AMERICAN POLITICS.

West Coast Times, Issue 1252, 27 September 1869, Page 2

AMERICAN POLITICS.

( Continued.)

At first the Unionists, as a party, imagined that the war might be terminated by the return of the South into the Federation,and by the restoration of the status quo. This, however, was found impossible. The Unionists did not, at first, intend Emancipation — that xvpvd was uot inscribed on their banners. This, in part, excuses the English want of sympathy in the Northern cause. To English politicians, looking at the surface, the struggle seemed to be merely for emjnre ; and that it was not consistent with American principles to coerce the people of the South into submission to the Federal authority, but it would not have been justice, possibly, we can now see, to yield,; to the Southern demand of independence. The existence of a great slave empire, comprising a territory of a million square miles (nearly twelve times the area of Great Britain) side by side with free America, would have led to evils not less great than did the Federal Union with the Slave States. Free America had a perfect right to resist to the South the pretension to constitute such an empire. The Unionists (howbeit they meant it not) were lead on, and made the instruments of the Divine purposes. At last Abraham Lincoln took the decisive step, and proclaimed the emancipation of the slaves.

And now our friend Hosea c mes out in a very different strain regarding war. In his first series he often seems to- condemn war in the abstract — unwillingly allowing that "civilisation doos git forrerd sometimes upon a powder cart ;" but now he throws himself, heart and soul, into the great struggle. Formerly he opposed an unrighteous war, undertaken for the extension of slavery ; and he upholds a righteous one for its extinction. Fundamentally he is consistent. Hear how he satirizes the Northern Democrat leaders, who used to submit so meekly to be kicked by the South, and are now " left out in the cold." ' Listen to the vain regrets of the past uttei ed by the " Honorable Preserved Doe," in secret caucus. I thank ye, my friens, for the warmth o' your greetin' ; Ther' 's few airthly blessins but wut 's vain an' fleetin' ; But of ther' is one that hain't no cracks an' flaws, An' is worth goin' in for, it's poplar applause ; It sends up the sperits ez lively ez rockets, An' I feel it — wal, down to the eend 'o my pockets. Jes' lovin' the people is Canaan in view, But it's Canaan paid quarterly t' hey 'em love you ; It 's a blessin' thet's breakin out ollus in fresh spots' ; It 's a-follerin' Moecs 'thout losin' the fleshpots. But, Gennleinen, 'scuse me, I ain't such a raw cus Ez to luggin' ellcrkeuce into a cancus,— Thet is, into one where the call comprehens Nut the People in person, but on'y their friens ; I 'm so kin' o' used to convincin' the masses Of the edvantage o' bein' self-governin' asses, I forgat that wee all o' the sort that pull wires An' arrange for the public their wants 'an desires, An' thet wut we lied met for wuz just to agree Wut the People's opinions in futur 1 should be.

But to come to the nub, we've bea all disappointed, An' our leadin, idees are a kind o' disjinted, — Though, fur ez the nateral man could discern, Tilings ough' to ha' took most oppersite turn. But The'ry is jeft' like a train on the rail, While Fac 's the tiie stage that erits sloughed in the ruts, An' hez to allow for your darned efs an' buts, An' so, nut intendin' no pers'nal reflections, They don't— don't nut allus, thet is,— make connections : Sometimes, when it really doos seeni the"t they'd ought'er Combine jest ez kindly ez new rum an' watre, Eoth '11 be jest ez th' eends of a bagnet, Ez otherwise-minded ez th' eerids of a niagnet. ' • > . . i < An' folks like you'tt me; thet ain't ept 16 fee .' sold; ' Git souieliow or "iiother left out in the cold. I ezpected 'fore this', 'thout no gret of a row, Jeff D. would ha' ben where A. Lincoln is now, With Taney to say 't wuz all legle an' fair, An' a jury o' Decmocrats ready to sweav Thet the ingin o' State gut throwed Into the ditch By the fault o* the Jfprth in misptacin* the switch-. Things wuz ripenin' f urt-rate with Buchanan to nuss 'eni ; ■ , ,' < \ . > But the People they wbiild n't be Mexicans; . , 'cuss 'feni ! Ain't the safeguards o' freedom upshot, 'z you may say, Ef the right o' rev'lution is took clean awaj ? An' doosn't the right primy-fashy include The bein' entitled to nut be subdued ? The fact is, we J d gone for the Union so strong, When Union meant South ollus right .an' North wrong, Thet the people get fooled into thinkin' it might Worry on middlin', wal with the North in the right. We might ha' ben now jist et prosperous ez France, Where politikle enterptise hez a fair chance, An' the people is heppy an' proud at this hour, Long ez they hey the votes, to let Nap hey the power ; But our folks they went an' believed wut we'd told 'em, An', the flag once insulted, no mortal could hold 'em. 'Twuz pervokm' jest when we wuz cert'in to win, — An' I, for one, wunt trust the masses agin: For a people thet knows much ain't fit td tie .free..,,.. «..• i In the self-cockin', back-action style o' J. D. I can't believe now but half on 't is lies ; For who 'd thought the North wuz a-goin' to rise, Or take the the peryokin'est kin' of a stump, 'Thout 't was sunthin' ez pressin' ez Gabr'eFs las' trump ? v Or who 'd ha' supposed, arter 'sedh swell an' bluster t 'Bout 'tlie ttck-ary-ten-on-ye fighters they 'd muster, __ Raised by hand on briled lightnin', op'lent 'z you please In a primitive furrest o' femmily-trees, Who 'd ha' thought thet them Southuners ever 'd show Starns with pedigree to 'em like theirn to the foe, . „ . ■ Or,, when the vamoshY come ever to find Nat'ral masters in front an' mean white folks behind ? By ginger, ef I 'd ha' known half I know now, Hey let 'em cair on so high-minded an' sarsy. 'Thout some show o' wuz under a contrac' jes' then To be dreffle forbearin' toward Southun men; We hed to go to sheers in preservin' the bellance: An' ez they seemed to feel they wuz wastin' their tellents 'Thout some un to kico, 't warn't more 'n proper, you know. Each should furnish his part ; an' since they found the tde,. An' we wuz n't cherubs — wal, we found the buffer, For fear thet the Compromise System should suffer.

I wun't say the plan hed n't onpleasant featurs, For men arc perverse an' onreasonin' creature, An' forgit thet in this life 't ain't likely to heppen Their own privit fancy should ollus be cappen, — But it worked jest ez smooth ez the key of a safe, An' the gret Union bearins played free from all chafe. They warn't hard to suit, ef they had their own way ; An' we (thet is, some on us) made the thing pay: 'T wuz a fair give-an'-take out of Uncle Sam's heap ; Ef they took wut warn't theirn, wut we give come ez cheap ; The elect gut the offices down to tidewaiter, The people took skinnin' ez mild ez a tater, Seemed to choose who they wanted tv, footed the bills, An' felt so kind o' 'z thouge they wuz havin' their wills, Which kep' 'em ez harmless an' cherile ez crickets, While all we invested wuz names on the tickets: Wal, ther' 's nothin' for lolka fond of lib'ral consumption, Free o' charge, like democracy tempered with gumption ! On the other hand he exhorts the National party to its utmost efforts in the war, closing his scries with hopeful*, yet not over sanguine, prophecy of the future of the nation. Here you have his latest views : — Ef I a song or two could make, Like rockets druv by their own burnin' All leap an' light to leave a wake, Men's hearts and faces skyward turn-,

But, it strikes me, 't ain't jest the time For stringin' words with satisfaction: Wut's wanted now's the silent rhyme 'Twixt upright Will an' downright Action. Oh Jon'than, ef you want to be A rugged chap agin an' hearty. Go fer wutever '11 hurt Jeff D., Nut wut '11 boost up ary party. Here's Hell broke loose, an' we lay flat With half the universe a singein', Till Sen'tor This and Gov'nor Thet Stop squabblin' for the garding in'gin. It's war we're in, not politics; It's systems weastlin' now, not parties; An victory in the eend '11 fix Where longest will an' truest heart is. An' vufs the Guv'ment folks about? Tryin' to hope ther' 's notbin doin", An' look ez though they didn't doubt Sunthin' pcrtickler wuz a brewin'. Ther 1 's critters yit thet talk an' act For wut they call Conciliation; They'd hand a buff'lo-drove a tract When they wuz madder than all Bashan. Conciliate ? it jest means be kicked, No matter how they phrase an' tone it ; It means thet wore to set down licked, Thet we're poor shotes an' glad to own it. Moor men ? More man ! It's there we fail. Weak plans grow weaker yet by lengthenin' ? Wut use in addin' to the tail, When it 'b the head's o' need o'strength- • enin.'

We wanted one that felt all chief From roots o' hair to sole o' stockin.' A square-sot with thousan'-ton belief Iv him an' us, ef earth went rockin' .' Oi.d tiick'ry" Wduld ii'fc ha* stood see-saw 'Boufc doin' things till they wuz done with, — He'd smashed the tables.of the law In time o' need to load his gun with ; He couldn't see but jest one side, — Ef his 'twuj! God's, an' thet vraz plenty J Ati so his ".Forrards. !" multiplied Ail army's fightin' weighb by twerityt But this here histin', creak, creak, creak'; You cappen's hearet lip with a derrick) This tryin' to coax a lightnin'. streak. Nut of a half-discauraged Harriet. This.hangin':on.niont' artor mont- . > Fer one sharp purpose 'rnong the twitters. I tell ye it does kind o' stunt The pet.i and spent of a critter. D'ye s'pose, ef Jeff giv him a lick, Ole Hick'ry 'd tried his head to sof'n? So 's t would n't hurt thet ebony stick, Thet's made our side see stars so of'n. "No!" he } d ha* thundered; "on }CiM kueefc, An' own one flag, one road to glory) Sof tMieartedness, iv times like thesej , Shows sof 'ness in the upper story." An' why should we kick Up a muss About the Pres'dent's proclamation? Hain't a goin' to lib'rate us, Ef we don't like emancipation. The right to be a cussed fool, Is safe from all devices human ; It's common (as a gin'l rule), To every critter born o' woman. So we're all right, and I fer one, Don't think our cause '11 lose in vully, By rammin' Scriptur' in our gun, An' gettin' Natur' for a nally. Thank God, say I s fer even a plan To lift one human bein' level; Give one more chance to make a mad, Or, anohow, to Spile a devil:

Not thel I'm one that much expec Millenium by express to-morrer ; They will miscarry, — I ree'lec' To many on 'em, to my sorrer :—: — Men aint made angels in a day, No matter how you mould an labor 'em; Nor 'riginal ones, I guess don't stay With Abe so of'n as with Abraham. The'ry thinks Fact a poofcy. thin}?', An' wants file banns read right ensuiu' ; But Fact wun't noways wear the ring, 'Thout years o' sittin' up an wooin'. But arter all, Time's dial-plate Marks cent'ries with the minute fingev ; An' good can't never come tv late, Tho' it doos seem to try and linger. An' come wut will, I think its. grand Abe'sitjofc his Will at test bloom furniiced In trial names, till it'll stand The strain o' bein' in deadly earnest. Thet's wut we want, we want to know The folks on our side hez the bravery ; Tv believe ez hard, come weal come woe, In freedom ez Jeff doos in slavery, Set the two forces foot to foot, , An* every man knows who'll be winner } Whose faitj-i in God hez 'dry toot', Thet "goeo down deeper than his dirinei 1 . Tlten 't will be felt from pole to pole, Without no need o' proclamation, Earth's Biggest Country's gut her soul, An' risen up Earth's greatest nation ! Earth's greatest nation! So I hope. The human race has so deep a stake in the prosperity of none other. Yet with the South a long and difficult task is before America. In its achievement she has the sympathy of every true lover of freedom and of mankind. No man can pretend to foresee the issue. As Hosia says :— "We haint to punish, only but to keep, , And the cure's gut to go a cent'ry deep."

In conclusion, allow me again to recommend to you the study of Hosea Biglow's productions. They are full of moral and political teaching for all democratic countries. We see, in the political history of America, clearly exemplified the truth that "Principles" are, not only more sacred, but, in the long run, stronger than " Interests." Let us all realise the belief that it is our only real interest to do the right thing, and that the general good will always turn out iv the end to be our own particular good as well. Let us, therefore, distrust those politicians who are ever so ready to flatter our prejudices and lend themselves to the promotion of what appears to us to be our own particular interest. Those who are so ready to advocate your particular interests, generally have got a still more particular interest of their own to advance. Do not then banish from political power honest men who will not condescend to make themselves your tools, your agents, to obtain for you some private advantages, wjthout regard to the common weal. The poii* tical loafer, depend upon it, will betray you in the end. On the other hand see, in the wonderful history that I have rapidly traced, how a little insignificant party, based on Faith, or Principle, has grown and grown till it has wielded a nation's foree — till it has become a nation, whilst its adversaries have been brought to nought, and that bad interest annihilated which they sought to protect ; and this only because this little knot of men were pursuing, not their own ends, but those of truth and of God.

I have now only to thank you for the patient interest you have accorded me. I have come before you less accurately prepared than I could have wished. Time has been wanting to me, and the means of reference to books, which I should have been glad to consult. But I have, at least, succeeded in introducing and recommending to you my author, and he, I doubt not, wherever he is kuown, will not fail to recommend himself.