"negro's normal condition. It is calculated to preserve "the race from extinction, and to render it happy and, at "the same time, subservient to the happiness of the "white man. That white men should wage a war of ex"termination against white men, to change the condition "of blacks for the worse, is an absurdity too great for the common sense of any people, and much more of the "intelligent and practical people of the United States. "Mr. Lincoln recognises the fact, and therefore, even if "the fanatics in Congress should succeed in carrying "their bill, it will be met with his veto.

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“It is evident, however, by the President's Message, "that Mr. Lincoln thoroughly understands the whole question involved in this stormy agitation on the "confiscation of property in the rebel States, and that "he has taken a sensible and Conservative view of it, "which, while it will undoubtedly provoke the indigna"tion of the Abolition crew, will be received with satis"faction by the Conservative element both in the North "and South."

Besides the Abolitionists and the Democrats, there was a third party of the more moderate Republicans, whose chief representative was Mr. Seward, and who were disposed to look very jealously on any proposition to interfere with the domestic institutions of the seceding States. Just at this time a great emancipation meeting was held at New York, at which Mr. Montgomery Blair was invited to attend. This gentleman,

the Postmaster-General in Mr. Lincoln's Administration, is a Maryland man. By one of the political combinations so universal in American politics, he had been selected by the Republican party to fill this post on Mr. Lincoln's accession, not because he held anti-slavery views himself, but because it was believed that, out of personal connexions, he would support Mr. Chase, who did. The result, however, proved that on all questions connected with slavery he sympathised far more strongly with Mr. Seward than with the Abolitionist portion of the Cabinet. His dereliction of strict anti-slavery principles had long been surmised; and in his letter declining to attend the above-mentioned meeting, he stated very distinctly the grounds on which he differed from his more Republican colleagues. It was in the following words that he expounded his views :—

"No one who knows my political career will suspect "that I am influenced by any indisposition to put an "end to slavery. I have left no opportunity unim

proved to strike at it, and have never been restrained "from doing so by personal considerations; but I have 66 never believed that the abolition of slavery, or any "other great reform, could, or ought to be effected,

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except by lawful and constitutional modes. The people "have never sanctioned, and never will sanction, any other; and the friends of a cause should especially "avoid all questionable grounds, when, as in the present "instance, nothing else can long postpone their success.

"There are two interests in slavery-the political "and property interests, held by distinct parties. The "rebellion originated with the political class. The

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property class, which generally belonged to the Whig "organization, had lost no property in the regions "where the rebellion broke out, and was prosperous. "It was the Democratic organization, which did not represent the slaveholders as a class, that hatched "the rebellion. Their defeat in the late political struggle, and in the present rebellion, extinguishes at "once and for ever the political interest of slavery. . . . "It is not merely a question of constitutional law or "slavery with which we have to deal in securing per"manent peace. The problem before us is the practi"cal one of dealing with the relations of masses of two "different races in the same community. The cala"mities now upon us have been brought about, not by "the grievances of the class claiming property in slaves, "but by the jealousy of caste, awakened by the Seces"sionists in the non-slaveholders. It is this jealousy of

race which is chiefly to be considered. Emancipation "alone would not remove it. It was by proclaiming "to the labouring whites who filled the armies of re"bellion that the election of Mr. Lincoln involved

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emancipation, equality of the negroes with themselves, " and consequent amalgamation, that their jealousy was "stimulated to the fighting point. Nor is this jealousy "the fruit of mere ignorance and bad passion, as some

" suppose, or confined to the white people of the "South. On the contrary, it belongs to all races, and, "like all popular instincts, proceeds from the highest "wisdom. It is, in fact, the instinct of self-preserva(6 tion, which revolts at hybridism. Nor does this "instinct militate against the natural law, that all 66 men are created equal, if another law of nature, 66 equally obvious, is obeyed also. We have but to "restore the subject race to the same, or to a region "similar to that from which it was brought by violence, "to make it operative. And such a separation of 66 races was the condition which the immortal author of "the declaration himself declared to be indispensable "to give it practical effect. A student, not living in a "community where divers races are brought together "in masses, may stifle the voice of nature in his own "bosom, and, from a determination to live up to a "mistaken view of his doctrine, go so far as to extend "social intercourse, but few, even of such persons, "would pursue their doctrines as far as amalgamation, "and other legitimate consequences of their logic. Indeed, for the most part, such persons in our country, like the leading spirits in Exeter Hall, are so far removed by their circumstances from any practical equality with working people of any race, "that they have little sympathy for them, and nothing "to apprehend for themselves from the doctrine of "equality. Not so with the white working-man in

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"a community where there are many negros. In such "circumstances, the distinction of caste is the only pro"tection of the race from hybridism and consequent extermination. That this jealousy of caste is the in"stinct of the highest wisdom, and is fraught with the greatest good, is abundantly attested by its effects on our own race, in which it is stronger than in any "other. We conquer and hold our conquests by it. "The difficult question with which we have to deal is, "then, the question of race; and I do not think it is "disposed of, or that our difficulties will be lessened by "wholesale emancipation, even if such an act was con"stitutional. It would certainly add to the exaspera"tion of the non-slaveholding whites of the South, and "would unite them against the Government, and if so, they would be unconquerable. As matters now stand, we can put down the rebellion, because the people of "the natural strongholds of the Southern country are "with us. It is chiefly in the low-lands, accessible "from the ocean, and navigable rivers and bays, that "treason is rampant. The mountain fastnesses, where “alone a guerilla war can be maintained, are now held “by Union men, and they are more numerous, more

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robust, intelligent, and independent than the rebels. "It is chiefly the more degraded class of non-slave"holders, who live in the midst of slavery, who are

now engaged against the Government. But the non"slaveholders of the mountain and highland regions,