LET us look behind this curtain of death-look into the charnel of liberty and civilization. Mr. Lincoln has told the country what he intends to do for "at least three years more." That carries with it the fact that he does not intend to vacate his present seat. The tone of his address, the style and fashion of all his acts, prove that he does not mean that his continuance in office shall depend upon the doubts and chances of an ordinary election. He thinks he has a certainty. It is evident that he means to keep himself in power, either with or without the free consent of the people. That experiment, we believe, will end upon the gallows. But suppose it should not? Suppose the people of these northern States are so dwarfed in their virtue, their manhood, and their love of liberty, as to tamely submit to the rule of the usurper, then let us look behind this black curtain and see what is in store for this demoralized, this demonized people.

1. Bankruptcy; not only public, but private bankruptcy; total exhaustion and ruin upon all-upon rich and poor alike! We have pretty nearly

reached the depths of that misery already. But there is a lower deep still. The ruin that has fallen, a century may repair. Re-elect Lincoln, and ten centuries will not repair the havoc. All time will not do it. The ruin will be eternal. Four years of his rule have carried our finances to the bottom of a sca where no plummet or line, in the hands of this generation, can ever reach. One of the ablest writers on finance in England seems to have carefully reflected upon our financial condition, and his remarks may, perhaps, impress our readers with some idea of the dangers that threateu to overwhelm us :

"The financial policy of America exceeds European comprehension. Mere extravagance is, certainly, neither a novel nor a surprising characteristic of national expenditure; in fact, a sound public economy forms an exception rather than a rule in the Administration of States. But in Europe, when a country is in difficulties, the misfortune is publicly recognized and the embarrassmont publicly confessed; whereas, in America, though the prodigality of the Government is beyond all conception, and debts are accruing at a rate absolutely unexampled, the Finance Minister does not seem to take the matter to heart, or to imagine that the difficulty in prospect is worth consideration. Mr. Chase has the credit of being an intelligent and able statesman, and he has certainly contrived by some means or other to pay his way

and avert a financial crash up to the present time. But this only renders his apparent unconcern more astonishing. The hundredth part of his embarrassments would tax Mr. Gladstone's ingenuity to the utmost, and set the public in a ferment of excitement. In this country we raised last year, by an elaborate system of taxation, about £70,000,000, and we have just discovered, with satisfaction, though without much surprise, that this is some £2,500,000 more than is wanted. We always expect a surplus to be provided, and are accustomed to see it turn out larger than was anticipated. But in America not the least approach is made to equilibrium between taxation and expenditure. The Federals are spending nearly three times as much as we spend, and yet they are paying in taxes not much above half what we pay. Their expenditure at this moment is certainly not less than £190,000,000 ($950,000,000) a year, and it is probably nearer £200,000,000. To meet this Mr. Chase does not so much as propose to raise more than £15,000,000, ($10,000,000,000,) and is by no means sure that he will succeed in getting even this. Last year the result fell far short of his calculations, and this year they may do so again. In any ease, however, there will be a deficit of something like £150,000,000, which will be met by borrowing, and that enormous sum will be added to the national debt. It was suggested even in Congress that the customs and excise duty should be doubled; but customs already yielded a good third of the whole Federal revenue, and Mr. Chase has hitherto entirely failed to make anything out of the excise. He reckoned last year upon £25,000,000 from that source, and obtained less than £7.000.000. All this while, too, even if these financial reformers should succeed in getting these propositions adopted, the deficit will stal be going on at the rate of £100,000,000 2 venr. They propose to raise £70,000,000 or £50 000 000, instead of £45,000,000, and mainly, as they hope, from taxes on luxnries; but the expenditure will be still more than double the income, after all the increase. We know that the Americans are a sanguine people, but how they can be deceived on this subject we cannot imagine. Confident as they are, they are also exceedingly acute, especially in inoney matters, and they must needs understand what it is to spend £200,000 000 a year out of £50 000,000. Yet the nost observant of them only talk of putting the scoop a little deeper into the pockets of the rich-as if that could bring any material improvement in the case before them. The rest, we suppose, rely on the "greatness," the "youth" and the "lasticity" of their country, forgetting all these possessions are declining in value through the very extravagance now going on. A "young" country incans, among other things, a country not yet in debt, but in this respect America is now as old as England. Its territories are immense, it is true, and its population may

hereafter become fifty millions instead of thirty, but the prospects of that increase are greatly damaged by the impending weight of taxation and the possible dearness of land. Nevertheless, the extravagance goes on, and a system of finance utterly vicious goes on too. Not the least stint is put upon outlay; nor the least spur is given to taxation. What little money is raised is by the very methods we have learned to condemn. If we are involved in such difficulties, we should hold that the only true course was to establish freedom of trade, to remove protective imports, and give ample scope to national enterprise. We should levy a large income tax for the purpose of unfettering industry, and then we should trust to hard work, perseverance and economy for bringing ourselves right. The Americans take a course exactly opposite. The Federal Secretary only expected for his income tax about £6,000,000, and it is still unknown what proportion of this sum was actually obtained. Protective tariffs are regarded as the chief source of revenue, and the only idea of reform seems to consist in making them more protective still. The Americans, with a population smaller than our own, must look forward even after the war to an expenditure not less than ours, including a charge for debt at least as large. If they imagine that they can meet these liabilities without difficulty, we think they will find themselves mistaken; but if they should really achieve such a financial miracle, we can only say that the rest of the world will gladly learn so convenient and agreeable a lesson."

Senator Davis, in a speech in the Senate, a few days before its adjourn ment, made an elaborate estimate of our present indebtedness, which has not since been assailed by the friends of the Administration. According to his figures the public debt was, on the 1st of July, 1864, as follows:

Amount stated by the Secretary
24th May.
Uncalled for appropriations 1st
July.

$1,730,870,926

350,000,000

Deficiencies in former appropriations.. Bounties.

105,000,000

150,000,000