The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-08 00:00:00

TILE UNITED STATES.

(From the New York Correspondent of the Times.)
NEW YORK, Dec. 25, 1860.

Christmas day of the year 1860 is anything but a
merry Christmas to the people of the United States.
Instead of the peace and goodwill which two months
since reigned throughout the land we have dissension
and dismemberment, threatening anarchy and civil
war,unless arrested. The powers of the Government,
so far as they are used at all, are used for its own de-
struction ; and, by a fatality which promises to be
irresistible, the precipitate action of one State, dis-
contented with the results of an election, threatens
to entangle the relations of all the other slave States,
and create a public opinion within their borders that
will carry them also in the same course, unless the
victorious North shall concede everything that it
has won in the recent election. That which would
be called treason in the latitude of New York is
patriotism in the latitude of South Carolina, and
support of the Union at Washington means a
countenance of the Disunionists by yielding to
them all they wish. Since the date of my last
letter South Carolina has completed the formal act
of withdrawal from the Union. This important
document, which may be a turning-point in
American history, was passed unanimously, and
reads as follows :
"AN ORDINANCE TO DISSOLVE THE UNION BETWEEN THE
STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND OTHER STATES
UNITED WITH HER UNDER THE COMPACT ENTITLED
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AME-
RICA.

" We, the people of the State of South Carolina,
in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain,
and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the
ordinance adopted by us in Convention, on the 23d
day of May, in the year of our Lord 1788, whereby
the Constitution of the United States of America
was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of
the General Assembly of this State ratifying amend-
ments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed,
and that the union now subsisting between South
Carolina and other States, under the name of the
United States of America, is hereby dissolved."
One hundred and sixty-nine gentlemen of South
Carolina voted for it, and subscribed their names to
it, in the presence, as I judge from the newspapers,
of a large multitude of sympathisers, who loudly
cheered every prominent leader as he crossed the
platform to seat himself at the table for signing.
The same body has under consideration, and will
doubtless soon act upon, a public declaration to the
world of the grievances which have forced South
Carolina, in the mild language of the South, to re-
sume the powers delegated to the Federal Govern-
ment. This address was prepared by a committee,
of which Mr. Bainwell Rhett is chairman. The
following resume of it comes to us by telegraph :
• "The State of South Carolina, having deter-
mined to resume a separate and equal rank among
nations, deems it due to herself and the remaining
United States of America, and the nations of the
world, that she should declare the causes which led
to the act. In 1765 that portion of the British Em-
pire embracing Great Britain undertook to make
laws for the Government of the American colonies. A
struggle for the right of self-government ensued,
which resulted on the 4th of July, 1776, in
a declaration by the colonies that they
are, and of right ought to be free, and
independent States, and that as free and
independent States they have full power to levy
war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish
commerce, and to do such things as independent
States have the right to do. They further solemnly
declared that whenever any form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the
established right of the people to alter and abolish
it, and institute a new Government. Deeming that
the Government of Great Britain had become de-
structive of these ends, they declarett the colonies
free and absolved from allegiance to the British
Crown, and the political connexion between them
and Great Britain was totally dissolved.
" The committee say the right of a State to govern
itself, and the right of the people to abolish a Go-
vernment when it becomes destructive of the ends
for which it was instituted, were expressed when
the colonies separated from the mother country,
and became free and independent States. The par-
ties amending the Constitution on the 17th of Sep-
tember, 1787, were the several Sovereign States.
" On the 23d of May, 1788, South Carolina, by a
Convention of her people, assented to the amended
Constitution of the United States. The failure of
one of the contracting parties to maintain constitu-
tional obligations released the other. Fifteen of
the Northern States have deliberately refused for
years to fulfil their constitutional obligations. We
would refer to those States for a proof of this.
When the fourth article of the Constitution was
adopted the greater number of the contracting
parties held slaves. The hostility of the Northern
States to the institution of slavery had led them to
disregard their constitutional obligations. The laws
of the general Government have ceased to effect the
objects of the Constitution. Maine, New Hamp-
shire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and lowa have e nacted
laws either nullifying the Constitution or rendering
useless all attempts to execute the acts of Congress.
In many of these States fugitives held to service and
to labour hare been claimed, but in none of them
has the State Government complied with the stipu-
lation on this subject made in the Constitution.
" In the formation of the Federal Government
each State was recognised as an equal; the right of
property in slaves was recognised by giving all
free persons distinct political rights; by giving
them the right to represent, and burdening them
with direct taxes for three-fifths of their slaves ;
by authorising the importation of slaves for 20
years, and by stipulating for the rendition of fugi-
tives from labour. The endr3for which this Govern-
ment was instituted have been defeated, and the
Government itself made destructive by the action
of the non-slaveholding States. Those States as-
sumed the right of deciding upon the propriety, of
our domestic institutions. They denied the rights
of property established in 15 States and recognised
by the constitution. They have denounced as sin-
ful the institution of slavery ; have permitted the
astablishinent of societies whose avowal and
open
obj
citizens otherect are to diitur. b the peace and prosperity of
the
States; they have encouraged
-tur slaves to leave their
and assisted thrmands I—en incited by
henies; mid those 1018 remain have uv.—
eihiciafieti, by books and pletttresi td 011111.
rection. 25 years this agitation has been steadily
increasing, until they have sedtifed the power' of the
common Government. Observing the farina of
the constitution, a sectional party has found,
within that article establishing an executive de-
partment means of subverting the constitution
itself. A geographical line has been drawn
across the Union, and all States north of that
lino hate tinited iii the eletaticin of a man to the
high office of President of the United States whose
opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. lie
is to be intrusid with the administration of the
it is declared that a
common Government, beerni;'9
dovettiment cannot endure permanent half slave
and half free, and that the public mind' must rest
in the belief that slavery is in the course of
ultimate extinction. The sectional cottibinatlon
for the subversion of the Constitution has been ,
aided in the States by elevating to citizenship
persons who, by the supreme law of the land, are
incapable of becoming citizens, and their votes have
been used to inaugurate the new polity hostile to
the South and destructive to its peace and safety.
On the 4th of March next this party will take
possession of the Government. It has been an-
nounced that the South shall be excluded from the
common territory; that the judicial tribunals will
be made sectional ; that war must be waged against_
slavery until it shall cease throughout the United
States. The guarantees of the Constitution wil then
no longer exist—equal rights of the States willhat%
lost—the siaveholding States will no long
the power of self-government or self-protection, and
the Federal Government have become their enerasy.
Sectional interests and animosity
rendered vain
irritation, and all hope of remed i
opinions roef
will deepen the
the North
by the fact that the public the sanction of
has invested the political error with
more erroneous religious belief.
" We, therefore, the people of South Carolina,
by our delegates, in Convention assembled, appeal-
ing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the

eZ , --,:_,_,A
_3

P., le- 41). STAMPED, 5:.

rectitude of our intentions, have solemly declared
the Union heretofore existing between this State
and the other States of North America dis-
solved, and that the State of South Carolina has re-
sumed her position among the nations of the world
as a free, sovereign, and independent State, with
full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract.
alliances, establish commerce, and do all other sets
and things which independent States may of right
do ; and for the support of this declaration, w ithi a
firm reliance for protection on Divine Providence,
we mntually pledge each other our lives, our for-
tunes, and our sacred honour."

There is somothing very sad, were it not for the
me gnitude of the interests at stake—the existence
of a great and free nation, it might be called ludi-
crously so, iu the debate which took place immedi-
ately on the passage of the ordinance. Judge Ma-
grath, late Judge of the Federal Court for the State,
saw at once the logical force of the act. " To my un-
derstanding," he says, " there is no collector of the
post or postmaster now within the limits of South
Carolina. What you have done to-day has extin-
guished the authority of every man in Carolina
deriving authority from the General Government."
The next speaker reiterates the position. " All the
laws of Congress fall instantly to the ground on
the act of secession." Mr. Miles, the member of
Congress from the Charleston district, replies,
" We have to deal with facts and stern realities.
We must prevent confusion, anarchy, and the de-
rangement of our Government affairs. Things for
the present must remain in statu quo, or confusion
will arise." Mr. Chestnut says, " Two questions
are involved, power and duty. We must preserve
our people not only from inconvenience, but chaotic
condition. We must revivify such laws as will
best preserve us from calamities. As to duty, will
you turn the ship of State adrift ? What will be-
come of the officers ?" Mr. Calhoun says—and
who, whether friend or foe, will not sympathise in
the remark ?—" We have pulled a temple down
that has been built three quarters of a century.
We must clear the rubbish away to construct an-
other. We are now houseless and homeless, and
must secure ourselves against the storm." Mr.
Dunkin takes a less sweeping view of the effect of
the ordinance. "We must keep the wheels of go-
vernment going. The constitution of the United
States is not entirely abrogated by the ordinance.
What is legal tender in the payment of debts ? Is
it not gold and silver of the United States? In the
case of clearing and entry of vessels we are very
liable to have the same confiscated." But this
view of the case was not to the mind of the leaders
of the move. Mr. Gregg " desires no compromise.
Is it necessary to maintain the 15 to 40 per cent.
duties imposed by the Congress of the United
States ? Should these duties continue to be levied
our people will suffer a terrible calamity. For car-
rying the mails let the present contracts be assumed
by South Carolina instead of the United States."
And Mr. Barnwell says again—" We have seceded
from the United States and established our inde-
pendence. We cannot allow the United States to
exercise authority over us any more. Let postal
convenience be sacrificed if necessary. There never
was anything purchased worth having unless it cost
a sacrifice." Since this remarkable discussion the
Convention have been twice in session, and have had
under consideration, with closed doors, the relations
with the Federal Government. They have also
appointed three commissioners to proceed to Wash-
ington to negotiate with the Federal Government
for the surrender of the forts, and the distribution
of the national debt. The gentlemen named for
this duty, Mr. Barnwell, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Orr,
are all of them known beyond the limits of their
State. Mr. Orr was the Speaker of the last House,
at that time a Union man, as Union men g 6 in
Carolina, and made an acceptable presiding officer
at Washington. Mr. Adams has been Governor of
South Carolina, and has been long known as a Se-
cessionist. He is a relative of the late Mr. Brooks,
who committed the assault on Mr. Sumner, and
very much of his style of thinking and acting. It
is understood that these gentlemen will be infor-
mally received by the President, and by him re-
ferred to Congress. Meanwhile the act of a Charles-
ton mob may at any moment precipitate violence
and bloodshed. I believe from such information as
I can gather that it is difficult now to restrain the
mob and prevent it attacking the forts in the har-
bour ; and unless the President makes up his mind
to give South Carolina all she wants—which, judg-
ing from his course hitherto, seems most likely—
the forts will be attacked, Mr. Miles, of South
Carolina, in a speech before the Convention gives
an account of a remarkable interview that took
place between himself and the President :
" My colleagues and myself considered it desir-
able that we should confer with the members from
the other Southern States that we might have full
information upon all that concerns the interests and
domestic affairs of the South. We went there, not
as spies, but as vigilant sentinels, and to procure
all information wich we could conceive of as
valuable for our people. The remarks of my hon-
oured friend appear to me calculated to give a very
wrong impression on the minds of the people of
this state. I have not the remotest idea that the
President of the United States will send any rein-
forcement to the forts in our harbour. I would say
now frankly, for I desire no concealment, and I do
not think there should be at this time anything of
the kind among the members of this great body,
but with perfect frankness I will state here that I
and some of my colleagues, in a conversatfbn with
the President of the United States, and subse-
quently in a written communication addressed to
him at his request, we did say this, after speaking
of the great excitement about the forts and prepa-
rations and rumours, ' Mr. President, it is our
solemn conviction, if you attempt to send a solitary
soldier down to those forts, the instant the intelli-
gence reaches our people—and we shall take care
that it does reach them—the forth will certainly be
taken. We would urge them to do it, and would
go home to help in the work, because that would be
a matter of self-defence. It would be suicidal folly
to allow Fort Sumter or the.others to be manned.
We further said, ' It is our conviction that the
people of South Carolina would not touch those
forts or do anything to molest its garrison prior to
the meeting of the Convention.' We were perfectly
sure of that. We also hoped and believed that
nothing would be done after that until we had had
a formal adjustment with the Federal Government,
or until those forts were demanded by the State.
That was the substance of our communication. And.
I I say again that there is not an intention to rein-
-4-I,A forts. What do we now see at Wash-
fevee i...... -e the Premier—the right-hand man
i loli r 9
ng We lit'' . ,—a near and dear personal
of ,the Admitistratiok. from the
tvheeheCmabenintleyt
friend of the President—retL;7. fro
on that precise issue. Gen. Cass urg.._
president
that the forts should be reinforced. The ).,
has resisted, and allowed a Cabinet officer to Wit:.l.
draw rather than to yield to the proposition. Now
is it natural after such an act that the President
should vacillate and concede to other influences
that which he so strongly and promptly refused to
a personal friend in the Cabinet P I cannot believe
it. I cannot think he would be so weak, so veal
lating, so uncertain. I therefore feel,
there is not the slightest earthly reason t e
oaIP(7-1
that the Administration will reinforce the g
as I said,__tha.t
and if he should do it, it is utterly 1 and timely
imravihie that he
could do it without our gettingraai
of the troops."
notice, and anticipating the aril'
South Carolina may, therefore, now be considered
out of the Union, so far as her own declarations can
make her so. State Conventions are to be held next
mouth in the cotton States as follows :—ln Florida
on the sd, in Alabama on the 7th, in Mississippi on
the 7th, in Texas on the Bth, in Georgia on the 9th,
and in Louisiana on the 23d. It is not easy to get
accurate information here as to these bodies. I
believe however that there will be a majority in
each of them in favour of immediate and separate
secession. The act of South Carolina has changed
the face of things in the contested States, like
Georgia, and I think you may look before the end
of January for news of the secession of all the plant-
ing States. But Ido not gather from my advises
that the secession party pure and simple has been
gaining ground in these States.;
on the contrary,
consequences to
it grows weaker as the mighty
flow .from the disintegration of
this Government

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NEWSPAPER
\ 1,4
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begin to be comprehended, and, with the excel:,
-of South Carolina, the move out will be made wi
a view of moving back again when the. Constitution. NT f]
of the United States shall be amen:led so as to pro-
tect property in slaves in the terrlitories. The border
States are also rapidly moving towards secession.
One would think that, in the event of dismember-
ment of the present federation, their interests would
be with the Northern States, who would then give
them complete protection to their slave propertir
without. offending public sentiment. On the con-
trary, the di anion sentiment is spreading rapidly.
Not actual pTesent secession, like South Carolina,
hut a temporary separation for the sake of forming
a more perf(ct union hereafter, excluding New
England unless she gives the new guarantees w,th
a good will.
Now, if you ask me what will be the result of alI

I

i

these complications, 1 frankly say I do not know,
nor do I believe that there is any one here wise
enough to calculate the chances and foresee the end.
Governor Seward made a speech at the New Eng-
land dinner on Saturday, in which he prophesies
peace and harmony at no distant day. On the
other hand, a well-informed Southern friend writes
from Washington .
" While I hear all men from the border States
express the strongest disapprobation of the course
of the cotton States, I find none who believe or
even hope that the border States can be saved.
The tone of the speeches and conversations of the
leading Northern men shows a determination to
resist with force the secession if South Carolina and
others, and this will be the signal for the border
States to move. They will be moved to this course
not alone by a feeling of sympathy for South
Carolina, but because the struggle will be one of
life or death to themselves, as the means employed
to subdue South Carolina would be destructive to
every Slave State. Ido not doubt, therefore, but
that the first gun will unite the Slave States, and.
from present appearances that gun will be fired"
In the midst of so much conflicting testimony and.
opinion it is not easy to make up one's mind, but I
adhere to my original opinion that a way will be
found to reconcile the differences of the two parts of
the country and bring back into the Union all who
secede, except the States that leave from a desire
to set up for themselves. These it may take more
time to win back, I found my opinion partly upon
the wish of 31 out of 33 States to continue the part-
nership, if the present difficulties can be peaceably
adjusted, and partly upon the fact known in well-
informed circles here that many of the most
influential Republicans in the middle States are
urging concession in private, and only wait a
decided expression of public opinion in this part of
the country to urge it in public. It is true that
Mr. Crittenden's resolutions of conciliation, which
I sent you last week, but a copy of which I again
enclose, were voted down in the Senate Committee ;
but I apprehend that they will, nevertheless, be
made the basis of the coming compromise. Par
parenthese, I beg to say,that my opinions are predi—
cated upon the continuance of a state of peace. If
you read carefully Governor Seward's speech at the
New England dinner, you will see that he commits
himself to two propositions : —l, That the time has
come for some amendment of the constitution of the
United States ; and 2, That the new compromiso
must be one on which Pennsylvania, New York„
and New England can stand. A month since no
Republican leader would have talked about com-
promises and concessions. Motives of humanity,
too, call for a hastening of the adjustment. There
is a tract of land, 200 miles in width, in the centre
of the Slave States, entirely destitute of food. They
are almost suffering starvation, and yet, in the
deranged state of trade, it is impossible to get food
to them. The Senate Committee made a beginning
yesterday, by adopting one proposition, that "no
amendment shall be made to the Constitution which
will authorise or give to Congress any power to
abolish or interfere in any State with the domestic
institutibns thereof, including that of persons held
to service or labour by the laws of such State," but
refused to adopt a proposition that the " fugitive
slave law of 1850 shall be so amended as to secure
to the alleged fugitive a trial by, jury ;" and a third
proposition that " it be respectfully recommended
to the several State Legislatures to review all of
their laws affecting the rights of persons recently
resident in other States, and to modify or repeal all
such as shall contravene the provisions of the con-
stitution of the 'United States, or of any of the laws
made in pursuance thereof." The two rejected
propositions received only the support of the
Republican members of the committee.
An interview lately took place at Springfield
between the President elect and Mr. Thurlow
Weed, of the Albany Evening Journal—an influen-
tial Republican leader, pledged to concessions.
Many accounts of what was supposed to have taken
place at that interview having been published, Mr.
Weed has made public the following statement :
" Since the newspapers have made our recent
visit to Springfield the occasion of remark, it may
not be improper to say that an interview with Mr.
Lincoln has confirmed and strengthened our confi-
dence in his fitness for the high position he is
to occupy ; of his eminent qualifications for the great
trust reposed in him ; of his enlightened apprecia-
tion of the difficulties and dangers that surround
us; of his desire that the Free States, if in 'any-
thing delinquent, shall fulfil their constitutional
duties ; of his determination to require from all the
States an enforcement of the laws and obedience to
the Constitution ; and, finally, of his earnest and
inflexible devotion to the principles and sympathies
of Republicanism."
The Republican party is rapidly dividing into
those who will make concessions to the seceders
and those who wish to enforce the laws of the
country. The Republican members of Congress
mainly are of the latter class.
A gigantic fraud has taken place in the depart-
ment of the interior discreditable to the Government,
and compromising at least one Cabinet officer, the
Secretary at War. The Indian fund was mainly
invested in State bonds payable to bearer, which
were left in a safe in the department of the interior,
in charge of a disunionist clerk. It appears that at
least 800,000 dole. of these bonds have been ab-
stracted and sold for the benefit of the contractors
for the army of Utah, and that the acceptances of
the Secretary at War have been issued to a corre-
sponding amount. The Secretary at 'War denies
all knowledge of the transaction, and the defaulting
clerk confirms the denial. Congress have taken the
matter in hand, and appointed an incvestigating
committee.
The Bank statement for the week is as follows •
Loans
Specie
Net deposits 85,876,878

SEVERE FROST OF 1789.—The recently pub-
lished correspondence of the first Lord Auckland (Loud. 2
vols. 8vo.) contains a letter from M. fluber to Lord Auckland
(then Mr. Eden), dated Jan. 16, 1789, and written at Paris,
in which there is the following pasiAP. It should be added
that Mr. Eden was at this time resident at Madrid as British
Minister :—" I must not forget to tell you that the sea on the
French and English coasts is frozen, they say, two leagues
out ; the harbour
at Calais is one piece of ice, and the yes-
sew fut. We have now a serious thaw, but the ther-
mor Itasbeen 71 deg. below ice. The winter has been.
Win,uti and tip have also the acts of benevolence in this
own ; the French are a good people, we must own:it."-
(Vol. ii. p. 271.) M. Huber, the writer of this letter, is
stated to have been a Genovese, resident at Paris, who was
intimate with M. Necker (ib. p. 247.) The severity of the
weather, both in England and on the Continent, in Jan.,
1789, is mentioned in the Annual Register for that year,
Citron. p.p. 193-6. It is stated that the Seine was entirely
frozen over; that the Rhine was frozen over at Cologne,
and that in many places loaded waggons and carriages
passed over it ; and that the Thames and the Shannon were
similarly frozen. But nothing is said of the sea being
frozen on the English and French coasts. Is this fact re-
corded in any meteorological register of the winter of
1788.9, and can it be relied upon as authentic ? Is the
freezing of the sea upon the coast of France or England
mentioned in any other year?—Notes and Queries.
[AnvEivrismitrir.)— Pills and medicine invariably ag-
gravate and perpetuate diseases ; their annoyance, dis-
appointment, and expense may be avoided by persona
in indifferent health sending only their address to E.
S. Barry, Esq., 77, Regent-street, W., London, and they
will receive gratis and free by post the " INVALIDS' Owls
Guinz," or Natural Restorer, without medicine or ex-
rnse, of perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, and
refreshing sleep, to the most enfeebled, insuring the removal
of indigestion (dyspepsia), constipation, liver complaints.
nausea, epilepsy, paralysis, debility, nervousness, palpitatiot,
cough, asthma, consumption, dropsy, flatulency, diarrheas,
dysentery, biliousness, fevers, sore throats, catarrhs, oolds,
noises in the ears, rheumatism, gout, impurities, eruptions.
hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, 010-
tation, heartburn, headache, despondency, cramps, spume'
shaking, fits, bronchitis —"UnQuestionably the safest Guide
to health."

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A STLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.-
Proprietor and Manager, Mr. WM. BATTY.
By particular desire, a Grand Juvenile Fete on Friday, the
11th, commencing at 2 o'clock with the Pantomime.
This Evening, a new Spectacle, entitled THE LION
CONQUEROR ; or, The Death Jungle, expressly for the
introduction of the Wonders of the World. " The Groupe
of Performing Lions." The Lion Conqueror, Mr. J. Crockett.
To be succeeded by Scenes in the Arena, supported by
talented Parisian and British Artistes.
Concluding with Batty's Prize Equestian Comic Panto-
mime, for Good Little Boys and Girls, by T. L. Greenwood,
entitled HARLEQUIN AND. THE WONDERFUL
HORSE • or. Percinet and Groctosa, the Ugly Duchess and
the Greedy King, produced with Gorgeous Scenery, by Mr.
Cuthbert, new Costumes and Appointments, and introducing
in the comic scenes Batty's Prize Equestrian Harlequinade,
and the celebrated Old Bob Ridley, and Branaon Ledger.
Doors open at half-Fast 6, performance commence at 7.
BQs-office open daily from 11 till 4
Stage Manager—Mr. W. WEstr.
Director of the Arena—Mr. Pearson.

C A N TE RBURY H AL L.
Open Every Evening at seven.
GRAND SELECTIONS from LA EMMA DEL REGT-
MENTO (Donizetti), NORMA, SONNAMBULA and
MARTHA.
Principal Artistes Miss RussEr.r., Madame MARTA, Miss
TYRRELL, Miss WILLIAMS, Mr. HENRY HERBERT, C.
W BERNARD, and Signor TivoLt.
Musical Director...., Mr. F. JONCTIMANS.
The Comic Department comprises Messrs. J. BLANCHARD,
A. B. HOLLINGSWORTH', Master BARRY, and E. MARSHALL.
The Fine Arts Gallery has been enriched by the addition of
the late John Martin's three Grind Pictures—viz., "THE
GREAT DAY of HIS WRATH," "THE PLAINS of
HEAVEN," and "THE LAST JUDGMENT," on view
until 12 o'clock at Night.
CTI R ISTMAS HOLIDAYS.
OPERA, DRAMA. BURLESQUE and PANTOMIME.
EVERY EVENING.

._ -.
Clown Y Mr. E. MARSHALL.
Columbine Mr. E. NIARsHA_LL.
Harlequin Mr. F. BELL.
Pantaloon
SPRITES, by the celebrated BROTHERS CONRAD.

lIIGII WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

THIS Days—Morning, 11h. 34m.—Afternoon, Oh. Om,
To-monßow.-Morning, 12h. Bm.—Afternoon, 12h. 38m,

THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, JAN, 8, 1561.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
29—highest since nec,n yesterday.
19 —lowest this raornisig and during the night.
31—this drsy at noon.

BAROMETER-30.34.
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•" "

THE SUN.
LONDON, TUESDAY, JAN. 8, 1881.

The letters and papers just received from what
were, till the 20th of December, the United States
only confirm the views naturally suggested by the
brief summary of their contents forwarded by the
telegraph. So far as the solemn and unanimous
vote of the South Carolina Convention can effect
that object, the United States exist no longer.
The Palmetto State has, by an express resolution,
repealed the " ordinance adopted by them on the
23d of May, 1788, whereby the Constitution of the
United States was ratified," &c.—and declared
that " the Union now subsisting between South
Carolina and other States, under the name of the
United States of America, is now dissolved." The
vote of 1788 was carried by a majority of 76—the
vote of 1860 by the unanimous suffrages of 169
delegates to the State Convention.
This step, however, was easy to take amongst an
excited people. What shall be farther done by the
State itself ? and what shall be done at Washington?
and what will be the final result ?—are questions
which puzzle all the politicians in the States, and
all, indeed, who at a distance look with interest on
this novel struggle. It is, in truth, quite a new
case for us all. Those who cannot move without
a volume of precedents are wholly at a loss. No
such Republic, in its chief conditions, as the United
States of America, ever existed bofore. Thirty-
three Sovereign States, the white population
sprung from the most liberty-loving race in the
world, yet, for the most part, well understanding
that obedience to law is the grand safeguard
of liberty one part of these States, however,
cherishing as their greatest social prize the insti-
tution of personal slavery in a form more stringent
than was ever known in the most despotic countries.
A vast increase in population, wealth, and power ,
in the• Free States, and the establishment of a great
manufacturing system there, requiring a protective
tariff against the interest of the Slave States. A
vast development of slavery in the Southern States,
consequent on the demand,.in Europe chiefly, for
one of their chief profictions, and a consequent
rise in the value of slaves. A growing determi-
nation of the Slave States to be the political
masters of the Union, partly from old aristocratical
pride, partly from deeming such power requisite
to sustain their cherished institution. A gradually'
growing, and at last a triumphant determination
on the part of the North not to bow to the dicta-
tion of the South, and „to sacrifice freedom and in-
telligence to slavery and ignorance—these, and
other circumstances which might be mentioned,
present us with a comparatively new form of..the
great struggle between liberty and freedom. Such
is essentally the struggle now going on. For the
South sees all its pride and interest bound up with

maintaining the most extreme of aristocracies,
that which completely subjugates the mass of the
population to its service, and demands to make its
aristocratical principle the law of all North
Amorica—the Fee Stare stand by their Declara-
tion and Deed of Independence, and insist thatzuch
an aristocracy is abnormal, municipal, sectional

. _
—an evil in itself, and one so great that it ought
if possible to be wholly annihilated. .
As might be expected, we find the Carolinians
themselves, as soon as they look on the deed they
have done, not a little puzzled. In the debate some
of them told the others facts which showed that
they would not be immediate gainers, at least, by
secession: Such as that the General Government
paid 240,000 dollars for the postal service in
South Carolina, while it collected only 50,000
dollars in the State ; and again, that the
Federal Revenue from South Carolina did not
nearly pay the expense of collecting it. Then,
notice was taken of the fact that the laws of the
United States were no longer in force in the State,
that all the officials ceased to hold office down to
the Postmasters and the Tidewaiters ; others
contended that the laws were not ab-
rogated by the simple act of secession,
and it was soon seen that simple as seemed the
process of voluntary self-excision from the Union,
yet, as one speaker expressed it, "an immense
chasm would be made in the law," and at
least temporary arrangements must be made
to carry on the Government. In feet, South
Carolina seems very much to want a trust-
worthy dictator just now. The news of
the unanimous vote was, however, received with
great rejoicings in the principal towns, both of
Carolina itself, and of other Southern States ; and
salvoes of artillery and ringing of bells indicated
the joy with which the whole men of the South
received the news of the first disruption of the
Union.

In the North and at Washington councils are
divided, some are for repressing the commencement
of disunion, so soon as it shows itself in overt
acts, by force. A journal said to be in Mr.
LINCOLN'S interest, and in possession of his views,
says—" If South Carolina does not obstruct the col-
lection of revenues at her ports,nor violate any other
federal law, there will be no trouble, and she will not
be out of the Union. If she violates the law, then
comes the tug of war. The President of the United
States, in such an emergency, has a plain duty to
perform. Mr. BUCHANAN may shirk it, or the
emergency may not exist during his administration.
If not, then the Union will last through his term
of office. If the overt act on the part of &lath
Carolina takes place on or after the Ist of
March, 1861, then the duty of executing
the laws will devolve upon Mr. LINCOLN.
The laws of the United States must be executed.
The President has no discretionary power on
the subject. His duty is emphatically pronounced
in the Constitution. Mr. LINCOLN will perform
that duty. Disunion by armed force is treason,
and treason must and will be put down at all
hazards." This is strong language, but from all
the hints that can be collected, it seems Mr.
LINCOLN'S own view is that Secession ought to be
prevented by the Federal Government—we do
not see, however, that he has anywhere asserted
the propriety of using force.
Mr.'SEWARD, in a speech delivered at an impor-
tant meeting, takes a very calm and comfortable
view of the whole affair. He disbelieves in break-
ing up the Union. The South is to the North in
the relation, he says, of a wife and family to a
father—very easy to get rid of them by unfaith-
fulness, contention, impatience and thwarting their
tempers—but very easy for any man to keep them
if he will keep his own virtue and his own
temper. Now, in all this business—he added—" I
propose that we shall keep our own virtue, which
in politics is loyalty, and our own temper, which
in politics consists in remembering that men may
differ, that brethren may differ. If we keep en-
tirely cool, and entirely calm, and entirely kind, a
debate will ensue which will be kindly in itself;
and it 'will prove very soon either that we are wrong
—and we shall concede to our offended brethren,
or else that we are right, and they will acquiesce
and come back into fraternal relations with us."
There is certainly good sense in this; so there is in
what follows on the subject of coercion :—" All I
have to say on that subject is, that so long ago as
the time of Sir THOMAS MORE he discovered, and
set down the discovery in his writing, that there
were a great many schoolmasters, and that while there
were a very few who knew how to instruct children,
there were a great many who knew how to whip them,
I propose to have no question on that subject, but
to hear complaints, to redress them if they ought
to be redressed, and if we have the power to redress
them, and I expect them to be withdrawn if they
are unreasonable, because I know that the necessi-
ties which made this Union exist for these states
are stronger to-day than they were when the
Union was made, and that those necessities are
enduring, while the passions of men are short lived
and ephemeral. I believe that secession was
stronger on the night of the 6th of November last,
when a President and a Vice-President who were
unacceptable to the slave states were elected, than
it is now. That is now some fifty days since,
and I believe that every day's sun which set
since that time has set on mollified passions and
prejudices, and that if you will only give it time,
sixty days more suns will give you a much brighter
and more cheerful atmosphere." The course Mr.
BUCHANAN is taking, in giving up everything, will
carry out Mr. SEWARD'S suggestion perfectly. We
shall see the result in March, when: Mr. LINCOLN
enters on office.

Ths sincerity of the "wish" for Peace expressed
by the Emperor of FRANCE on New Year's Day,
in the few words addressed by his Imperial
MAJESTY to the Ambassadors from the Courts of
Europe--the loyalty and sincerity of that avowal
of NAPOLEON 111. will now very speedily be put
to the test. In saying this, we allude neither to
Rome nor yet to Gaeta—we do not refer to the
EMPEROR'S policy as it affects the interests of
FRANCIS JOSEPH, or as it affects this quite con-
trary interests of VICTOP, EMMANUEL. The men-
tion here made of a distinct test now very speedily
to be applied to the pacific declaration with which
our ally inaugurated the present year of Our,
Lord, 1861, relates in no way to Italy, in no way
to Austria, to Naples, or to Sardinia. It applies
simply to the que9-tion of the Syrian occupation.
That military
occupation it will be remembered
—an occupation
direfully necessitated by the
frightful massacre of the ue: offor
thea'lite Lebanon l‘ f ar
nites by the fanatical Druz
—was limited by the clearly expressed
terms of the Convention entered into with
the Ottoman Porte :to a period of six months
and no more ! It being deemed probable, not very
unreasonably, that half a year would be an in-
terval of time in every way sufficient to carry
out the one single object and design of this
occupation, namely, that of according the
visible and appreciable support of Western Europe
in the very scene of those atrocious butcheries,
the substantial and recognisable support of
England and France to the Turkish Commissioner
FUAD PACUA, sent out thither to punish the
leaders and instigators of those unparalleled
atrocities. That half-year will now very speedily
have expired. And supposing his Majesty of
iFRANCE to be for once true to his word, faithful to
his agreement, sincere and loyal in his assurances,
he French troops now quartered in the country