Mr. Livingston, not being connected with the military, gave no parole. The names, regiments, and other particulars were written down, and they were molested no further. Jeff. and his band were exceedingly elated at the success of the exploit. He said he intended to take every thing he could lay his hands on belonging to the Government. At Jeff's request, the captain of the boat had a barrel of common whiskey rolled out for the benefit of the band, who were soon enjoying themselves filling and emptying cups and glasses. Fearing that Jeff. would attempt to secure Government documents, Mr. Livingston, having important ones from Gen. Grant, &c., at once had them hidden. No sooner had he done this, than a search of rooms began for documents, which proved fruitless, as far as those in the possession of Mr. Livingston were concerned.

Jeff. saw a gentleman on board, an old acquaintance, and asked him if he remembered how they both got drunk at the railroad celebration at Atchison over a year ago? On being answered, he said that he had not been taking any thing strong since that time, but immediately afterward asked his old friend to the bar, and swallowed about three inches of whiskey. Jeff was quite communicative, saying, among other things, that he and his men had ridden fifty-three miles in less than ten hours, starting the previous day at four o'clock. He was at Price's Landing when the gunboat came up to escort the Maria Denning, and was so close, his marksmen could have killed every man on board. He had four more cannon in the brush than those visible, and had a full regiment of Indians back of the place, and almost within hail.

The seizure of the Platte Valley took place on Tuesday between four and five o'clock. He intimated his intention of leaving, and as the boat was about leaving also, he told the captain that he would show him how easy it would have been for him to sink the boat. He fired two shots, one from a twelve and the other from a six pounder, which fell near the opposite shore.

Every man of his party was well mounted, and armed to the teeth with a pair of pistols, a knife and gun, and some had sabres; most of them were well clothed. Another thing Jeff. said was, that he was after the Maria Denning. He knew she would be guarded, and that he could not take her, but he wanted to sink her, and "by G-d" she would not get down to Cairo, as he and a squad of his men would be found behind every paw-paw bush between

When leaving, his men gave three cheers for Jeff. Davis, and three more for Jeff. Thompson. During all this, a large number of women on horseback were in the vicinity, but merely looked on. It is supposed they travel with the brigands.

The boat crossed the river, where a man was put out by the Government agent, with orders to ride to Cairo with all speed, and inform the authorities of the state of affairs. The messenger rode the distance, twenty-five miles, in two hours.

Soon after reaching Cape Girardeau, five hundred men went down the river on the Illinois. The boat had not been long at Cape Girardeau, when Capt. Wm. C. Postal and Messrs. White and Lyle were arrested by order of the provost marshal, Capt. Warner, on a suspicion of disloyalty. They were given quarters at the Johnson House.

A lady named Mrs. Brown, accompanied by a lieutenant of the Federal army, went on board the boat at Cape Girardeau. She seemed to be on terms of intimacy with Mr. White. His arrest may have been caused by the fact we learned soon after, that this lady's husband was in a rebel camp. She was overheard to say that "she was travelling around to see what she could." A search of the rooms and passengers was instituted, and Mrs. Brown was seen to burn several letters. When asked why she did so, she said they were "kind o’" love letters, from St. Louis, etc. This was corroborated by the young lieutenant who accompanied her on board. The search was conducted by the provost marshal, and we understand he arrested Mrs. Brown, as well as the captain and clerk of the boat, and probably the lieutenant and others.

Doc. 177.

PROCLAMATION OF GOV. HARRIS. EXECUTIVE HEAD-QUARTERS, NASHVILLE, TENN., Nov. 19, 1861. To the Officers in command of the Militia of the State of Tennessee in the Second, Third and Fourth Divisions:

THE danger of invasion upon the part of the Federal forces is imminent. This invasion threatens the quiet and security of your homes, and involves the security of your sacred rights of person and property. The warning example of Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky bids you, if you would preserve your firesides, your homes, and the sanctity of your wives and daughters, to meet the despotic invader and his minions at the threshold of your State and drive him back. Let the soil of Tennessee be preserved from his unhallowed touch, and let him know that in defence of our liberties and our altars every Tennesseean is ready to yield

States. Outrages of the most despotic character have been perpetrated upon her people; some of her most eminent citizens have been seized and borne away to languish in foreign prisons, without knowing who were their accusers or the specific charges made against them, while others have been forced to abandon their homes, their families, and property, and seek a refuge in distant lands.

Finding that the Confederate States were about to be invaded through Kentucky, and that her people, after being deceived into a mistaken security, were unarmed, and in danger of being subjected by the Federal forces, our armies were marched into that State to repel the enemy, and prevent their occupation of certain strategic points which would have given them great advantages in the contesta step which was justified, not only by the necessities of self-defence on the part of the Confederate States, but also by a desire to aid the people of Kentucky. It was never intended by the Confederate Government to conquer or coerce the people of that State; but, on the contrary, it was declared by our generals that they would withdraw their troops if the Federal Government would do likewise. Proclamation was also made of the desire to respect the neutrality of Kentucky, and the intention to abide by the wishes of her people as soon as they were free to express their opinions.

These declarations were approved by me, and I should regard it as one of the best effects of the march of our troops into Kentucky, if it should end in giving to her people liberty of choice and a free opportunity to decide their own destiny according to their own will.

The army has been chiefly instrumental in prosecuting the great contest in which we are engaged; but the navy has also been effective in full proportion to its means. The naval officers, deprived to a great extent of an opportunity to make their professional skill available at sea, have served with commendable zeal and gallantry on shore and upon inland waters, further detail of which will be found in the reports of the Navy and of War.

Some of these difficulties can only be overcome by time, and an improved condition of the country upon the restoration of peace, but others may be remedied by legislation, and your attention is invited to the recommendations contained in the report of the head of that Department. The condition of the Treasury will, doubtless, be a subject of anxious inquiry on your part. I am happy to say that the financial system already adopted has worked well so far, and promises good results for the future. To the extent that Treasury notes may be issued, the Government is enabled to borrow money without interest, and thus facilitate the conduct of the war. This extent is measured by the portion of the field of circulation which these notes can be made to occupy. The proportion of the field thus occupied depends again upon the amount of the debts for which they are receivable; and dues, not only to the Confederate and State Governments, but also to corporations and individuals, are payable in this medium; a large amount of it may be circulated at par.

There is every reason to believe that the Confederate Treasury note is fast becoming such a medium. The provision that these notes shall be convertible into Confederate stock, bearing eight per cent. interest, at the pleasure of the holder, insures them against a depreciation below the value of that stock, and no considerable fall in that value need be feared so long as the interest shall be punctually paid. The punctual payment of this interest has been secured by the act passed by you at the last session, imposing such a rate of taxation as must provide sufficient means for that purpose.

For the successful prosecution of this war, it is indispensable that the means of transporting troops and military supplies be furnished, as far as possible, in such manner as not to interrupt the commercial intercourse between our people, nor place a check on their productive energies. To this end the means of transportation from one section of the country to the other must be carefully guarded and improved. And this should be the object of anxious care on the part of State and Confederate Governments, so far as they may have power over the subject.

Virginia, and Greensborough, in North Carolina. The construction of this comparatively short line would give us a through route from North to South, in the interior of the Confederate States, and give us access to a population and to military resources from which we are now, in a great measure, debarred. We should increase greatly the safety and capacity of our means for transporting men and military

fit out a large naval expedition with the confessed purpose not only to pillage, but to incite a servile war in our midst.

If we husband our means and make a judicious use of our resources, it would be difficult to fix a limit to the period during which we could conduct a war against the adversary whom we now encounter. The very efforts which he makes to isolate and invade us must exhaust his means, whilst they serve to complete the circle and diversify the productions of our industrial system. The reconstruction which he seeks to effect by arms becomes daily more and more palpably impossible. Not only do the causes which induced us to separate still exist in full force, but they have been strengthened, and whatever doubt may have lingered in the minds of any must have been completely dispelled by subsequent events.

If, instead of being a dissolution of a league, it were indeed a rebellion in which we are engaged, we might find ample vindication for the course we have adopted in the scenes which are now being enacted in the United States. Our people now look with contemptuous astonishment on those with whom they have been so recently associated. They shrink with aversion from the bare idea of renewing such a connection. When they see a President making war without the assent of Congress; when they behold judges threatened because they maintain the writ of habeas corpus, so sacred to freemen; when they see justice and law trampled under the armed heel of military authority, and upright men and innocent women dragged to distant dungeons upon the mere edict of a despot; when they find all this tolerated and applauded by a people who had been in the full enjoyment of freedom but a few months ago, they believe that there must be some radical incompatibility between such a people and themselves. With such a people we may be content to live at peace, but the separation is final, and for the independence we have asserted we will accept no alternative.

The nature of the hostilities which they have waged against us must be characterized as barbarous wherever it is understood. They have bombarded undefended villages without giving notice to women and children to enable them to escape, and in one instance selected the night as the period when they might surprise them most effectually whilst asleep and unsuspicious of danger. Arson and rapine, the destruction of private houses and property, and injuries of the most wanton character, even upon non-combatants, have marked their forays along their borders and upon our territory. Although we ought to have been admonished by these things that they were disposed to make war upon us in the most cruel and relentless

If they convert their soldiers into incendiaries and robbers, and involve us in a species of war which claims non-combatants, women, and children as its victims, they must expect to be treated as outlaws and enemies of mankind. There are certain rights of humanity which are entitled to respect even in war, and he who refuses to regard them forfeits his claims, if captured, to be considered as a prisoner of war, but must expect to be dealt with as an offender against all law, human and divine.

But, not content with violating ou rrights under the law of nations at home, they have extended these injuries to us within other jurisdictions. The distinguished gentlemen whom, with your approval, at the last session, I commissioned to represent the Confederacy at certain foreign Courts, have been recently seized by the captain of a United States ship-of-war, on board a British steamer, on their voyage from the neutral Spanish port of Havana to England. The United States have thus claimed a general jurisdiction over the high seas, and, entering a British ship, sailing under its country's flag, violated the rights of embassy, for the most part held sacred even amongst bar barians, by seizing our Ministers whilst under the protection and within the dominions of a neutral nation.

These gentlemen were as much under the jurisdiction of the British Government upon that ship, and beneath its flag, as if they had been upon its soil; and a claim on the part of the United States to seize them in the streets of London would have been as well founded as that to apprehend them where they were taken. Had they been malefactors, and citizens even of the United States, they could not have been arrested on a British ship or on British soil unless under the express provisions of a treaty, and according to the forms therein provided for the extradition of criminals.

But rights the most sacred seem to have lost all respect in their eyes. When Mr. Faulkner, a former Minister of the United States to France, commissioned before the secession of Virginia, his native State, returned in good faith to Washington to settle his accounts and fulfil all the obligations into which he had entered, he was perfidiously arrested and impris oned in New York, where he now is. The unsuspecting confidence with which he reported to his Government was abused, and his desire to fulfil his trust to them was used to his injury.

In conducting this war, we have sought no aid and proposed no alliances, offensive and defensive, abroad. We have asked for a recog nized place in the great family of nations, but in doing so we have demanded nothing for which we did not offer a fair equivalent. The advantages of intercourse are mutual amongst nations, and in seeking to establish diplomatic

When the Confederate States, at your last session, became a party to the declaration reaffirming this principle of international law, which has been recognized so long by publicists and Governments, we certainly supposed that it was to be universally enforced. The customary laws of nations are made up of their practice rather than their declarations; and if such declarations are only to be enforced in particular instances, at the pleasure of those who make them, then the commerce of the world, so far from being placed under the regulation of a general law, will become subject to the caprice of those who execute or suspend it at will. If such is to be the course of nations in regard to this law, it is plain that it will thus become a rule for the weak and not for the strong.

Feeling that such views must be taken by the neutral nations of the earth, I have caused the evidence to be collected which proves completely the utter inefficiency of the proclaimed blockade of our coast, and shall direct it to be laid before such Governments as shall afford us the means of being heard. But, although we should be benefited by the enforcement of this law so solemnly declared by the great Powers of Europe, we are not dependent on that enforcement for the successful prosecution of the war. As long as hostilities continue, the Confederate States will exhibit a steadily increasing capacity to furnish their troops with food, clothing, and arms.

If they should be forced to forego many of the luxuries and some of the comforts of life, they will at least have the consolation of knowing that they are thus daily becoming more and more independent of the rest of the world. If, in this process, labor in the Confederate States should be gradually diverted from those great Southern staples which have given life to so much of the commerce of mankind, into other channels, so as to make them rival producers instead of profitable customers, they will not be the only or even chief losers by this change in the direction of their industry.

Although it is true, that the cotton supply from the Southern States could only be totally cut off by the subversion of our social system, yet it is plain that a long continuance of this blockade night, by a diversion of labor and investment of capital in other employments, so diminish the supply as to bring ruin upon all those interests of foreign countries which are dependent on that staple. For every laborer who is diverted from the culture of cotton in the South, perhaps four times as many elsewhere, who have found subsistence in the va

While the war which is waged to take from us the right of self-government can never attain that end, it remains to be seen how far it may work a revolution in the industrial system of the world, which may carry suffering to other lands as well as to our own. In the mean time we shall continue this struggle in humble dependence upon Providence, from whose searching scrutiny we cannot conceal the secrets of our hearts, and to whose rule we confidently submit our destinies. For the rest we shall depend upon ourselves. Liberty is always won where there exists the unconquerable will to be free, and we have reason to know the strength that is given by a conscious sense not only of the magnitude but of the righteousness of our cause. JEFFERSON DAVIS.

RICHMOND, November 18, 1861.

Doc. 179.

EXPEDITION TO EASTERN VIRGINIA,

BY THE FORCES UNDER GENERAL DIX.

THE following is an account of the expedition as given by the correspondent of New York Herald:

BALTIMORE, November 21, 1861. Geographically, the counties of Accomac and Northampton, Va., constitute a part of Maryland, from which, indeed, they are separated only by an imaginary line, beginning at the mouth of Pocomoke River, and running in a northeast direction across the thirty-eighth degree of north latitude. Accomac County, the more northern of the two, is also far the larger, containing two hundred and twenty-four thousand acres of land, of which one hundred and fifty thousand are improved and under cultivation. The population of the county is about twentyfive thousand, of whom five thousand are slaves. Many of the people are engaged in the fisheries, in attending to oyster beds, &c.; and quite a number of the young men have been for many years sailors in the United States Navy. Most of the inhabitants, however, are engaged in agricultural pursuits, the aggregate value of their farms being four millions two hundred and twenty-three thousand dollars. All the usual grains-wheat, corn, oats, rye and barley

are raised, the aggregate annual production being one million five hundred thousand bushels. The people are intelligent and industrious, and, having been left pretty much to themselves during the present political troubles, have, for the most part, observed an outward neutrality. The majority of the people have been devotedly attached to the Union, but, from motives of prudence, have acquiesced with the action of the State in going out of the Union. Many of the young men, however, in the early part of the struggle, went over to the mainland, in Middlesex and Gloucester counties, and to Yorktown, and joined the rebel forces there.