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occur is indeed probable. The Devil does not leave the body without rending it, and it is, indeed, fearful to think of the consequences which may be in store for the South, consequences by which even the prophecies of the Times may for once be fulfilled; but if this be the course which events are to take-if Southern slave masters are, in their guilty fear, to commence a wholesale carnage of innocent men, then, I say, their blood be on their own heads, and those who have sown the wind may reap the whirlwind (applause). But I shall here be asked "Where is this to endto what purpose is this tremendous sacrifice of human life?" Is the conquest of the South possible (no, no), and is its subjection to the North possible or desirable? (Hear, hear.) I, for my part, have never thought so, and I do not think so now (hear, hear). The restoration of the Union in its former proportions appears to me, I confess, absolutely chimerical; and I have seen indications that this conviction is forcing itself on thoughtful minds in the Northern States. But, granting that the South cannot be permanently conquered, does it follow that it is impossible to stay the plague of slavery, to recover extensive districts in the Border States, already substantially free, to throw back the destroyers behind the barrier of the Mississippi? The impossibility of this has not yet been proved, and till it is, I, for one, cannot raise my voice for peace (hear). Another year of war such as has now been waged, but on possibly a still more tremendous scale, is certainly, there is no doubt, an awful prospect; but the future of a Slave Power extendiug its dominion over half a continent, consigning a vast race of men to utter and hopeless ruin-this is a prospect which, to my mind, is more fearful still.

CONCLUSION.

In the foregoing remarks I have endeavored to set forth what appeared to me the grand principles in conflict in the American Revolution, and the scope of my remarks has gone to show that the course of the North is substantially the cause of humanity and civilization. I should, however, be wholly misconceived if it were supposed I was not fully sensible of much that is open to censure in the conduct of the Northern people (hear). There has been, no doubt, much imcompetency, much hesitancy in the path of duty,-no small amount of hesitancy, many acts of petty tyranny, and on the part of one General, effusions of brutal insolence (hear and hisses). I do not scruple to say that the principles held by one large party in the Northern States are as detestable as any that prevail in the South-I refer to the Northern Democratic party, long the lackey of the South, and now anxions to resume its menial duties (hear, hear) the party which brings down disgrace on the Northern cause-the party which the Times newspaper delights to honor (hear). I say, as far as this party is concerned I can find no distinction between it and its Southern patrons, except it is still more despicable (hear). Into the incidents of the movement I have not time to enter. I confine myself to the important facts, and those facts confirm the conclusion I sought to establish, that amidst all that is dark in the principle of American society, a principle of good is at work, a dawn of promise has been disclosed, a grand healthy reaction has set in (hear). For the last forty years the course of the United States has been a retrograde one. I attribute this principally to its complicity with the great sin (hear). There may be other causes, but, I believe, this is the chief. Slavery, acting upon extraordinary material prosperity, has sent a rot into the whole body politic, but the crisis of the disease has arrived, and symptoms of returning health show themselves. The principle of evil has indeed a strong hold on his victim, but he is visibly relaxing his grasp (hear). Look at the feeling which the proclamation of emancipation has called forth. The Times

predicted that it would disintegrate the North. On the contrary, it is now welding it together in a glow of noble enthusiasm (hear, hear). Is this a time for England to throw discouragement on the cause of freedom, and, in fear lest the motives of the North should not be of the highest order, to throw the whole weight of her moral influence into the scale of the Slave Power? I canot think so (hear). I am not without hope that England will yet shake herself free from that yearning towards a slave Power, and once more assert her ancient enthusiasm as the country of Wilberforce and Clarkson, the emancipator of slaves, the champion of the oppressed, the friend of freedom in every form and in every quarter of the globe (loud and prolonged applause).

His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant then said: -My Lord Bishop, Ladies, and Gentlemen-I assure you I have felt great pleasure in having found myself able to attend at the opening of another winter session of this flourishing and valuable institution (applause), and I gladly discharge the honorable office which has upon former occasions been assigned to me of asking you all to join with me in a cordial vote of thanks to the accomplished lecturer for his most able and eloquent address (applause). It is not the first time of my becoming acquainted with Professor Cairnes. I remember that I first heard him some years ago discussing with singular clearness and ability some very knotty points of political economy, at the meeting of the British Association, within the walls of Trinity College (applause). And what I heard from him and of him made me exceedingly glad when an opportunity occurred of conferring upon him a vacant chair in the Queen's College of Galway (applause). With respect to the lecture which we have just heard with such gratifying attention, the subject clearly, at this special time, is second to none in importance or delicacy, and certainly the light in which he has presented that subject to us does not in any way detract from the importance or from the responsibility of those who have to deal with it. It perhaps had a more intimate interest for myself, inasmuch as I have personally visited that great American Continent, and had become myself familiar with many of the actual battle-grounds and scenes of conflict. The proud Potomac, the winding James River, the gentle Ohio, and the brimming Mississippi, still glide before my memory with all their distinctive features (applause). And most shocking, indeed, it is to me when I reflect that this wealth of waters formed by the Almighty to fertilize the earth and blend its myriad families, of late should only have wafted the instruments of mutual slaughter, and that these endless slopes of waving verdure on which I have gazed with such fond admiration should have been reddened by the blood of fellow-countrymen, kinsmen-their own kinsmen and our own (loud applause). I feel that I shall best fall in with that, as it appears to me, a wise principle of neutrality which the Government to which I have the honor to belong, backed, I believe, by the general sense of the people, have hitherto maintained throughout this distressing conflict (hear, hear); and, I am sure, that maintaining that principle, and, not presuming to express any opinion myself upon the respective merits of the conflicting parties, I yet shall be giving vent to the wish which must pervade every Christian assembly, that, under the overruling shaping of Divine Providence, more moderate counsels, and a milder spirit may for the future prevail, that slavery may loosen its hideous grasp, and peace resume her placid sway (loud applause). He moved that the cordial thanks of the meeting be presented to Professor Cairnes for his most able and eloquent lecture.

The Solicitor-General said he had great pleasure in discharging the duty assigned to him of seconding the vote of thanks proposed by the Earl of Carlisle. It was not the first time he had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Cairnes discussing in that lucid manner which he always commanded questions of economic science. He had the pleasure of knowing him in Trinity College, where he filled the chair which he (the Solicitor-General) had occupied since that time. He had also had the pleasure on many occasions of hearing him lecture in other places, and, certainly, whatever opinion they might form as to the subject which he brought before them that evening, they must be all unanimous in attributing to him the merit that he had brought to the discussion an amount of research and ability which it would be difficult to surpass. He did not wish, nor would it be proper for him to express any opinion with regard to the fearful contest now waging. He could only say that, as a man, he did not feel his sympathy enlisted on behalf of either of the combatants. He could not give his sympathy to the South, who were fighting to extend the system of slavery, and he confessed he could not find in the North the champion of humanity and civilization. They knew perfectly well that the fate of the negro race in America depended upon the result of the conflict. They could not tell what these results might be, and Professor Cairnes had truly said that prophecy on the subject had only been made in order to show that it would be falsified. He ventured to say there was no man endowed with wisdom enough to predict what would be the results of the war. They could only hope that the same great Being who has, by earthquakes and other great convulsions of nature, purified the air, and rendered it capable of sustaining life, would so govern and shape the course of events as yet to cause some good to arise out of this fearful war, and that He would elevate and improve that portion of the human race who occupied so degraded a position in the South, and in the North were detested and despised, that they might rise to the dignity and rank of free men, and that they might see them in another land enjoying that liberty and independence which, he feared, they never could enjoy in the United States of America (applause).

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The Chairman put the resolution, which was carried, and the proceedings terminated with the Doxology.

T. J. CROWEN,

MISCELLANEOUS BOOKSELLER,

AND

STAPLE AND FANCY STATIONER,

699 BROADWAY,

CORNER OF FOURTH STREET.

Constantly on hand a choice stock of Standard and Light Literature. All the popular books received as soon as announced by the publishers. A choice stock of Bibles and Book of Common Prayer. Varieties of choice Photographic Albums, Cartes de Visites at $1 per dozen, 10 cents single. Fashionable Note Paper, Envelopes to match, stamped with the initials to order. Wedding and Call Cards engraved in style. Card Printing neatly executed. Bookbinding to various patterns.

T. J. CROWEN, 699 Broadway.

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