is the only Government that can stand here.  Woe ! woe ! to the man that madly lifts his hand against it.  It shall continue and endure ; and men, in after time, shall declare that this generation, which saved the Union from such sudden and unlooked-for dangers, surpassed in magnanimity even that one which laid its foundations in the eternal principles of liberty, justice, and humanity.
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LIBERTY TRIUMPHANT---SLAVEHOLDERS ADMONISHED.
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DEAR FRIEND DOUGLASS :--I often think of thee,
And the work to which thou are devoted ;
The Poet's muse does sometimes visit me,
And I send now some things which I have noted.

As the the lion rises in the morning,
And quickly shakes the dew-drops from his mane.
So humanity, itself arising,
Shall soon shake off the proud oppressor's chain.

Humanity has her great charter'd rights,
Which none save tyrants ever can despise ;
For these in Europe a brave man now fights,
At Garibaldi's name hosts quickly rise.

Italy shall be free ! and once again
Her sunny clime with liberty shall ring ;
Her noble sons shall the be called men,
No longer vassals they shall freedom sing.

From despotic Kings, Emperors, and Pope,
The continent of Europe shall be free ;
Events transpiring there give us some hope
That soon her peoples shall have liberty.

Through Revelation's clear and mighty light
All nations, too, shall yet enlightened be ;
The struggle will be hard, and we must fight
Before the people can gain liberty.

But it must come--for there's a God above,
Holy and true, ever on freedom's side--
He will give peace, and liberty, and love,
To all the nations that on earth reside.

Humanity in the strength of God shall rise,
And hurl all tyrants from their cruel thrones--
Shall break in pieces whosoever tries
To enslave men's minds, their sinews and their bones.

God now does rise to plant great freedom's cause !
What mean the burning strife, the constant heaving
American fears and European wars ?
These are the signs that liberty is nearing.

God's bottle holds the tears which slaves have wept,
Their wrongs, and groans, and cries are in His book ;
His vials of wrath are for oppressors kept,
Their cruelties God will not ever brook.
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Lift up your heads and nerve your hearts aright,
All ye who for sweet liberty to sigh ;
Be brave, be patient ; the Lord for you does fight,
The hour for your redemption draweth nigh.

The fervent prayer of all good men should be,
'God speed the dawn of freedom's holy light !'
That the oppress'd in every land may see
His ways are just, and God defends the right.

Listen, ye tyrants, all the wide world e'er,
Unto the voice of God, the eternal King ;
He says, 'Deliver men, their rights restor,
Your captives free or I will sorrow bring.'

No longer have his wrath ; you would do well
To undo the burdens, to break each yoke ;
Or surely God will hurl you down to hell,
And the decree no ransom can revoke.

Be wise to-day, 'tis madness to postpone
The liberty which men have right to claim ;
If you resist them, will you have to groan
For ever and ever in the fiery flame.

If all oppressors God will thus destroy,
What will become of American boasters,
Who men and women breed, and sell and buy,
And if reprov'd, would at slow fires roast us?

United States ! the land of liberty !
No, she holds four millions of wretched slaves,
Who toil, and groan, and under lashes cry,
O were we safe across the Atlantic's waves !

American's their liberty vaunt on high ;
Simpletons do think their laws would mend us ;
Well--in England no slave can live or die ;
From liberty like theirs the Lord defend us !

Go to now, ye bold and rich slaveholders,
Weep and howl, for miseries come on you ;
Has not the true and living God foretold us
That ye shall parish ? and His word is true.

Your riches and your garments are corrupted,
The blood of suff ring slaves does stain them all;
That blood your silver and your gold has rusted ;
That blood you'll see, when judgement shall you call.

Then your base deeds shall witness against you,
And eat your spirits as it were with fire ;
For ye your gross, ill-gotten treasure drew
From trembling slaves, to whom you gave no hire.

The critics of slaves have sounded in the ears
Of the Holy One ; and the avenging God
Will you repay for all the bitter tears
Which slaves have shed, while on their necks you trod.

In pleasure you have lived upon the earth
And rudely sported with lives of men ;
Your hearts you've nourish'd for the day of wrath,
And God will full recompense you then.

Repent, repent, your slaves at once let go ;
You cannot hold them and forever live ;
If you this mercy to the enslav'd will show,
Then God in mercy may your sins forgive.

HALIFAX, Dec. 1860.      H. O. C.
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VALUE OF NEGROES AT LOUISVILLE.--According to usage, the 1st of January is set apart as the occasion for hiring out slaves for the year.  As both owner and hirer feel an interest in the matter, we have taken some pains to obtain information in reference to the 'nigger.'  We are assured that numbers of negroes from the adjoining counties of Shelby, Spencer, Henry, Nelson, &c. have been called home, and that they will not be thrown upon the market to-day for hire.  As a consequence, negroes will be in greater demand to-day than for several years past.  As an evidence of the rate of hire asked and obtained, there was an instance yesterday in which a young woman, a good cook and washer was taken for one year at $175 ; a number of men whee hired at from $125 to $175, and a sprightly boy, twelve years of age, was taken at $85 for the year.--
Louisville Journal, Jan. 1st.
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--A fugitive slave--a girl--claimed by a Virginian, was arrested in Cleveland last week, and sent back into slavery.  The Union's safe !
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