The citizens of the American Republic are seriously setting themselves
to the great task which can only be postponed to their
own detriment, that of considering how to relieve themselves from the opprobions institution which they inherit from the Monarchi- cal times—Negro Slavery. If -the councils ase as ?et ?vacillating in Congress, that fact is mot a seproach, for it simply indicates that the central Legislature, which lans heretofore o blindly iv- fused to entertain' 1the question, refuses no longer, but desires, naturally and most properly, to proceed with caution. And the effort of the Kentucky people, to make prospective arrangements for the gradual extinction of slavery, is conceived in the highest spirit of practical wisdom. That Congress should hurriedly adopt any course, or eventually favour a particular scheme, is neither to be expected nor demanded ; but that the people of the Repub- lic are seriously grappling with the question, is the most credit- .able and propitious fact in their history. It is a fact more pregnant with future wealth and happiness than the gold-sands of California; though they still yield riches with an increasing abundance which casts doubt on the doctrine that "washings never last." Nor is that doctrine confirmed by analogous experience : we have heard it remarked by a high an- lhority, that the stream-works of the Cornish tin-grounds are still productive after two thousand years. The most recent descriptions .convey the idea that California contains a wide tract of country uniformly spangled with gold. If so, the Model Republicans, who are taking counsel how to get rid of their Black slaves, are threatened with the fate of becoming slaves themselves, self- honght and self-sold. Will their emancipation depend on the _redundancy of the metal, no longer " precious " when no longer rare? Will platina, still rare and indestructible, take the place of gold; or does the currency of that prized metal depend too much upon its prettiness for the affections of man to be trans- ferred to its duller rival? The wild tales from California provoke wild speculations.
