[435] Through the whole of the last six months, you see the working of our political institutions most strikingly. The people is the practical sovereign, and, until the people had been appealed to, and had moved, the Administration, whether of Buchanan or of Lincoln, could act with little efficiency. We drifted. Now the rudder is felt. Maryland must yield, or become a battle-ground over which the opposing forces will roll their floods alternately. Baltimore must open her gates, or the city will be all but razed. At least, so far we seem to see ahead. But the people, the sovereign, came to the rescue at the last moment. . . . . Now the movement—partly from having been so long delayed and restrained—is become absolute and impetuous, so that twice as many troops will speedily be in Scott's hands as he will want. . . . . Meantime, I think that the moral effect of our union and vigor at the North—which was wholly unexpected. at the South—will tend to repress the Southern ardor for conquest, if not for fighting. We have never apprehended that we should be worsted in the end, and we do not now anticipate early reverses, or accidents of any consequence. We mean, on all accounts, to fight it out, once for all. . . . . Yours truly,
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Boston, J. R. Osgood and company, 1876.
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