to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither ante posed that the cause of the conflet might cease with, or even before the conflct itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of these offences, which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may soon pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid with another drawn by the sword; as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' With malice toward none, with charity to all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. From the moment that the Declaration of Independence was published, July 4, 1776, the thirteen Colonies ceased to form a part of the British Empire, and became thirteen separate, independent, sovereign nations, each possessed of the power of self-government. Immediately after the Declaration, a committee prepared Articles of Confederation, which were adopted by the several Colonies. A new nation, the United States of America, was thus formed and went into operation March 23, 1781. The powers conferred by these articles were found to be too limited for the purposes of a National Government. It was merely a league between sovereign nations. The bond of Union was too feeble for permanency. The people felt this, and remedied it by adopting a Constitution, which binds the people of each and all of the states together under one National Gov ernment. The Constitution was adopted September 17, 1787, and upon it and the amendments thereto is based our present Government, all the powers of which are granted through this instrument, as set forth in the preamble, by "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, &c." These powers are exercised by the three co-ordinate branches of the Government, viz: the legislative, judicial, and executive. The legislative, or law-making power, is vested in a Congress, consisting of two branches, the Senate and House of Representatives. For full information in relation to Congress, see the Constitution, Art. 1. there are thirty-six states in the Union, the whole num As ber of Senators is seventy-two; the whole number of Representatives is two hundred and forty-two, exclusive of the Territorial Delegates-one from each territorywho has the privileges of a Representative, except that of voting. As some of the states lately in rebellion are not represented in Congress the actual attendance is considerably less than the above figures. " The judicial, or law-interpreting power, is vested in one Supreme Court and other inferior Courts," for the particulars of which see the Constitution, Art. III. The executive, or law enforcing power, is vested in the President. For his qualifications, election, powers. duties, &c., see the Constitution, Art. II. For the veto power, see Art. I, Sec. VII, Par. 3. The President is assisted in the performance of his duties by several officers who compose his cabinet, and who are his coustitutional advisers. They are the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War of the Navy, and of the Interior, the Postmaster General, and the Attorney General. They are all executive officers. They are nominated by the President, and approved by the Senate, and are removable by the will of the President. SALARIES. The principal officers of the Government ere paid for their services as follows: President Vice-President Cabinet Officers Chief Justice..... Associate Justices Speaker of the House.... Representatives $25,000 per annum. 8,000 per annum. 8,000 per annum. 6,500 per annum. 6,000 per annum. 3,000 per annum. 3,000 per annum. 3,000 per annum. Congressinen are also allowed mileage at the rate of eight dollars for every twenty miles of estimated dis tance by the most usual road from his place of residence to the seat of Congress, at the commencement and at the end of every regular session. Habeas Corpus.-When a person is arrested or imprisoned, he is not compelled to wait for a hearing till the regular term of the court, but he may have a writ of habeas corpus," and be immediately brought before a judge. And if it appears that he is illegally detained, he is entitled to an immediate discharge. The term habeas corpus, means you may have the body, and authorizes the officer to whom it is directed, to bring forth the body of the prisoner from confinement, to have an immediate hearing. This writ has justly been considered the "bulwark of personal liberty." and the Constitution declares that this privilege "shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it." For the privileges and duties of citizens, see Constitution, Art. IV, Sec. II, and Amendments 1 to 11, inclusive. For State Rights, see Constitution, Art. I, Sec. X, Art. IV, and Amendment X. THE STATES: THEIR SETTLEMENT, FORMATION AS TERRITORIES, ADMISSION INTO THE U NION, AREA, POPULATION IN 1860, SUFFRAGE LAWS, GENERAL ELECTION, &C., &C. Alabama-Was settled near Mobile, by the French, in 1702; was formed into a territory, from the eastern portion of Mississippi, March 3, 1817; framed a Constitution August 2, 1819, and was admitted into the Union December 14, of the same year. Area, 50,722 square miles. Population, 964,201, of whom 435,080 were slaves. Free white male persons, twenty-one years of age, citizens of the United States, who have resided one year in the State and three months in the county, are entitled to vote. State election, first Monday in August. The Legislature meets biennially, on the second Monday in November. Arkansas--Was settled at Arkansas Post in 1685, by the French, and was part of the Louisiana purchase ceded by France to the United States, April 30, 1803. It was formed into a territory by act of Congress, March 2, 1819, from the southern part of the territory of Missouri; its western boundary was settled May 26, 1824, and its southern May 19, 1828, and the State admitted into the Union June 15, 1836. Area 52,198 square miles. Population 435,450, of whom 111,115 were slaves. It is an agricultural State, its staples being corn and cotton. The State Constitution makes every free white male citizen of the United States, twenty-one years of age, who shall have resided six months in the State, a qualified voter in the district where he resides, except that no soldier, seaman, or marine in the United States' service can vote in the State. State election, first Monday in August. The Legislature meets biennially on the first Monday in November. (320) |