The Continental Monthly , Vol. 2 No. 5, November 1862: Devoted to Literature and National Policy

In Short

This issue of The Continental Monthly serves as a mid-Civil War miscellany combining ardent Union nationalism, emancipation advocacy, serialized popular fiction, and cultural commentary. Through political essays by figures like Robert J. Walker and F.P. Stanton, serialized stories by Edmund Kirke and Richard B. Kimball, poetry, and book reviews, the periodical reflects the northern intellectual and social climate of November 1862. It grapples with the causes of southern secession, the logistics of the slave trade, the economic potential of Liberia, and the rapidly modernizing commercial landscapes of New York City, demonstrating how literature and national policy intertwined during a national crisis.

The Story

The volume opens with political analyses dissecting the origins of the Southern rebellion. Writers argue that the conflict stems not from sudden grievances, but from decades of nursing sectional enmities and a refusal by southern elites to accept their dwindling constitutional weight. These political essays insist that the North must remain firm, linking the military struggle directly to the ultimate destruction of slavery and the potential migration of free black Americans to Liberia to build an independent republic.

Interspersed with these political tracts are narrative works that dramatize the era's social and moral conflicts. In Edmund Kirke’s serialized contributions, a Northern traveler named Kirke encounters the raw, brutal reality of the Southern slave trade. Posing as a buyer, he interacts with a cynical trader named Jake Larkin to purchase and immediately free a woman named Phyllis and her children, confronting the inhumanity of chattel slavery firsthand.

Concurrently, Richard B. Kimball's serialized novel, Was He Successful?, tracks the ambitious rise of Hiram Meeker. Moving from rural Burnsville to the bustling commercial hub of New York City, Hiram navigates the shifting, high-stakes world of Manhattan real estate and trade. Driven by a calculating, cynical view of his fellow men, Hiram outmaneuvers business partners like Elihu Joslin, using legal pressure and financial leverage to secure his own fortune while admiring the wealth and style of Broadway.

Alongside these main threads run shorter literary pieces, light fiction, and essays on natural science and art. A narrative set in Rome follows American expatriates like the artist Caper as they banter about art, love, and national identity while flirting in classic European settings. Theoretical essays explore the physical harmonies linking light, sound, and color. The issue concludes with critical reviews of contemporary literature—including Thomas Carlyle’s biography of Frederick the Great—and editorial announcements detailing the magazine’s new ownership, expanding editorial board, and firm commitment to supporting the Union cause.

How It Unfolds

The roots of disunion The issue begins with an examination of the long-festering political causes behind the Civil War, laying the moral responsibility for the conflict squarely on Southern political leaders who sought to preserve minority control over the Federal Government.

Voices for emancipation Essays champion the cause of gradual emancipation, arguing that the expansion of Liberia and the eventual voluntary exodus of free black citizens will establish a thriving African-American republic while eradicating slavery worldwide.

Exposing the auction block In the narrative serials, Kirke confronts the grim mechanics of human trafficking in the South, tricking the slave trader Jake Larkin into selling him an enslaved family so he can grant them their freedom.

A young man's ambition The scene shifts to the rapid growth of New York City, where Hiram Meeker arrives in Manhattan, sizing up the populace and resolving to manipulate the commercial system to achieve personal wealth and prominence.

Outwitting a partner Hiram successfully corner-forces his business associate Elihu Joslin into signing over his share of a paper mill, walking away from the negotiation triumphant and intoxicated by his own cunning.

Art and philosophy abroad Lighter prose pieces transport the reader to Europe, where American travelers gather in Roman plazas to discuss classic art, exchange bouquets of violets, and debate the merits of their homeland versus European culture.

Critical review and editorial vision The volume closes with literary reviews of works like Carlyle's Friedrich the Second and a formal notice outlining the journal's expanded political coverage and unwavering loyalty to the Union under its new leadership.

The People

• Hon. F. P. Stanton and Hon. Robert J. Walker: Prominent political commentators and editors who supply the volume's policy framework, arguing forcefully for Union victory, constitutional authority, and the moral necessity of ending slavery.
• Kirke: A Northern visitor traveling through the South who uses his wits and financial resources to purchase and liberate enslaved individuals, serving as an eyewitness to the cruelties of the slave trade.
• Jake Larkin: A rough, plain-spoken slave trader who views his human cargo with cynical pragmatism, yet recognizes Kirke's shrewdness and holds no illusions about the sordid nature of his own profession.
• Hiram Meeker: A scheming, highly ambitious young businessman from the country who views New York City as a playing field ripe for manipulation, pursuing financial triumph with cold calculation.
• Elihu Joslin: Hiram’s older, ruthless business associate in New York who attempts to double-cross his young partner, only to be outmaneuvered by Hiram's legal traps.
• Josephine: A thoughtful, observant young woman who quietly understands the personal sacrifices made by those around her while remaining steadfast in her loyalties.
• Caper: An American art student living in Rome, whose lighthearted romantic pursuits and playful debates with his uncle highlight the lifestyle of 19th-century American expatriates.

In Its Own Voice

"Mighty convulsions, like that which now shakes this continent, must have their roots in far distant times, and must gather their nutriment of passion and violence from a wide field of sympathetic opinion."

Context: The opening essay on the causes of the Civil War reflects on how deep historical forces, rather than sudden events, brought about the conflict.

"I wouldn't own her for the whole State: if I had her, I'd free her on the spot!"

Context: Kirke loses his temper and drops his Southern facade while debating the purchase of an enslaved woman with the trader Jake Larkin.

"What a field, indeed, to undertake to manage and direct and control these fellows!"

Context: Hiram Meeker marvels at the dense crowds on Broadway upon his arrival in New York, instantly plotting his commercial ascent.

What It's Really About

At its core, this issue captures a society in the mid of a transformative crisis, torn between its founding ideals and its systemic flaws. The political essays grapple with the existential question of whether a democratic republic can survive internal rebellion while dismantling the institution of slavery. The fiction mirrors this struggle on an individual scale, contrasting Kirke's moral outrage against human exploitation with Hiram Meeker's ruthless, self-interested capitalism. Underneath its varied contents—from discussions of urban growth in New York to aesthetic theories of light and sound—the volume asks what kind of nation the United States will become once the war ends: one defined by moral integrity and free labor, or one driven purely by material greed and compromise.

Why Read It Today

This publication offers a raw, real-time snapshot of Northern intellectual life during one of the most critical moments in American history. Rather than viewing the Civil War through the lens of modern hindsight, a reader experiences the conflict as it unfolded on the page in late 1862—replete with the immediate anxieties, moral debates, and wartime passions of the period. The writing shifts rapidly from high-minded political rhetoric and anti-slavery drama to Victorian serialization and cultural gossip.

Reading the volume requires patience with 19th-century literary conventions. Modern readers will encounter dated prose, lengthy ideological arguments, uncomfortable period attitudes regarding race and colonization, and phonetic renditions of regional dialects. However, these elements make the text invaluable as a historic artifact. It will deeply satisfy readers of Civil War history, nineteenth-century American literature, and historical journalism, providing a vivid window into how mid-nineteenth-century Americans processed the destruction and reimagining of their country.