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McCLELLAN AT FREDERICK.
WE illustrate on the
preceding page THE ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION OF GENERAL McCLELLAN AT
FREDERICK, MARYLAND, when he had driven the rebels from the place. A
correspondent of the World thus describes the scene:
General McClellan came into the town upon the
central road, and such an ovation as greeted him! It was very different from
Virginia. The people were overjoyed. Flags were displayed upon all the houses.
There were all sizes and descriptions; large flags suspended across the streets,
and little sixpenny flaglets waved by girls and boys, all of whom had been
subject to the general contagion which pervaded every one.
The General rode through the town
on a trot, and the street was filled six or eight deep with his staff and guard
riding on behind him. The General had his head uncovered, and received
gracefully the salutations of the people. Old ladies and men wept for joy, and
scores of beautiful ladies waved flags from the balconies of houses upon the
street, and their joyousness seemed to overcome every other emotion. When the
General came to the corner of the principal street the ladies thronged around
him. Bouquets, beautiful and fragrant, in great numbers were thrown at him, and
the ladies crowded around him with the warmest good wishes, and many of them
were entirely overcome with emotion. I have never witnessed such a scene. The
General took the gentle hands which were offered to him with many a kind and
pleasing remark, and heard and answered the many remarks and compliments with
which the people accosted him. It was a scene which no one could forget—an event
of a lifetime.
HARPER'S WEEKLY.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1862.
SLAVERY PRACTICALLY ABOLISHED.
THE proclamation of the
President, which will be found in another column, practically abolishes slavery
throughout the United States after next New-Year's Day. By the terms of that
proclamation every negro shall become free who, on 1st January, 1863, shall
reside in a section of country where the people are in rebellion. The evidence
of rebellion, it appears, shall be the non-election of members of Congress by a
majority of legally constituted voters. To carry out the Act fairly, we presume
that, before New-Year's Day, the Speaker of Congress will direct an inquiry to
be made with a view to ascertain what constituencies have failed to elect
members. Upon his report the President will base his
proclamation of
emancipation, forever setting free and guaranteeing protection to every
slave residing within such delinquent
constituencies. In order to prevent trickery, no constituency will be deemed to
be represented in Congress unless a majority of legally constituted voters have
taken part in the election.
Under these conditions it is
probable that nine-tenths of the slaves in the
Southern States will become free on 1st January
next. We do not suppose that any thing like a serious election of members of
Congress will be attempted by a majority of legally constituted voters even in
New Orleans,
Memphis, or
Norfolk. So long as the rebel armies keep the
field, a majority of the people of the South will refuse to acknowledge their
defeat, and will of course decline to participate in elections which would
amount to a repudiation of their slave confederacy. In these three cities, and
in most of the other places at the South which are occupied by the Union troops,
the bulk of the legally constituted voters are in the rebel army, and could
not—if they would—obtain furloughs for the purpose of returning home and
electing members of Congress. It is just possible that, in the course of the
next ninety days, the dread of negro emancipation may work a change in the views
of some Southern communities, and that having to choose between two
evils—abolition and submission—they may prefer the latter as the least
intolerable. And it is also possible that our army and navy may make such rapid
progress with the work of suppressing the rebellion that, by 1st January, 1863,
the bulk of the Southern country may be overrun, and the hope of establishing a
slave confederacy so thoroughly destroyed, that the rebels may be willing to
make a virtue of necessity, and set about electing members of Congress. But if
the rebel armies are not crushed within ninety days, and the people of the South
humbled into submission, then the fiat has gone forth that New-Year's Day, 1863,
shall bring freedom to the negro race in the rebel States.
Nor will the blessed boon be
confined to those cotton States where this wretched rebellion arose. If Texas,
Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Arkansas, and
Tennessee become free States, it is utterly impossible that Maryland, Kentucky,
and Missouri can continue to maintain the institution of slavery. With free
States on either side, of them, they must abolish slavery, or it will abolish
itself. The only difference between them and their Southern neighbors will be,
that the United States will pay to the loyal owners in loyal States a fair
compensation for the slaves whom they may voluntarily agree to emancipate.
We shall now see how this
proclamation will be received—both at the South and at the North. There are
those who believe that the rebels—especially if they are hard pressed by our
armies —will meet it with a counter-proclamation, immediately emancipating their
slaves, and arming them for defense. A policy of this character would render the
task before us one of no common difficulty, as it would enable the rebels to
recruit their weakened armies with a fresh
force of nearly 500,000 men. It
is, however, well-nigh impossible to believe that the rebel leaders would of
their own free-will adopt the very policy the dread of whose adoption by us
plunged them into the present war—that they would place arms in the hands of
their slaves, and run the risk of a war of races on their own soil—that they
would in the middle of the contest abandon the principle for which it was
undertaken, and which they have declared to be the corner-stone of their
confederacy. A better opinion appears to be, that Mr. Lincoln's proclamation
will nerve them to still greater exertions than they have yet made, and that
they will forthwith take measures to place their slaves out of reach of our
troops. They will say, no doubt, that the President's proclamation will have no
more practical effect than the previous bruta fulmina of
Fremont and Hunter.
And how will negro emancipation
be viewed at the North? There was a time, not very long since, when a large
majority of the Northern people would have opposed it strenuously—not so much
from any admiration for slavery, as from a belief that, under the Constitution,
we had no right to meddle with it, and that its abolition involved dangers and
inconveniencies perhaps as formidable as those which were created by its
existence. Even at the present time a mortal antipathy for the negro is
entertained by a large class of persons at the North—as is evidenced by the
recent vote against negroes in Illinois, the riots in Cincinnati and Brooklyn,
and the unkind treatment of the negro fugitives at
Hilton Head by the regiments of General
Hunter's army. At the same time, the war has produced a remarkable change in the
opinions of educated and liberal men at the North. Such leading men as
General Wallace of Illinois, Daniel S.
Dickinson of New York,
General Butler of Massachusetts, and
nine-tenths of the generals in the field—who, a year ago, really believed that
slavery was the true station for the negro—have lately freely expressed what
used to be called "abolition views." How long it will take for these liberal
views to permeate society, and stamp themselves on the mind of the
working-class, remains to be seen. We do not, for our part, apprehend any
serious opposition at the North to the President's policy, except in circles
whose loyalty to the country may well be questioned.
Demagogues will of course
endeavor to excite our working-classes against the Government by threatening
them with the competition of free negro labor. It seems hardly worth while to
reply to so shallow and so mean an argument as this. Our laboring class in this
country is intelligent enough to know that what we want in every part of this
country is not fewer but more laborers. For years we at the North have been
moving heaven and earth to get more labor from Europe, and we have succeeded in
getting a very large number of men every year; yet wages have steadily advanced
instead of falling. Who ever thought of opposing immigration for fear of the
competition of the new Irishmen or Germans? So at the South. They have increased
their stock of labor steadily by every means, lawful and unlawful, for thirty
years, and yet the price of slaves has steadily risen from $400 to $1500 for
adult field hands, and the cry—before the war—was still for more labor. The man
who tries to frighten the North with threats of competition by emancipated
negroes insults the understanding of our laboring class.
THE REBELS'
FORTNIGHT IN
MARYLAND.
THE rebel army, under
Generals Lee,
Jackson, Longstreet, Ewell, and Hill, invaded
the State of Maryland on 4th, 5th, and 6th September. The General Commanding
issued his
proclamation to the Maryland people, informing
them that he had come to liberate them from the despotism of
Lincoln, and intimating that he intended to
stay. On the 18th September, just a fortnight after the advanced-guard of the
rebels crossed the Potomac with this proclamation in their hands, the rear-guard
of the same rebel army recrossed back into Virginia. What did they make by their
fortnight's excursion?
They discovered, in the first
place, that there was either no rebel sentiment in Maryland, or that if there
was any it dared not show itself. They got no recruits. A few men from some of
the western towns ran away from their homes to join them; but, to use their own
words, "when they saw and smelt the rebel army," they thought better of the
enterprise and returned whence they had come. On the other hand, it is estimated
that they lost 4000 or 5000 men by desertion. Every house in the counties which
they visited is found to contain rebel deserters. They met, of course, with no
resistance from the farmers and villagers. But they met with no civility, and
nothing like cordiality; while, on the other hand, the people of
Frederick and
Hagerstown almost went crazy with delight over
the approach of the delivering
army of the Potomac.
While in
Maryland they fought two battles, in which they
lost something like 20,000 men. Our losses, which were heavy likewise, were
instantly repaired by the arrival of fresh troops. Theirs are not repaired yet,
and can not be until
they retire to the interior of
the country, if then. General Lee's army is in the condition the army of the
Potomac was after the battles before Richmond, when we were all half dreading to
hear of its annihilation.
In both those battles they were
defeated. At South Mountain we drove them from the strong positions they had
seized in the mountain gaps. At
Antietam, we took their position and forced them
to retire across the Potomac. Whatever prestige they may have derived,
therefore, from their victories at the Rappahannock and at
Manassas has been destroyed by their defeats in
Maryland. They invaded the State exultant, hopeful, flushed with triumph; they
retire defeated, disappointed, disheartened.
They got some supplies in
Maryland. We hear of their getting boots at Frederick, driving cattle in from
the fields, and laying hands upon the produce of farmers. Whether they got
enough to feed their army for a week is very doubtful. If they had 100,000
men—and some people think they had 150,000—it may safely be said that they did
not. It is not likely that there were in all Frederick boots and shoes enough to
furnish a brigade. An army of 100,000 men eats, or ought to eat, 500 barrels
flour and 75,000 pounds of meat per day. To feed such an army for a week would
require 3500 barrels flour, and 1500 head of cattle, besides vegetables, sugar,
coffee, vinegar, etc. The rebels certainly found no such stock of supplies as
this in the counties of Washington and Frederick, Maryland; and from what they
did find must be deducted what they lost on their retreat. The chances are that,
in supplies as in morale and physical strength, they were heavy losers by their
visit to "My Maryland."
Under the circumstances it will
be curious to see what the rebel Congress thinks of the enterprise which
three-fourths of that body united in pronouncing wise, skillful, and full of
promise.
THE
LOUNGER
CRAFT.
IT is well known that
Jefferson Davis has been steadily opposed to an
aggressive policy. His motto is, Let us alone. His object is reconstruction,
with a guarantee for slavery. His philosophy is, that if the loyal citizens see
that the disloyal are resolved even unto death, the loyal will purchase peace by
the surrender of the Government. His hope is that his arts will complete the
work which his arms have begun.
But he sees that actual invasion
of the Free States begets a hostility toward the rebels which is not felt while
the seat of war is beyond their borders, and which must inevitably sweep along
with it his open and secret allies in the North. If Pennsylvania were really
invaded, for instance—Pennsylvania, which has rallied nearly a hundred thousand
men for borne defense, in addition to those she has sent to the field—how many
votes would any policy of compromise or concession be likely to receive in
Pennsylvania? Jefferson Davis means victory. He means that the slavery interest
shall permanently and unquestionably control the Government of the United
States, and he intends to do nothing that shall render that result hopeless.
Able and desperate as the rebel
fighting has been, if it should seem to Davis that another method would more
certainly secure his purpose, he would urge the laying down of arms by the
rebellion, in order to turn to his advantage the tremendous reaction that would
follow.
In this policy he is resisted by
the South Carolina school, who are as impracticable in the rebellion as they
were in the Union. The ardent Miles is of opinion that
Stonewall Jackson, with a hundred thousand
rebels, would march wherever he would, and do whatever he chose, in the Free
States. Miles may be more ardent than Davis, but he is not so sagacious. He
speaks for the loud and stringent popular clamor; but the popular clamor of a
semi-barbarous horde, like the whites who compose the rank and file of the rebel
army, is not so safe a guide as the cool brain of a cautious leader.
Besides, Miles and the South
Carolina school doubtless wish a separation. They are less aware than Davis that
separation is impossible. They do not understand that to a United States citizen
the word Union is the same as nation. They do not see, as Davis sees, that the
end of the war must be one of two things: either the absolute victory of the
Northern principle that slavery, as the controlling power of the Government,
shall be annihilated, or of the Southern principle that the control of slavery
over the Government shall be put beyond dispute.
Of course every party and person
at the North who, in this condition of public affairs, is anxious that the war
shall end without touching slavery belongs to Jefferson Davis. That is his sole
and supreme desire. Therefore he says that Hunter and Phelps, and every man who
lays his hand upon slavery, shall be hung summarily.
Why does he say it? Because he
knows that if the war ends with slavery untouched, except in the few cases of
fugitives, whether he be victorious or conquered, he has that vast interest as
the capital of new political combinations.
That is the danger which
threatens the country. That is the political programme unrolled by
Mr. Horatio Seymour, who, when Jefferson Davis
and his fellows merely threatened the Government, begged the Government to
surrender. The surrender which Mr. Seymour and his friends could not effect
before the war, they hope that the losses and sufferings of the war may have
made practicable. They may indeed understand a party, but they are woefully
ignorant of the people.
CARLYLE'S "FREDERICK THE GREAT."
THE volume of Carlyle's history
of Frederick just published will disappoint no reader. It is altogether masterly
in its comprehension and delineation of the events that attended the opening of
Frederick's active career. The unanimous testimony of English criticism in its
favor will be heartily approved here, with the wish that the author might have
undertaken, or even still undertake, a work which has never been adequately
written—the Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. A man who sees so clearly the essential
point of the matter, who has so profound an admiration and instinctive
perception of manhood, such a contempt of pretense and such marvelous literary
skill, would have given us a picture of the Empire which would have been as
memorable as that of the Revolution. Napoleon, indeed was a good deal of a
charlatan, and Carlyle hates that kind. But the Great Frederick had his
weaknesses. Did he, or did he not, run away from his first battle?
Even Carlyle will find it
impossible to make his hero a hero precious to mankind. A wonderfully
instructive and often repulsive chapter of history his life was, and wonderfully
Carlyle recounts it. But the heart does not warm to the friend of Voltaire, the
military philosopher of Sans Souce, the selfish and ambitious soldier. He was a
flashing, prodigious feature in the luckless century, as Carlyle thinks it, in
which he lived and altered the map of the world. But the sweet, great, manly
traits and tendernesses we seek in vain.
In the Berlin museum, or perhaps
in the royal palace, there is a wax figure of old Frederick dressed in the
actual clothes he wore, with his three-cornered hat and cane. The face has the
gaunt, wiry, weazened look that is familiar. The head is canted aside; and the
whole expression is grim, shrewd, and repulsive. The old father, who kidnapped
tall men that he might have big soldiers, could hardly have looked more
unfriendly than the doughty son.
It is the same figure, younger of
course, that moves through these resounding volumes. They are most timely for
their military descriptions. Carlyle's battle-pieces are more vivid and
picturesque than Vernet's. It is not easy to find finer writing any where than
many descriptive passages on those pages, and especially in the last volume. We
may compare the battle work of a century ago with that of to-day almost within
our own hearing; and with so terrible a commentary of living fact the old story
is startlingly real. Through all these is the same earnest tone with which we
regard our own fight. To a historian, who is also a man, like Carlyle, every
drop of blood shed has a special sanctity, for it is shed either for or against
humanity. We may differ with him in his theory of men and affairs, but we can
not deny his equal interest and earnestness with ours.
There is plenty of time now for
all who have the opportunity to read this book and reflect upon it. It is the
result of many years of faithful labor and research among the most unpromising
and dreary materials, and it is the work of one of the great scholars and
thinkers of the time; a man at whom some affect to sneer, but whose mark upon
the literature and mind of his country is greater than that of any of his
contemporaries.
HONORS EASY.
"MY DEAR MR. LOUNGER,—Will you be
kind enough to tell me whether the bill prohibiting slavery in the Territories
was introduced by Mr. Lovejoy, or did he merely report it from the Committee?
And can you give me the words of the Act? Truly yours,
"INQUIRER."
The bill was drawn and introduced
by Isaac N. Arnold, the representative from the Chicago district of Illinois—a
personal friend and supporter of the President, a firm, calm, clear,
constitutional anti-slavery man. It was referred to a committee, and after some
unimportant alterations it was reported to the House by Mr. Lovejoy.
Of course it is only an Act of
Congress, and may be repealed. But it can not be repealed until the rebellion is
successful, either by arms or by diplomacy. And it is the duty of all loyal,
patriotic, constitutional, and Christian men to see that this great victory of
Liberty over Slavery is maintained until it is as integral a fact of history as
the Protestant Reformation.
The words of the Act are these:
"To the end that freedom may be
and remain forever the fundamental law of the land in all places whatsoever, to
far as it lies within the power or depends upon the action of the Government of
the United States to make it so: therefore,
"Be it enacted, etc., That from
and after the passage of this Act there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude in any of the Territories of the United States now existing, or which
may at any time hereafter be formed or acquired by the United States, otherwise
than in punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."
This is the bill of Mr. Arnold,
of Illinois. It is the re-enactment of Jefferson's proposition for the
Northwest
Territory. It is the watch-word of American Liberty, and the future union and
peace and grandeur of the country. Compare it and its consequences with Mr. Crittenden's "Compromise" and its consequences! Which, honestly considered,
promises the most permanent peace? Which would a man wish to tell his
grandchildren that he voted for?
COURAGE.
IN the droll debate upon the
invasion of the North, which was the entertainment offered by the rebel Congress
on the 13th of September, Mr. Miles, of South Carolina, said a very good thing.
"I do believe it is the true policy of war to strike wherever you find a weak
point within your own limits or on the soil of the enemy."
That was also the opinion of
Oliver Cromwell, who said that "weak counsel and weak action ruin all." He was
weak in neither. The consequence was, that he conquered in England, Ireland, and
Scotland, and although his commonwealth's (Next
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