fate of slavery avowedly depends on this war. What, then, is doing about slavery?
There is an almost total silence preserved at Washington about it; but that is easily understood. While it is the uppermost thought in the minds of all who bear a share in the responsibility of governing the country, it is a subject of which they can take no notice in Congress, lest a rising of the slaves should be induced by it. Owing to the imprudence of Southern orators, the slaves everywhere know that the war is somehow on their account, and that the question is of their emancipation. The newspapers of all the States tell of the expectation of deliverance which is prevalent among the negroes—the “great man coming” who is to make them all free. Any mention of them in the President’s Message, any discussion of their case in Congress, would probably be followed by insurrection, such as it has always been the desire of all parties (except a handful of followers of John Brown) to preclude. Yet something must be settled as to what is to be done with the negroes set free by the advance of the Federal forces. It is clear that slavery can never exist again on the ground which the Republicans have passed over. Some of the Virginia masters have sensibly emancipated their negroes at once, though how they are to settle accounts with the law of Virginia remains to be seen. From some of the estates the negroes repair to the Federal forts and armies; and the authorities report that they have come in—men, women, and children—by hundreds; that they are working well, behaving well, and exceedingly happy. They are employed in field works and the service of the camps, and are paid as ordinary labourers. It is observable that the officers are surprised at the intelligence of these people, and at their accurate understanding of the movement by which the South has been pleased to bring the slavery question to an issue. So far so good; but there are millions of these people. If the educated and substantial planters were the managers of the Secession movement, it might be hoped that they would do the sensible thing, and use the occasion for converting their negroes into hired labourers; in which case they would retain most of them in their service, and gain rather than lose in fortune. But the Secession leaders and agitators are, for the most part, men of a lower social standing, jealous of the planters, and suspicious of their loyalty to the Confederacy. That they will promote in any sensible way the now inevitable emancipation is not to be hoped; and this throws a great charge on the Government and the Northern citizens. While silent, for the enemy’s sake, the Northern men have to provide for the employment and maintenance of any number of negroes who may apply to them. At present the numbers are manageable, because there are plenty of hogs, poultry, and corn-cobs on the estates deserted by the planters and overseers—some of whom are in the one army and some in the other; but, when the provisions are eaten, when cold weather comes, when war has swept over the plantations, or when there are rumours of the overseer and the whip coming back, the whole negro population will betake itself to the delivering force. It is not difficult to see that the Government is looking forward to what must happen so soon; and it is cheering to observe the cordial readiness of all parties and persons to aid the Government, and discourage any action which could embarrass it. There has been no move to excite the slaves, though bands of mounted men could raise them any day, by merely riding in among them. The wish of the Government, that emancipation should simply accompany the march of the armies, has thus far been respected; and the citizens who remain at home are busy in providing for the disposal of the released negroes. It is not a new task; for the number of fugitives has been on the increase for many years, till it has risen from tens to thousands; and there is now a new prospect opening. While negro slavery existed, the best of the free negroes refused to leave the country, because they would thereby lessen the chances of obtaining the rights of humanity and citizenship for their enslaved brethren. Hence the failure of many schemes of colonisation, from the opening of the century till now. But, now that slavery is obviously near its end, the objection is loosening. The brightest and best of the free negroes, the educated men, the merchants, and capitalists, will, no doubt, stay where they are. So, probably, will the larger proportion of labourers in the cotton and tobacco States, if the planters have the good sense to make reasonable terms with them. But a very large number will remain, eager to settle under new conditions. A very large number are in Canada now; and many are growing cotton in Hayti. The Washington Government and its advisers will take timely care that opportunity is provided for the settlement of any number that may present themselves: and they are busy about it now.
They have every encouragement in the behaviour of the negroes. We know, by the strong and reiterated testimony of the “Times’” correspondent, how depressed is the mood, and subdued the bearing of the slaves. In the first days of freedom, their exhilaration is in proportion; but they show no sign of vindictive passion. It is only in despair that negro slaves have done anything cruel. Their exaltation of mind is extreme in this crisis; but in behaviour they are docile. When the Massachusetts regiment, which had lost two men in Baltimore, marched down, the day after, into a slave-holding district, some of the men, curious to know how they were regarded, asked an old negro woman what was thought of them and their arrival. Her instant reply was:
“You are Jesus Christ to us; come to shed your blood for us.”
The body of one of their murdered comrades was with them; and these words brought tears to many eyes unused to shed them. The anecdote got into the Southern newspapers, where the tears were treated with mockery; but it is a grave season when sons of the Puritans, a reserved and tearless tribe, are so moved by a voice from an enslaved race.
On the whole, the indications appear to be that the great peril of all,—that of a servile war,—seems to be lessening as the civil war proceeds. The Secessionists, claiming to speak for the South,