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law of the Slave Power-was vitalized by the breath of juries and enforced by the decrees of courts, till in all our broad land, from the Lakes to the Gulf and from Ocean to Ocean, not an inch of ground could be found which was not mortgaged to slavery-not a spot large enough for the sole of a man's foot could the eye of Omniscience discover, over which the ægis of the law was spread to protect the rights and liberties of the people. Not only was there no temple of Freedom and no city of Refuge for the slave, but there was no immunity for the persons and liberties of the free. We might any of us be enslaved on the oath of a slave claimant, or be fined and imprisoned for performing an act of charity, in obedience to the dictates of humanity and the law of the living God.

The spirit of freedom met the spirit of slavery right here in deadly encounter for the permanent possession of the Government. It was revolution meeting revolution-the moral power of the ballot against the logic of the pistol and the bowie-knife-the spirit of liberty against the law of brute force, and the issue of the contest was whether this country should be "all free or all slave." The people rescued the Government from the clutches of the slaveholders, trampled their armed legions in the dust, blotted out slavery and the slave code from our statutes, and proclaimed "liberty throughout all the land, to all the inhabitants thereof." They established the supremacy of the Declaration of Independence as the fundamental law of the land, as part and parcel of the United

States Constitution -as it always had been-underlying and permeating the whole, and proceeded to conform their legislation to its principles and spirit. And now it only remains for Congress and the people to go one step further, and, by a Constitutional amendment, ordain impartial manhood suffrage by organic law.

Is it objected that most of the arguments I have adduced in favor of universal suffrage for men apply with equal force to the enfranchisement of women? That is no fault of mine, but of the facts and arguments which cluster thickly on every side, and are patent to all who have eyes to see them. I know of no objections or obstacles to such enfranchisement,save the indifference of women and the opposition of men to the measure, and these, formidable as they now seem to many, will be overcome in due time. I cannot consent to postpone manhood suffrage, for which the people are now ripe, for the consummation of a measure for which they are not prepared, and for which the great majority of women themselves neither ask nor wish. I regret that it is so, for I know of no valid objection to suffrage for women, and we need their restraining and hallowing influence at the polls. But time, patience and well-directed efforts will secure to them this right. It is the next great reform, the success of which will make our Government a more perfect reflection of the popular will, and bless humanity, by purifying the fountains of our legislation and jurisprudence.

ACADIA: THE LAND OF THE MAYFLOWER.

BY MRS. M. L. RAYNE.

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"We bloom amid the snows."

HERE is no country, perhaps, in

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the civilized world of equal importance, which is so little known outside of its own boundaries, as Nova Scotia. Ask the first American you meet where it is, and he will tell you "in Canada;" an Englishman would say, unless he had been there, "in Australia," and at the hub of knowledge, some learned Professor, with his brain stored with Greek roots, would gravely assure you that it was in New Brunswick, and you will actually have as much trouble in locating it properly as in finding Captain Kidd's buried treasure.

Nova Scotia, or New Scotland, is one of the Provinces of British North America, and is situated on the eastern side of the North American Continent, and connected with the main land by an isthmus six miles in breadth. It is sepa rated from the neighboring province of New Brunswick by the Bay of Fundy, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean, celebrated for its remarkable tides. Those living always within the tame, monotonous view of the placid lakes which bound our western vision, can form no idea of the grandeur, the magnificence, of that wondrous tidal force, which rears its mighty crested head sixty feet above the level of the sea, racing past the rocky shores like some fearful destroying power; with the thundering roar that, like a giant bass, underlies the great volume of water, moving along like a ponderous living wall.

Acadia, the place was first named, by the French. It was of this place Longfellow wrote, in Evangeline, "This is the forest primeval." It was ceded to the

English in 1813, and ever since has been under British dominion.

Halifax is the capital; an old-fashioned place, with its houses of a subdued mouse color, with none of that American dash and magnificence which characterize the United States, but with a great, deal of solid comfort lying perdu under its strata of old fogyism. A quaint gabled, picturesque old town, flanked by the finest harbor in the world, where the Union Jack proudly rides at anchor; nay, where the flag of every nation on the earth is unfurled to the breeze-a town insignificant enough to look at, but rich in historic association, peopled with representatives of all parts of the world, and defended by a Citadel bristling with sol diers, as if the whole place were a lump of gold in an antique setting, to be guarded at the point of the bayonet. Citadel Hill and the Navy Yard, Province Building and Dalhousie College, are points of interest to all strangers.

The presence of the military keeps the place always gay. It is somewhat demoralizing, too, for their manners are better than their morals; but the gay plumes and red coats of the soldiers are very attractive on the foggy streets.

A week's travel from Chicago, fortyeight hours distant from Boston, the Province of Nova Scotia offers many inducements to the tourist; a salubrious climate-bracing sea air—a good fish diet-cool days in summer and glorious sleighing carnivals in winter - girls with a bloom on their cheeks that cannot be rubbed off — hardly by time, and the right hand of hospitality everywhere;

less magnificence, but more home comfort, than can be found anywhere else, and a rare, rich character, developed by a blending of English and Scotch nationality, in the person of a ripe Nova Scotian.

The government is an off-shoot of the British home power. It is administered by a chief executive officer appointed by the Queen. There is an Executive Council and a Legislative Council, and a House of Assembly, consisting of members elected every four years by the counties and townships. Its acts are decisive upon the authority of Great Britain. The judicial court represents that of the mother country. Law is administered in the most solemn and pompous manner, consequently there are fewer of the petty cases which fill American courts. The population of the Province is 350,000. It is now united with Canada, New Brunswick and Cape Breton, as a dominion, the seat of government being at Ottawa.

The climate of Nova Scotia is particularly salubrious. It is never very

warm.

There is a bracing freshness about the air even in the middle of July, that makes a blanket comfortable at night, and mingled with this is the fragrant piquancy of the salt water breeze, which roves at will over the country. Then, there are the great forests of pine and hemlock, freighting the air with their elixir of life. The forests of Nova Scotia are dark and dense; pines tall and spreading with the weight of years, spruces and birch trees, and an undergrowth singularly free from venomous reptiles or hurtful animals. The moose roams there at will through some seasons of the year; but hunting is a tempting sport, and moose steak a decided luxury, so parties are always out, in the winter, in pursuit of the noble game. The English officers are very fond of the sport, and hire Indians or Negroes as guides to show them where the best can be found. They go through

a great deal of imaginary hardship to capture their game, but it is in reality quite tame sport. The hunters make the most of it, however, and occasionally succeed in shooting each other or themselves. I remember once a party went out to hunt a moose, which had eluded 1 capture for innumerable seasons. It was bullet proof, and one of the hunters, taking the advice of his guide, sought the counsel of an old Indian sibyl, who, for a consideration, gave him a crooked sixpence with which to try his luck. He loaded his rifle with it, fired and killed the old stag, who had about a pound of lead imbedded in his skin, without even appearing to be the worse of it.

The Indians have a birch bark call, to represent the voice of the female moose. It is singularly sweet and shrill and easily lures the male within the hunter's range.

Catching smelts in early spring by torchlight, is another favorite sport. The rivers at such times look grandly beautiful-the tide flowing swiftlythe dusky guides holding aloft the flaring torches-the rest leaning over the side of the boat, intent upon the long handle of the scoop net they hold, and which they soon bring up filled with the tiny shining fish, glistening like silver, while on the outer edge of the group lie motionless canoes, packed with youngsters, boys and girls, listening and watching the fun.

The Stewiacke river, a branch of the Shubenacadie, is one of the most beautiful rivers in the Province. The tide flows from the Bay of Fundy into the Shubenacadie, thence into the Stewiacke, where it has become subdued, and does not come in higher than ten feet. It is a very interesting sight to watch. There lies the river between its high green banks, fringed with willow; the water as tranquil and blue as the clear sky overhead, and the small canoes of wood or bark, and larger boats, safely

moored to the stakes driven in on the shore. There is a distant rushing sound-a faint mirage passes over the water like the essence of a sigh; then a long rippling roll- the boats dance up and down, and swing out to the length of their ropes, a loud crash of falling waters, and like a flash the sea horse has raced past; the banks have disappeared, the water is red and muddy, and flowing swiftly in circles and eddies, and running up stream, and the boats ride high, but so securely, that the Indian papoose strapped to a board, and tucked under the seat of one of the canoes, to await its mother's return, does not awaken.

When the water rises to its highest, it is still, for a brief time, before the tide turns. It is then so easy to cross a river that often a child's hand will paddle the light canoe over. There is no regularity to the rivers; they run straight through a village, and then, turning abruptly, thread their way through soft, emerald meadows, where the bending willows touch hands across. No flowers grow on the banks, or at least very few, for the soft, rank marsh mud is obnoxious to their bloom, but rare shrubs, filled with the nests of sand peeps and swallows, bend and sway above the tide; holes similar to gopher holes in this country, are seen all along the banks, made in the solid mud. These are filled with swallows. sand peep will attract your attention by a loud, piping noise, and will run with every appearance of a broken leg or wing, limping distressfully. When you have sympathetically followed it for half a mile or so, it will suddenly fly away, and leave you at a safe distance from its nest.

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At the time of the tide, the net, which is strung across the banks, receives the salmon as they go down to the mouth of the river. The water is sometimes almost alive with them, at certain places. I remember once, when

crossing in a small canoe, a huge fellow made a leap into the air and came down into our boat, when we immediately secured him. At low water they are speared; but it is regarded by fishermen as an illegitimate sport, something like snaring deer.

The smelt is the first fish which comes after the ice; then the gaspeareaux, a fish the size of a herring, and with a fine, white flesh, and one bone; then the salmon, which comes with the June fire-flies and the wild strawberries; and after them, an infinite variety of cod, haddock, mackerel, shad, etc.

Traveling through the country roads, we perceive a dense smoke rising to the tops of the pine trees, and, upon examination, find a family of squatter Indians, dwelling in a birch bark tent or camp, as they call it there. No romance can make heroes out of them. They are dirty, lazy and thievish, and prefer to live as they do. The MicMacs are quite numerous, and have a settlement of their own somewhere among the Rawdon Hills, in another part of the Province, where they actually live in frame houses. Their governor or chief, Goreham Paul, was much respected, and combines many of the best qualities of a white man with the savage instincts of his race. They had a white woman named Mary Paul, whom they had raised and adopted; who would never marry among the Indians, nor live among the whites. She retained the prejudices of her own people among the surrounding influence of her adopted friends.

Nova Scotia is famous for her coal mines-large and valuable, but indif ferently worked; for her iron and limestone, and her valuable and extensive fisheries, of which the exports are enormous, and for her great marine advantages. She is proud, too, and justly so, of the eminent men, of enterprising character, whom she has given to the world. Samuel Cunard,

once a poor boy, then a studious youth, anon the developed man'who gave to the Ocean its first complete line of steamships, and who has retired now as Sir Samuel Cunard. General Beckwith, the great and good soldier, who, maimed and wounded in the battle of Waterloo, turned his attention to Christianity, and, among the lowly people of the Swiss valley, expiated in deeds of love and kindness the unbelief of his early years, and became a missionary of the Cross in his old age, receiving from the King of Sardinia the Legion of Honor for his noble activity in Christian service. Edward M. Archibald, at one time British consul to New York; Judge Marshall, the zealous advocate of the temperance cause; Sir James Cochrane, chief justice of Gibraltar; Capt. Parker, the brave, daring young soldier; Judge Haliburton, known the world over as the humorous author of "Sam Slick;' Joseph Howe, the great political leader of the Liberal party, and hundreds of others. I must not forget Donald McKay, who, if of Scotch people, belongs, by birth and education, to Nova Scotia; since he whittled his first ship out of a pine shingle with his jack-knife. The great shipbuilder acquired his fame there. The great Republic was one of his triumphs; but he can build as complete a small ship as any man in the world. A great many brilliant naval and military heroes have emanated from Nova Scotia, of whom she is tenderly proud. In the wilds of Africa, the sultry depths of India, on the Crimean battle fields, in far distant countries, among heathen barbarians, as are numbered in living ranks and in soldiers, missionaries, teachers, her sons' silent graves.

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There are six thousand Nova Scotians in Boston; we may safely aver that there is twice the number in New York. In Chicago there may be five hundred. They are clannish; but they

do not bind themselves into societies, or seek each other, and, being extremely reticent of their nativity, and betraying it by no peculiarity of speech, as foreigners do, they pass for citizens bred and brought up under the American flag. Yet a true Nova Scotian is more English in his tastes and habits than your native born Briton. He sees the idols and institutions of his mother country through the romantic haze of distance; he accepts every national prejudice and peculiarity as his especial birthright, and becomes an autocrat upon the outskirts of a monarchical government. And he never gets over it. He may be the citizen of a republican government, fight for it, die for it; but threaten the flag he was born under, or dare to uncrown, in speculative ideas, the monarch he once gave allegiance to, and the British lion glares at you through his threatening eyes, and he does another loyal deed for the country he adopts, to convince you it was only the mark of his birth which you caught a glimpse of.

I will close this article with a brief summary. Halifax, Truro, Pictou, Antagonishe, Windsor-these are noted places. There are the beautiful valleys of Cornwallis and Horton, the Acadia of which poets love to sing. Here it was Evangeline dwelt. Here the innocent French people, with their simple ways, "Dwelt in the love of God and of man; Alike were they free from fear that reigns with the tyrant and Envythe vice of republics." The old French dykes still exist, and it is not so very long since a farmer, plowing a field that had never been furrowed, fell stumbling through earth and stones into a rotten hogshead, empty to be sure, but which, upon being moved, disclosed rusted gold and silver coin, which had fallen through the chinks prior to the removal of treasure buried and resurrected by unknown hands.

A hundred and a half miles in an

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