BY DAVID OYER. - Ik " I IN MEMORY OF HON. E D. BAKER. BY BAYARD TAYLOR. Ob ! fallen hero ! noble friend ! 'Tri not the friend I mourn in thee, Though called, in mid eareer, to end Thy ahiniiig course of victory. I dare not grieve for friendship' a sake, To know thy soldie's knell is rung; That shame or glory ne'er shall wake The silve;/ trumpet of thy tongue ; That dim the eye whose lightning seared The traitor, through his brazen mail; Those lips whose smile of sweetness cheered Our darkest day, are cold and paie. No selfish sorrow fi's thee now, And we who loved thee stand aside While she our mother, veils her brow And in her grief lorgets her pride. When half the stars of honor fade, That gemmed her banner's morning sky, She sees them triumph, who betrayed, And he ; her truest cbifUin, die ! When low ambition rnles the land; And patriots play the traitor's part, We ill can spare his open hand, Wc ill can spare his honest heart. When timid lip 3 proclaim theii doubt, To chill the ardor of the brave, Wo miss his dauntless hatttle-shout; That never truce to treason gave. Whew freedom's base apostles preach Dishonor in the sacred name Of Teace, his grand indignant speech No more shall smite tha cowering shame ! Ood ! Thon hast sheathed the sword he drew ; We bow before thy dark decree; But give the arms that build anew Our nation's temp It?, strength from Thee! Abstract of the Report of the Secre tary of War. The rp rt of the Hon. Sirnou Cameron, Secretary of War, occupies nearly fourteen closely printed octavo paves. It sets out with a statement of the entire estimated strength of the army, both volunteers and regulars, as fol lows ; VuLUSTEERS. ■ - STATES. 3 months. J for the War. | Jggregate. California 4,688 4,688 -Connecticut 2,236 12,400 14,636 Delaware 775 2,000 2,775 Illinois 4,941 80,000 84,941 Indiana 4,686 57,332 -62,018 lowa 968 19,800 20,768 Kentucky 1 0,000 15,000 Maine 768 14,239 15,007 Maryland 7,000 7,000 Massachusetts 3,435 26,760 30,195 Michigan 781 28,550 29,331 Minnesota 4,160 4,160 Missouri 9.356 22.130 31,486 N. Hampshire 779 9,600 10,379 New Jersey 3,068 9,302 12,110 New York 10,188 100,200 110,388 Ohio 10,236 81,205 91,441 i'eunsyivania 19,199 94,760 113,959 Khodo Island 1,285 6,898 7,183 Vermont 780 8,000 B,oudon and Hampshire Rail j roads, and to lay a traok from tho railroad . depot to a point on the Fotomac river, in , Washington. 5 Under an appropriation granted for that purpose at the last session of Congress, a . Telegraphic Bureau was established, and has ■ been found of the greatest service in our mil s itary operations. Eight hundred and fifty seveo miles of telegraphic line have been aL ] ready built and put in operation, with an ef ficient oorps of operators, and a large exteu r sion is now in process of construction. The reconstruction of the Long Bridge j across the Potomae is rapidly approaching , completion, and when finisned will be a sub f stantial structure- The Secretary here refers to tho rasignas , tion of Lieut. Gen. Scott, and pays a high t tribute to his lung service. Major General j MeClcllac, his successor in command, is also spoken of in warm terms. The remaiuder of the report, whioh discus t ses topics of great interest, wo give at length as follows: i The geographical position of the metropolis - of tho nation, menaced by tbe rebels, and re i quired to be defeuded by thousands of our ; troops, induce me to suggest for consideration the propriety and expediency of a reoonstruo . tion of the boundaries of the States of Dela- I ware, Maryland and Virginia. Wisdom and true statesmanship would diotate that tha seat of national government, for all time to eome, should be placed beyond reasonable danger of seizure by enemies within, as well as from . capture from foes without. By agreement between the States named, suoh as waa effect* • ed for similar purpose by Michigan and Ohio,j ; and by Missouri and lowa, their boundaries i > could be so changed as to render the oapitalj more remote than at present from the influence ■ of State governments which have arrayed i themselves in rebellion against the Federal authority. To this end, the limits of Virginia might be so altered as to make her boundaries cou . sist of the Blue Ridge on the east and Peon* sylvnoia on the north, leaving those on tbe South and west as at present. By this ar rangement, two counties ol Maryland (Alle ghany and Washington) would be transfer red to the jurisdiction of Virginia. All that portion of Virginia which lies between the Blue Ridge and Chesapeake Bay could then bo added to Maryland, while that portico of the peninsula between the waters of tbe Ches apeake and the Atlantic, now jointly held by Maryland and Virginia, could be incorporated into the State of Delaware. A reference to the map will show that these are great natu ral boundaries, which, for all time to come, would serve to mark the limits of these States. To make the protectian of the oapital com plete, in consideration of the large accession of territory whioh Maryland would receive under tbe arrangement proposed, it would be necessary that that State should consent so to modify her constitution as to limit the ba sis ef her representation to her white popula tion. In this connection, it would be tho part of wisdom to re-annex to the District of Colom bia that portion of its original limits whioh by act of Congress was retrocedcd to the State of Virginia. It is already a grave question, what shall be done with those slaves who are abandoned by their owners on tbe advance of our troops into Southern territory, as at Beaufort distnot in South Carolina) The number left within our control at that point is very considerable, and similar oases will probably occur. What shall be done with them? Can wo afford to send them forward to their masters, to be by them armed agaiust us, or used in producing supplies to sustain the rebellion? Their labor may bo useful to us. Withheld from the en* j euiy it lessens his military resources, and I withholding them has no tendenoy to induce j the horrors of insurrection even in the rebel I communities. They constitute a military re source, and being such, that they should not j be turned over to the enemy is too plain to . discuss. Why deprive him of supplies by a blockade, and voluntarily give him men to produce supplies? Tbe disposition to be made of the slaves o? rebels after the close of the war can be safely left to the wisdom and pa triotism of CoDgress. Tho representatives of the people will unquestionably secure to the ! loyal slaveholders every right to which thoy are entitled under the Constitution of tho country. SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War. 1 To THE PRESIDENT or THE UNITED STATES. IE? 2 * Gen. CAMERON'S report as originally written, contained the following paragraphs. It was sent in this shape to the publishers of leading papers North and West on Friday be fore the meeting of Congress. It was after wards modified, it is stated, at the demand of the President, against tbe warm remonstrances of the Secretary of War. The original copy of the report has been published by some of the papers to which it was sent: aud as a great deal has been said about General Cameron's position on the question of slavery, as affeo ted by the rebellion, we think it right that his views should be made known to our readers. It ia not neccessary for us to say that the views of Gen. Cameron are those of ihe edi tor of this paper, and we believe of a vast majority of the people of tbo loyal States: "It has became a grave question for deter mination, what shall bo done with thß slaves abandoned by their owners on the advanco of our troops into Southern territory, as in the Bsaufort district of South Carolina. Tbe I whole white population therein is six thousand, i whilo the number of negroes exceeds thirty | 'wo thousand. The panic which drove their ; masters iu wild confusion from their homes, leaves them in undisputed possession of the soil. Shall they, armed by their masters, be j placed ia the field to fight against us, or shall their labor be continually employed in repro ducing the means for supporting the armies of rebellion? "The war into whioh this government has been foreed by rebellious traitors, is carried on for the purpose of repossessing tbe property violently and treacherously seized upon by tbe enemies of tbe government, and to re-estab lish tbe authority aud laws of the United Status in tbe plaoes where it is opposed or over thrown by armed insurrection s.ud rebellion.— Its purpose is to recover and defend what is justly its own. "War, even between independeut nations, ia made to subdne the enemy, and all that belongs to that enemy, by ocoapyiag the hostile coun try, and exercising dominion over all the men and things within its torritory. This beiDg j true in respect to independent nations at war I with each other, it follows that rebels who are i laboring by force of arms to overthrow a gov* ' eminent justly bring upon themselves all the ! consequences of war, and provoke tbe destruo | tion merited by tho worst of crimes. That : government would bo false to nutioal Must, and wonld justly excite tbe ridicule of the civil ized world, that would abstain from tbe use of any efficient means to proserve its own exis tence, or to overcome a rebellious and traitor ous enemy, by sparing or protecting the*f>rop* erty of those who are waging war agaiost it. "The principal wealth and power of Che rebel States is a peouliar speoies of property, consisting of tho service or labor of Africa® slaves, or the deeendants of Afrioans. This property has becu variously ostimated at tbe value of from $700,000,000 to §1,000,000,- 000. j "Why should this property be exempt from tho hazzards and consequences of a rebellious war? "It is the boast of the laader of this rebel lion, while he yet had a seat in tbe Senate of the United States, that tho Southern States would bo comparatively safe and free from the ;■ burdens of war, if it should be brougl t on by the contemplated rebellion, and that buust was uocompauied by the savage threat that "North ern towns aud cities would become victims of rapine and military spoil," and that Nortnern men shouid smell Southern gunpowder and feel Southern steel." "No one doubts the disposition of the rebels to carry that threat into execution. The wealth of Northern towns and citi6, the pro duce of northern farms, northern' workshops and manufactories, would certainly be seized, destroyed, er appropriated as military spoil.— No property ID the North would be spared from the hands of the rebels, and their rapine would bo defended under the laws of war.— While the loyal States thus have all their property and possessions at stake, are the in surgent rebels to carry on warfare against the government in peace and security to their own property? "Reason and jnstice and self-preservation forbid that suoh should be the policy of this government, but demand, on tbejeontrary, that, by traitors and rebels to the ex tremity of war, all the rights and powers of war should be exercised to bring it to a speedy end "Those who make war against the govern ment justly forfeit all rights of property, priv ilege, or security, derived from the constitution aud laws, against which they are in armed re bellion; and as the labor and sorvioe of their slaves constitute tbe chief property of the reb els, such property should share the common fate of war to which they have devoted the property of loyal citizens. "While it is plain that tbe slave property of the South is justly subjected to all the con sequences of this rebellious war, and that the government would be untrue to its trust in not ompleyißg all the rights and powers of war to , bring it to a speedy close, the details of the j plan for doing so, like all other military meas- | ures, must, in a great degree, be left to be de- , tormiDcd by particular exigencies. The dispo sition of other property belonging to the rcb- PIS that becomes subject to our arms is gov erned by tbe circumstances of the case. Tbe government has no power tQ hold slaves, none to restrain a Mave of his service. It has a , right, however, to use the voluntary service of slaves liberated by war from their rebel nias ; ters. like any other property of the rebels, in J whatever mode may be tbe most efficient for the defense of the government, the prosecution at tbe war, aci the suppression of the rebell ion. It is as clearly the right of the govern ment to arm slaves, when it may become ne cessary, as it is to use guopowder taken from the enemy. Whether it is expedient to do so is purely a military question. The right is un questionable by the laws of war. The expe diency must be determined by oiroumstaDces, keeping in view the great object of overcom ing the rebels, re-establishing the laws, and restoring peaco to the nation. "It is vain and idle for the government to carry on this war, or hope to maintain its exis tence against rebellious force, without employ ing all the rights and powers of war. As has been said, the right to deprive the rebels; of their property in slaves and slave labor is as clear and absolute as tho right to take forage from tbe field, or ootton from the warehouse, or powder and arms from tha magazine. To leave tbe enemy in the possession/)*' such prop erty as forage and cotton and military stores, and tbe means of constantly reproducing them, would be madness. It is, therefore, equal madness to leave them in pgaceful and seeure possession of slave property, more valuable aud effioient to them for war, than forage, cot* ton and military stores. Such policy would be national 6uieide. What to do with that time and circumstances will soive, and need not be anticipated further than to repeat that they caDnot be held by the government as slaves. It would be useless to keep them as prisoners of war, and self-preservation, the highest duty of a government, or of individu als, demands that tbey should bo disposed of or employed in Ihe most effective manner that will tend most speedily to suppress the iDsur reotion and restore the authority of. the gov ernment. If it shall be found that the men who have been held by the rebels as slaves are capable of beariDg arms and performing effi cient military service, it is the right, and may become the duty of the government, to arm and equip tbcm, and employ their services against the rebels, under proper military regu lations, discipline and oommand. "Bat in whatever manner they may be used by tbe government, it is plain that, once liber ated by the rebellious act of their masters, they should uover again be restored to bond age. By the master's treason and rebellion he forfeits all light to tbe labor and service of his slave; and the slave of the rebellious mas ter, by his service to the government, becomes justly entitled to freedom and protection. "The disposition to be made of the slaves of rebels, after tbe close of the war, can bo safely left to tbe wisdom and patriotism of Congress. Tho representatives ot the people will unquestionably secure to the loyal slave holders every right to which they are entitled under the constitution of the oountry. KEPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. The duties of the navy during the ast sum mer have been threefold. To guard the in surgent ports and a coast line of nearly 3000 miles; to protect our maratime commerce and cruise in pursuit of piratical vessels sent out by the Confederates; and to take part in com bined naval and military expeditions against North and South Carolina, and tbe ports of the infected districts. The reports of the Secre tary of the Navy gives detailed information of the manner of whioh these ardous duties have been performed. Vessels bare been sunk in Ocraoeke Inlet, on the North Carolina coast, and others are about to be sunk in tho harbors of Charleston and Savannah. 153 vessels, of various size, have been cap tured since the institution of the blockade most of them in attempting to run the block ade. Tho naval expeditions were, it seems, plan ned after receiving the reports of a board of officers; who deliberated on the best points to be attaoked and seized. The board consisted of Captains J. F. Dupoot and Chas. H, Davis, of the navy: Najor John C. Barnard, of the army, and Professor Alexander Bacho, of tbe ooast survey. The Secretary reports that Flag Officer A. P. Foote, of the navy, had organized an effi. cient naval force in tho Mississippi, anxilary to the army. Of privateers, the reports states that "such ;of these oruisers as eluded the blockade and oapturo were soon wrecked, beaohed, or suck, with the exceptiou of one, the steamer Sum ter, which, by soma fatality, was permitted to pass tbe Brooklio, then blockading one or the passes of the Mississippi, and after a brief and feeble chase by ihe latter; was allowed to pro oeed on her piratical voyage. An investiga tion of this whole occurence has been ordered by the Department. The Secretary fully sustains the aot of Capt. I Wilkes ia capturing Mason and Slidsll. He says admirably: 4 "The prompt and decisive action of Capt. Wilkes on this occasion merited and received the emphatic approval of the Department; aud if a too generous forbearenoo was oxhibited by him in uot capturing the vessel whiob bad these Rebel emmissaries on hoai%, it may, in view of tho special circumstances, and its patriotic motives, be txonsed. But it must by no means be permitted to constitute a precedent hereafter for the treatment of any case of similar infraction of neutral obligation of for eign vessels engaged in commerce or the car rying trade." There were, on tbe 4th of March last, in commission aud at the servioo of the Secreta ry of tbe navy, only 42 vessels, carrying 555 guns, and 7,600 men. There arc to-d.y, in Commission, 264 vessels, oarrymg 2,557 guns, and over 22,000 men ! This is an immense VOL.-34,.N0. 51. work to do in little more than eight months Besides this, there will be ready very shortly, i 52 new steamers, "peculiarly adapted to coast guard duty," three of which are trou-clad. The Secretary advises the creation of more grades in the naval servic, as likely to add j to the effioienoy of the work, by making tho 1 rewards more frequent. Also he rcccomui'juda a rule that officers bo retired with a sufficient allowance, after forlyfivo years' service. 25 acting lieutenants, 483 acting masters, and 209 masters' mates have been appointed, in order to hsve officers enough for the so'largely increased navy. There have also boon noting engineers and surveyors appointed. The Secretary asks Congress t<. foster the Naval school to such ft degree tint at loasr double the usual number of cadets miv be in structed. On the slavery question tbo Secretary say* nothing, but the following, "on tin employ ment of fugitives," will show that he propos es to protect loyal men, and arrest insurgents, without asking if they wore blaok or white. - lie says: "In tbo coastwise and blockading duties ot the navy it has been not frequently that fu gitives from insurrectionary places have sought our ships for refuge and protection, and oar naval commanders have applied to ma for in struction as to the proper disposition which should be made of snob refugees. My an swer has been that, if insurgents, thoy should be baoded over to the custody of the Govern ment, bat, if on the contrary, they were tree from any voluntary participation in the rebel lion, and sought the shelter and protection of our flag, then they should be cared for end employed in eomo useful manner, and might be enlisted to servo on our public vessels or"-' in our navy yards, receiving wages for thei. labor. If such employment could not be fur nished to all by the navy, they might bo re ferred to the army, and if no employment, could be found for them in the 'public service, they should be allowed to proceed freely ar.d peaceably, without restraint, to seek a liveli hood in aDy loyal portion of the country.— This I have considered to bo tho whole re quired duty in the promises, of our naval offi cars." The naval estimates for the year ending June 30th 1863, amount to §14,625,545; and besides this, the Secretary reports a defi cit of $18,530,000 needed for current expect sea to pay for vessels purchased, and for ne cessary alterations incurred in firing them for naval purposes, for the purchase of add:" tional vessels, for the construction and completion of twenty iron clad vessels. Abstract