Douglass' Monthly, 1861-12, vol. 4 iss. 7

              m
s£?U^L
DOUGLAS
ONTHLY.
" OPEN   THY   MOUTH   FOE   THE   DUMB,   IN   THE   CAUSE   01''   ALL   SUCH   AS   ARE   APPOINTED   TO   DESTRUCTION ;   OPEN   THT  MOUTH,
JUDGE  RIGHTEOUSLY,   AND   PLEAD   THE   CAUSE   OF   THE   POOR   AND   NEEDY." PrOVel'bs XXXU 8,   9.
VOLUME IV.
NUMBER VII.
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, DECEMBER, 1861.
PRICE	
ONE   DOLLAR. PER   ANNUM.
CONTENTS OF THE PRESENT NUMBER.
The Situation    561
The Approaching Congress  561
The Would-Be  Mobocrats at Syracuse  562
Fremont and his Proclamation    5G3
Dealings with Slavery and the Contrabands  164
Free Speech-Maintained  in Syracuse   .r>67
Removal of Gen. Fremont ,   5'i8
(Speech of Gen. Jim   Lane   569
President's Annual   Message ■. 570
Death of Francis Jackson  573
Slave Policy of the Government... 573
The Fugitives in  Canada    574
Gen. Sherman's  Proclamation.  574
A National Emancipation   Society   574
Census of Colored Americans    574
Anti-Slavery Baziar in   Bristol  575
Acknowledgments, Terms, etc   575
D 0 U Gl AS.S' MO N tTilT.
" I lay this down as the law of nations.
I say that the military authority takes, for
the time, the place of municipal institutions, Slavery among the rest. Under
that stale of things, so far from its being
true that the States where Slavery exists
have the exclusive management of ihe subject, not only the President of the United
States, but the Commander of the army
has power to order the universal emancipation of the slaves."—John Q. Adams.
MEMORIAL  OF  THE   PEOPLE* TO CONGRESS.
To the Congress of the United States :
The undersigned, citizens of , State
0f , lcspectfully submit—
That as the present formidable rebellion
against ihe General Government manifestly finds
its root, and nourishment iu the system of chattel slavery at the Smi h; as the leading con
spirat'ors are slaveholders, who constitute an
oligarchy avowedly hostile to all free institu
turns; and as. in the nature of things, no solid
peace can
THE SITUATION,
Since the issue of the November number
of our monthly paper, events have transpired
of greater importance to the Union cause
than any since the Rebellion began. The
great naval expedition, which had just set
sail when we went to press, duly arrived at
its destination in comparatively good order,
with the loss of only two vessels, which drifted
ashore in a severe storm, and fell into the
hands of the rebels. As had been expected,
Port Royal, S. C, turned out to be its rendezvous, and after a sharp engagement with
the rebels, our troops took possession of their
forts, and the rebels were compelled to retreat.
The great cotton port of Beaufort was found
to be entirely deserted by the chivalry, who
had run away at the approach of our forces,
leaving ^ their slaves behind to welcome the
Federal soldiers on their landing. Elsewhere
we publish some scenes and incidents concern-
iug these slaves, furnished by correspondents
accompanying the fleet. Another fresh expedition is in preparation at that point, and we
hope to hear soon of other important Southern ports falling into our possession.
Gen. Fremont has been at last superceded,
tbe order having reached him in the midst of
preparations for battle. He had already taken
possession of Lexington and  Springfield, ant
We have reports through rebel channels
of an engagement at Peosacola, in which the
guns of Poit Pickens are reported to have
done considerable damage to the enemy.—
It is reported that the rebel navy-yard at that
point has been destroyed.
A stone fleet, commanded by our old friend
Rodney French, of New Bedford, has sailed
within a week to close some Southern porti
and the Navy and VV ar Departments are preparing still another naval expedition for some
unknown locality. In St. Louis, a mail-clad
flotilla is being fitted out for tke western
waters. Upon the whole, the Union cause
is brightening every <lay, and we have great
hopes that the present Congress will pass
a resolution calling upon the President to put
an eud to the rebellion by a proclamation
freeing the slaves. The national flag now floats
over every seceded State, except Alabama
and Arkansas.
THE APPROACHING CONGRESS.
No Congress, since that by which the Declaration of Independence was adopted, has
ever assembled under circumstances so momentous as that which meets in Washington
on Monday, the 2d of December, 1861. Its
opportunities, its difficulties and its duties are
aff-fpke great. How it will improve the
first, overcome the second, and discharge the
be  foretold.     That  it   may   be
was driving the rebels luit of the Stalk His
successor, Gen. LTall,eck, seems «o h»b repudiated all the acts of Fremont, and adopted
an entire different policy, forbidding fugitive
slaves from entering the lines of his army, on
the absurd ground that they return aud give
information to the enemy. Besides, onr entire
army in Missouri seems to have made a retrograde movement, falling back towards St.
Louis,  and  leaving the  Union   men  of the
Southwest at the mercy of Prioe, the rebel | than all the blunders and defeats which have
General, who   appears to have taken advan-
third, ca
wise  to  impro»
overcome, and in duty firm and faithful, is the ,
the fervent prayer of all earnest and enlightened men. It may be destined to greater
achievements in counsel than the nation in
arras on the battle field, or it may be fated to
vacillation, doubt and indecision, more disheartening to the loyal spirit, of the country
be maintained while the cause of fchiS
treasonable revolt is permitted to exist; your
honorable body is urgently implored to lose no
time in enacting, under the war power, the total
abolition of slavery throughout the country-
liberating unconditionally the slaves of all who
are rebels, and, while not recognizing the right
of property in man, allowing for the emancipated slaves of such as are loyal to the Government a fair pecuniary award, as a conciliatory
measure, and to facilitate an amicable adjustment of difficulties; and thus to bring the war
to a speedy and beneficent termination, and
indissolubly to unite all sections anti all interests of the country upon tho enduring basis of
universal freedom.
Congress.—The first session of the 37th
Congress met on Mouday last. Several important resolutions touching the slavery question—the real cause of the war—have been
presented in both Houses.
Crowded Out.—Several articles prepared
for this number are necessarily crowded out
to make room for the President's Message,
which we print elsewhere in our columns.—
We shall make room for them in our nest.
tao-e of this strange movement, and is again
occupying the positions in which Fremont
had successfully driven him from. Although
various charges have been brought against
Fremont, the prime cause of his removal lay
in his noble proclamation freeing the slaves.
Next to the taking of Beaufort, the great
event of the month has been the capture of
the Rebel Commissioners, Mason and Seidell,
with their private secretaries. They were
taken from the British steamer Trent, off the
coast of Bermuda, by Com. Wilkes of the
San Jacinto, who was returning from the African coast, and are now safely lodged in Fort
Warren, Boston harbor.
Our army on the Potomac remains "quiet,
and no battle is expected just yet. The troops
there are evidently preparing themselves for
winter quarters. The Government seems first
to obtain a footing in the Southern ports
before hazarding a battle on the Potomac,
although we are told that our army was never
in a better condition for fighting, and the
rebels are poorly fed and clothed, and returning home to guard the ports of their different
States.
thus tar distinguished the movements of the
national army.
Congress, more than any other branch of
the Government, is the representative of the
wisdom and the wants of the whole people.
Courts, cabinets and military councils stand
further from the people. They act by established rule, are governed by precedents, and
are chained down by parchments. To Congress is committed a larger freedom—a more
comprehensive discretion. lis powers extend
to the whole circle and province of human
government.. It can make and unmake, set
up and cast down, enact and repeal, and lead
all other departments of the Government.—
Thus clad with ample powers, and fresh from
the firesides of the people, where they have
learned the deepest convictions of the people
as to the wants of the times, its members may
not be expected to follow the cold, metalic
prescriptions of President, court or cabinet,
but to act in the broad light of the lessons of
the hour.
To Congress, then, we look for what neither
cabinet nor councils of war have been able
yet to give ns, and that is, a straight forward,
ample, uniform and definite policy to be pur-