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Civil War Harper's Weekly, March 2, 1861

The March 2, 1861 edition of Harper's Weekly featured a cover illustration of president elect Abraham Lincoln.  The remainder of the newspaper includes incredible stories on the opening events of the Civil War.  We have posted the newspaper below.  Newspaper Thumbnails will take you to the page of interest.

 

President-Elect Abraham Lincoln

President Lincoln at Astor House

Cummings Point

Cumming's Point

Congressional Business

Jefferson Davis Inauguration Speech

Fort Taylor Description

Fort Johnson

Fort Johnson

Ft. Taylor

Fort Taylor

 

 

 

 

MARCH 2,1861.]

HARPER'S WEEKLY.

135

(Previous Page)

Various amendments were suggested, but none of them were acted upon. The Tariff Bill was then taken up, and the amendments made on Tuesday in Committee were read and adopted, including the one reducing the duty on sugar, and placing one on tea and coffee. The bill was finally passed, 25 to 14.—In the House, consideration of Mr Stanton's Militia Bill was resumed, and Mr. Bocock, of Virginia, made a speech in opposition to it, which occupied the morning hour. He considered the passage of the bill a foregone conclusion, and characterized it as a declaration of war. Mr. Vallandigham, of Ohio, then addressed the House at considerable length—the report of the Committee of Thirty-three being under consideration —urging a settlement of the national troubles by conciliation and compromise, and the House subsequently passed to a debate upon the Senate's amendments to the Navy Bill—the one providing for the building of seven steam sloops of war occupying attention until the adjournment, and being finally agreed upon by a vote of 111 to 38. The debate was extremely interesting, several gentlemen from the Border Slave States taking occasion during its progress to define their positions in reference to the question of the right and propriety of secession. An evening session was held for general debate.

On Thursday, 21st, in the Senate, Mr. Colfax's bill, providing for the discontinuance of the postal service in those districts where it is likely to be interfered with, was discussed by Senators Hunter of Virginia, Doolittle of Wisconsin, FESSENDEN of Maine, Douglas of Illinois, and Green of Missouri. Senator Hunter took the ground that if the seceded States were still to be considered as members of the Union, Congress had no right to cut off their postal facilities. He believed it would lead to using force against those States. Senator Doolittle argued that it was a measure of peace, and would tend to prevent collision. Senator Fessenden took the same ground, as did also Senators Douglas and Green. The bill was not finally disposed of, but gave way to the Miscellaneous Appropriation bill, which in turn was postponed for an Executive Session, which continued three hours. The Senate held an evening session, and debated the Crittenden plan of adjust  ing the National difficulties. In the House, a report was made from the Special Committee of five on the President's Message of the 8th of January, relative to the disposition of the vessels of the Navy so as to leave the whole Atlantic coast unprotected. They also reported a resolution of censure against the Secretary of the Navy for accepting, without inquiry, the resignation of those officers of the Navy who propose to take up arms against the Federal Government. Mr. Dawes, of Massachusetts, Chairman of the Committee, gave notice that he should soon ask for a vote on the resolution. The House then considered Mr. Stanton's Volunteer bill, and Mr. Bocock, of Virginia, concluded his speech, commenced on Wednesday. He was followed by Mr. Howard, of Michigan, who denounced Mr. Bocock's remarks as clap-trap, intended to influence the action of the Peace Conference. The morning hour having expired, the report of the Committee of Thirty-three was considered, and Mr. Barrett, of Missouri, made a speech condemning the course of the Republican party, but denouncing the policy of secession. Subsequently the Senate bill providing for the payment of the expenses incurred in the Indian wars in Oregon and Washington was taken up. Finally, the amount appropriated was cut down from $3,400,000 to less than $3,000,000; but the House adjourned without taking a vote upon it. Both Houses adjourned over for the anniversary of Washington's Birthday.

EXECUTIVE SESSION OF THE SENATE.

The Senate had a stormy executive session on Thursday. The nominations of Judges Black and Pettit were up for confirmation, but no definite action was had. Probably neither of the nominations will be confirmed.

THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.

The President has nominated and the Congress confirmed the following Members of the Cabinet: Secretary of State—Mr. Toombs; Secretary of the Treasury—Mr. Memminger ; Secretary of War—Mr. L. Pope Walker. It was understood that Mr. Yancey declines a seat in the Cabinet. By the suggestions of his friends, he prefers to represent the Government in Europe.

PRESIDENT DAVIS'S INAUGURAL.

In the course of his Inaugural at Montgomery, President Davis said :

"I enter upon the duties of the office to which I have been chosen with the hope that the beginning of our career as a Confederacy may not be obstructed by hostile opposition to our enjoyment of the separate existence and independence which we have asserted, and which, with the blessing of Providence, we intend to maintain. Our present condition, achieved in a manner unprecedented in the history of nations, illustrates the American idea that governments rest upon the consent of the governed, and that it is right for the people to alter and abolish governments whenever they become destructive to the ends for which they were established. The declared compact of the Union from which we have withdrawn was to establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity; and when, in the judgment of the sovereign States now composing this Confederacy, it has been perverted from the purposes for which it was ordained, and ceased to answer the ends for which it was established, a peaceful appeal to the ballot-box declared that, so far as they were concerned, the Government created by that compact should cease to exist. In this they merely asserted the right which the Declaration of Independence of 1776 defined to be inalienable. Of the time and occasion of its exercise they, as sovereigns, were the final judges, each for itself. The impartial, enlightened verdict of mankind will vindicate the rectitude of our conduct, and He who knows the hearts of men will judge of the sincerity with which we labored to preserve the Government of our fathers in its spirit.

ANXIOUS FOR PEACE, BUT READY FOR WAR.

   *

"An agricultural people, whose chief interest is the export of a commodity required in every manufacturing country, our true policy is peace and the freest trade which our necessities will permit. It is alike our interest and that of all those to whom we would sell, and from whom we would buy, that there should be the fewest practicable restrictions upon the interchange of commodities. There can be but little rivalry between ours and any manufacturing or navigating community, such as the Northeastern States of the American Union. It must follow, therefore, that mutual interest would invite good-will and kind offices. If, however, passion or lust of dominion should cloud the judgment or inflame the ambition of those States, we must prepare to meet the emergency and maintain by the final arbitrament of the sword the position which we have assumed among the nations of the earth.

*   *   *   *   *

"For purposes of defense the Confederate States may, under ordinary circumstances, rely mainly upon their militia ; but it is deemed advisable, in the present condition of affairs, that there should be a well-instructed, disciplined army, more numerous than would usually be required on a peace establishment. I also suggest that for the protection of our harbors and commerce on the high seas a navy adapted to those objects will be required."

THE TARIFF OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.

The Southern "Congress" at Montgomery have been engaged on their tariff. Among the articles to be admitted free are breadstuffs, provisions, and munitions of war; and all goods, wares, and merchandise " from the United States," purchased before the 1st of March and imported before the 14th. After that period all importations—with the rather important exceptions noted above—from the North are to be subject to duties. A resolution has been introduced and adopted, instructing the Finance Committee to inquire into the expediency of levying an export duty on cotton.

MR. LINCOLN IN NEW YORK.

The President-elect reached this city on Tuesday afternoon, after being greeted at every station this side of Albany by enthusiastic crowds to whom he made two or three short addresses. The reception in this city must have been peculiarly gratifying to him. He was escorted to the Astor House by the Common Council in carriages. The line of the route along Ninth Avenue, Twenty-third

Street, Fifth Avenue, Fourteenth Street, and Broadway was crowded with spectators, almost equaling the turnout to witness the Japanese and Prince of Wales pageants.

MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH TO THE REPUBLICAN CLUBS.

Mr. Lincoln met the Republican clubs of New York on Tuesday evening, and said:

" MR. CHAIRMAN,—I am rather an old man to avail myself of such excuses as I am now about to do ; yet the truth is so distinct, and presses so distinctly upon me, that I can not well avoid it—that is, that I did not understand when I was brought into this room that I was to make a speech. It was not intimated to me that I was brought into a room where Daniel Webster and Henry Clay had made speeches, and where I, in my position, am expected to do something like those men, or at least say something worthy of myself. I therefore beg you to make allowance for the circumstances under which I have been by surprise brought before you. I have been very much in the habit of thinking, and sometimes speaking, on the questions that have agitated the people. If I were disposed to do so, and we were to take up some of the issues, and I was called upon, to make an argument, I could do it without much deliberation. But that is not what you desire to have done here tonight. I have been occupying the position, since the election, of silence—of avoiding public speaking. I have been doing so because I thought, upon due consideration, that was the proper course for me to take. [Applause.] I am brought before you now to make a speech, while you all approve, more than any thing else, that I have been keeping silence. [Great laughter and renewed cheering, the audience taking the full humor of the thing.] It seems to me the response you give to that remark ought to justify me in closing just here. [More laughter.]

"I have not kept silence since the Presidential election from any party craftiness or for any indifference to the anxieties that pervade the minds of men in this country. I have kept silence for the reason that it was peculiarly proper for me to wait until the time should come when, according to the custom of the country, I would speak officially. [Applause.] I hear some one say: 'According to the custom of the country?' I allude to the custom, on the President's taking the oath of office, of his declaring what course he thinks should be pursued. That is what I mean. The political drama acting before the country at this time is rapidly shifting its scenes. It was eminently fitting that I should wait till the last minute, so that I could choose a position from which I should not be obliged to deviate. I have said several times on this journey, and now repeat to you, I shall then take the ground that I think is right—the ground that I shall then think right for the North, the South, the East, the West, and the whole country. [Cries of Good, Good, and great cheering.] And in doing so I hope to feel no necessity pressing upon me to say any thing in conflict with the Constitution, in conflict with the continued Union of these United States, in conflict with the liberty of the people, nor any thing in conflict with any thing whatever I have given you reason to expect from me. [Hearty and long-continued applause.] Now, my friends, have I not said enough ? [Applause, which, as the humor of the thing was fully perceived, broke forth in loud huzzas.] Now, my friends, there is a difference of opinion between you and me, and I insist on deciding the question."

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S REPLY TO MAYOR WOOD.

In reply to a speech on the crisis from Mayor Wood on Wednesday, he said :

"MR. MAYOR,—It is with feelings of deep gratitude that I make my acknowledgments for the reception given me in the great commercial City of New York. I can not but remember that this is done by a people who do not, by a majority, agree with me in political sentiment. It is the more grateful because in this I see that for the great principles of our Government the people are almost unanimous. In regard to the difficulties that confront us at this time, and of which your Honor has thought fit to speak so becomingly and so justly as I suppose, I can only say that I agree in the sentiments expressed by the Mayor. In my devotion to the Union, I hope I am behind no man in the nation. In the wisdom with which to conduct the affairs tending to the preservation of the Union, I fear that too great confidence may have been reposed in me; but I am sure I bring a heart devoted to the work. There is nothing that could ever bring me to willingly consent to the destruction of this Union, under which not only the great commercial City of New York, but the whole country has acquired its greatness, except it be the purpose for which the Union itself was formed. I understand the ship to be made for the carrying and the preservation of the cargo, and so long as the ship can be saved with the cargo, it should never be abandoned, unless it fails the possibility of its preservation, and shall cease to exist, except at the risk of throwing overboard both freight and passengers. So long, then, as it is possible that the prosperity and the liberties of the people can be preserved in this Union, it shall be my purpose at all times to use all my powers to aid in its perpetuation. Again thanking you for the reception given me, allow me to come to a close."

ABRAHAM LINCOLN SPEECH AT TRENTON.

Mr. Lincoln left New York at eight A.M. on Thursday, and arrived at Trenton the same day. He there replied to addresses from both Houses of the Legislature. To the Representatives he said :

"MR. SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN,-I have just enjoyed the honor of a reception by the other branch of the Legislature, and I return to you and them my thanks for the reception which the people of New Jersey have given, through their chosen representatives, to me as the representative, for the time being, of the majesty of the people of the United States. I appropriate to myself very little of the demonstrations of respect with which I have been greeted. I think little should be given to any man, but that it should be a manifestation of adherence to the Union and the Constitution. I understand myself to be received here by the representatives of the people of New Jersey, a majority of whom differ in opinion from those with whom I have acted. This manifestation is, therefore, to be regarded by me as expressing their devotion to the Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people. You, Mr. Speaker, have well said that this is a time when the bravest and wisest look with doubt and awe upon the aspect presented by our national affairs. Under these circumstances, you will readily see why I should not speak in detail of the course I shall deem it best to pursue. It is proper that I should avail myself of all the information and all the time at my command, in order that when the time arrives in which I must speak officially, I shall be able to take the ground which I deem the best and safest, and from which I may have no occasion to swerve. I shall endeavor to take the ground I deem most just to the North, the East, the West, the South, and the whole country. I take it, I hope, in good temper, certainly in no malice toward any section. I shall do all that may be in my power to promote a peaceful settlement of all our difficulties. The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am. [Cheers.] None who would do more to preserve it : but it may be necessary to put the foot down firmly. [Here the audience broke out into cheers so loud and long that, for some moments, it was impossible to hear Mr. Lincoln's voice. He continued.] And if I do my duty and do right, you will sustain me, will you not ? [Loud cheers, and cries of Yes, yes, we will.] Received, as I am, by the members of a Legislature, the majority of whom do not agree with me in political sentiments, I trust that I may have their assistance in piloting the ship of State through this voyage, surrounded by perils as it is, for if it should suffer attack now, there will be no pilot ever needed for another voyage. Gentlemen, I have already spoken longer than I intended, and must beg leave to stop here."

ABRAHAM LINCOLN SPEECH AT PHILADELPHIA.

Arriving the same evening at Philadelphia, he replied as follows to an address from the Mayor:

"MR. MAYOR AND FELLOW-CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA, —I appear before you to make no lengthy speech, but to thank you for this reception. The reception you have given me to-night is not to me, the man, the individual, but to the man who temporarily represents, or should represent, the majesty of the nation. [Cheers.] It is true, as your worthy Mayor has said, that there is anxiety among the citizens of the United States at this time. I deem it a happy circumstance that this dissatisfied portion of our fellow citizens do not point us to anything in

which they are being injured, or are about to be injured; for which reason I have felt all the while justified in concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety of the country at this time is artificial. If there be those who differ with me upon this subject, they have not pointed out the substantial difficulty that exists. I do not mean to say that an artificial panic may not do considerable harm; that it has done such I do not deny. The hope that has been expressed by your Mayor, that I may be able to restore peace, harmony, and prosperity to the country, is most worthy of him; and happy indeed will I be if I shall be able to verify and fulfill that hope. [Tremendous cheering.] I promise you in all sincerity that I bring to the work a sincere heart. Whether I will bring a head equal to that heart will be for future times to determine. It were useless for me to speak of details of plans now. I shall speak officially next Monday week, if ever. If I should not speak then, it were useless for me to do as now. If I do speak then, it is useless for me to do so now. When I do speak, I shall take such ground as I deem best calculated to restore peace, harmony, and prosperity to the country, and tend to the perpetuity of the nation and the liberty of these States and these people. Your worthy Mayor has expressed the wish, in which I join with him, that it were convenient for me to remain with your city long enough to consult your mechanics and manufacturers ; or, as it were, to listen to those breathings rising within the consecrated walls wherein the Constitution of the United States, and I will add, the Declaration of Independence were originally framed and adopted. [Enthusiastic applause.] I assure you and your Mayor, that I had hoped on this occasion, and upon all occasions during my life, that I shall do nothing inconsistent with the teachings of these holy and most sacred walls. I never asked any thing that does not breathe from these walls. All my political warfare has been in favor of the teachings that came forth from these sacred walls. May my right hand forget its cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if ever I prove false to those teachings. Fellow-citizens, I have addressed you longer than I expected to do, and now allow me to bid you good-night."

Mr. Lincoln then retired, and subsequently held a levee.

DEFEAT OF THE SECESSIONISTS IN ARKANSAS.

Arkansas has followed the example set her by Tennessee, and not only returned Union delegates to the proposed State Convention, but has voted not to have any Convention ! Sufficient returns have been received to render this result certain, and the Secessionists are forced to admit that their defeat is most complete.

SEIZURE OF THE OVERLAND MAIL.

A telegram from Fort Smith states that the overland mail had been seized near Fort Chadbourne, and that all the property of the company within reach had been taken possession of. A report was also current that Forts Chadbourne and Belknap had been captured, but this is not confirmed.

AFFAIRS AT FORT PICKENS.

The Pensacola Observer has letters from Fort Pickens to February 11. Five United States vessels were off the harbor, the Macedonian, Brooklyn, Sabine, Wyandotte, and St. Louis. None but the Wyandotte entered the harbor, and through her communication was kept up between the fleet and Fort Pickens. On the night of the 6th, it is said, it was confidently anticipated that there would be a collision between the Federal and State forces, and a letter to the Columbus (Georgia) Times details a series of manoeuvres, which happily proved unsuccessful, to get the Wyandotte ashore by means of displaying decoy lights. No attempt to land troops was made, and the night passed quietly. The captain of the Brooklyn is represented as having been greatly incensed by the orders which he had received not to land his men at Fort Pickens, as his stores were not sufficient to last them for any length of time. The captain of the Sabine is said to have declared that "he would not raise a flag of truce to enter an American port ; he'd be d—d first."

AFFAIRS AT FORT SUMTER.

The Whig Press, of Middletown, Orange County, publishes an interesting letter, written by an officer in Major Anderson's command to a relative in that county. It is dated at Fort Sumter on February 7, and says that the soldiers are standing at their guns, port fires lighted, daily expecting an attack. From the batteries at Cummings' Point six mortars bear directly upon Fort Sumter, and these are behind fortifications which will stand severe fire before they can be made untenable. It probably will be Major Anderson's policy, in case of an attack, first to batter down Fort Moultrie and all the houses on Sullivan's Island, and then to take the other batteries seriatim. The officer seems to have no fear of the floating batteries which are said to be in course of construction. They will be under Sumter's guns for the distance of a mile at least, before they can be made available, and if they get under the walls "infernal machines" will be hurled into them. The writer also details certain other defensive preparations, and says that they have abandoned all hope of receiving aid from the Government, but gives his word that a manly and vigorous defense will be made.

AFFAIRS AT THE TORTUGAS.

Captain Meigs, commanding at Fort Jefferson, Tortugas Islands, has arrived at the capital. He reports all military affairs in that quarter as in a state of quiet.

PERSONAL.

The death of Mrs. Catharine Grace Gore, the popular English novelist, is announced by our recent arrivals as having taken place about the last of January, at the age of 61. She was no less a woman of society than of letters, and was equally remarkable for the wit and brilliancy of her conversation, and the fertility and liveliness of her pen. As a delineator of the manners of fashionable life she had few rivals, and of the 60 or 70 different works which she wrote, extending to nearly 200 volumes, there is scarcely a page which is dull or commonplace.

A letter from Japan, the latest dates received, says : it Poor Tommy is supposed to have met an untimely end. The Japanese say he died of delirium tremens (a new American introduction), but we all believe his head has been cut off."

Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, wife of the President of the old Union, has two married sisters now on a visit to Montgomery, Alabama. One is from Kentucky, and on a visit to her sister, who resides in Selma, Alabama. They are both secessionists, and opposed to the government of their brother-in-law, Abraham Lincoln. Of course they attract considerable attention, and are the toast of Southerners. The husband of one has offered his services to Governor Moore, of Alabama, to further the cause of secession and State rights and republican liberty.

FOREIGN NEWS.
ENGLAND.

THE QUEEN'S SPEECH.

THE Queen opened Parliament in person on 5th, and delivered her Speech as follows :

"MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,—It is with great satisfaction that I again meet you in Parliament, and have recourse to your assistance and advice. My relations with foreign Powers continue to be friendly and satisfactory, and I trust that the moderation of the Powers of Europe will prevent any interruption of the general peace."

After alluding to European affairs she adds:

"Serious differences have arisen among the States of the North American Union. It is impossible for me to look without great concern upon any event that can affect the happiness and welfare of a people nearly allied to my subjects by descent, and closely connected with them by the most intimate and friendly relations. My heartfelt wish is that these differences may be susceptible of satisfactory adjustment. The interest which I take in the well-being of the people of the United States can not but be in-creased by the kind and cordial reception given by them to the Prince of Wales during his recent visit to the continent of America. I am glad to take this opportunity of expressing my warm appreciation of the loyalty and attachment to my person and throne manifested by my Canadian

 and other North American subjects on the occasion of the residence of the Prince of Wales among them."

TRADE WITH THE COTTON STATES.

The underwriters of London and Liverpool have raised the rate of insurance one per cent. on cargoes from the Southern States of America, on account of the numerous fires on cotton-ships and to cover war risks.

DESTRUCTION OF The TITIAN GALLERY.

A destructive fire occurred on the 5th at Blenheim Palace, the splendid historical seat of the Marlboeoughs. The main building escaped comparatively uninjured, yet th damage is stated at 100,000 sterling. The famed Titian gallery, with its valuable paintings, was destroyed.

FRANCE.
THE EMPEROR'S SPEECH.

The French Emperor opened the Chambers on 4th with a speech, in which he said :

"I have endeavored to prove, in my relations with foreign Powers, that France sincerely desires peace, and that, without renouncing a legitimate influence, she does not pretend to interfere in any place where her interests are not concerned; and, finally, that, if she sympathizes with all that is great and noble, she does not hesitate to condemn every thing which violates international right and justice. It is sufficient for the greatness of the country that its rights be maintained in the quarters in which they are incontestible, to defend its honor wherever it may be attacked, and to afford her support where it is supplicated by a just cause. It is thus that we have maintained our rights in causing the recognition of the cession of Savoy and Nice. These provinces are now irrevocably united to France. It is thus that, to avenge our honor in the extreme East, our flag, united with that of Great. Britain, floats victoriously over the walls of Pekin, and that the Cross, emblem of Christian civilization, again surmounts in the capital of China the temples of our religion which have been closed for more than a century. It is thus that, in the name of humanity, our troops have gone to Syria, in virtue of a European convention, in order to protect the Christian against a blind fanaticism. At Rome I have considered it necessary to increase the garrison when the security of the Holy Father appeared to be threatened. I have sent my fleet to Gaeta at the moment when it seemed that it must be the last refuge of the Ring of Naples. After having allowed it to remain there four months, I withdrew it. However worthy of sympathy might be a royal misfortune is nobly defended, the presence of our war vessels obliged us to depart every day from the system of neutrality which I had proclaimed, and gave rise to erroneous interpretations; but you know that in policy one hardly believes in the possibility of a pure, disinterested step. Such is a rapid exposition of the general situation. Let any apprehension, therefore, be dissipated, and let confidence be reestablished. Why should not commercial and industrial affairs assume a new development? My firm resolution is not to enter into any conflict in which the cause of France should not be based on right and justice. What, then, have we to fear ? Can a united and compact nation, numbering forty millions of souls, fear to be drawn into struggles the aim of which she could not approve, or be provoked by any menace whatever? The first virtue of a people is to have confidence in itself, and not allow itself to be disturbed by imaginary alarms. Let us, then, calmly regard the future in the full consciousness of our strength as well as in our honorable intentions. Let us engage, without exaggerated preoccupations, in the development of the germs of the prosperity that Providence places in our hands."

FATHER LACORDAIRE ON AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS.

In a speech just delivered at the French Academy by Father Lacordaire on the subject of M. de Tocqueville, the eloquent friar said :

"For the first time M. de Tocqueville saw an industrious, peaceful, powerful, and respectable people pouring into vast solitudes the quiet flood of its populutien. However, this people was its own master; it did not recognize any distinction of birth, and elected its magistrates in all the degrees of the civil and political hierarchy. Fre e as the Indian, civilized as the European, religious without acknowledging the superior claims of any worship, this people presented to an amazed world the living drama of the most absolute freedom and of the most complete equality.

   *   *   *   *   *   *

"The American spirit is a religious spirit. It has an innate respect for laws; freedom is as dear to it as equality. It places the foundation of political freedom in civil freedom.

"This is just the reverse of the spirit by which a great portion of the European democracy is carried away rather than guided. While the American believes in a soul, in God who made it, in Christ who saved it, in the Gospel which is the book common both to the soul and to God, the European democrat, save some noble exceptions, believes only in humanity, a rather fictitious humanity, which he has created in a dream.

"The same difference exists concerning the laws. The American who respects God's law, respects also man's law, and, if he believes it unjust, he reserves to himself the right of abrogating it, not by violence, but by the peaceful and sure means of persuasion that man carries in his intellect, and by the still more powerful means derived from his tried devotedness to the cause of justice. For the European democrat (I do not speak here of the necessary exceptions), law is but a decree originating in force and which force can upset; had a whole people given its assent and its sanction to it, he professes that a minority, or even a single man, has a right to protest with the sword against it, and to tear in the blood a compact which has no other value than the impotence of the people to replace it by another.

"Finally, gentlemen (said Father Lacordaire), if we compare results, we will say that American democracy has created a great people, religious, powerful, respected, free, though not without its trials and perils. European democracy has broken the ties which linked the present to the past ; buried prejudices under ruins; raised here and there a precarious freedom, stirring the world with events rather than renewing it with institutions. Undisputed master of the future, this democracy will lead us, if not instructed and regulated, into the frightful alternative of a bottomless pit of demagoguism, or of an unchecked despotism."

THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON CASE.

The case of Jerome Bonaparte-Patterson vs. Prince Napoleon came up for further argument in Paris on the 1st instant, and public curiosity was even greater than on the first day. M. Berryer replied at length to the address of M. Allon, counsel for Prince Napoleon, and M. Allon responded. The court then adjourned till Friday, the 8th, to hear the Imperial advocate.

THE EMPEROR'S LADY FRIEND.

A Paris letter says : "Madame Castiglione, in her twenty-third year, is dying of cancer at Passy. The Empress Eugenie is thus avenged, for there is no doubt of the Emperor's truancy in that quarter. Her loveliness was really extraordinary.

ITALY.

THE LATEST FROM GAETA.

A telegram, dated Naples, February 4, says : The fire of the besieged at Gaeta is very brisk, and is replied to by the Sardinians. A vessel left Gaeta last night, eluding the vigilance of the Sardinian squadron. The Spanish vessels which were dispatchef to Gaeta had been repulsed by Admiral Persano. Francis II. has issued an appeal to the Sicilians, offering them the Constitution of 1812, a Sicilian army and navy, and an entirely separate administration. He asks of them to give an asylum to a royal family, abandoned but brave, and too well instructed by misfortune.

A telegram dated Turin, 7th, says : At Gaeta within the last 36 hours the besiegers have blown up three powder magazines and destroyed a side of curtain citadel. The garrison has asked an armistice of 48 hours to bury the dead. This has been granted by General Cialdini, who has besides sent to the place necessaries for the wounded.


 

 

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