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States maintained now upon these principles. | does at last come, falls like snow and lights as Her position now is just what it was in 1850, gently as thistle-down. Surely it cannot be a with respect to the Southern States. Her plat-cross"? If it be, half the old Union is in form then has been adopted by most, if not all, the conspiracy, for all are arining and rushing the other Southern States. Now I would add to war, as if they expected serious work. but one additional plank to that platform, which I have stated, and one which time has shown to be necessary.

If all this fails, we shall at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we have done our duty and all that patriotism could require.

Mr. Stephens continued for some time on other matters, which are omitted, and then took his seat amidst great applause.

N. Y. Times, November 22, 1860.

Doo. 148.

What next? An attempt to recapture Fort Sumter? A contest for Fort Pickens? A struggle for the Capital? A diversion in Texas? A renewal of negotiations? No one knows, and, what is worse, no one credits President Lincoln for any plan. We can only compare the two sides, and strike a balance. In the North there is an army and a navy, and money, and a more numerous white population, without, too, the incubus of Slavery. There is also the tradition of the Union, the Capitol, and the successor of Washington. Modern warfare cannot go on without money, and the Northern

THE ENGLISH PRESS ON THE FALL OF States can more easily raise and spend a hun

FORT SUMTER.

At

dred millions of dollars a year than the Southern can raise ten millions. All that is outside, and material, is in favor of the North. It has the preponderance of every thing that can be counted, measured, and weighed, that can be bought and sold; that can be entered in legers and put on a balance-sheet. It has the manufactories, the building yards, the dockyards,-the whole apparatus of national wealth and strength. It has the money market, and it borrows more easily than the South, where, however, political zeal sustains a fictitious credit. So, in the North we read of numerous gatherings of State forces-of many steamers chartered, stripped of their finery, filled with soldiers' food and ammunition, and steaming southward. So much for the North. In the South, on the contrary, there is little or nothing but that which often becomes the counterbalance to every thing else. There are the men of action, who can combine, conspire, keep the secret, have a plan, and carry it out without wavering or flinching. The politicians at Washington have been vacillating between peace and war, between compromise and resistance. In the South there has been one steady, uninterrupted progress toward secession and war. To the very last, President Lincoln has been behindhand. His ships, sent to relieve Fort Sumnter, only arrived in time to be distant spectators of the scene; they came, in fact, but to contribute to the glory of the captors, and to bring shame and distrust on themselves and their cause. If this is to be an omen of the result, the rich and unready North will be no match for the fiery forwardness of the South.

NATURE, or something that stands in its stead, is still strong in the Americans. They fight "willing, but with unwilling minds." They lift the hand to strike, they wing the instrument of death, but a mysterious power averts the stroke, or blunts the edge, or deadens the blow. Are they in earnest, or are they playing at war, or dreaming that they strike, and still strike not? It sounds more like a dangerous game than a sad reality. Seven batteries breached and bombarded Fort Sumter for forty hours, burnt down its barracks, blew up several magazines, threw shells into it innumerable, and did a vast show of destruction. The fort replied with like spirit. length it surrendered, the garrison marched out prisoners of war, and it was then found that not a man was killed or an officer wounded on either side. Many a "difficulty" at a bar has cost more bloodshed. Was this a preconcerted feat of conjuring? Were the rival Presidents saluting one another in harmless fireworks to amuse the groundlings? The whole affair is utterly inexplicable. It sounds like the battles when the coat of mail had come to its perfection, and when the only casualty, after a day's hard fighting, was a case of suffocation and a few bruises. Odin's heroes, as they renew their daily warfare, are really wounded, though their wounds are quickly healed. This is sparring with boxing-gloves-not the loaded cæstus of modern warfare. It is a mere spectacle. The population and even the ladies of Charleston poured forth to see the sight. Ten thousand soldiers lined the works, watching the sport But long shots are very different from close and contributing their share. Our own Cock-quarters. A fight of batteries across a river, neys have seen as much, and done as much, at Cremorne, or the Surrey Gardens, not more unscathed, and, let us hope, in not more pacific mood. But, perhaps, this is only the interchange of courtesies which in olden times preceded real war, The result is utterly different from all we are accustomed to hear of the Americans. There," a word or a blow" has been the rule. In this case, the blow, when it

watched with telescopes, and quietly witnessed by a large population, affords little clue for the result of a battle, hand to hand, step by step, with revolvers, knives, and what not, round the very building of the Capitol. That appears to be the thing next apprehended, and President Lincoln has summoned to his aid all the miscellaneous local corps of the several Northern States that may choose to hear him. Strange

that the spot once held so sacred and so carefully insulated from local or partial associations, should become the object of the first civil war! That is, indeed, what we have come to. Many of us remember, not without a tingle of shame for our own country, the wanton attack of the British army on the Capitol, and the foolish injuries done there, destined to be more than avenged. This was but a souvenir of the old War of Independence. No British officer would have dared to insult the shrine of American union and liberty, had it not been felt that, besides the question then at issue, there was an account still to settle for the former war. Since the year 1812, there has been a generation of mutual respect of even affection. That is all gone by. Other combatants gather round Washington. The War Minister of the Southern Confederacy publicly promises that the Secession flag shall float over the Capitol by the 1st of May. Any day it is expected that Virginia, whether by choice or necessity, will join the Secession, and then the sacred district of Columbia, which was to have been the common ground of the world's great brotherhood, will be the debateable border of a divided allegiance and a bloody quarrel. Meanwhile time brings round anniversaries, which are celebrated as of yore, but with the feeling that they are now a solemn mockery. What are the Declaration of Independence, the Battle of Lexington, the Birthday of Clay, and the other red-letter days in the American Calendar, now that the glorious fabric is itself in the dust, and the mountain made with hands shattered to pieces? It was but the other day, that all eyes were fixed on the Capital of the Old World as the single object of interest, and the expected scene of the great events that were to mark the latter years of this century. Rome occupied the attention of all men. A hundred questions were asked, but all were of Rome. Will Rome be still a Capital? Will it be the head of a Confederation, or the throne of a King, or the seat of a foreign Viceroy, or the See of a Universal Bishop, or the Senate of a National Republic? Before these questions could be answered, and while they are still asked, the Capital of the New World comes to the foreground, and is the object of much the same inquiries. The two cities of Rome and Washington are not so differently situated at this moment, nor are their prospects so different as might be. For the present, indeed, we shall all think more of Washington than of Rome.

-London Times, April 27.

We have at last the intelligence that hostilities have broken out between the Federal Government and the Southern States. Fort Sumter has fallen, after what is described as a gallant resistance on the part of Major Anderson and his force, of forty hours' duration. But, singular enough-and fortunate as it is singular during this protracted cannonade, in the course of which some 1,700 rounds of shot and

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shell were fired by both parties, not one single man was killed on either side, and it is doubtful whether any one has been wounded. This bloodless conclusion of the first encounter, taken in connection with the circumstances which preceded and followed it, seems to indicate that there is no very bitter or rancorous feeling on either side, and favors the hope that a good deal of the pent-up irritation of the Southerners has found vent in the first and comparatively harmless passage of arms. From the correspondence between General Beauregard and Major Anderson immediately before the forts opened fire, it was quite obvious that bloodshed was not intended, and that the commander of Fort Sumter, in resisting the demand to evacuate, stood simply on a point of honor, and, in returning the fire of the Secessionists, only desired to justify himself to his Government, and remove the impression which his passive conduct appears to have created at Washington. We say all this is to be gathered from the correspondence in question, and derives confirmation from the fact that, immediately after Major Anderson hauled down his flag, he proceeded to Charleston, where he became the guest of General Beauregard. It is further observable that, although there were ships of war under the orders of the Federal Government, in the offing, no attempt was made to relieve Fort Sumter, nor when the commander commenced to reply to the Secessionists' fire. The excitement both at Charleston and at Washington is described as intense; but it would seem the feeling has not reached the occupants of the White House, who, and more especially the President, are said to be calm and composed. Neither has the news from the South, notwithstanding its gravity, produced any thing like a panic at New York. The stocks generally receded, it is true, but the Government Securities are reported to have been firmly held-a fact in itself of sufficient significance, as indicating confidence in the proceedings of the Administration. The suspension of business in Wall street was the natural consequence of the report of the actual outbreak of hostilities, but the absence of any thing approaching to a panic could not fail to be regarded as a proof that the mercantile community, at least, do not regard civil war with all its horrors, as inevitable, or that the general interruption of trade is the necessary consequence of the existing state of things. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the reluctance of the Federal Government to resort to hostilities, it is obvious that they are prepared to take a determined stand against the Secessionists, wherever the rights or property of the Union are attacked. It rests, therefore, with the Southern Convention to say whether they are disposed to listen to terms, or whether they are prepared to persevere in the course they have adopted, regardless of the consequences.

-London Shipping Gazette, April 25.

The fall of Fort Sumter must soon, we fear, if we may rely at all on the drift of the recent

news, issue in civil war. The rumor that the Southern Confederation intends to anticipate an attack by moving upon Washington, is scarcely likely to be true, for President Davis is too sagacious a man to take a step which would so enrage the North as to induce it to enter heart and soul into an internecine contest with the South. If he were wise, indeed, he would not have ventured any active collision at all, such as has taken place at Charleston. It would have been better to trust exclusively to blockade for the reduction of the Federal garrisons in the revolted States. The moral shock of any collision is most dangerous, as the accounts of the frantic excitement in Washington, on the arrival of the news of the collision at Fort Sumter and the surrender of Major Anderson, sufficiently prove. It is true that American rage even at its highest pitch usually manages to stop short where policy would direct, and that we in England are exceedingly liable to be deceived by its effervescent symptoms. Still there is now the gravest reason to apprehend a serious civil war; indeed all the Free States seem already to have intimated to the President, through the telegraph, their readiness to support a war policy; and, if it is prevented at all, it will only be by the unwillingness of the northern statesmen to risk the adhesion of the border States by an actual invasion. But if the Southern States should, as is rumored, be so foolish as to take the initiative by invading Washington, they would play directly into the hands of the extreme party in the North. Allation as a treasonable rebellion, which, so far compunction would immediately be at an end, and in all probability the border States would themselves be induced by such a step to fight with the North. The situation is very similar to the attitude of Austria and Sardinia. The neutrals will inevitably throw their influence into the scale of the party attacked. Mr. Lincoln, as far as his own popularity and political position are concerned, can wish for nothing better than to be relieved by his antagonist of the responsibility of a decision. His difficulty has hitherto been, that the great power and wealth of the North have been passive and reluctant to foment a fratricidal strife. But let once the slave States take the guilt upon themselves, as in some degree they have already done, and Mr. Lincoln would find his hands strengthened and his cause enthusiastically supported by a power such as does not exist in the Southern States at all. We do not believe, then, in the reported invasion of Washington. A course so blind and insane is utterly inconsistent with the general ability shown by the Southern Government. But we do fear that the strife and defeat at Charleston will render it very difficult for Mr. Lincoln, in the attitude in which he now stands, to evade some attempt at reprisal, and that thus a regular war may soon break out.

immediate recognition of the Southern Confederation. We can imagine no course more disgraceful to England, or less likely to command the assent of the popular body appealed to. Not that we desire to see a civil war in America, even though the North should be completely triumphant. We have often said that, unless there were a Union party in the Southern States considerable enough to make some head even without external assistance, the defeat of the newly-confederated States by the North could scarcely lead to any good result. It would be mere military conquest; and a power like the American Union cannot hope to hold together its territory by military force. And seeing that there is, unhappily, but little trace of a powerful Unionist minority among the seceded States, we cannot wish to see a fratricidal strife which would multiply indefinitely the mutual hatreds of North and South without solving the ultimate difficulty. But this is not the question for us to consider. It has been England's universal rule to acknowledge a de facto revolutionary government whenever it has established its practical independence by incontrovertible proofs-then and not sooner. Whatever be the wisdom or folly of the war, which there is but too much reason to believe is now declared between the Federal Government at Washington and the revolted States-it is not yet begun, or is only just beginning-there can be no question whatever of the constitutional right of President Lincoln to treat the hostile confeder

Under these grave circumstances it is that Mr. Gregory proposes to ask the House of Commons on Tuesday next to affirm the expediency of an

as it trenches on Federal property and laws, he
may resist by force. This is his present attitude.
He hopes, however little we may hope, to sup-
press the rebellion. He thinks, however little
we may think, that he shall be able to enforce
the laws enacted at Washington, and to redeem
the United States property from the hands of
the seceders. This may be sanguine; nay, it
may even be a mere hallucination. With that
we have nothing to do. We profess always to
abstain from judging the rights of a quarrel
between a people and its rulers, and to guide
our conduct by the plain results of political fact.
We are now on the eve of seeing what these
results will be. Either war or compromise
seems now inevitable. If it be compromise,
we shall know how to act. If it be war, we are
bound to await the results of that war.
A pre-
mature recognition of the Southern Confederation
would be a departure from the recognized course
of England, and could not but therefore express
a political bias in favor of the seceders.

Doc. 149.

- London Economist.

A PRAYER FOR THE TIMES. AT the opening of the Tennessee Legislature. on the 25th ult., Rev. James Bardwell offered up the following prayer:

Almighty and most merciful God, our heavenly Father, we adore Thee as the king eternal,

immortal and invisible, the only living and true | of civil war and bloodshed. Graciously pardon God, the creator and governor of all worlds- all our sins, remove us froin Thy judgment, arruling in the armies of Heaven and among the in- rest and bring to repentance our enemies, and habitants of the earth. Thy favor is life and protect and defend us in the maintenance of all thy frown is death with reverence and pro- our rights, and once more give us peace and found humility would we present ourselves be- prosperity; and to Thy great name shall be all fore Thee, to confess our sins and implore Thy the praise, through Christ Jesus, our Lord. mercy, through Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen. In his name do we present our petitions, and -Charleston News, May 10. for his sake we humbly invoke Thy favor. We have sinned against Thee, O Lord, as individuals, and we have sinned against Thee, as a people.

Doc. 150.

THE FIRST REGIMENT VERMONT VOL-
UNTEERS.

THE following is a full list of the officers of this regiment:

FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS.

We have been unthankful for our blessings; we have abused mercies; we have misimproved our privileges; we have too often disregarded Thy authority and rejected Thy counsel. In the pride and vanity of our hearts we have forgotten Thee, the God of our fathers, and arrogated Colonel, J. Wolcott Phelps; Lieutenant-Col., to ourselves the glory which is due to Thee P. T. Washburn; Major, H. N. Worthen; Adalone. Lord, we confess our sins, we acknowl-jutant, Hiram Stephens; Quartermaster, E. A. edge our transgressions, and we humbly implore Morse; Surgeon, E. K. Sanborn; Assistant SurThy pardoning mercy. Be merciful unto us, O geon, Willard Childe; Sergeant Major, C. G. God, be merciful unto us. For the sake of Thy Chandler; Drum Major, Thos. R. Clark; Fife dear Son, our Redeemer, in the midst of divine Major, Martin J. McManus; Chaplain, Rev. wrath, make known and remember mercy. Levi H. Stone. Doubtless Thou art our God, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not. Thou hast been the God of our fathers, their refuge in every trouble. And we now look to Thee as our God and Redeemer. In this the time of our calamity and trouble, we invoke Thy guidance and protection.

Bless, we beseech Thee, the Governor of this Commonwealth, encircle him with Thy mercy, and grant unto him that wisdom and strength that may be necessary to direct and sustain him in the discharge of all the responsible duties now devolving upon him. And bless, we humbly pray Thee, the Legislature of this State, now convened under circumstances of peculiar solemnity and responsibility. Preside over and direct, in wisdom and great mercy, both houses of this general assembly. Give unto our senators wisdom-a spirit of knowledge and sound understanding. Place Thy fear before their eyes, and write Thy laws upon their hearts. May they all realize the solemn responsibilities devolving upon them at this critical juncture. Deliver them from strife and division in senti

COMPANY OFFICERS.

Joseph Bush; First Lieutenant, William CroCo. A, Brandon, First Regiment-Captain, nan; Ensign, and 64 privates.

Co. B, Middlebury, First Regiment-E. S. Hayward, Captain; Charles W. Rose, First Lieutenant; and 64 privates.

Ripley, Captain; Geo. T. Roberts, First LieuCo. D, Rutland, First Regiment-W. Y. W. tenant; L. G. Kingsley, Ensign; and 65 pri

vates.

Boynton, Captain; C. A. Webb, First LieutenCo. E, Northfield, First Regiment-Wm. H. tenant; and 64 privates.

Co. C, Swanton, Fourth Regiment-L. D. Clark, Captain; A. B. Jewett, First Lieutenant; and 71 privates.

W. Pelton, Captain; Andrew J. Dike, First
Co. A, Woodstock, Second Regiment-Wm.
Lieutenant; and 64 privates.

Tuttle, Captain; A. Clark, First Lieutenant;
Co. E, Cavendish, Second Regiment—O. S.
S. Dutton, Ensign; and 65 privates.

Hunt, Captain; Hiram F. Perkins, First Lieu-
Co. B, St. Albans, Fourth Regiment-Geo. G.
tenant; F. E. Bell, Ensign; and 67 privates.

Co. A, Burlington, Fourth Regiment-D. Lieutenant; G. J. Hagar, Ensign; and 67 priBrainard Peck, Captain; O. G. Mower, First

vates.

ment and action, unite them in fear and in firm maintenance of the cause of justice and truth. Deliver us as a people from dissension and conflict at home; save us from passion, from violence, and from wickedness of all kinds. But grant unto us wisdom, prudence, firmness, and efficiency in all our deliberations and actions. O Lord, our help is in Thee, and we humbly invoke Thy protection. Wilt Thou not defend the right, and bring to nought the wickedness of the wicked?-Restrain, we beseech Thee, the -N. Y. Herald, May 11. wrath of man. Put Thy hook in the nose of him who deviseth mischief against us, and turn Colonel Phelps, who commands the regiment, him back by the way he came. Circumvent is a graduate of West Point, and has served and frustrate all his wicked devices; and may twenty years in the army. He resigned two it yet please Thee to save us from the horrors | years ago, and has been living quietly at Brat

K. Andross, Captain; John B. Picket, jr., First
Co. B, Bradford, Second Regiment-Dudley
Lieutenant; Boswell Farnum, Second Lieuten-
ant; and 70 privates.

tleboro till the opening of the campaign, when | important questions which ever engaged public he at once offered his services to the State, and was placed in command of this regiment.

Lieutenant-Colonel Washburn, of Woodstock, is one of the most prominent lawyers in the State. At the same time he is a military man, and a disciplinarian of the highest order.

Major Worthen, of Bradford, is also a lawyer, and a graduate of the Norwich University. Adjutant Stevens, also, has formerly followed the profession of the law.

The regiment numbers seven hundred and eighty men. Among them are several giants, taller by some inches than the President of the United States, and nearly all are accustomed to hard out-door work. One of the officers states that he selected ten of his tallest, and had them lie down on the ground for measurement, when it was found that the ten formed a line sixtyseven feet and ten inches in length.

-N. Y. Evening Post, May 11.

Doc. 151.

A PROCLAMATION By the President of the United States of America. Whereas, An insurrection exists in the State of Florida, by which the lives, liberty, and property of loyal citizens of the United States are endangered;

And whereas, It is deemed proper that all needful measures should be taken for the protection of such citizens and all officers of the United States in the discharge of their public duties in the State aforesaid;

Now, therefore, be it known that I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do hereby direct the Commander of the forces of the United States on the Florida coast to permit no person to exercise any office or authority upon the Islands of Key West, the Tortugas, and Santa Rosa which may be inconsistent with the laws and Constitution of the United States, authorizing him at the same time, if he shall find it necessary, to suspend there the writ of habeas corpus, and to remove from the vicinity of the United States fortresses all dangerous or suspected persons.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the eightyABRAHAM LINCOLN.

fifth.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

Doc. 152.

attention. The commercial relations between this country and America are so multifarious, that any disturbance of them must necessarily cause infinite perplexity and great pecuniary loss; but those perplexities and losses will be seriously aggravated if the policy, which the British Government intends to pursue, is not defined with as much accuracy as possible. The British Government, as the greatest power at sea, has the deepest interest in adopting a principle of action which, while it secures every advantage to commerce, will not limit the action of the British Navy in the event of a war. Lord Palmerston, therefore, is acting with statesmanlike prudence in declining to bind himself to any course of action without the maturest deliberation. And Mr. Walpole deserves well of his country in lending the weight of his authority and influence to support Ministers in their cautious policy. In the meantime it may be useful to endeavor to indicate the position which the States under President Davis now occupy with relation to those under President Lincoln, and the position which both of these Confederacies now occupy with relation to Great Britain and the rest of the world.

In the first place, it is clear that, in the case of a rebellion in the territories of any government, other governments may adopt either of two lines of action: They may take no notice of the disturbance which is going on; or they may recognize the state of insurrection, and treat each of the contending parties as at war with each other. This latter course has been adopted in the present instance by the Foreign Minister, and in this respect he has acted with perfect prudence and in complete accordance in a state of rebellion is to be treated as a prowith international law. Whether a province visionally independent power has always been considered a matter of discretion. It may be said that where, as in the case of America, half a continent has risen in arms against the other half, and has inaugurated an independent government-more especially when the peculiar Constitution of the United States is considered -according to all precedent the Southern Confederation must be treated as an independent power, and as entitled to belligerent rights. But the recognition of those rights is a step not to be taken without the gravest consideration of its consequences. No power was ever more free to act according to the clear dictates of justice and humanity than Great Britain in relation to this conflict. It is apprehended that in strict law, President Lincoln is still entitled to treat all those American subjects who adhere to the cause of President Davis as traitors, and to punish the South American cruisers as pirates. As this principle, however, if strictly

AN ENGLISH VIEW OF THE CIVIL WAR followed, would certainly lead to terrible blood

IN AMERICA.

THE effect of the civil war in America upon European commerce is certainly one of the most

shed and intolerable atrocities, it is obvious that the Northern and Southern combatants will treat each other as regular enemies, and observe, as far as possible, all the usages of war

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