The Express.
London, England, 1861-01-24 00:00:00

MR. SHERIDAN, M.P., AT DUDLEY.

On Tuesday night Mr. Sheridan, M.P., ad-
dressed his constituents at the Rove Hill School. There
was a considerable amount of excitement in the town,
and the hon. member was warmly cheered on him way to
the place of meeting. This was attributable in a great
measure to the kindness of the hon. gentleman to the poor
of the town fm it is well known that not only are his
sympathies with the people politically. but he has been
mindful of their physical wants. Hence the exceedingly
warm end kindly welcome which greeted him. As be en-
tered the room he was loudly cheered, and
when he ascended the platform the cheering was
ixiinr. renewed. The Rev. D. EVANS was called to the
The proceedings were brought to a close by a vote of
confidence in the hon. member, which was unanimously
agreed to.

INuORPoRAIT.D SOCIETY FOR PROMOTINII THE
ENLARcEMENT, BUILDING, AND REPAIRING or CließCHad
ANDCHAPRIA.—This society held its usual monthly meeting
on Monday last, at the society's house, No. 7, Whitehall—
the Rev. Canna Jennings in the chair. There were also
present: Thomas Phillip., Rev. W. R. Cosens, Mr. Wit.,
ham Cotton, Mr. Robert Mitchell', Mr. °Porte Cow/Hire,
Mr. William Riviugton, and Mr. William Wilateley, Q.G.
The Rev. George Ainslie, M.A., secretary. Grants of
money were made in aid of the following objects :
—Building churches at Llanr-y-Bettws, in the perish
of Llanfor, near Corwen ; Stevenage, Herta, and
South Thringstone, in the pariah of Wllitwiek, near Ashby
de-la-'touch. Rebuilding the churches at Castle Ciierei,nion.
near Welchpool ; Chitterne, near Beyteaatry, %the ;
Woodboronh, near Marlborough; and Loll:neon, near
Burton-on-Trent. Enlarging or otherwise increasing tl.e
accommodation in the churches of St. John s, Oakbeld,
Bkwneaarorto,Rifindie:7lslameTofam.Rl7:4:teithrth.;;SoDit:biou.tN,r:weren.B.mined,
wHneeloalagri,Sahixtlian.h.m:ynearre:
near Maldon ; 13ridenbary, near Bromyard ; Chilhara, near
Canterbury ; Cottisford. near Bracklev, Oxon ; Doethurst,
near Tewkesbury ; Hibton, near Hull ; Llanwrtyd, near
Brecon ; Mersthani, near Reigate ; St, Gregory, Norwich ;
and Outwell, near Wisbeach. The grant fortuerly made
towanla the restoration of the church at Slaugham, near
Crawley, Sussex, was increased. The society likewise
accepter' the trust of a sum of money as a repair fund for
the church at Hatchlotd, Surrey.
The Arenir Commercial gives morn. details re-
specting the new coinage to be issued in France. All the
pieces are to bear the impression of the Emperor's head.
crowned with laurel, in token of his Italian victories. On
the gold and some of the silver coins the present reverse is
to be replaced by the imperial arms, mantle, sceptre, ,kc.

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LONDON, THURSDAY, JAN. 24.

W►. should not ourselves have thought of draw-
ing wit a programme of the course and issue of
the anticipated civil war in the United States ;
but whets • leading contemporary undertakes
to prophesy, and builds up a scheme on assump-
time, directly opposed to established facts, it
is necessary to show what the elements of the
case are, and what relation they bear to the
future, in the event of civil war.
Following the course of the speculations which
our contemporary has indulged in, we have first the
consideration of area. The Slave States have the
larger area; and we may specify that the difference
cousists of 235,000 square milts. But if the South
included in her territory the Desert of Sahara, it
would look very big on the map without being an
element of greatness. In the existing territory of
the South there are large tracts of pine barrens,
sands and swamps, never yet turned to use ; and
there is an annually increaaingarea of lapsed land,
where the forest encroaches, and even wild beasts
return, after a disappearance of a century. As for
the territory beyond the existing boundaries, which
are assumed to be waiting for the South to annex it
—it bears no comparison to the new sou actually in
the hands of the Federal government and the
great North-West. Beyond Texas all is an imprac-
ticable desert, so parched as to forbid even the
construction of a railway. New Mexico is enclosed
between California and Kansas, which repudiate
slave institutions ; and Mexico cannot be taken—
nor even assailed—without a Federal force, which
will certainly never he lent to seceding States. As
for the division of Texas into several States, there
is more than au offset to that in the broad area
which lies between Kamm and Canada and the
Mississippi and I)regon. Moreover, Texas is so far
from being tit to sustain the Southern policy
that it is now the field of conflict between free
and slave labour. Germans and free negroes grow
better cotton there than planters and slaves ; and
the reign of terror under which the people of
Texas have been living for above a year renders it
absurd to talk of a great place among the nations
as in reserve for a people so barbarous and so
wretched. But the North will have no need to
" give up to the South " all the south and south-
western territory here contemplated. California
is with the North, and will remain so for the
sake of her gold and trade. There is a strong
hatred of slavery on all Mexican soil ; and there is
no force in this Slave States disposable for foreign
war, even if no curb were imposed by the North.
Next we come to the assumption (involved in
the preceding) that the frontier Slave States will
certainly join the South. The plain facts are
these :—Missouri is divided on the Slavery ques-
tion, and last year returned a free-soil representa-
tive to Congress. Enclosed on three aides by
anti-slavery States, Missouri has everything to
gain by abolishing slavery ; and her citizens have
shown themselves well aware of the fact. They
have indeed always felt that the imposition of
slave institutions upon them, when no cireum-
stenos of climate or !Oil could be made an excuse
for it, was an injury. Kentucky is nearly in the
game position. When Kentucky became • State,
thirty-seven years ago, the inhabitants desired to
exclude slavery, but were overborne by their great
statesman, Mr. CLAY, who boasted to the end of
his life that he had compelled his native State to
join the Southern interest, knowing that she could
resort to free labour whenever she chose. Ever
since the great rise of Ohio, on the opposite bank
of the river, Kentucky has been jealous of the
ads*itages of free labour ; and for some years
past there has been an avowed anti-slavery section
of society there, supporting a local abolition news-
paper. There remain Virginia, Delaware, and
Maryland. The two little States complain bitterly
of their position, unable to keep their own slaves,
and made answerable for the passage of other
people's slaves through them. For several years
their lapsed lands have been passing into the
hands of New York capitalists, who re-
trieve the soil, and grow food upon it ;
and from year to year the preponderance
of I ;enikan and native white labour over negro
labour has been on the increase. Free negro
labour also far exceeds slave labour, so that the
interest of those small frontier States in Southern
institutions has nearly died out. As for Virginia, we
hear nothing from our contemporary about the will
and pleasure of the inhabitants of that western por-
tion which so threatens its neighbours, as to reliev-
ing themselves of the burden of slavery. On the
western side of the mountains, the inhabitants are,
to a man, discontented with slavery ; and so
anxious to get rid of it that they have, from time
to time, brought (onward schemes of emancipa-
tion. These schemes here been less wise than
well-intended ; but they show us that it would be
rash to assume that, in awe of being compelled to
choose, they would go with the South. Even its
Eastern Virginia, between the mountains and the
sea, there are extensive lodgments of free labour,
while slavery is shrinking rapidly into • mere
traffic in Negroes. That traffic is itself nearly
destroyed by the present disturbance ; and there
are a good many citizens sensible enough to KO
that their territory is no site for a slave market,
from the day when only a river will separate it
from a foreign country. Taking this line of
frontier States in tho mass, they have repeat-
edly declared that they could not undertake to be
the conlon of the South—the gaolers of her negro
population. Nothing could pay them for the
danger and embarrassment and loss of such a
position. Under these circumstances, it is a rare

piece of audauty to assume that the border Slave'
States will certainly throw in their lot with the
South. To speak of the Fru* States as a mere
Rump, in any case, is abundantly absurd, as any
one may see by looking at the map from Maine to
f)regen ; but the wildness of the notion can be
understood only on the consideration of • few
facts which make us wish we had the new census.
However, we can satisfy ourselves without it,
though unable to do full justice to the Free States.
We are bidden to look at the map, and see the
comparative extent of coast. The inhabitants
may perhaps be of opinion that the coasts of the
great inland seas may be at least as va-
luable to them as those of the gulf ; and
if so, the only question is of the comparative
value of the eastern line of coast. The Free
States have a noble rampart of rock, with inde-
structible harbours thickset along their shores
from the Hay of Fundy to Philadelphia ; whereas
the Southern peoples have always regarded their
coast line as their fatal and insurmountable weak-
ness. It is a long flat line of sand, incapable of
defence, and unfavourable to the formation of
harbours. New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Charles-
ton, and Norfolk are their ports ; and we need
spend no more time in comparing them with those
of the North than to say, that in 1859 the ton-
nage of Massachusetts alone exceeded that of all
the Slate States together. The South is so weak
on its sea line that its political conduct in the
former revolution (and, perhaps, we shall see the
sante thing in the present) was chiefly determined
by the consciousness of utter helplessness :tgainst
attack by sea. As for the rivers—the Free
States have the ohio, the Missouri, the Upper
Missimippi, and the chain of lakes ; so that if cut
otf front New (Weans, they would have abundant
waterway for their commerce. But they cannot
be deprived of the Missimippi, because the Slave
States produce neither food nor clothing ; and
they cannot exist without supplies from the agri-
cultural districts of the North-West, and the manu-
factures of the North.

The strangest notion of all is of the wealth the
South is assumed to peeress now, and to have the
prospect of hereafter. The South has no wealth
but what is pledged for the payment of debt.
Local testimony is best ; and we will make room
for a few words of it. Alabama is regarded as
unsurpassed for natural wealth—its virgin soil, its
noble rivers, and excellent harbour. Here is the
conclusion arrived at by a loyal son of the soil,
and published in 1855 for the good of the State :
" A country in its infancy, where fifty years ago
" scarce a forest tree had been felled by the axe
" of the pioneer, is already exhibiting the painful
" signs of senility and decay apparent in Vir-
" ginia and the Carolinas. The freshness of its
" agricultural glory is gone ; the vigour of its
"youth is extinct ; and the spirit of desolation
" seems brooding over it." So reports a son of
Mr. CLAY, a zealous slaveholder. The same oipec•
tacle is presented from State to State ; and we
might infer as much, if we did not know it, from
the figures in which their population and produce
are reported, on government authority.
How are the respective sections peopled? In
the Slave States, there were, ten years since, air
millions of whites, and in the Free States thirteen
millions and a quarter. The slaves have increased
to four millions ; and in South Carolina the
whites have diminished in proportion to the
negroes, if not in positive amount. Where is the
force which is to overrun and annex foreign terri-
tories, after having put down the North? The
available military force of the entire South is de-
clared to be under 50,000 men, while Massa-
chusetts alone has a militia, ready for work, of
155,000. The difference is that in the North the
working men are the soldiery who undertake the
defence of the country, while in the South they
are the chief peril of the country, requiring more
force to 'mercy them than can be sent out to make
conquests. The prospects of conquest are not
very brilliant, surely.
Again, the population on a square mile averages
22 in the Free States, and a fraction more than
11 in the Slave States; and, as might be expected
from this, the produce per acre is in the more
populous section 8 dollars, to 34 in the
South. With fewer cultivators, the North raises
227,000,000 dollars more of agricultural pro-
ducts than the South ; and its property, exclu-
sive of slaves, is four times as great as that of the
South. Including slave property, at its highest
rate of value, the wealth of the Slave States is
less than two-thirds that of the Free States.
What is more significant still, the mere increase of
Northern property within five years is greater
than the whole amount of that of the South.
This is surely enough to put to silence all boasts
about the present wealth and future prospects of
the Slave States.

But it will be asked, why has the North
allowed matters to come to this pass? And how
can the South be so mad as to have challenged
ruin in this way f We can only say that the
South w mad—mad in the way that is caused by
passion acting on ignorance and a morbid self-
will. The people there know no better than to
trust to prophets who declare their prospects to
be brilliant, and the North likely to be a mere
Rump. There are wiser people in the South;
but they are silenced, or they are busy getting
away to the Free States. They furnish the an-
swer as to why the North has waited thus long.
His times as many persons go from the Slave
States to live in the North as the reverse ; but
there are enough of Southern wives, clergymen,
and educators who are natives of the North to
make it • serious thing—a most mournful and
dreaded prooedure—to resort to war. At present
the alarmed slaveholders from the North are
hastening to their native States at any sacrifice ;
while the immigrant Southerners in the Free
States show no desire to move. They deserted the
sinking vessel long ago, and are not going back to
it now.

It is bad enough to witness the madness of
rebellion and treason from afar. We cannot have
it here ; and the proposition that a barbaric
slaveholding community has a prospect of splendour
and wealth, in virtue of its barbarism, while a free
and thriving people will become a mere rump of
the Republic, because it is free, is treason to
political principle in any civilized country in
the world.

REPItEsENTATION OF SOUTH WILTS.—Both par-
ties are now proceeding actively with their canvass, end Mr.
Grove has nine.' a second address is which he states that
" the result, so far, has been el the most encouraging and
gratifying character, mil that with the prospect of almost
certain stiecem he has determined to afford to every
elector an opportunity of recording hie vote." Backed
as they are by a requisition signed by upwards
1,1110 electors oat of • conitituency of not more
than 3.00111, Lemiteniat-Colonel Bathurst** supporter.
WO 01014 rapine, but it is somewhat .loubtful
whether the whole of those who signed the requisition will
vomiter thernaelves pledged to the conservative cause ea
the day of election. The contest will nettenbtedly be
severe, Lord Herbert not having polled more than 1,500
wise in the ersatest of himself and Mr. Weadbant with
Led Beam- Thymus in 1+457. The latter polled between
1,300 and 1,300. Lieutenant-Colonel Bathurst's *Jimmies
have been guaranteed by his supporters, and between
2,000 f. and 3,0001. was inhscribed at a meeting at Balislanv.
on Tuesday, Point of the leading agriculturist* of the district
putting down their Santee far IC alai 1001. each. The
nominitam will cot take place until after the meeting of
parliannot

Inat Court.
WINDSOR CASTLE, Jan. 23.
ielierai von Bouiu arrived yesterday afternoon
ea a special mission from his Majeety William 1., King of
Prumia, and was accompanied by the Prussian Mini/ter,
Count Beruatorff ; Colonel Blumenthal, A.D.C., and Cap•
min von Bonin.

Lord John Russell also arrived at the Castle. shortly
after their arrival her !Welty gave audience to Getend von
Bonin to present letters from the King of Prussia. Count
Bernstorff also had an audience of her Majesty. They were
respectively intosluoed by Lunt John HusseU, her Majesty's
Meese&try of State for Foreign Affairs.
Lord John Russell had an audience of the Queen.

Mir William Hoste was groom in waiting.
In the evening the royal dinner party inducled the
Princess Alice, Colonel the Hun. Mir Charles and Miss
Phipps, the Hon. Mrs. Wellesley, Major Mphinstone,
mid the visitors staying in the Ciuitle.

The bend of the }Loyal Horse Guards played during
dinner :

Ked•ruble
• h erturr, Le Dieu et Is liejradre"
aims
Stitt t n Moor hi Eetto "
thalop. •• %Tumults
Her Majesty's private bend afterwards performed in the
drawing .room :

irrertiire. Steve de Corinth"
solo, Flute. Carnival de Venter" Mr. ithitsreutken.
Duo, Te' Huguenots" Meyerliver.
The Queen, with Princess Helena, walked and drove iu
the Home Park this morning.
The Prince Consort went out shooting. Count Hernstorff
had the honour of accompanying his Royal Highness. In
attend. nre were Sir William Heide, Lord Alfred Paget,
and Colonel Ponsonby.
Princess Alice and Princess Louise rode in the Riding.
house.