A question of deep import has been decided emphatically in favor of the Constitution, the Union, the equality of the States and the rights of the South. A prize the athletes of the nation have wrestled for in Congress is awarded at last, by the proper umpire.
Original passage & context
"Thus has a politico-legal question, involving others of deep import, been decided emphatically in favor of the advocates and supporters of the Constitution and the Union, the equality of the States and the rights of the South [...] A prize, for which the athletes of the nation have often wrestled in the halls of Congress, has been awarded at last, by the proper umpire, to those who have justly won it."
The semi-official organ of Virginia Democrats — the same paper that would later call Harpers Ferry the best argument for disunion. Here it treats the Court as an umpire whose ruling settles a wrestling match, a framing the North rejected within days.