society cannot cease and have no other in its palace. It is only
changes, not new creations which take place in the social world;
one civilization gives place to another; society passes from one
state into another . We are, then, on the eve of a mighty change,
perhaps the greatest ever seen in the world before. That it can
or could take place without an awful struggle, pangs which are the
birth-thores of a nation, let no one imagine; that it will be done
in a few brief months is impossible. While we write, victories have
just been gained, the great city of the South has passed into the
hands of our army, and men begin to predict the speedy downfall of
the rebellion; but, alas, we cannot felicitate ourselves with any
such prospect. The great class which has made the war to maintain
its existence, will not consent to die thus; every element of human
nature in its fallen form is against it. It will yield to nothing
but simply irresistible force, it will die only as it is killed.
We confess, as we look over the whole ground and weigh well as we
can the origin and caused of this gigantic war, to a feeling, not
of despondency or uncertainty, for we believe that God will one day
bring it to a happy end, but of heart-sorrow and care, even as a
woman has sorrow and foreboding at the inevitable agony ere a man
is born into the world. To lift twelve millions of men to a new
better place, to open before them a good and happy future, instead
of certain prospective woe and final dissolution, is a work worth
the tears and groans of a nation, and they can well afford to be
patient till the time has come. At present let not one's heart fail
him if the horizon grows dark and hope seems at times blotted out;
let him remember well what the meaning of the strife is, that it is
no accident, but the death-struggle of a civilization two hundred
years old, and based on all the worst and strongest elements of
human nature. It can have no easy death.