The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-25 00:00:00

THE SOUTLIERN STATES.

Mr. Maury, who is so well known to all naviga-
tors and to all scientific men, has addressed a long
letter to Admiral Fitzroy, containing an apology
for the step he has taken of resigning his post at
the Washington Observatory, and devoting himself
to the cause of his compatriots of the South. Mr.
Maury's history of the grievances of the Southern
States is much too elaborate for our columns, bat
the following extracts contain nearly all that re-
lates to the present state of the conflict :
" President Lincoln has, by his own mere dic-
tum, and that of his lieutenants, suspended the writ
of habeas corpus. He has muzzled the press and
abridged the freedom of speech. He has, without
authority of law, and against the Constitution,
which he is sworn to defend and support, plunged
the country into war, murdered our citizens, burnt
our houses, and is wasting their subEtance. He
has, without warrant, seized unoffending citizens,
and, without acquainting them with the nature of
their offence, has imprisoned them in loathsome
dungeons. He has set aside the civil authorities
and declared martial law to rule in their stead, and
under the tyrant's plea he is proceeding to do a great
many acts and things which would more become the
savage and the brute. He has sent against us an
army, and provided them with manacles to bind us
in his prisons. His Zouaves who fell at Manassas
were equipped with halters already adjusted for
our necks and the lamp-post ; and, first having
treated medicines, drugs, and surgical instruments
as contraband of war, he leaves after defeat in bat-
tle his wounded to be cared for by us whom he
had sought to deprive of remedies. After his
defeat at the battle of Bull's Run, he sent
neither flag to bury his dead nor physicians to treat
his wounded. In short Lincoln and his myrmidons
are preparing to enact upon us the scenes of La
Vendee in the French Revolution.

"Though not so mighty in numbers nor-so rich in
warlike supplies as the enemy, we are 8,000,000 of
people thrice armed, in that ofr quarrel is just.
Fighting for our homes, we are mighty in battle.
In mere lust the enemy is fighting for power and
conquest; we, for firesides, the graves of our
fathers, dear life, and all that is precious to the
heart and to civilization. Our cause is holy ; theirs
hellish. We cannot, we will not be subjugated.
" The contrast is frequently drawn by our old
men between the conduct of the English in the war
of 1812 and the conduct of the hordes of Lincoln
now. The English invaded us, but respected the
property and regarded the rights of unarmed
citizens. The same counties have been invaded
by Lincoln. He has devastated and laid them
waste, and for what? Why, simply to compel
us to subn•it to his gouvernance. Suppose he
should succeed, would not success overturn the
whole fabric of the Constitution ? The Re-
public was founded on the consent of the governed.
Failing in this, it is no longer either a Republic or
any other form of government that has at its foun-
dation the will of the people. It is a tyranny. We
want nothing of the North. We choose not to sub-
mit to Northern domination; we are fighting simply
to be let alone, and to be permitted to govern our-
selves in our own way.

" The South presents the remarkable spectacle of
an army having in its ranks the first men and best
talents of the country. To subdue or conquer such
an army is simply an impossibility, for its soldiers
are fighting for all that makes life dear to them. I
fight with a price upon my head and a halter around
my neck. Nor I alone, but every man of mark or
substance among us. Lincoln's men are not made
of such stuff; for they are for the most part mere
hirelings, and their armies in battle are strength-
ened by no such hope and moved by no such fears
as those which inspire us. They talk of a recon-
struction of the Government and a reunion of the
people. Simply, and in a few words, reannexation
to the British Crown is more possible.

" I very much desire that the friends of free go-
vernment in Europe should be correctly informed
as to the true state of things with us; for your in-
formation being chiefly derived through our ene-
mies, it is of course onesided; and generally, also, it
is not only erroneous, but wilfully mendacious. The
papers at the North that plead our cause, or dare
tell the truth about this war, are suppressed by
Lincoln's mere sic jubco. A large majority of us,
they would have you believe, are opposed to seces-
sion and this war. Saving some of the Western
counties of this State, and a few in East Tennessee,
I have never known the people so united upon any
subject. The women, if possible, are more enthu-
siastic than the men ; they are of one mind, and the
clergy are as earnest as the women. In the week
the clergy are, of their own free will, drilling and
being drilled to arms ; their churches are given up
to the women, who, with needles and sewing
machines, congregate there to make clothing
for the soldiers. On Sundays, from the pulpit,
the holiness of the war and the righteous-
ness of our cause are preached to the people.
In battles you find clergymen among the foremost
of the fight. We have on our side a bishop for a
general, holy divines for colonels, majors, captains,
and soldiers in the ranks. Never was a people more
united and in earnest than the people of the Con-
federate States are at this moment.

" Yes, you have heard something too of our starv-
ing—of our inability to produce breadstuffs and
provisions encugh for our own use, &c. To make
you believe that would be requiring you to renounce
your belief in physical geography, for that shows
that within the Confederate States we have the
finest of climates : our lands are unsurpassed in fer-
tility ; we are a grazing, and a farming, and a plant-
ing people. Educated in the South, I never saw a
beggar until I entered the Navy and went to New
York. Such is the habitual abundance that the
very few poor who are found among us are pro-
vided for without calling on the people for poor-
rates. Our Southern laws recognise no such tax.
The staples of Georgia are cotton and rice, yet the
census shows that according to population Georgia
furnishes as much wheat as New York,
and New York is one of the wheat-growing States
of the North. Never have the grain crops of the
South been more abundant than they now are. The
blockade of our ports, admitting it to be effectual
would not interfere with us as to any of the neces-
saries of life. It may cut off our supplies of tea and
coffee, and the various articles of merchandise that
we have been accustomed to receive from abroad;
but this does not amount even to a privation, for we
submit to these wants as a self-denial and a disci-
pline that is all for our good.
" I see no end to this wicked and savage war as
long as the arch spirits which surround Lincoln re-
main in power. Before and after every battle
we hold out the olive branch, demanding simply,
Let us go.' We do not desire to subjugate or
invade his people. We are simply trying to cut
loose from them, and to have nothing to do with
them or their institutions one way or the other. As
a proof which we wished to give them and the
world of our forbearance and sincerity, behold
the movements of the enemy since the
battle of Manassas. We have not been disposed

to follow up that single victory by a single act of
invasion. Rely upon it, the old Union is irretriev-
ably gone, and.sccesion is rapidly gaining ground.
The thinking men in several of the free States are
daily beginning to cast about for fresh compacts,
for new politicaland social combinations ; and among
the new developments which the morrow may bring
forth be not surprised to find Pennsylvania and,
perhaps, New Jersey, seeking admission into our
new Republic, as one
.of the States of the Confede-

racy."

THE WEST OF IRELAND-ITS PROSPECTS.

A letter from Clifden, Connemara, Galway, dated Dec.
19, says :—ln describing one portion of the Connemara sea
coast I have described nearly all. The nature of the soil,
the appearance of the ccuntry, the character and habits of
the people are almost identical—the only points of variance
being that in some places the land may be ru re rocky, and
in others more boggy, and that the inhabitants of particu-
lar districts derive a portion of their subsistence from fish.
ing, whilst others depend solely upon tillage and grazing.
As I have already stated, the fishing is carried on here in
an uncertain, irregular, precarious fashion, which is not
'likely to undergo any improvement until proper harbours
of :.refuge shall have been constructed. The Sellerney- or
Cleggan district, extending from Aughrim Point to Ball-
nakill, on the north of Clifden—a distance of about eight
miles in a straight line, but fully 20 miles if we follow the
windings of the shore—is one of those whose inhabitants
depend to a considerable extend for support on the produce
of their fishing. Little hamlets or clusters of cabins of the
most miser able kind are scattered at various places along
the coast. It would be impossible to convey by any written
description an adequate idea of the appearance of wretched-
ness, misery, and neglect which these hovels present. The
walls are all made of stones, not cemented together, but
placed loosely on the top of each other, and the interstices
inside filled with clay or turf mould to keep out the wind,
which, however, must penetrate through so frail a barrier.
The thatch is always rotten, and often brcken, so as to ad-
mit the rain, which renders the clay floor muddy and slip-
pery. The invariable dung heap lies in front of the house,
and frequently encroaches on the door-step. The inside of
these cottages is in keeping with their external appearance.
A bed of straw, covered with a patched and tattered
quilt, a ricketty table, a few stools, perhaps a rude
dresser containing some articles of delf, and an iron pot
for the cooking of the potatoes or the porridge, consti-
tute the entire furniture of the ordinary Connemara
peasant's house. The degrees of poverty do not seem to
make any difference between the people in this respect.
The man who has three or four acres, and has been able not
only to live well according to his notions, but to save a little
money, does not possess a better or neater cottage than his
poorer neighbour, who is always on the verge of starvation
or the workhouse. The idea of neatness and cleanliness in
their household arrangements does not seem ever to enter
into their minds; and, indeed, it must be remembered that
the women being always working in the fields or at the sea
shore have not time, even if they had the disposition, to do
anything towards the improvement of their abodes; whilst
their children, male and female, are kept constantly em-
ployed out of doors from the moment they are able to con-
tribute anything to the support of the family. '1 he conse-
quence, as I have before observed, is that they grow up
without education, as ignorant and as prejudiced as their
fathers. In the Sellerney district, the fishing on which the
people depended so much has proved this season very un-
productive, in consequence of the unfavourable weather ;
and the potato crop has turned out as badly as in other parts
of the country. The same variety of results is observable
here as in other places, one man having obtained a very
fair return whilst his neighbour has scarcely any. Here,
as elsewhere, experience has shown that a light sandy or
moory soil is the best for the growth of the potato, whilst
heavy clayey land, especially in wet weather, is exceedingly
bad for that purpose. The instances in which a large and
sound crop has been obtained are rare, and on an average
it may be safely estimated that one-half of the crop in this
district has been lost, and that after the month of February
there will be very few potatoes left in this locality. The
produce of the oat crop was not by any means so bad here
as in other places I have visited, judging from what I
have been told by intelligent and observant persons resi-
dent in the district, and also from my own personal obser-
vation. The haggards of those who cultivated oats were
much better stocked than they would have been if there
hal been that general failure alleged by some persons.
The crop was rather a light one, but the return not
much below the average. Some barley was sown in this
district ; although it cannot be described as a good, it was
certainly not a very bad, crop. Taking, then, every cir-
cumstance ini o consideration—the frugal and parsimonious
habits of the people, the fact that, however poverty stricken
the aspect of their hovels would lead one to suppose them
to be, many of them have money saved, and considering
also that up to the present they have been able to pay their
rents with great regularity, I do not anticipate that for some
months to come there will be any very general distress
arising from want of food. There will always be exceptional
cases, but it cannot be truthfully stated that at present there
is any dearth of provisions in Connemara. I have no doubt,
however, that from April, if not sooner, up to the month of
August, there will be ' ery severe pressure and much priva-
tion and suffering amongst the very small far-n-vs, who
have not been able during former years to put an 3
to meet such an emergency as the present. In a of
months these people will have no potatoes, and nc
purchasing meal, however low the price of that ty
be. They will of course endure the utmost eith

distress sooner than give up their land and enter th
house; but to that miserable consummation some
must come at last, unless they obtain employment. Where
they are to obtain that employment I am unable to discover.
The farms are so small that every man, with the aid of his
family, cultivates his own little holding without calling for
the assistance of strangers, and there are no resident gentry
to give the employment which is so much required. If the
owners of the soil could be brought to see their own interests
they would employ their tenants in the making of proper
fences; and in carrying out those drainage works which ere
everywhere necessary; and if this were done to any consider-
able extent no reasonable apprehension could be entertained
of the existence of any distress which the operation of the
poor-law system, ailed by private benevolence, would not
be perfectly adequate to meet. There cou'd be no doubt that
if the landlords of Connemara expended money judiciously
on the improvement of their properties they would have no
reason, in a pecuniary point of view, to regret having done
so. The letting value of the land might be greatly in-
creased by a comparatively small outlay in the carrying out
of obvious improvements, which could be easily and cheaply
effected. A gentleman who resides in another part of the
county told me that during the famine years ho employed
every labouring man in his immediate neighbourhood, both
from the desire to improve his property and to afford them
means of earning their bread. The improvements he car-
ried out in fencing, draining, planting, &c., were so exten-
sive and his weekly labour-bill so large that many of his
friends remonstrated with him on his imprudence and pre-
dicted his ruin. How different was the result. " I never
(said my informant) spent money so profitably as that.
The improvements which I then carried out have added
largely to my income." I have seen this gentleman's
estate, and have been able to judge of the extraordinary
transformation which his taste and enterprise have effected
in the aspect of the place by comparing his thriving
plantations, fine pastures, and well-tilled fields,
with the swampy land and barren mountains imme-
diately adjoining his property, which have been left by
their owners in all their original wildness. The field
for improvement in Connemara is a wide one, and
here and there we come upon exquisite little spots, which
show what might be done ou a larger scale by the judicious
expenditure of capital. In the Sellerney district, of which
I am now speaking, the landlord who has done most to im-
prove the condition of his tenantry is Sir Christopher Leigh-
ton. This gentleman has no residence here, but he has
shown a laudable desire to introduce better habits amongst
the tenantry on his estate. He has encouraged them to
fence their holdings, to make gates, and to effect ether im-
provements—they have shown themselves capable of profit-
ing by his advice, and are making considerable progress
compared with the tenants on other properties where no en-
couragement or facilities for improvement are given. Their
land is much better cultivated, their cottages neater, and
the rents being too high they are able to live very well.
The only persons over whom Sir Christopher exercises no
influence are some tenants who hold under ancient leases,
and they pursue the old slovenly system in which they
were brought up, without any thought of improvement
whatever. Example is absolutely necessary to rouse these
people from their apathy, and stimulate them to exertion.
The tenants from year to year improve when they have a
landlord who gives them encouragem nt, because they are
anxious to secure his favour. The tenantry who have
leases, being independent of the landlord, go on in the old
lazy, thriftless fashion, and will continue to do so until
they see their neighbours rising above them, and reaping
the fruits of industry directed by skill and knowledge. The
progress of improvement must be slow amongst a people
who have been so utterly neglected, and so long as the
miserable two and three acre farms are allowed to exist
agriculture will be badly carried on, and the small holders
will always be liable to suffer great distress whenever the
country is afflicted with a deficient harvest, There can
be no analogy, however, between the terrific famine years
and the present or any future bad harvest which we may
have to encounter. The people are in a better position
to meet the failure of the potato; although it is still their
staple food, they do not depend up n it so absolutely as in
past times, and the prices of Indian meal and oetmeal are
far below what they were in the years 1817-48. The scar-
city of fuel throughout the whole of Connemara has been
already so fully spoken of by the that I cannot add an} thing
to what I have written upon that subject. In the Sellerney
district, as in the neighbourhood of Clifden, Mannin More,
Bunowen, and every other place in which I have been, the
inhabitants have been reduced to great distress from want of
turf. They might have saved an abundance of it had they
taken advantage of the fine weather in April and May ; but
there is not one man in a hundred throughout the whole of
the west of Ireland who has had the forethought or the
wisdom to do so. According to the custom of the country
turd-Cutting is always deferred until St, John's dt,y ; and