army is better directed by a single mind, though inferior, than by two superior ones, at variance and cross purposes with each other.

And the same is true, in all joint operations wherein those engaged, can have none but a common end in view, and can differ only as to the choice of means. In a storm at sea, no one on board can wish the ship to sink; and yet, not unfrequently, all go down together, because too many will direct, and no single mind can be allowed to control.

It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if not exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular government— the rights of the people. Conclusive evidence of this is found in the most grave and maturely considered public documents, as well as in the general tone of the insurgents. In those documents we find the abridgment of the existing right of suffrage, and the denial to the people of all right to participate in the selection of public officers, except the legislative, boldly advocated, with laboured arguments to prove that large control of the people in government, is the source of all political evil. Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the power of the people.

In my present position, I could scarcely be justified were I to omit raising a warning voice against this approach of returning despotism.

It is not needed, nor fitting here, that a general argument should be made in favour of popular institutions; but there is one point, with its connexions, not so hackneyed as most others, to which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if not above labour, in the structure of government. It is assumed that labour is available only in connexion with capital; that nobody labours unless somebody else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it, induces him to labour. This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that capital shall hire labourers, and thus induce them to work by their own consent, or buy them, and drive them to it without their consent. Having proceeded so far, it is naturally concluded that all labourers are either hired labourers or what we call slaves. And further, it is assumed that whoever is once a hired labourer, is fixed in that condition for life.

Now, there is no such relation between capital and labour as assumed; nor is there any such thing as a free man being fixed for life in the condition of a hired labourer. Both these assumptions are false, and all inferences from them are groundless.

Labour is prior to, and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labour, and could never have existed if labour had not first existed. Labour is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as

worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always will be, a relation between labour and capital producing mutual benefits. The error is in assuming that the whole labour of community exists within that relation. A few men own capital, and that few avoid labour themselves, and, with their capital, hire or buy another few to labour for them. A large majority belong to neither class-neither work for others, nor have others working for them. In most of the Southern States, a majority of the whole people of all colours, are neither slaves nor masters; while in the northern, a large majority are neither hirers nor hired. Men with their families-wives, sons, and daughterswork for themselves, on their farms, in their houses, and in their shops, taking the whole product to themselves, and asking no favours of capital on the one hand, nor of hired labourers or slaves on the other. It is not forgotten that a considerable number of persons mingle their own labour with capital-that is, they labour with their own hands, and also buy or hire others to labour for them; but this is only a mixed, and not a distinct class. No principle stated is disturbed by the existence of this mixed class.

Again as has already been said, there is not, of necessity, any such thing as the free hired labourer being fixed to that condition for life. Many independent men everywhere in these States, a few years back in their lives, were hired labourers. The prudent, penniless beginner in the world, labours for wages awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for himself; then labours on his own account another while, and at length hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just and generous, and prosperous system, which opens the way to all-gives hope to all, and consequent energy, and progress, and improvement of condition to all. No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up from poverty-none less inclined to take, or touch, aught which they have not honestly earned. Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they already possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely be used to close the door of advancement against such as they, and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them, till all of liberty shall be lost.

From the first taking of our national census to the last are 70 years; and we find our population, at the end of the period, S times as great as it was at the beginning. The increase of those other things, which men deem desirable, has been even greater. We thus have, at one view, what the popular principle, applied to Government, through the machinery of the States and the Union, has produced in a given time; and also what, if firmly maintained, it promises for the future. There are already among us those who, if the Union be preserved, will live to see it contain 250,000,000.

The struggle of to-day is not altogether for to-day-it is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence, all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved

upon us.

Washington, December 3, 1861.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

CORRESPONDENCE respecting the renewal of Diplomatic Relations between Great Britain and Sicily, and the Internal Affairs of the Kingdom of Naples.*-1859, 1860.

(Extract.)

No. 1.-Lord J. Russell to Mr. Elliot.

Foreign Office, June 22, 1859. THE question of the renewal of diplomatic relations has been decided by the reception of Prince Carini, and the appointment of a Minister Plenipotentiary to Naples by Her Majesty.

Her Majesty is earnestly desirous that the King of the Two Sicilies may have all the strength which he can derive from the affection and gratitude of his people.

The grant of an amnesty, but above all the removal of the odious surveillance of the police, must be felt by thousands of families as a seasonable and long-desired relief.

Her Majesty is sincerely desirous to see the dynasty now on the Throne maintained and consolidated.

With regard to internal reforms, should the Prince of Satriano consult you on the subject, you will remind him that the Constitution has never been abrogated, and that the electoral colleges may be summoned at any time without a change of the existing law. But you will give no opinion as to the time and the mode of restoring animation to the existing Constitution.

In regard to the amnesty, you will observe that it ought to be large enough to admit the return of Baron Poerio and his companions to their country.

You will make particular inquiries of the Prince of Satriana as to the state of Sicily, and the measures intended for the benefit of the people of that island.

You will take care to avoid every appearance of dictation, but you will avow sincerely and openly that Her Majesty takes a deep interest in the welfare of the King and his people.

The Hon. H. Elliot.

Laid before Parliament, 1860.

J. RUSSELL.

[1860-61. LI.]

4 Q

No. 2.-Mr. Elliot to the Earl of Malmesbury.—(Rec. June 23.) MY LORD, Naples, June 16, 1859.

I TOOK the opportunity, this evening, of pressing upon M. Carafa the urgency of taking immediate measures for the relief of the prisoners at present confined without trial in the various Neapolitan prisons; and I pointed out that it was vain for a Government to hope to inspire respect for the law if it persisted in itself maintaining a direct violation of it.

To my satisfaction, M. Carafa fully admitted the existence of the abuse I had alluded to, and the necessity of an immediate change. While he expressed his conviction that most of the prisoners were unworthy of sympathy, he allowed that they had a right to demand either to be brought to trial or to be released.

The Earl of Malmesbury.

I have, &c.

HENRY ELLIOT.

No. 5.-Mr. Elliot to the Earl of Malmesbury.-(Rec. June 23.) MY LORD, Naples, June 17, 1859.

I YESTERDAY informed your Lordship by telegraph of the publication of the Royal Decrees, granting an amnesty to the political offenders of the years 1848 and 1849, and announcing the pardon of the persons known here under the name of the "attendibili," who had been subjected to the surveillance of the police; and I have now the honour to forward herewith the copies and translations of the Decrees in question.

Too short a time has yet elapsed for it to be possible for me to ascertain exactly the effect produced by these first measures of the new Administration; but although it cannot be questioned that they will cause a general satisfaction, I will not withhold my opinion that this feeling will be mingled with a certain amount of disappointment.

The objection which with the greatest truth can be urged against the act of amnesty, is that it is not extended to the persons convicted of political offences committed subsequently to the years 1848 and 1849; but I am not at present able to say whether those who will thus be excluded form at all a numerous class. Another serious defect is the exclusion from its benefits of those who, like Poerio and Settembrini, were conditionally pardoned by the late King, by the Decree of December last; for, till the publication of the measure, which I can hardly doubt must soon be resolved upon, with regard to their return from exile, they will find themselves in a worse position than those who some months ago were not considered worthy of the indulgence granted to them. The omission, likewise, of all mention of the persons kept in prison without any trial is also unfavourably commented upon, although their position is so peculiar that they could hardly have been included in the same amnesty; but

the language which I have already reported M. Carafa to have held with regard to them, gives every ground for the hope that they will not be much longer neglected.

The act which will be hailed by the country with the greatest satisfaction is undoubtedly that which applies to the "attendibili," but even this has not been received without some hostile comment; for it is objected, and with a justice which cannot be called in question, that the pardon granted to these persons implies that they have hitherto been legally guilty, whereas, no law could be quoted to justify the treatment they have received. This objection to the pardon" now granted, is certainly keenly felt by some of the "attendibili" of the capital, where there are comparatively few of them, and it will no doubt be shared in by some of those in the provinces; but of the 40,000 or 50,000 persons of whom the class is supposed to be composed, it may, I believe, be safely assumed that by far the greater proportion will learn with unmixed satisfaction that they are released from the detested supervision and disqualifications which they have been subjected to, and that they will not be disposed to find much fault with the words of a Decree to which they will owe their improved position.

The other Decrees, which are likewise inclosed herewith, relate to the shortening of the terms of punishment of some ordinary offences, and to the redemption by the Government of articles of small value, which had been placed in pawn by the poorer classes. I have, &c.

The Earl of Malmesbury.

HENRY ELLIOT.

(Inclosure.)-Decree, granting an Amnesty to Political Offenders. (Translation.) Capodimonte, June 16, 1859. FRANCIS II, by the grace of God, King of the Two Sicilies, &c. Wishing to mark by acts of clemency our accession to the throne which Divine Providence has committed to our care, we have decided on trying the effects of extending our sovereign grace to all those still undergoing the respective punishments to which they have been sentenced, viz., of irons, confinement with hard labour, banishment to an island, and imprisonment, for State offences committed in the years 1848 and 1849, and who were not included in the Decrees of Grace of December 27, 1858, and of the 18th of March last.

Following, therefore, our Royal impulse, we have resolved to decree, and decree as follows:

ART. I. All those condemned to irons, confinement with hard labour, banishment to an island, and imprisonment, for political offences committed in the years 1848 and 1849, and who were not comprised in the above-named Decrees of December, 1858, and