[473] sufferings which Mr. Davis so wonderfully describes, exalts, and defends. Had there been no slavery, there would have been no secession and no civil war. Indeed, the great fruit of that war, next to the integrity and unity of the republic, is the extirpation of slavery. As long as the institution lasted, with its principles hostile to the principles of the government, with its immense power of property and o politics constantly menacing rebellion, it was impossible that the country should be safe; and, now that it has been removed, there is no longer any apparent cause, that the most strenuous observation can detect, which carries with it any peril of the kind. The measure of public safety which has thus been gained is worth all that it cost, enormous as the cost was. But this is not all. The removal of slavery did more than give security to republican institutions. It took away a great blot which rested upon the country, a contradiction and an incongruity most repugnant to the sentiments of generous, enlightened, and progressive minds. It brought the United States, the leader of democratic progress, into harmony with democratic ideas. It made the land better and fairer to live in. We are not surprised that in discussing these great events of twenty-five years ago Mr. Davis avoided all reference to slavery. It does honor to his intelligence and his heart that he should thus omit from his review this supreme element in the great contest; but he would have been truer to history had he faced the facts and manfully explained their share in the prodigious struggle, some of whose nobler aspects he so eloquently illustrates.It was on June 17, 1886, that Dana wrote a memorable and appreciative letter to William P. Hepburn, a member of Congress from Iowa, in reference to Stanton, late Secretary of War. As it may be justly regarded as one of the greatest and most eloquent tributes ever paid to the character and services of an American statesman, it is here given in full:
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