Franklin Repository

At last the Nation is disenthralled from its crowning crime. Slavery, the fruitful parent of all the staggering woes of the Republic--the deadly foe of the very genius of our free institutions, and the author of the bloody fraternal conflict that has crimsoned our fair fields by the most appal[l]ing sacrifices, has, in the fulness of His time, fallen beneath the retributive stroke of Justice, and before the close of the year, it is morally certain that the last stain of Human Bondage will be erased from our National escutcheon.

Elsewhere in to-day's paper we give the details of the passage by Congrass [sic] of a resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States abolishing Slavery in the several States and all the territory within the jurisdiction of the government. It passed the Senate months ago, but failed to secure the requisite two-thirds in the popular branch. Since then the peeple [sic] have solemnly decided in a great civil struggle that Slavery should not survive the fearful conflict it so wickedly inaugurated, and the same Congress that rejected this proposed amendment in 1864, bows to the expressed will of the Nation, and now has adopted it amidst the earnest applaudits of the people of the Christian world.

To make it a part of the organic law, it must be ratified by three fourths of all the States of the Union. Already quite a number have done so, among the first of which was the approving voice of our own mighty Commonwealth, and we cannot doubt that before the close of the year, and it may be before many months, the action of Congress at once and forever abolishing Slavery will be ratified with all the ceremony of law, and the great Republic of the Earth will be, in fact as in theory, the faithful exponent of Human Freedom.

The success of this measure in Congress was due to a number of Democrats who have disregarded the behests of party to preserve the life of the Republic. Among these the name of Gen. A. H. Coffroth is found, and his vote is severely criticised by his former friends. We could not refrain from exposing the folly of Gen. Coffroth's speech against the success of this amendment delivered during the last session, and if in our animadversions thereon we have contributed to the change, we have done the General a kindness of no common magnitude. It is freely alleged that Gen. Coffroth cast the vote in question with the hope of thereby securing his seat as against Gen. Koontz; but we cannot sanction such an imputation against the integrity of our Democratic Representative. General Coffroth is not elected to the next Congress, and he knows it, as does every Union member of Congress who knows anything on the subject, and inasmuch as we feel assured that the Union Congressmen would not be a party to any such disreputable compact, we regard it as most unfair to Gen. Coffroth to allege that he was so influenced in his official acts. It is enough for us to know that Gen. Coffroth has cast a most righteous vote, and in the absence of a palpably manifest dishonorable motive, he is entitled to full credit for it. He will soon retire from official position, in obedience to the voice of the people of his district, and when the charges of the unscrupulous men who but recently sustained him have been forgotten, he will live in history as one of the men who aided in consummating the greatest moral victory achieved in the history of Nations.

Since the skies of our national horizon are beginning to look bright, and the dark and threatening clouds of war disappearing, the question is often asked, what shall be done with the freedmen? We confess the question easier asked than answered, yet it may be never so difficult, it must be answered, and that too, in a way becoming a free intelligent and christian people. Whilst the war lasts, but one duty remains, that is, to keep up our armies to their full complement, and supply them with every thing necessary to prosecute the war vigorously and successfully. We have Generals the ablest and bravest in the world, and who have the full confidence of the people. The last election was but a warrant to them from the people to use all means necessary to suppress the rebellion, and conquer a lasting and permanent peace. This they are doing as fast as the most sanguine could ask. Victory everywhere perches proudly upon our banners and as the southern traitors are yielding and our armies marching unmolested through their borders; the civil authorities are tacstly [sic] seeking terms of compromise and peace honorable to themselves if possible. Whilst the affairs in the field stand so favorable, we find nearly one million of freedmen, and the number daily increasing, accessible to the people of the loyal States. They are ignorant, stupid in many cases, and passive recipients of the first influences which strike them. The transition from slavery to freedmen has doubtless jostled their minds a little, and developed new hopes and desires, and prepared them to hear and think as they never could before. The proper instruction will elevate them rapidly--wrong influence will make them more miserable than they were before emancipation. If we do not carry them light, truth, strength and courage, they will inevitably sink under the flood tide of vices which follow an army. Their usefulness has been fairly tested, they have entered the ranks, have shown good capacity in acquiring knowledge sufficient to make good soldiers, and at Fort Wagner; in front of Petersburg and elsewhere, they have shown themselves equal to the best soldiers. No one who speaks dispassionately upon the subject will say that they will not make courageous and available soldiers. They have on more than one occasion received the commendation of their Generals for valuable and efficient services.

That they make good mechanics is fairly proven by the fact, that many of them are such, even in the degraded condition of Slavery. They are found in almost every one of the rougher trades, and skilled equal to any even of our own race, who labor in the same occupations. In many parts of the South, it was no unusual thing for planters, to have all the necessary mechanics among his slaves, and the slaves were valued according to their skill in whatever trade they were taught. They are proverbial for their powers of imitation. They are as a general thing fond of music and acquire it easily, and always where they have the least opportunity become excellent performers. We find even some without the advantages of instruction, or much opportunity for practice become quite proficient.

But we need not stop here, we find them entering the learned and honorable professions. We have them in the ministry, and doing much honor to the profession. We have them in the profession of medicine, editing newspapers, and but a few days since on motion of Hon. Charles Sumner, one Brooks was admitted to practice law in the Supreme court of the United States. This man Brooks is admitted to be gifted with extraordinary intellectual powers, and although young in years, stands at the head of the profession he has chosen for himself.

What then shall be done with the freedmen? Shall we allow them to look out for themselves and provide for their wants as best they can? Shall we keep open our stables and employ them as ostlers, use them as waiters at our dining tables, servants anywhere and everywhere? Or shall we colonize them and send them to some other part of the globe, as an inferior and useless race. No, none of these. There is a higher duty required of us, and our own national salvation demands it. We must come to their help, and pour in upon them the inspiration of a higher and better life; they must be taught to read and write, under the tuition of religious teachers, and in this way, they will be elevated very rapidly and enjoy the blessings of liberty.

We are bound by many considerations to come to their help. They are a part of our fallen race, and from this part, we are required by the spirit and aim of the religion we profess to save all the lost that is possible. They have been degraded and oppressed by our nation, and we have for years denounced the institution that bound them to the earth. We therefore owe them more than common benevolence to amend for the injury we have done them. If we therefore at once fit them for the position of freemen; if they are made intelligent, virtuous, industrious, they will prove a great blessing to themselves and the nation, but if they are left in ignorance, the victims of loose and vile men, they will prove a curse to themselves and our country.

In many parts of the country societies are organized for the purpose of raising funds to send teaches among them. This is a step in the right direction. Let the right kind of teache[r]s among them. This is a step in the right direction. Let the right kind of teache[r]s be sent, and plenty of them, and it will not be long until a new era shall dawn upon our country, and we can truthfully say, that our country is, "the land of the free" "and the home of the brave." If history be true, our own race were as degraded intellectually when the Romans invaded Britain, as ever the African race was, yet by moral and intellectual training, it has surpassed all others, and now stands the most powerful and enlightened race upon the face of the earth.

What may be done with the African race in the future we cannot tell. We know they have capacity, and this being the land of their birth, our duty is with the present. That they have giants among them even in their degraded condition does not admit of a doubt. In this broad land of ours, under the blessing of our Government, they can be made useful to themselves, the country and posterity. Let it the effort be fairly made.

Never in the history of the world has a civil war been conducted in which either of the belligerents has manifested as little rancor and bitterness as the North has exhibited in the present struggle. To maintain its existence the Government has given over to death thousands of its noblest sons, and burdened itself with an oppressive debt, yet the heart of the people has not been embittered, has no revengeful feelings to gratify, but still beats kindly towards those who, in their madness and folly, have caused the fearful sacrifice of blood and treasure. Although in attempting to subvert the Government, the people of the insurgent states have been guilty of the greatest offence known to the law, the punishment of which, the world over, is forfeiture of life and property, and although in their desperate struggle to effect their wicked purposes they have brought bereavement and affliction to almost every household in the land, yet the Nation to-day stands ready to welcome them back and to restore to them the forfeited rights of life and citizenship. Our people entered into this struggle with no feelings of personal or individual hostility, and are as free from them to day as when the war began. While we were yet rejoicing over the triumph of our arms; vessels ladened with the bounty of the North were entering the port of Savannah to relieve its famished inhabitants. This noble charity to the starving of that city, was the fruit of the same spirit that impelled the people of the North, in the days of peace and Union, to stand between death and the people of Norfolk. The absence of all vindictive feeling on our part is a peculiarity of this struggle, which in history will be accepted as proof of the noble character of our civilization, and which now gives the assurance that when active hostilities cease, we will not have a Union of discordant elements, but a Union existing in the amity and good will of the people.