hoped, will be but temporary, and must be borne | by insisting that representation and taxation should with patience and forbearance. As to whether we shall have war with our late confederates, or whether all matters of difference between us shall be amicably settled, I can only say, that the prospect for a peaceful adjustment is better, so far as I am informed, than it has been. The prospect of war, is at least not so threatening as it had been. The idea of coercion shadowed forth in President LINCOLN's inaugural, seems not to be followed up thus far so vigorously as was expectcd. Fort Sumter, it is believed, will soon be evacuated. What course will be pursued towards Fort Pickens, and the other forts on the Gulf, is not so well understood. It is to be greatly desired that all of them should be surrendered. Our object is Peace, not only with the North, but with the world. All matters relating to the public property, public liabilities of the Union when we were members of it, we are ready and willing to adjust and settle, upon the principles of right, equality, and good faith. War can be of no more benefit to the North, than to us. The idea of coercing us, or subjugating us, is utterly preposterous. Whether the intention of evacuating Fort Sumter, is to be received as an evidence of a desire for a peaceful solution of our difficulties with the United States, or the result of necessity, I will not undertake to say. I would fain hope the former. Rumors are afloat, however, that it is the result of necessity. All I can say to you, therefore, on that point is, keep your armor bright, and your powder dry. [Enthusiastic applause.] The surest way to secure peace, is to show your ability to maintain your rights. The principles and position of the present Administration of the United States-the Republican Party-present some puzzling questions. While it is a fixed principle with them, never to allow the increase of a foot of Slave Territory, they seem to be equally determined not to part with an inch "of the accursed soil." Notwithstanding their clamor against the institution, they seem to be equally opposed to getting more, or letting go what they have got. They were ready to fight on the accession of Texas, and are equally ready to fight now on her secession. Why is this? How can this strange paradox be accounted for? There seems to be but one rational solution-and that is, notwithstanding their professions of humanity, they are disinclined to give up the benefits they derive from slave labor. Their philanthropy yields to their interest. The idea of enforcing the laws, has but one object, and that is a collection of the taxes, raised by slave labor to swell the fund necessary to meet their heavy appropriations. The spoils is what they are after-though they come from the labor of the slave. [Continued applause.] go together. This was inherited from the mother country, England. It was one of the principles upon which the Revolution had been fought. Our fathers also provided in the old Constitution that all appropriation bills should originate in the Represen tative branch of Congress; but our new Constitution went a step further, and guarded not only the poc kets of the people, but also the public money, after it was taken from their pockets. He alluded to the difficulties and embarrassments which seemed to surround the question of a peaceful solution of the controversy with the old Government. How can it be done? is perplexing many minds. The President seems to think that he cannot recognize our independence, nor can he, with and by the advice of the Senate, do so. The Constitution makes no such provision. A general Convention of all the States has been suggested by some. Without proposing to solve the difficulty, he barely made the following suggestion: That as the admission of States by Congress under the Constitution was an act of legislation, and in the nature of a contract or compact between the States admitted and the others admitting, why should not this contract or compact be regarded as of like character with all other civil contracts-liable to be rescinded by mutual agreement of both parties? The seceding States have rescinded it on their part. Why cannot the whole question be settled, if the North desire peace, simply by the Congress, in both branches, with the concurrence of the President, giving their consent to the separation, and a recognition of independence? This he merely offered as a suggestion, as one of the ways in which it might be done with much less violence to constructions of the Constitution than many other acts of that Government. [Applause.] The difficulty has to be solved in some way or other-this may be regarded as a fixed fact. Several other points were alluded to by Mr. S., particularly as to the policy of the new Government towards foreign nations, and our commercial relations with them. Free trade, as far as practicable, would be the policy of this Government. No higher duties would be imposed on foreign importations than would be necessary to support the Government upon the strictest economy. In olden times the olive branch was considered the emblem of peace, we will send to the nations of the earth another and far more potential emblem of the same, the Cotton Plant. The present duties were levied with a view of meeting the present necessities and exigencies, in preparation for war, if need be; but if we have peace, and he hoped we might, and trade should resume its proper course, a Mr. STEPHENS reviewed at some length the ex-duty of ten per cent. upon foreign importations, it travagance and profligacy of appropriations by the Congress of the United States for several years past, and in this connection took occasion to allude to another one of the great improvements in our new Constitution, which is a clause prohibiting Congress from appropriating any money from the Treasury except by a two-thirds vote, unless it be for some object which the Executive may say is necessary to carry on the Government. When it is thus asked for and estimated, he continued, the majority may appropriate. This was a new feature. Our fathers have guarded the assessment of taxes, was thought, might be sufficient to meet the expendi tures of the Government. If some articles should be left on the free list, as they now are, such as breadstuffs, &c., then, of course, duties upon others would have to be higher-but in no event to an extent to embarrass trade and commerce. He concluded in an earnest appeal for union and harmony, on the part of all the people in support of the common cause, in which we were all enlisted, and upon the issues of which such great consequences depend. If, said he, we are true to ourselves, true to our cause, true to our destiny, true to our high mis sion, in presenting to the world the highest type | of civilization ever exhibited by man-there will be found in our Lexicon no such word as FAIL. Mr. STEPHENS took his seat amid a burst of enthusiasm and applause, such as the Athenæum has never had displayed within its walls, within "the recollection of the oldest inhabitant." -Savannah Republican. Doc. 49.-THE VESSEL FIRED INTO AT CHARLESTON. The vessel fired into from the forts on Morris Island has arrived at Savannah. The schooner is the R. H. Shannon, Capt. Monts, of Boston, and she was bound for this city with a cargo of ice, consigned to A. Haywood. On Wednesday she was shrouded for many hours in a dense fog, during which she drifted through mistake over the Charleston bar. Soon after the fog lifted, the captain, not knowing his whereabouts, found himself nearly abreast of the fort on Morris Island, and while cogitating over his latitude and longitude, he was greeted with a salute from the fort. He immediately ran up his colors-the stars and stripes-but that demonstration seemed an unsatisfactory answer to their summons. Several shot (thirty-two's) were fired into his rigging, one of which passed through his mainsail and another through his topsail. In the midst of his dilemma, not knowing where he was or the object of this hostile demonstration, a boat from Fort Sumter came to his relief, and being made acquainted with the facts, he lost no time in putting to sea. The schooner suffered no material damage from the shots, though one of them came most uncomfortably near the head of one of the crew. Capt. M. thinks there is no mistake about the Morris Island boys being excellent marksmen. -Savannah Republican, April 5. Doc. 50.-THE UNITED STATES FLEET AT CHARLESTON. The following list embraces the names, with armaments and troops, of the fleet despatched from New York and Washington to Charleston harbor, for the relief of Fort Sumter: VESSELS OF WAR. Steam sloop-of-war Pawnee, Captain S. C. Rowan, 10 guns and 200 men. The Pawnee sailed from Washington, with sealed orders, on the morning of Saturday, April 6. Steam sloop-of-war Powhatan, Captain E. D. Porter, 11 guns and 275 men. The Powhatan sailed from the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Saturday afternoon, April 6. Revenue cutter Harriet Lane, Captain J. Faunce, 5 guns and 96 men. On Saturday, April 6, the Harriet Lane exchanged her revenue flag for the United States navy flag, denoting her transfer to the Government naval service, and sailed suddenly on last Monday morning, with sealed orders. THE STEAM TRANSPORTS. Atlantic, 358 troops, composed of Companies A and M of the Second artillery, Companies C and H of the Second infantry, and Company A of sappers and miners from West Point. The Atlantic sailed from the stream at 5 o'clock on Sunday morning last, April 7. Baltic, 160 troops, composed of Companies C and D, recruits, from Governor's and Bedloe's islands. The Baltic sailed from Quarantine at 7 o'clock on Tuesday morning last, April 9. Illinois, 300 troops, composed of Companies B, E, F, G and H, and a detachment from Company D, all recruits from Governor's and Bedloe's islands, together with two companies of the Second infantry, from Fort Hamilton. The Illinois sailed from Quarantine on Tuesday morning at 6 o'clock. Doc. 51. CONFEDERATE COMMISSIONERS' FINAL LETTER TO SECRETARY SEWARD. WASHINGTON, April 9, 1861. Hon. Wm. II. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States, Washington. The "memorandum"* dated Department of State, Washington, March 15, 1861, has been received through the hands of Mr. J. T. Pickett, Secretary to this Commission, who, by the instructions of the undersigned, called for it on yesterday at the Department. In that memorandum you correctly state the purport of the official note addressed to you by the undersigned on the 12th ult. Without repeating the contents of that note in full, it is enough to say here that its object was to invite the Government of the United States to a friendly consideration of the relation between the United States and the seven States lately of the Federal Union, but now separated from it by the sovereign will of their people, growing out of the pregnant and undeniable fact that those people have rejected the authority of the United States and established a Government of their own. Those relations had to be friendly or hostile. The people of the old and new Governments, occupying contiguous territories, had to stand to each See Document 47. other in the relation of good neighbors, cach seeking their happiness and pursuing their national destinies in their own way, without interference with the other, or they had to be rival and hostile nations. The Government of the Confederate States had no hesitation in electing its choice in this alternative. Frankly and unreserved, seeking the good of the people who had intrusted them with power, in the spirit of humanity, of the Christian eivilization of the age, and of that Americanism which regards the true welfare and happiness of the people, the Government of the Confederate States, among its first acts, commissioned the undersigned to approach the Government of the United States with the olive branch of peace, and to offer to adjust the great questions pending between them in the only way to be justified by the consciences and common sense of good men who had nothing but the welfare of the people of the two Confed eracies at heart. The undersigned, like the Secretary of State, have no purpose to "invite or engage in discussion" of the subject on which their two Governments are so irreconcilably at variance. It is this variance that has broken up the old Union, the disintegration of which has only begun. It is proper, however, to advise you that it were well to dismiss the hopes you seem to entertain that, by any of the modes indicated, the people of the Confederate States will ever be brought to submit to the authority of the Government of the United States. You are dealing with delusions, too, when you seek to separate our people from our Government and to characterize the deliberate, sovereign act of the people as a “perversion of a temporary and partisan excitement." If you cherish these dreams you will be awakened from them and find them as unreal and unsubstantial, as others in which you have recently indulged. The undersigned would omit the performance of an obvious duty were they to fail to make known to Your Government has not chosen to meet the the Government of the United States that the people undersigned in the conciliatory and peaceful spirit of the Confederate States have declared their indein which they are commissioned. Persistently wed-pendence with a full knowledge of all the responsided to those fatal theories of construction of the bilities of that act, and with as firm a determination Federal Constitution always rejected by the states- to maintain it by all the means with which nature has men of the South, and adhered to by those of the endowed them as that which sustained their fathers Administration school, until they have produced when they threw off the authority of the British their natural and often predicted result of the de- crown. struction of the Union, under which we might have continued to live happily and gloriously together, had the spirit of the ancestry who framed the common Constitution, animated the hearts of all their sons, you now, with a persistence untaught and uncured by the ruin which has been wrought, refuse to recognize the great fact presented to you of a complete and successful revolution; you close your eyes to the existence of the Government founded upon it, and ignore the high duties of moderation and humanity which attach to you in dealing with this great fact. Had you met these issues with the frankness and manliness with which the undersigned were instructed to present them to you and treat them, the undersigned had not now the melancholy duty to return home and tell their Government and their countrymen, that their carnest and ceaseless efforts in behalf of peace had been futile, and that the Government of the United States meant to subjugate them by force of arms. Whatever may be the result, impartial history will record the innocence of the Government of the Confederate States, and place the responsibility of the blood and mourning that may ensue upon those who have denied the great fundamental doctrine of American liberty, that "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," and who have set naval and land armaments in motion to subject the people of one portion of the land to the will of another portion. That that can never be done while a freeman survives in the Confederate States to wield a weapon, the undersigned appeal to past history to prove. These military demonstrations against the people of the seceded States are certain ly far from being in keeping and consistency with the theory of the Secretary of State, maintained in his memorandum, that these States are still component parts of the late American Union, as the undersigned are not aware of any constitutional power in the President of the United States to levy war without the consent of Congress, upon a foreign people, much less upon any portion of the people of the United States. The undersigned clearly understand that you have declined to appoint a day to enable them to lay the objects of the mission with which they are charged, before the President of the United States, because so to do would be to recognize the independence and separate nationality of the Confederate States. This is the vein of thought that pervades the memorandum before us. The truth of history requires that it should distinctly appear upon the record that the undersigned did not ask the Government of the United States to recognize the independence of the Confederate States. They only asked audience to adjust, in a spirit of amity and peace, the new relations springing from a manifest and accomplished revolution in the Government of the late Federal Union. Your refusal to entertain these overtures for a peaceful solution, the active naval and military preparation of this Government, and a formal notice to the commanding general of the Confederate forces in the harbor of Charleston, that the President intends to provision Fort Sumter by forcible means, if necessary, are viewed by the undersigned, and can only be received by the world, as a declaration of war against the Confederate States; for the President of the United States knows that Fort Sumter cannot be provisioned without the effusion of blood. The undersigned, in behalf of their Government and people, accept the gage of battle thus thrown down to them; and appealing to God and the judgment of mankind for the righteousness of their cause, the people of the Confederate States will defend their liberties to the last against this flagrant and open attempt at their subjugation to sectional power. This communication cannot be properly closed without adverting to the date of your memorandum. The official note of the undersigned, of the 12th March, was delivered to the Assistant Secretary of State on the 13th of that month, the gentleman who delivered it, informing him that the Secretary of this Commission would call at 12 o'clock, noon, on the next day, for an answer. At the appointed hour, Mr. Pickett did call, and was informed by the Secretary, &c., &c. THE COMMISSIONERS, ACKNOWLEDGES THE RECEIPT OF THEIR LETTER, BUT DECLINES TO ANSWER IT. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, April 10, 1861. Messrs. Forsyth, Crawford, and Roman, having been apprised by a memorandum which has been delivered to them, that the Secretary of State is not at liberty to hold official intercourse with them, will, it is presumed, expect no notice from him of the new communication which they have addressed to him under date of the 9th inst., beyond the simple acknowledgment of the receipt thereof, which he hereby very cheerfully gives. A true copy of the original received by the Commissioners of the Confederate States, this 10th day of April, 1861. Attest, J. T. PICKETT, Secretary &c, &c. Assistant Secretary of State that the engagements | Mr. F. W. Seward, Assistant Secretary of State of of the Secretary of State, had prevented him from the United States, at 8 o'clock in the evening of giving the note his attention. The Assistant Secre- April 9, 1861. tary of State then asked for the address of Messrs. Attest, J. T. PICKETT, Crawford and Forsyth, the members of the Commission then present in this city, took note of the address on a card, and engaged to send whatever MR. SEWARD IN REPLY TO reply might be made to their lodgings. Why this was not done it is proper should be here explained. The memorandum is dated March 15, and was not delivered until April 8. Why was it withheld during the intervening twenty-three days? In the postscript to your memorandum you say it "was delayed, as was understood, with their (Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford's) consent." This is true; but it is also true that on the 15th of March Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford were assured by a person occupying a high official position in the Government, and who, as they believed, was speaking by authority, that Fort Sumter would be evacuated within a very few days, and that no measure changing the existing status prejudicially to the Confederate States, as respects Fort Pickens, was then contemplated, and these assurances were subsequently repeated, with the addition that any contemplated change as respects Pickens, would be notified to us. On the 1st of April we were again informed that there might be an attempt to supply Fort Sumter with provisions, but that Gov. Pickens should have previous notice of this attempt. There was no suggestion of any reënforcements. The undersigned did not hesitate to believe that these assurances expressed the intentions of the Administration at the time, or at all events of prominent members of that Administration. This delay was assented to, for the express purpose of attaining the great end of the mission of the undersigned, to wit: A pacific solution of existing complications. The inference deducible from the date of your memorandum, that the undersigned had, of their own volition and without cause, consented to this long hiatus in the grave duties with which they were charged, is therefore not consistent with a just exposition of the facts of the case. The intervening twenty-three days were employed in active unofficial efforts, the object of which was to smooth the path to a pacific solution, the distinguished personage alluded to coöperating with the undersigned; and every step of that effort is recorded in writing, and now in possession of the undersigned and of their Government. It was only when all these anxious efforts for peace had been exhausted, and it became clear that Mr. Lincoln had determined to appeal to the sword to reduce the people of the Confederate States to the will of the section or party whose President he is, that the undersigned resumed the official negotiation temporarily suspended, and sent their Secretary for a reply to their official note of March 12. It is proper to add that, during these twentythree days, two gentlemen of official distinction as high as that of the personage hitherto alluded to aided the undersigned as intermediaries in these unofficial negotiations for peace. The undersigned, Commissioners of the Confederate States of America, having thus made answer to all they deem material in the memorandum filed in the Department on the 15th of March last, have the honor to be, JOHN FORSYTH, MARTIN J. CRAWFORD, A. B. ROMAN. A true copy of the original by one delivered to Doc. 52.-FORT SUMTER CORRESPONDENCE. L. P. WALKER, Secretary of War: An authorized messenger from President Lincoln, just informed Gov. Pickens and myself that provisions will be sent to Fort Sumter peaceably, or otherwise by force. G. T. BEAUREgard. MONTGOMERY, 10th. Gen. G. T. Beauregard, Charleston : If you have no doubt of the authorized character of the agent who communicated to you the intention of the Washington Government, to supply Fort Sumter by force, you will at once demand its evacuation, and if this is refused, proceed in such a manner as you may determine, to reduce it. Answer. L. P. WALKER, Sec. of War. CHARLESTON, April 10. L. P. WALKER, Secretary of War: The demand will be made to-morrow at 12 o'clock. G. T. BEAUREGARD. MONTGOMERY, April 10. Gen. BEAUREGARD, Charleston: Unless there are especial reasons connected with your own condition, it is considered proper that you should make the demand at an early hour. L. P. WALKER, Sec. of War. CHARLESTON, April 10, L. P. WALKER, Secretary of War, Montgomery: The reasons are special for 12 o'clock. G. T. BEAUREGARD. HEADQUARTERS, PROVISIONAL ARMY, C. S. A. CHARLESTON, S. C., April 11, 1861-2 P. M. SIR: The Government of the Confederate States has hitherto forborne from any hostile demonstration against Fort Sumter, in the hope that the Government of the United States, with a view to the amicable adjustment of all questions between the two Governments, and to avert the calamities | of war, would voluntarily evacuate it. There was reason at one time to believe that such would be the course pursued by the Government of the United States; and under that impression my Government has refrained from making any demand for the surrender of the fort. But the Confederate States can no longer delay assuming actual possession of a fortification commanding the entrance of one of their harbors, and necessary to its defence and security. I am ordered by the Government of the Confederate States to demand the evacuation of Fort Sumter. My Aids, Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee, are authorized to make such demand of you. All proper facilities will be afforded for the removal of yourself and command, together with company, arms, and property, and all private property, to any post in the United States which you may elect. The flag which you have upheld so long and with so much fortitude, under the most trying circumstances, may be saluted by you on taking it down. Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee will, for a reasonable time, await your answer. I am, sir, very respectfully, G. T. BEAUREGARD, HEADQUARTERS, FORT SUMTER, S. C. GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication demanding the evacuation of this fort; and to say in reply thereto that it is a demand with which I regret that my sense of honor and of my obligations to my Government prevent my compliance. Thanking you for the fair, manly, and courteous terms proposed, and for the high compliment paid me, I am, General, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, ROBERT ANDERSON, Major U. S. Army, Commanding. To Brigadier-General G. T. BEAUREGARD, commanding Provisional Army, C. S. A. MONTGOMERY, April 11. Gen. BEAUREGARD, Charleston: We do not desire needlessly to bombard Fort Sumter, if Major ANDERSON will state the time at which, as indicated by him, he will evacuate, and agree that, in the mean time, he will not use his guns against us, unless ours should be employed against Fort Sumter. You are thus to avoid the effusion of blood. If this or its equivalent be refused, reduce the fort as your judgment decides to be most practicable. L. P. WALKER, Sec. of War. HEADQUARTERS, PROVISIONAL ARMY, C. S. A. CHARLESTON, April 11, 1861-11 P. M. MAJOR: In consequence of the verbal observations made by you to my Aids, Messrs. Chesnut and Lee, in relation to the condition of your supplies, and that you would in a few days be starved out if our guns did not batter you to pieces-or words to that effect;-and desiring no useless effusion of blood, I communicated both the verbal ob servation and your written answer to my communication to my Government. If you will state the time at which you will evacuate Fort Sumter, and agree that in the mean time you will not use your guns against us, unless ours shall be employed against Fort Sumter, we will abstain from opening fire upon you. Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee are authorized by me to enter into such an agreement with you. You are therefore requested to communicate to them an open answer. I remain, Major, very respectfully, HEADQUARTERS, FORT SUMTER, S. C. GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the ROBERT ANDERSON, |