of these two nations by the experience of the present war, we are astonished that they could have lived so long under the same government. This difference was one of the principal reasons for the ardent attachment of the Southern people to the doctrine of 'State Rights.' All the elements of distinct national life being present, the South, plastic from the heat of political passion and war, has been moulded by her leaders into a nation as complete in all that is essential to the name, as though she were as old as the 'Celestial Empire.'

The subject of Slavery is briefly but fully treated. Here the author has avoided no question but that of the abstract right or wrong involved, deeming, very properly, this to be a point the discussion of which not being practical would be barren of results. He takes a great fact, and treats it in its practical bearings, leaving to time the solution of those problems which can never be determined by theoretical discussions, by fanatical abuse and interference, or by treaties which could never have any practical effect if made. This portion of the work embraces an historical sketch of African Slavery in the United States, and an exposition of the legal condition of the negro (free and slave) in America, thereby utterly confounding those calumniators of the South who have proclaimed the slave to be in the Southern code only a 'chattel.' Unfortunately, the European public

seem to have been led, certainly not by the authorized organs of the Confederate States, to believe that the South was prepared to allow the condition of her negro population to be determined by the European powers. Nothing could be further from her intentions, since the question does not fall within the jurisdiction of the powers delegated to the Confederate Government. Moreover, it would be an endorsement of all the calumnies of her enemies, the admission that Europe knows her internal condition and interests better than herself, and is actuated by higher motives of humanity; and finally, it would be a relinquishment of the dearest right of sovereignty, impossible to a proud and sensitive people.

The unparalleled growth of the United States in wealth, population, and power has been viewed with varied feelings by the different countries and classes of Europe. According to the peculiar interests or policy of the governments and people, or the political theories which happened to prevail with a given class, have opinions been formed. Upon the whole, the Union carried with it the moral weight of success, except with a few far-seeing thinkers. This mighty empire fell hopelessly at a time, when even men hostile to its political ideas were upon the point of acknowledging its success. The great majority in the South had long seen the approach of the catastrophe, and were divided only as to the best time and

a

means for securing themselves from a government that was fast becoming a tyranny of the most oppressive character. At the time of the secession of the Southern States, there was a party, largely in the minority, which thought that the appropriate time for separation had not arrived, and that in case of war the South, being unprepared, would be at a great disadvantage. In this party was to be found what of sentiment for the common history still existed, together with those interests which in case of a war are always the first to suffer. The right of secession was doubted by no party in the South; it was with all purely a question of time and expediency. The secession of the South took the North by surprise, which, not at first appreciating that it was more than the impulse of sudden passion, affected to consider it as something exceedingly farcical, of which the South would soon become most heartily ashamed. How much of this was affected, and how much was the result of ignorance or policy, it is impossible to determine. Yet as the idea gained ground that the movement had a real meaning and a purpose, the Abolitionists who had expressed their joy to be rid of the South, the more moderate Republicans who had disavowed any desire to preserve the Union by force, and the Democrats, who had till then been friendly to the South, seeing that great political and material interests were at stake, united to form that mass of

fanaticism, hate, hypocrisy, and vandalism which has disgraced the nineteenth century. When the news of the dissolution of the Union reached Europe, there was, in England at least, a feeling of relief; for every trace of conservatism had disappeared from the Government; while the foreign policy had come to be determined by the foreign population and the party of 'Manifest Destiny' at the hustings. Under the influence of the lawless and socialistic elements from Europe, and the extreme democratic ideas prevalent in the North, the right of suffrage had lost its dignity, and political power had passed into the hands of those least capable of using it well. There was one party in Europe that saw the dissolution with deep and unconcealed disappointment. With the fall of the Union were lost to the party of revolution its hopes of powerful aid from that quarter, for removing the remaining restrictions upon their theory of universal equality. They had always hated the South, but now their hatred knew no bounds; and, with the Republican party of the North, they demanded a war of extermination. A misconception as to the true character of the Union produced at first coolness on the part of the Conservatives, the natural allies of the South, which has happily passed away with the error that caused it. The whole of Europe, misled by the malignant misrepresentations of the Abolitionists of Europe and America, saw little

occasion for sympathy in the picture of a nation composed of a few cruel and voluptuous slaveholders, a large mass of 'white trash,' and millions of Africans smarting from the lash and groaning under the burdens of their taskmasters. Those interested in those branches of commerce and manufactures which were affected by the hostilities, naturally looked upon the South as a disturber of the public peace, asking few questions about the right or wrong of her actions. If, at the commencement of the war, the South had a friend in Europe, there was no evidence of the fact. Some may have wished her success for political reasons, but there was no sentiment of sympathy for her cause, and but little hope that she would succeed in the unequal contest, while her enemies were confident of her speedy subjugation.

But what are the results of a war of nearly two years? Considering the populations engaged, and the attending circumstances, they characterise it as a war almost unparalleled in history. All the predictions of the enemies of the South have been falsified; while her bold and defiant confidence, thought to be the result of ignorance, has been more than justified by the almost romantic success of her arms. We have seen a government spring into existence, exercising with dignity and consummate skill almost unlimited powers, without impairing the liberty of the individual. We have seen a people in