The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-02 00:00:00

Mr. HUGH W. SHEFFRY, speaker of the Virginia
House of Delegates, made the following character-
istic speech. He said—God, in my opinion, never

made a race of which Stonewall Jackson is a type

and President Davis the representative man—(great
cheering)—and from which sprung that great and
good old chieftain, Robert E. Lee--(prolonged
cheering)—to be destroyed, though it were thrown
into the lion's den or into a furnace seven times

heated. It cannot be done. They talked about

subjugating the South ; they who believe that the

. _
mind and heart can be subjugated are base, sensual
natures. It cannot be done, sir ; even from the
hand of a true conqueror the manhood of South
would pluck power, and in a short time the van-
quished would rule the conqueror. Mr. Chairman, do
not you feel (if you do not, I do), stronger and
braver than ten days ago? Do not you feel that the
tide is on the turn ? You spoke of the auguries of
the ancients and of the signs of the times. I know
that these signs will be revealed in favour of our
country. I know that the tide of patriotism is run-
ning through the length of the Confederacy, and
that that message from Hampton Roads, when it
reached our telegraphic lines, went like a shock from
the centre to the circumference, and every man

sprung to his feet, vowing to do or die rather than
submit. (Cheers.) The fires of 1861 I feel burning
brightly in my heart: The fires of aroused patriotism
will consume a gOod deal of rubbish which has
gathered since the commencement of the war, and
it will be a jolly bonfire. It will not consume the
doubters, but the doubts—not the croakers, but the

croaking—not the money cormorants, but the greed
for lucre ; and from the crackling of the flames all
will come out purer and brighter. Where is the

reconstructionist now ? How does he take the issue?

A week or ten days ago we heard many whispering,

sometimes with bated breath and sometimes louder,
about " reconstruction," " peace, precious peace.'
Peace was so much yearned after that men forgot
there was anything better than peace. They forgot
the precious blood that had been shed. They for-
got the desolated fields, scorched by the red flame
of war. They forgot the orphan's wail and the
widow's cry, and were almost persuaded to go back
to the Union, if they could carry their heads on their
shoulders. Some were willing to run some risk with
their heads, if they might only carry with them their

notes and bonds and title-deeds under their arms,

(Laughter.) Some were hitching up carts to carry
their Confederate notes in, and some were arranging
their woolly heads in line to take them with them
into the Union—all under the glorious aegis of the
Union as it was and the constitution as it ought to be.

They urged the Government to resort to the masterly
arts of statesmanship, and were quite sure that the
President ought to send commissioners to Washing-
ton. Separate State action and a convention of all
the States were talked over, and some few thought
perhaps it would require"the energy of the House of
Representatives to get through with this big job.

In the meantime, north of the Potomac, the drama
was approaching the fifth act. There they said the
Union must be preserved, but slavery must be
abolished. The rascally Democrats in the United
States House of Representatives were refractory and
would not give their votes to make the two-thirds
necessary to amend the constitution so as to abolish
it. The Republicans pressed them on all sides.
Horace Greeley was seen hobbling to and fro in Con-
gress performing his mysterious role. After a while

the venerable Blair appeared, with wings on his
shoulders. Cox and Brooks, anti-war Democrats,
asked for time to see if the rebels would not submit
to terms. The House at last consented to give time.
Instantly Blair, the superannuated Mercury, spread
his wings, and lo!! here he is in the Confederate
capital. Courtesies are extended tohim, and at length
our President consented to send three of our most
eminent men in a steamer, as they thought [to the
chairman, "Did not you?"] to Washington. (Great
laughter.) We had already heard on the streets of
the fine dinners Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell
were getting in Washington, when, lo and behold !
it turned out that they had stuck in Hampton
Roads. As they were on their way the whole
Yankee nation rose to meet them. They sent their
King from his throne, and their Prime Minister
from his closet. The King came to meet his friend
(turning to the chairman, Mr. Hunter), whom I
suppose he had heard tell of before. The Prime
Minister came to repress any imprudence on the part
of his master and curb his " little jokes." Was not
this a climax worthy of the Yankee nation ? At
last the curtain was raised, and no duck nor dinner
appeared. (Laughter.) There stands Lincoln, with
Seward an inch behind him, bowinc, out our com-
missioners, and sending greeting to the South to
surrender tlr perish, with the Yankee nation in
the background—laughing over this successful trick
to catch the Democratic votes. On the 30th the
conference took place, and on the 31st seven Demo-
cratic votes went over, and the amendment was'
adopted. And now we have the offer, what shall we
do ? . In reply to this question I will ask another.
Is the gallant Captain- Semmes in this crowd?
he is, give him another Alabama—(cheers)—and
with the proud flag of his country flying, let him
again meet the Kearsage. What would he say to
the demand of the commander of the Kearsage to
surrender or perish ? What but to clear the decks
and give them a broadside, and if he againsunAklahoe,
would leave us a proud example to follow.
sink, at least the world will applaud us, an
my countrymen, let us clear the decks, and
dour
if
fchwile-
dren will not be ashamed of us ; and from
fothrefuwrteucrke
of the ship of State will be gathered relicsworship. I say I have an abiding faith in our suc-
cess,ud because I believe our men are true n
high-toned and devoted to the principles involved in
this contest ; because our women are virtuous and
would scorn the wretch who; with sackcloth on his
loins and ashes on his head, would ask mercy from
Abraham Lincoln ; because I have faith in a power
greater than
pillarAb of Abraham Lincoln, whose thunders are
louder than the tinkling of the silver-bell of Seward,
and because the Al mighty, whether by a pillar of
by
th iells
hour 5 T
cloud or afire, has always guided and di-
rected us
providential hand. Now what are the
pd
au
ttri
os
tios will become
fmheunnioewsswbeuzillinuwg
itspirit
with
duty
patriotic sacrifices. Our cool
is to
give time, life
itself, ay, even money, for it does
not seem that men