,j n place of their lawfully elected
j , nor Humphreys, dates his prosla
■ ;i s 1 .see one, "in the forty-third
,}■ ? j„. sovereignty of the State"?
. nre j., it thus, to tiiis day, each
tjf - t ; .. State of Connecticut must
t 0 sin port that State “as a free and
V ,4,. I republic,” a matter bought
11 * Vth. other day in debate in the
'• and no man dare
it ; And how is if. .hut, m the
1 if js jat a; o * 4 * hat State ot tue pro*
14t' tJ . menduieni, the Secretary of
; i,certifies th date as “in
; . r of our laird one thousand eight
'ijod'uid sixty eight, of Ike independ
of th> Lift'd States the ninety
~ /. and of me Sta'e of lowa the
, r( .. : fy .wcond ’ *
yf, ft'fnre is ail this ? Why these re
.,l JlU d recent declarations, if the in
n The State be dead, and this
, ' : !( confederated r< public, but a
44 (1 nation? Nation indeed! I
: t, my ma: to show me that word used
iiicubie to American insulations,
.. or Feduial, m any Constitution
. .jtsoever, save if be found in those
, ( . lied nig* ad scraps of dirty paper
. n bv tho.-e do\i;’s darlings, the
-trufti l a Conventions, and called
inb-tnanie
. 1, 0 i * u<* part nor lot in tli’s
C pan. l iie lloman Republic
(V , Tin* i ■ 'versal Yankee Nation, aid
v , ieh « the two i> the more nobly
~t u* in and, and the more estima
ti i li'S-ifs • ense. Nit ion forsooth !
I k> Tmk and the Muscovite and the
]> i talk about their nations; but let
it cur boast that we live, or we will
live 1> for we arc done with it, in a free
Republic.
A (iovertment of States is a system of
]ov-;d self-government, and local self gov
ci tine nt means tliai you are a better
_ii.hr.; of what you want in the affairs of
IiI(■ than any oth« r man can tell you. It
is t i<‘State law that protects life; the
State court that restores property ; the
State writ of habeas corpus t.hat keeps a
lynx eye on personal liberty. Wipe out
the States, and—but, no, it cannot be
11e This who'e countiy would run
knee-d ep in blood before that institution
c uld be plucked away from the Ameri
can people. Now it is impaired, it is
true; a fierce war and hot p issions have
done if. injury; but, alter uil this does not
touch the substance: it is but a delirium
thatwill pass away; but the temporary
f v< r which weakens the strong man
r] wn, but, emits subsidenc , leaves him
to gather health and vigor, and become
, mice more clear of brain and stout of
j-ti p. Yes, Mn.v are 'The State; for,
what says the poet :
"Wiiat constitutes a State ?
Not his'h-raisod battlement, or labored mound,
Thick wall, or moated «ate;
'•V oii-s proud, with spires aud turrets crowned;
Nor broad-armed ports
Whtre, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;
Mot starred and spangled courts,
Where- 'ow-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride;
but Mf.n—high-minded men,
V' u who their duties know,
? ! ut know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain
Prevent tlie long-aimed blow.
At J crush the tyrant as they rend the chain,"
[For the Banner of the South.}
TO WRITE. OR NOT TO WRITE,
k is one of those days which come to
li' nli sometimes, which Longfellow so
filly describes, as
“Cold and dreary ;
li rainn, and the wind is never weary.* f
One of those da)sin which the whole
house succumbs to that terrible monster
ui stupid people, and of rainy days
(mini— because, say the wise, of a want
ot OX) gen in the atmosphere, but more
apoyputby plain common sense, “be
cause of the need of something to do ”
s uip'hing urgent, something Earnest
f Kl t cans upon our latent
l" ,w 7 s - H,,d l)idy them be up aud doing
good tor ourselves, our fiiends, for the
S rkl “ »?-. h ’’a- been t.ca.Ui
'■ • ’ * but 11 ls w el i for our strength
pt someone needs us to be stron° "
»'! it we felt the tuuh of those words we
-itperhaps, , laV o so often to’ do
«nli that, Fieuch conqueror—
? ""r"' l 1 ** 8 , 0 ' 11 ' American land; but,
' o v, I e has be. ii Anglic.zed,
- m jet it is well ibruslhat such days
tLT*. “ K** 11 that we are
c 'a- ■ r 'r S I 1 “'I eur whirl ot thought, our
Z of “"' bmou . <hii round of gay
,W,l "^r U u„d ov, r
t, H 0 pa^S (i; '‘eoall «»ur
•iK ;'T !ol^°‘ ten ’ ut tempora
•'gneato oblivion; tu realize that
l ai ® too costly to bestow
the tair-faced notuings here below."
whHtavl T Utb / ~g Ul thlfc Winter
'‘ d k A l,ruud "«"<«' the heart of
t 1,,. i ut. a..d jet. not of u „ ol
<m/ ,! 'g r . dreary V\ inter in which there
■; yy".v, joa. many a day which is “ co |j
, and the wind U
1.- H 'n t , , /'"'h. af, . W " M ' sc 6 ‘ w
’ the day is not 10.-t, if it aCI
compheh so much,) after these sensible
r ' flections have had iheir sway and passed,
what is to become of the’rest of our
rainy day ?
The piano, with its concord of sweet
8 ~nd‘s * ca »oot charm us into forget ful
lJf *; we to be dazzled bv tlm glow
of Macaulay’s pen; arc! throw aside
George Sand’s “.Mile. Merquem,” though
•he g'Oyiug interest of the story at an
other time should bo tantsoijwu. The
emergency, however, is not sufficient to
drive us bi Buckle., to study his subtle
oiai axuj sm, and to wondering if we can
ffb cv Cl g. t up to that point of civili
-7 1 u heie all the laws that influence
a,u c " I‘i'u the minds of our fellow men
" iuoroughly sifted and understood
r ' w ' . “ y 5 foretell all the it little schemes,
fcve into ail their little crochets, and aut>ci
pato heir little monstrosities in dealing
t\ih. us. Rut, then, in those lair days,
eit ne, .ve out selves shall be unmasked in
om - iitt.e side plays, or, perhaps, from
the fa tof our faults and wickedness being
lore • en and ventilated, we shall consent
ns.de wrong-doing altogether.
I pj, then, what are we to do, when
no tnese orthodox sources of pleasure
aud re< rend authors fail us? Shall we
vvr i ° • Ah . in our female lives, that is
otpia! to Hamlet’s great “To be or not to
be.”
1 his is an age when the scratch,
sctatch, scratch o! woman's pen seems
the great echo. That woman does write
mucu is proven i>\ 11 *o f) .ods of novels
that the press casts out, by the articles
of magazines, signed Adelia, Lucille, or
Dulcima. And yet, a 1 his stuff, however
tru&hy, finds readers; though, Blackwood
tells us, this is no evidence the age does
not think—“in its thinking hours it
thinks the harder”—they vviil think hard
over their science or profession.
Are we, then, to infer because such is
tlii* too genera) tone of the womanly pen,
that it, ou the whole, does more harm
than good; and, therefore, as one of the
w<>mu dy profession, tor fear ol forth r
correpti; g the taste, should restrain that
impulse to write which comes to us all, as
a t-olc e fur lonely hours, or to furnish us
with the means of making our thoughts
clearer to ourselves, or our minds more
systematic, in the grasping and arranging
ol truths? Ii may be said : “Rut if your
storin'-, your essays, your novels, do no
good, why, just for your own gratification,
write, or, at. least, publish ?
Now, we would say, lenient friend,
that even if you will not consider the
good that accrues to ourselves, iu the
employment it gives to lonely hours; in
the utterances of tender sympathy; in the
chasteuings it administers to the imagina
tion by bringing its re veilings to the
light of judgment and criticism; by its
forcing us to look into the characters of
those around us, and thus compare, aud
obey the great law. “Know thyself;” aud
bringing our views, thus pruned and
scraped of false estimates, to the aid of
those who have neither time nor inclina
tion for such observations; by widening
our sympathies in our attempt to under
atsinii those around us I( vve even con
sider none of these, trifling advantages
it may be, yet docs this light womanly'
literature, often sil y, often put without
much exercise ol cither thought or judg
nn nt, child ol a gentle, tender imagina
tion, really do no good ? We know "that
many read such productions who would
»>t read anything deeper. We iorgct
$ litt all are not equal to Adam Smith, or
Stuart Mill, or Buckle, and that the
same class w ho take, an it were, tbiseffer
ve.'Cenco of the more serious and deeper
draughts of knowledge, answer to the
same as those who, in past times, read
nothing at all. We know how learned a
woman Jane Grey was esteemed in her
day and generaten, and yet it hardly
needs a Macaulay to prove to us that,
many a Miss of seventeen is more ported
in the laws of the material Universe, in
the.subtle mechanism of her own body,
in ali &ave, perhaps, the number of metres
and hexumeties of Y'irgii or Horace We
sav, then, that the more intellectual
women of today stand where Jane Grey
stood in the estimation of her day, and
that the lighter class who delight* in the
si cries of Godey and Peterson, answer to
those whose knowledge ext< tided to the
adorning of a house, or the baking of a
pie.
W e enter the field, not in behalf of
those wild, fervid freaks ot an impure
and unwomanly imagination, in which
Oneida and Miss ikaddon lead the
\ an, ttioy a; e, just nerc/ hors c/u combat. '
We only plead a lenient criticism; we do
noi commend the light rambling stones,
toe but half studied, half revealed truth
Oi au essay; and, we womdask, have not
those writers who now wield immense in
fluence lor good, once writteu in this
way { \\ e do not know, but we feel
aim St sure, that before Miss Evausgave
to the world her ‘lnez,” her “Beulah”
ond last, but best, her ‘ St. Elmo/’ she
must have found some such safety valve
,ul 1 10 iir6L overflow ol her literary taste.
Let us write, then—write, even if we
have not genius, nor that to which “genius
is kindrv and” :
"One fc-trrWh touch
Os that hunger ifbicii svugeH forever the soul
To Rome distant, infinite i;npa*>::iblo goal.”
V, rue, oven if we cannot bring forth
such moving passionate lines as Mrs
Browning. (Jan \u ever forget that a
woman wrote—
“lt thou net*d« must, love n, .if it bo tor nam-iu.
Except loves sake only—do not say
I love her for her smile, her look, her waj .
Os gently speaking ; for a triek of thought
That falls iu wt 11 with mine and cert.es brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a dav
jj.i.t love me ior love s sain- only, tie.- evei*Tov i
Thou rnayest love on through all eternity.'’
And while \vc may not hope fir power
such as genius and talents only gives, we
may turn a paper, and give now hopt to
some mother, weary with the hum drum
cates and t«> i*s of the day, discover)"hc’
to her something of another s tr.als in a
biin pie story. We may comfort, the
maidenly iieart, racked by doubt and in
c 'HStancy, by some picture of trulii and
earnest love. \\ c may turo some eye
to him when we present some little
truth taught by the way-side violet: or
biing some wanderer homo by an image
Oi man made m the h lioness i.*f Oud, and
capable of noble thoughts, high aspira
tions, and full fruition ol good'works
1 1 os a M. Stanley.
■ -■ —MmgSS _
IMPORTANT LETTER OF MR- JOHN
MARTIN-
TiiE TKUE EQUAL ITV POP. IKKI..AN i
TO THE EDITOR OF THE NATION.
KILBRONEV, IiOSTREVOR, j
January 20, 1<%9. \
_, j) f A ssf f u:: Th c time is near that the
Lijgush Ministry are to undertake the
conciliation of her Majesty’s Irish sub
jects by anew policy. What is this new
poky thin Mr. Gladstone, supported by
a Parliamentary majority of above one
hundred votes, intends to apply to the
case of disaffected and unhappy Ireland?
And what are the chances of success? I
mean, what are the chances for Ireland
of becoming a contented and prosperous
kingdom, at peace and in friendship with
England ?
I have been reading with deep in to root
the speech of Mr. O'Neil .Daunt, and
the letters of several leading members
of the Irish Catholic Hierarchy, in the
report of a recent meeting of the National
Association. Although this Association
has not yet obtained nun h popular sup
port, it cannot be doubled but that Mr.
Daunt and the Cutiiolic Archbishops and
Bishops are eminently qualified to judge
ol the political changes required for the
pacification and the prosperity of Ireland.
Aud I find that all of them express them
selves pretty nearly in accord upon the
question, and that their united judgment
isgivto by Bishop Keane in these word# :
Messrs. Gladstone arid Bright “have
ofleied to Ireland terms oi peace aud
friendship on the basis of civil and re
ligious equality, and Ireland is prepared
to accept those terms.’ 1
In my humble opinion, Ireland is will
ing to accept those terms. Bat the
equality must bo real, and no mockery.
The subjects of her Majesty’s Irish king
dom munt not remain under the control
of her Majesty’s English subjects:. I
warn the English Ministers—l warn the
Irish Bishops—the Irish people will
never be content with the rule of Em>--
gland. Never ! The armies and fleets
of England may terrify a disarmed peo
ple into sudden and silent submission.
Thj corruption of our natural leaders by
Eiigand, who has usurped the disposition
ol Irish officers and seized the Irish
purse, may long prevent our people from
organizing any formidable constitutional
resistance. The internal lends and
dissensions planted aud cultivated for
ages by English policy, the poverty of
robbed Ireland contrasted with the
wealth ol robber England; the feeble
ness produced in our population by the
continual and exhausting dram of its
youth and spirit by emigration, may keep
tiie Irish people lying, as at preamt, at
tho mercy of tLcir English masters. But
the Irish people, no matter how miser
able, how helpless, how crushed, will
never be content as subjects of the Eng
lish Good neighbors to the English
we are quite willing to become, when
ever tho English please to give up their
insolent pretension to rule us or meddle
with our affairs. As soon as tho Eng
lish become content to see us on terms of
real equality with them, so soon will her
Majesty’s Irish throne be established on
the willing allege,nee of the Irish peo
plo, so soon will them bo peace and
friendship between her .Majesty’s English
and her Iridi subjects.
I am repeating my words over and
over. But the whole question of Irish
disaffection is there aud f would tiiat
Englishmen, such as Messrs. Bright and
Gladstone, whom I believe to be sincerely
desirous of relieving their country’s
reputation from the load of disgrace
Winch her crime* ini ) .
it m got learn ti simple truth
when they are under!;;' icy to deal with
eur ease. .C al and perfect (‘quality be-
Uvecuus and the }"ny!;\h will satisfy us.
Jin. wn.io o a] and perfect ((quality we
will never lie c -mb nt. We must be
separate, at ad risk we must be sopt
ratc--no matter what misery of blood
shed and temporary narehy we may
have to j as-* through in order to obtain
sepaia;ion con England —or we must
be realiy and peifectfy equal with the
l-ugfiMi. iSuoi! is the truth of our case.
And the ens-- England is that either
. ' *' niUs ) evaso to rob aud harass and
,riSU ‘ ? 1 t 1 me • »itent with
her own rightiM property —must consent
to let us al no and io s us in full pos
our own i igh i and ( jual with
ore;sesiiv mu t ontiriue to hold
us in subjected by su-ponded habeas
corpus, by perversion of the
course of ju-ti> , hj tic gobbet and the
gaob and the in! . mcr and the detective,
* \ Cons: .• in.io; and fraud and Admini>tra
tne coi i Mpti(in and E g; afive hypocrisy,
y doing al: ii; ;ne cevil can ug«*cst.
for making and keeping ms base, bad,
feeble and wretched, md by taking the
consul'('iicos to her o r i national fame
and !« her national safer .-.
Nou, woaf s “civil and religious
equality,'” as understood by Mr. Glad
stone, when proposing it* for us Irish?
th>( s he mean that m civil and in re
ligious matters we are to be placed on a
level with the English? Or, does lie
ne an that the various Irish sects and
classe* are to be put equally under the
leet of the English? i’ha’t henceforth
there is to be no favored sect of Irish,
petted and brood to dj the work of
England against the rest of the Irish
people, but that all are to lie under the
English chain in dead level of slavery?
L tuis be* Mr. R #dstone's idea. I warn
fiim that his policy is a grand mistake
The removal of the Church Establish
tuonfc will not increase the adherents of
English i tile, but will very seriously
lessen their number. It will unite Irish
uieu, and encourage and strengthen them
In resist injustice, to overthrow usurpa
tion, to vindicate their country’s rights,
•o p.'aec Ireland on a level with the
proudest and happiest nations of the
world. He will not succeed in pacify
ing Ireland by abolishing that old ini
quity of the Church, galling and hateful
m h , k k existed here for
England’s purposes. She plac» dit and
kept it here as a means of ru’». She
tii injC *- it a failure now, and as a moans
of rule she proposes to try its abolition.
She deems herself strong enough, or us
woor enough, to rule us without the
help of the Church. If such be the
new policy of England towards Ireland,
I ®*y it will prove a failure. To rule
us she requires the diligent use of all the
moans vv hich she has been hitherto em
ploying ot the Church ini(juity and
scandal, ot jury-packing, of artificial
famines, ol forced emigration, of the
destruction and prevention of industry
and commerce, ot it hind system which
makes the peasantry animals of the
f.ha»c without, a close season, and which
bus no moderator but the assassin, of an
ai my of occupation, of a public inquisi
tion, of suspended habeas corpus, of
i empty, indeed, of real Irish crimi
nals, hut crammed with Irish political
prisoners in short, of every means that
may prevent the growth of virtue and
strength among ifae Irish population,
jaud may debase the Irish intellect, cor-
I rupt the Irish heart, and render the Irish
j people poor and feeble and unhappy.
! 'La all this appears so clcailv to my
| own judgment, that I cannot suppose it
j hidden from the minds of so eminent
j statesmen as Messrs Gladstone and
Bright. Do they, then, contemplate tl •
| admission of the people of Ireland to a
real enjoyment of Constitutional rights,
on an equality with the people of Eng
laud f Are they content to let the wishes
and ideas of the Irish people prevail in
the making and administering of the
laws in Ireland ! loa certain extent,
and under certain conditions, 1 think
rhey are. f o such extent as may appear
compatible with English interests, and
under condition that 1 1'< land remain in
political partnership with—that is, in
real subjection to—England. Those
statesmen and isire to maintain the Union
• of 1800, but they conceive that we may
j submit to it without coercion, if the Eng
lish Parliament will abolish or materially
correct some of the chief grievance?
which English rule imposes upon us.
To abolish the Cornell Establishment
and the Hep i tun Donum, and to place
all the religious sects in freedom and
equality, will be a very valuable boo.i—
if England will grant it. Ido not think
she will grant it at present, nor probably
grant i ! till too late lor her own benefit.
But 1 believe that Messrs. Gladstone
and Bright sincerely' intended to attempt
the realization of their policy of religious
equality. Aud 1 would 1— rejoiced at
fheir success m such an attempt. I
shall be rejoice J, too, if they succeed in
carrying some measure to give the ten
ant .‘ s . security in their farms ; though
licit j cr and.» I expect them to succeed in
.. Ul ‘ 1 8 la ‘t praise them if they have
JV;' ur, F Restore th habeas corpus,
u*.• j, immediately and uncon-
I btb In ' h prisiincr.-.
1■ U °.‘" 0 «'“«'• «o expect them t.,
prove tii«* smc-Tirv • r
about ruling In ' n I
v,.:,) ] •» Ir IdQ J (, y Irish ideas bv
withdrawing the ■im „ a? ’ • *
-.0.1 0,. * \ l, y °t oecupal 1.1),
? mp!oy the police as a
P ~ ■"1 ,I 'Bitmn. It might be too
" Uc Ito -Fft them to let Ireland have
tlie s P enill "g of her own revenu.. f„ r |,er
own purposes. ] ahull praise them for
any ffem rous or merciful measure to
wa ds Ireland.
Rut if they desire peace and friend
ship between then country and Ireland
the terms must be civil and reliM -us
equality of Ireland to England. °Tne
Irish people will gladly accept those
terms but us be free and paramount
over the civil and religious affairs of our
country, as the English are free and
paramount over the civil aud reiigi us
affairs of their Country, bet us make
our own laws and admini-ter them by
<>ur own authority, as the English do.
bet the Queen call her Irish Parliament
in Ireland, aud let the Irish Estates
deliberate and decide, under the light
and influence of Irish opinion, upon me
measures that may oc proper to give the
Irish people rx lief, prosperity, honor and
content. This is the simple and sure
way of settling the relations of the two
countries in peace and friendship. Tner •
is no way ol making peace and Ii icmi
jJiip between us and the English, but
only Repeal
I am, dear sir, sincerely yours,
John Martin.
PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED
STATES-A CATHOLIC VIEW
[From the American Educational Monthly, N. Y.J
‘ Enlightened rulers all over Europe
have been profoundly impressed by itie
lessons of this and the last century. It
was once believed by mouarchs that to
enlighten their subjects would bu to
imperil their thrones. It is now very
clearly seen that “the divinity which
d..tli hedge a King” has long ceased to
be an oracle to the people. The French
Emperor erects his dynasty upon popu
lar suffrage, He rcdiiary right has come
down from its ancient ped stal to accept
from the people tin* confirmation of is
authority. It is now too evident for
further doubt, that no ruler can rule
modern nations by any appeal to the
mausoleum of his ancestors. The garish
light of the sun has penetrated every
royal tomb, and has altogether annihi
lated the mystery which once filled
the hearts of Nations with awe and un
questioninr obed ence. Public opinion
now rules the ruler Kings au 1 their
ministers have now to elect between in
telligent and virtuous opinion on the
one hand, or rev dutionary passions ou
the other. The wisest of them, there
fore, are hastening to educate the p. o
pk; and they are striving, above all
things, to make such education dis
tinctly Christ an and not simply mural ',
fn* thy well rein-inner lie fate of .il
nations who hav<- staked their salv.i
tion upon the sufficiency of the natural
virtues While Kings are doing this to
preserve the shadow of fcieir royalty
from the aggressive sp ; rit of the age,
we, in this chosen laud, are doin'; or
aiming to do the same thing, in order
that we may rear successive gem* rat ions
of virtuous and enlightened heirs to the
rich inheritance of our Constitutional
democratic freedom. Ours should be
much the easier task; as we labor for
no dynasty, but strive only to make a
N ition capable of self-preservation We
are no less iu < aroest than the Kings ;
and we may surely examine their woi k,
and see whatjis good in it Tin* King
tried the P. gau id aof iutel ectu .1 culture
adorned with the glitiei mg genet a lines
of moral philosophy ; and tuey added to
it the max mis of tne Christian G«»sp.*l,
whenever that could Do done without
getting entangled in tue conflicting creeds
ot the Hume ons sects. Tho school aas
like I*.ato\s lecture-room, only that the
sacret voice of the Evangelist was heard
occasionally iu such passages as do no
distinctly sot forth faith aud doctrine,
about which the scholars could dtf! r.
Sectarianism, us it is called, had to be
•xcluded, of course in a mixed system
of popular education wherein freedom of
consciience was conceded to be a sa red
right and pruseiytism vvas disavowed
The result was twoiold: first, lens of
thousands of chinireu were deprived of
distinct religious instruction aud doctri
nal knowledge ; and secondly, in c <un
li'ies whole the Roman Catholic popula
tion was large, th>»ugn in a min »riiy,
other tens of tnousands wore left without
secular educatiou, because their parents
5
