I think that nothing will ever give permanent peace and security to this continent but the extirpation of Slavery therefrom, and that the occasion is nigh; but I would do nothing hastily or vindictively, nor presume to jog the elbow of Providence. No desperate measures for me till we are sure that all others are hopeless,flectere si nequeo SUPEROS, Acheronta movebo. To make Emancipation a reform instead of a revolution is worth a little patience, that we may have the Border States first, and then the non-slaveholders of the Cotton States, with us in principle, a consummation that seems to be nearer than many imagine. Fiat justitia, ruat cœlum, is not to be taken in a literal sense by statesmen, whose problem is to get justice done with as little jar as possible to existing order, which has at least so much of heaven in it that it is not chaos. Our first duty toward our enslaved brother is to educate him, whether he be white or black. The first need of the free black is to elevate himself according to the standard of this material generation. So soon as the Ethiopian goes in his chariot, he will find not only Aposties, but Chief Priests and Scribes and Pharisees willing to ride with him. Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se I rejoice in the President's late Message, which at last proclaims the Government on the side of freedom, justice, and sound policy. As I write, comes the news of our disaster at Hampton Roads. I do not understand the supine ness which, after fair warning, leaves wood to an unequal conflict with iron. It is not enough merely to have the right on our side, if we stick to the old flint-lock of tradition. I have observed in my parochial experience (haud ignarus mali) that the Devil is prompt to adopt the latest inventions of destructive warfare, and may thus take even such a three-decker as Bishop Butler at an advantage. It is curious, that, as gunpowder made armour useless on shore, so armour is having its revenge by. baffling its old enemy at sea; and that, while gunpowder robbed land warfare of nearly all its picturesqueness to give even greater stateliness and sublimity to a sea-fight, armour bids fair to degrade the latter into a squabble between two iron-shelled turtles. Yours, with esteem and respect, HOMER WILBUR, A. M. P. S.-I had wellnigh forgotten to say that the object of this letter is to enclose a communication from the gifted pen of Mr. Biglow. I SENT you a messige, my friens, t' other day, 't wuz the day our new nation gut kin' o' stillborn, So 't wuz my pleasant dooty t' acknowledge the corn, An' I see clearly then, ef I did n't before, Thet the augur in inauguration means bore. To diffuse correc' notions in France an' Gret Brit ten, An' agin to impress on the poppylar mind Thet a Gov'ment's fust right is to tumble to pieces, I say nothin' henders our takin' our place Ez the very fus'-best o' the whole human race, A spittin' tobacker ez proud ez you please An' princes a-mixin' our cocktails an' slings, - An' not be too over-pertickler in tryin' To hunt up the very las' ditches to die in. Ther' are critters so base thet they want it ex plained Jes' wut is the totle amount thet we've gained, Hain't we rescued from Seward the gret leadin' featurs Thet makes it wuth while to be reasonin' creaturs? Hain't we saved Habus Coppers, improved it in fact, By suspendin' the Unionists 'stid o' the Act? Ain't the laws free to all? Where on airth else ď ye see Every freeman improvin' his own rope an' tree? Ain't our piety sech (in our speeches an' messiges) Ez t' astonish ourselves in the bes'-composed pes siges, An' to make folks thet knowed us in th' ole state o' things Think convarsion ez easy ez drinkin' gin-slings? It's ne'ssary to take a good confident tone Things look blacker 'n thunder. Ther''s no use denyin' We're clean out o' money, an' 'most out o' lyin'; Two things a young nation can't mennage without, Ef she wants to look wal at her fust comin' out; For the fust supplies physickle strength, while the second Gives a morril edvantage thet's hard to be reck oned : For this latter I'm willin' to du wut I can ; For the former you'll hev to consult on a plan, Though our fust want (an' this pint I want your best views on) Is plausible paper to print I. O. U.s on. Some gennlemen think it would cure all our cankers In the way o' finance, ef we jes' hanged the bank ers; An' I own the proposle 'ud square with my views, insurance; But cinders, no metter how sacred we think 'em, Might n't strike furrin minds ez good sources of income, Nor the people, perhaps, would n't like the eclaw O' bein' all turned into paytriots by law. Some want we should buy all the cotton an' burn it, On a pledge, when we've gut thru the war, to return it, |